The Glory Days
Heh - seems I'm not the only one musing about the glory days. I got a kick out of Dave Jaffe's blog today:

http://davidjaffe.modblog.com/?show=blogview&blog_id=649693

I didn't get QUITE the level of fame or notoriety. For one thing, I had very little to do with Twisted Metal 2 - I was mostly working on Jet Moto at the time, and I think only my code from the first Twisted Metal made it in. Secondly, I wasn't in a leadership position in any of those games - just one of the team. Thirdly, the fan base that would go gah over the fact I had worked on those games were all 14-year-old boys. If it had been 18-year-old girls, I would have been considerably more appreciative of the attention (though my wife would have been FAR less amused). So while I didn't really bask in limited fame very much, it was fun to see so much attention heaped upon a a creative work I'd had a hand in. Maybe it was like being a cameraman or a bit role in Star Wars ("Dude, I was that guy who warned the rebels over the radio that there were enemy fighters heading their way!".

But it's sad seeing old "classics" getting forgotten - games, movies, rock bands, whatever. When that marketing drive dies down and the hubub is over, people move on to the next new thing. It's the way of things. I'm moving on to the next new things too, though I make an effort not to limit myself - and I try to expose my kids to some of these great old games (and movies, etc) where possible. As they get older they may get rebellious and reject them... But my oldest daughter recently discovered a website that has web-playable (Java applet?) remakes of classic arcade games. She's been having a blast playing these old games, and telling me about them as if I'd never seen them before. I had nothing to do with it.

Fun is still fun. So long as we can keep the channels open for players to discover and enjoy the old classics (and the less-than-classics) , they'll remain a small part of the entertainment landscape, long after they have ceased to be a "current event."

Labels: retro

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 8:13 AM (Permalink)