Hi all, now that videogames have been around long enough to have a history, is anyone interested in vintage game consoles?
Perhaps Atari or Nintendo 8-bit. There's something so satisfying about the blockiness of the graphics; something that fancy 3-d games don't have.
Any resources out there?
thanks,
m
----------------------------
>>Perhaps Atari or Nintendo...
>>Perhaps Atari or Nintendo 8-bit. There's something so satisfying about the blockiness of the graphics; something that fancy 3-d games don't have.
Yeah. I think it's called "nostalgia".
>>Any resources out there?
I recall seeing a documentary on the history of videogames, which I believe was "In The Game", originally shown on CNBC.
There's also this thing, where they're interviewing Nolan Bushnell among others, but I'm not sure if this the same one:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3637639460474263178&q=history+of...
More than nostalgia
An appreciation of vintage games shouldn't be dismissed as mere nostalgia. 8-bit graphics and music had by necessity to be simple (which I consider a virtue) yet creative. The music alone was elemental electronic tones, yet had to play perpetually in a game's background to set a mood without annoying the listener.
I asked my boyfriend what his favorite 8-bit theme music is (he's obsessive about design and music) and he replied immediately, "Metroid, Kraid's level". He describes it as haunting, capturing the sense of being isolated in space.
The link below is to that theme music.
And a good read is David Sheff's 'Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered The World.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_DwmMDCOQQ
Irate Gamer
Since you love 8-bit games, check out Irate Gamer on youtube. His reviews of older games and systems are hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/irategamer
8-bit sounds
I just remembered that Cory Arcangel has been making some neat nintendo 8-bit music. he's on Beige Records with some other like-minded musicians:
http://www.beigerecords.com/media/audio/mp3.html
If you need any help, please contact us at – info@designaddict.com