A video game retrospect from an old guy gamer
Mikey 21 comments
It only recently occurred to me that I'm probably considered to be an 'old guy' gamer. I turn 40 in a few months, and if you had asked me when I was around 6 or so if I thought I'd still be playing video games at 40, I would have said "hell yes dude!". If you'd asked me again when I was able to give a more mature thought-out response, say in my twenties, I would have probably said "I seriously doubt it".
Even to me it sounds almost juvenile, a man at my age, at this stage in his life, still occasionally passes time and gets a kick out of playing video games. Not any old type of video game mind you - having worked (a long time ago) in a video arcade for nearly 8 years as a technician where part of my job was frequent 'testing' of games, I have since developed an absolute disdain for dumbed down arcade style gaming, which means consoles are strictly off my list (Sticky aim? Oh please...). However I made an exception for the first Gran Tourismo which meant I did own a first generation Playstation.
As I look back at my gaming life I'm reminded of some of the antics that may have moulded me into the gamer I am today. Some might suggest said antics were early signs of an addiction, but truth be told I've never really been addicted to video games. But I'll let you be the judge...
The Atari 2600 era
I once ripped apart a pair of controllers and re-soldered all the wires with the quality stuff I got from the electronics store. I also regularly cleaned all the nasty plastic debris that seemed to collect under the contacts at the most inopportune of times. The Atari 2600 is the first game console I can remember owning, and at the time was pretty snazzy, until the ET game came along and destroyed my hopes along with the entire game industry in 1983.
You think graphics from just a few years ago were lame? Check this out - state of the art at the time.
The Commodore 64 era
Undoubtedly the biggest game collection I ever had was on the C64, and it was also the first time I started to dabble in programming outside of BASIC, with a language called ADVANCED (very creative naming huh?). With the Super Expander Cartridge my C64 was expended to a whopping 128k (about the same size as a collection of Windows Desktop icons these days) that also included a complex programming language that allowed me to create my first vector graphics driven adventure game.
My fondest memory of the C64 was playing Elite, a game so vast and addictive that I would fake sickness to get a day or two off school just to play it. I also fell in love with vectors, and a couple of decades later I would go on to use 'Wolf MKII' as my online alias.
For those too young to remember, the C64 shipped with a tape drive because games were stored on tape. Yes you read that right - old fashioned tape or cassette if you prefer. My kids have never seen a tape - in fact they've never even seen a video tape and they never will in this house. Depending on the game, some could take up to 45 minutes to load. This meant pressing the SHIFT & RUN-STOP keys, pressing play on the tape, and hoping like hell it didn't crash when it got to the end, which was a frequent occurrence.
If you could afford the extra clams then a floppy drive could be obtained, which had enough capacity to store a game or 3, and would load in about 1/10th the time a tape would take.
Of course back in those days there was no such thing as securerom or any other type of copy protection, so piracy ran rampant. Copying a game on tape only required a double tape deck recorder and floppy copies required 2 floppy drives.
The Amiga era
It took a long time, but the C64 was superceded by another Commodore branded machine - the Amiga, which was launched in 1000 and 1500 models. The Amiga was a graphics powerhouse compared to it's older sibling, and as the name suggests came with either 1mb or 1.5mb of RAM. Look out! This seemingly feeble amount of memory was expandable with a Viper card, bringing you up to 16mb and simultaneously opening up a new world of things to do, like cinema quality animation for example. Not many people know this but Lighwave on the Amiga was responsible for bringing many high quality CGI effects to the cinema.
The Amiga did have some quality games and launched many gaming franchises (Prince of Persia to name just one) and the careers of some of today's industry giants. Sierra, who you know better these days as Valve, or does the name Electronic Arts sound familiar?
It also introduced for the first time among other things, stereo sound and flat-shaded polygon based gaming graphics (which are still the basic foundation of today's gaming technology) and ray tracing.
But for me, I was instantly sold on the Amiga the day I saw one small demo - the juggler. The video below shows the reason I spent one summer sweating on a factory floor to save enough money to buy an Amiga, which at the time retailed for $AU1,500.
The short lived console era - Sony PS1
One day after work I arrived home and listened to my answering machine message: it was the game store informing me that my pre-order had arrived. Looking at the clock and I knew they closed in 15 minutes - but so keen was I on Gran Tourismo that I immediately jumped back in my car and drove down the emergency lane on the freeway so I could get to the store before it closed. I made it with 3 minutes to spare and that night decided I wasn't feeling well enough to go to work for the next couple of days.
Anyone who played Gran Tourismo for the first time on the PlayStation 1 will remember the weeks of absolute joy it provided. I have recently considered with on the horizon that a PS3 might be in order. Don't hold me to that though.
The PS1 was a great console, but my aforementioned disdain for everything arcade related limited the number of games that took my fancy.
With my Amiga now officially collecting dust and the PS1 quickly becoming tiresome, I looked to the PC for hope. One day at a friends house I witnessed hope, and it's name was 'Unreal'.
The PC era - current
To say my jaw hit the floor when I first saw Unreal would be a massive understatement. Within days I had purchased my first PC especially for Unreal, with specs that would make my gaming colleagues jealous. A first generation Pentium running at 233mhz, 128mb of RAM, a 30gb hard disc, and a 4mb Voodoo 1 video card. Back in those days your 3D card was actually separate to your 2D card. I was seriously the envy of man. Funny how today my mobile phone has far greater specs.
It was the first time I had seen texture based polygons and an environment that really allowed you to get immersed. Looking back at it today it's hard to believe.
The PC also introduced me to a world of new 3D games. Unreal as mentioned, Quake, Blood to name a few, and online multi player gaming. The First Person shooter quickly became and is still today my favourite gaming genre.
Today I'm still on the PC but don't play as much as I used too, and play online even less. I'm more interested in fuelling my creative interests, such as programming and design. That said, my faith in online gaming has been restored with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, although it's far from perfect and clearly shows its console roots, it's still a heck of a lot of fun.
I used to multiplay online religiously, and I hold the 'distinction' of having once played 19 consecutive online hours of Quake 2 on 56k, dieting on nothing more than Coke and Spicy Mexican dip with crackers. My body sure paid heavily for that one taking me a few days of extended sleep-ins to fully recover, and a passing thought that I might have an addiction. Nah...
The big question
With all this history, the question has to be asked - Will I still be gaming when I'm 60? I seriously doubt it. Damn, I can't believe I said that again. Are there any 50 year old gamers out there? Do I really want to be that guy? Honestly, I'd be very surprised - or maybe not!
Rodney
Wednesday 18th November 2009 | 08:24 PM...in response to this comment by Jack. Well said.
In fact, the average "gamer" age is fast approaching 30 and expected to be over 30 in a few years. "Kidults" have cash to buy consoles / PCs and games that kids don't (Kids just pirate - old folk can't be bothered and can afford not to), so the market has shifted to target us older gamers.
If you'd asked me when I was 20 if I would still be playing games at 32, I'd have said "I never thought about it..." - now I am 32 I wish I had time for games and cannot wait until I have the chance to waste an entire Sunday playing a game. I haven't played a computer game in about a year - the last one I played was Mass Effect, which I loved. However this is not for lack of will, but for lack of time.
I still consider myself a gamer, though.
andrew
Wednesday 18th November 2009 | 08:50 PMi am 50 and still enjoy playing games on pc, and mike yep you will be playing in another 10 or more years...now i am going to play some more "call of juarez"
Are there any 50 year old gamers out there?
I will let you know in 15 years because I probably will be that guy.
I left console gaming years ago when I discovered Diablo and I have to say that the PS3 is bringing me back. The shoe in is the game Demons Souls. The first great dungeon crawl for for a console.
Papa
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 04:34 AMI loved that Grand Turismo game, good memories in that video.
I have been flip flopping back and forth between PC and Consoles for years. But I finally rested on the Xbox 360. The ease of communication and the lack of programs running in the back ground (like PC) make it a very smooth platform to play on. Almost everyone has a headset, and I enjoy the communication in battle to ensure victory. I have a monster power PC, wish I had a game that put all this processing power to use. But I love my Xbox...
Marvin the Martian
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 05:24 AM...in response to this comment by Papa. Agreed... Grand Turismo is one of the best games for graphics, interface, realism etc.
Jake Farr-Wharton
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 07:13 AMThis was an awesome review Mikey, and FYI, there absolutely are old time gamers.
I grew up with a scientist dad, we always had the latest computers and consoles and he made sure that they were constantly upgraded and overhauled. I always loved canabalising a PC and using the good bits to create a new franken-PC.
A few months ago, he and my brother bought new monster PCs with the new i7 chips and the next generation of 3D graphics units (no longer just a card, it's a freaking unit!). He was standing outside EB Games at 9am last Thursday morning waiting for them to open so he could by the new modern warfare game.
He's approaching 70 and still plays games of an evening. He's a professor, a lecturer and still games, why shouldn't you.
While I can't sit in front of a computer screen for anywhere near as long as I used to (I also had the long stints of online gaming - but never did it with a 56k), I still sit and play every few nights - when I can - once the girls are in bed and the house is clean and my wife isn't nagging for attention...
Mikey
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 08:18 AM...in response to this comment by Jake Farr-Wharton. That's truly incredible about your Dad. My Dad is approaching 60 and occasionally games, but nothing too serious.
I'm in the exact situation as you - I really only do it when my 2 daughters are asleep. Though on occasion my 5 year old likes to spot enemy soldier for me while I play :-)
Ben Thomas
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 09:35 AMThanks for sharing Mikey.
You've brought back so many memories.
My first games were on an Amiga A1000 back around 1985. Loved that machine to bits, and wished we could afford to increase the ram to 256k, if I recall correctly.
Jake Farr-Wharton
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 10:25 AM...in response to this comment by Mikey. Sorry Mikey, that above nameless comment was from me.
You probably get this also, but on a saturday or sunday night when my wife is watching a movie I can't bring myself to watch, my youngest will come and sit on my lap and we'll play together until after a while she stops clicking and talking and just starts snoring... I love those moments!
Mikey
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 12:39 PMIt'd be interesting to know how many gamers started because they were influenced by their Fathers. I certainly was. From a very early age there were always computers or consoles about.
Game Junkie
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 04:36 PMI think gaming rocks and will always interst me as long as i can hold a controller or use a keyboard.
O and the link to call of duty goes to unreals wiki :)
GAMING FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mikey
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 06:05 PM...in response to this comment by Game Junkie. Thanks! Link fixed :-)
Rodney
Thursday 19th November 2009 | 08:36 PM...in response to this comment by Mikey. You know, at first I though to myself that my Dad never played computer games and probably wished I didn't play them quite so much, growing up.
Then I remembered - he did introduce me to computers games. He leant me his old work PC (pre-286 Wang laptop with a 10MB HDD and 640KB of RAM), which had dig-dug, space invaders and Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards on it. I then bought Hero's Quest (later renamed Quest for Glory) and never looked back! :-)
Jake Farr-Wharton
Friday 20th November 2009 | 06:47 AM...in response to this comment by Rodney. My old man introduced me to the Comander Keen and Doom. Anytime I had a sick day, I'd comandeer his computer and play for hours!
Those were the days!
the being
Friday 20th November 2009 | 09:22 AMKudos for the flashback. Did you ever reach elite status?
Mikey
Friday 20th November 2009 | 11:12 AM...in response to this comment by the being. Never did believe it or not! That game was massive. Even since I've looked for a game that matches Elite on the PC but nothing so far has. That said, David Braben, the man who wrote the original Elite on the C64 is planning Elite IV for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_4
Rodney
Friday 20th November 2009 | 12:32 PM...in response to this comment by Mikey. C'mon. Privateer or Wing Commander were easily better than Elite (I know I am going to cop heat for this!). For that matter, Star Control 2 was massively better.
Mikey
Friday 20th November 2009 | 01:29 PM...in response to this comment by Rodney. Blasphemy! How do I take away kudos...
Mikey
Friday 20th November 2009 | 07:38 PMActually it just occurred to me the cycle is repeating: my kids are into video games because of me. I wonder if their kids will be too and I wonder if it's possible to break the cycle!
Trent Greguhn
Friday 8th January 2010 | 10:17 AMWell, I'll throw my hat into the ring.
My father would stay up very late playing Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda (Original, NES, circa 1987). He would then let me play Mario and I would just run to the right. Took me a while to learn to jump (I was two years old.)
To this day I own a Playstation 3, Wii, Xbox 360, and have built my own custom PC specifically for playing games and doing video editing. My free time consists of primarily reading and video game playing when I'm not tagging along to go shopping for my girlfriend's and my house. I suspect I'll be just like Mike and Jake when I have children. Biding my time until they fall asleep so I can finally get another level...
I think I show equal time between my gaming systems besides my Wii which gathers dust primarily. I think when Starcraft II and Diablo III come out I'll shift heavily towards my PC, but right now my PS3 is getting all the attention with Uncharted, LittleBigPlanet, and MAG.
Jack
Wednesday 18th November 2009 | 07:48 PMAs a teenager I can't speak much for myself, but from the time I spent playing World of Warcraft, the guild which I was a member of in the game, was primiarly run by ages 40 and beyond. The oldest player I was aware of in the guild was beyond 60 years, with better characters than I had myself. Many of the other players running the guild were in their 40s and 50s, all frequent and active players.
I think the stereotype that video games are for kids and teens is a rapidly fading one. Particuarlly as generations of gamers grow older, the average age of the video gamer will continue to rise. Personally video games (and computers in general) as a form of entertainment have removed television from my life. I dont see any good reason as to why age will affect this for me. All ages can get entertainment from television, why not video games.