It’s funny…

Re-reading Game Over, a book chronicling the history of the video game industry, and Nintendo in particular, it’s interesting to see how so many years ago, much of what they held true seems to hold up today, including the same philosophies they’re following through on with systems like the DS and the Revolution.

Also interesting was hearing Nolan Bushnell, co-founder of Atari, speaking on a 2003 ep of Icons about arcades sort of speaking of how the second big boom of arcades, which was basically the fighting game era, wasn’t as big as the original, because of the complexity of games; how a lot of fighting games were too much for the casual player, or some women, or some businessmen, a lot of the types who played during the first big boom(Pac-Man, Joust, etc.) weren’t taking to it so much, which worsened even more by way of a year or so in, it being hard for people to join in without getting their asses handed to them royally by all of the experts at Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc.

He phrased it differently, but it was sounding a lot like what Nintendo has said about the home market now, which leads one to think if maybe consoles aren’t starting to follow in the footsteps of the arcades before them…

LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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