Now that video games are becoming more recognized as "art," there is a growing movement amongst some of the geek elite to preserve their legacy for future generations to enjoy. And why not? Gutenberg Bibles are worth millions. Old Disney VHS tapes are worth hundreds of dollars each. The Beatles' White Album can't be found at a used record store for less than $50. Games start off being pretty expensive, and the price has never really changed much. Final Fantasy III (or VI, whatever you call it) was $80 when it first came out on Super Nintendo. Today, Fallout 3 is $60. But games decrease in value after a time, and a select few eventually become more valuable. Especially RPG's - Dragon Warrior IV, Shining Force, Phantasy Star, Final Fantasies, etc. But why does the enjoyment of old games have to be confined to the few people that can actually afford to drop a Benjamin on an original NES cartridge?
Let's get games into public libraries. Books are in libraries and people still go to bookstores. A lot of newer movies are free in libraries and yet people still rent movies. Old games, for some reason or another, have no forum in which they can be rented or played without actually owning them. Blockbuster and Movie Gallery have the entire center section of their stores dedicated to older movies, all the way back to the silent film era. Why can't there be a place we can go to enjoy classic games for $1 a week? Is this more viable than getting games into libraries, there's a profit to be made now! Sure, it can be hard to get many old NES carts to work... but that definitely doesn't mean that they're broken. Blow in it, slide it into the system so it barely makes it past the edge, pop the cart halfway up, turn your NES upside down, there are all manner of getting these old classics to boot up. If there was a mom and pop retro game rental store in my neighborhood, you can be sure that I'd be one of those kids hanging out there after class, waxing nostalgic with other gamers who also recall the good old days when "graphics" were a luxury and a "soundtrack" was synthesized MIDI beeps and boops. Sweet memories... would someone please get on this?
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I think the biggest problem with this is pretty much what you said.
ReplyDeletePublic games don't last, no doubt a few snotty kids will borrow them and they'll get scratched to buggery, and be unplayable for the future lenders.