Throwback videogames, digital distro, and atavistic joy
The relentless march of technological progress burdens game developers by forcing teams to repeatedly spend time and energy learning the idiosyncrasies of the latest gear rather than sharpen their skills on a single toolset. As a result, few gaming platforms are explored to the depth that other creative technologies have enjoyed. Compare the number of DJs still playing vinyl records on Technics-1200 turntables to the population developing new SNES titles.
Screenshot from Mega Man 2 on the NES.
Keiji Inafune, the Capcom character designer responsible for Mega Man, recently remarked about this constraint:
“[The simple fun of a classic Mega Man game] doesn’t fit into the grandiose and expansive world that the consumer gaming industry has become, and so you have to make games that match the current expectations.”
The unnamed force here is the cash factor. Consumers paying top dollar for the latest-gen console expect to be dazzled. Developing a title that could have come from that grey box in the closet is incredibly risky. Fortunately, the growth of digital distribution is sufficiently shifting the financial balance to permit long tail niche development to seep into gaming. (Though Geoffrey makes a good point in complicating notions of “niche” in his earlier entry on the subject.)
The latest issue of Nintendo Power reveals that the next installment in the Mega Man series will be a “new NES game” complete with chiptune soundtrack and faithful 8bit graphics.
Screenshot from Mega Man 9 on the Wii (as printed in Nintendo Power).
According to the article, the popularity of retrographics on t-shirts and other nostalgic bric-a-brac convinced Capcom that it was the “right time” to revive the original Mega Man aesthetic.
This announcement is an encouraging sign that the unfortunate neglect of past platforms by the mainstream gaming industry is beginning ebb. Free from the need to create playable demos of the latest hardware, studios can nurture a unique language and approach to game design and development.
Innovation along many axes will finally break the brutal linearity characterizing many of the last decade’s popular titles (Doom begat Half-Life begat Halo 3…). The beauty of Flash-based titles like Dino Run is an early indication of the potential in joining a persistent platform to yesterday’s aesthetics.
In its pursuit of “the upper-limits of 8-bit”, I suspect Inafune’s team will be surprised to discover a ceiling of considerable height. Let’s hope they inspire others to similarly explore past aesthetics, constraints, and joys.
Cross-posted to the GAMBIT blog.
Tags
8bit, digital, distribution, flash, gambit, gaming, industry, innovation, megaman, retro, throwback
Tags: 8bit, digital, distribution, flash, gambit, gaming, industry, innovation, megaman, retro, throwback
June 29th, 2008 at 16:22:04 (PDT -04:00)
wow, that’s a great point - one that I hadn’t considered before. i would also say that it works the other way for some users (like me, who may admittedly be in the majority). I gave up on video consoles after the Sega Genisis because I didn’t want to be bothered with trying to keep up with the latest. The few times I’ve played a new whizbang console, I just felt the whole experience was too alien to me to merit the time investment necessary to master the new technology. Even with the new megaman title, I’d still have to learn the new wii controller…
great post!
June 29th, 2008 at 16:23:12 (PDT -04:00)
minority - i meant minority! i know most gamers are probably happy to move to the next level. give me an NES and an Atari 2600!
June 30th, 2008 at 15:57:40 (PDT -04:00)
i don’t suspect you’ll have trouble with the + and A, B of the wii controller, but point DEFINITELY taken. controller complexity is certainly an on-going issue, especially when thinking about players with various disabilities or physical ailments. (what happens when hardcore gamers get arthritis?)
also, courtesy fujichia:
MEGA MAN MMVIII
July 8th, 2008 at 17:37:35 (PDT -04:00)
MM2 == favorite game ever!