Old School

It has recently come to my attention that really advanced technology doesn't always cut it.

Today I am posting about video games...

I have a Wii. One of the features that drew me to that particular console, apart fro the ingenious controller, was the Virtual Console. For those of you reading who don't know, the Virtual Console is a feature supported by the Wii that lets a person download classic video games to the console, classic games from systems like the NES, SNES, Turbo Grafix, Sega Genesis, and the N64. Now, these games don't always feature the greatest graphics and sound but most of them are still as fun and as challenging as they were when they were released, some upwards of twenty years ago. One series that has stood the test of time, that was created more than twenty years ago, and has not lost any of its charm is the Legend of Zelda series. The 200th issue of Nintendo Power Magazine featured the last fifty of the top 200 Nintendo games of all time. In the list, three of the top five, four of the top ten, and five of the top fifteen were Zelda games.

One of the goals I have with owning my Wii is to collect every console version of the Legend of Zelda series. So far I have five of the eight.

Anyway, as I was saying at the beginning, these games show that fancy technology doesn't always mean better games. Case and point being that my two all time favorite Zelda games are A Link to the Past (released in 1992 for the SNES) and the Ocarina of Time (released in 1998 for the N64). Both of these games, in my opinion, beat out the newest addition to the Zelda family Twilight Princess (released for the Wii in November of 2006 and for the Game Cube in December 2006). Even with it's fancy motion sensing technology it couldn't quite match the brilliance and mastery of the two titles I just mentioned (it does come close though). These games are as fun and as ever.

Enough of Zelda. The real inspiration for this posting came from one of the first games ever released for the original Nintendo. Duck Hunt. I recently had the opportunity to play duck Hunt again. Let me just say this: shooting digital ducks with a bright orange (or grey), plastic gun never loses its appeal. Sure the game isn't very deep, all you do is shoot things that fly across the screen, but its simplicity is what makes it so brilliant. All you do is point and shoot. If you miss, a dog laughs at you (stupid dog. I'd like to shoot that thing). Simple. Anyone can do it (being good at it is a different story). Simple controls and straightforward game play can make a really fun game. I'm just surprised it took so long for someone to catch on to this fact. I'm really glad to see Nintendo returning to this mentality with the Wii. I really hope they stick to it. If they do then we could see a really fantastic next generation of games and more importantly, a brand new influx of gamers.

That is all. I'm tired and I am going to bed.

Goodnight.