You could say that these are one of the first generations in gaming which its only riddled by passive aggressive First Person Shooters and other insanely 3D titles- 2D is still around, but its dipped dramatically- and as for the “retro” style; well lets just say it might be getting a little kick back into the game- but its not sticking around. The question is should more olden style games be created as “education” to the new generation about the coin inserting days of old? Or should we keep giving them health regenerating shooters with unlimited lives.
In the past few years “retro” has been thrown around like a fad- a few games have been announced and released with styles of old- and let me tell you this- they are not accurate representations of the gamers frustrations and desires of old- they are just games which mimic the 2D plan which we grew up and maybe chuck in a few cheerful throwbacks to various other titles in the series.
Lets think about the Sonic of this generation which tries to be like its old partner- the reasoning and anticipation of the “4th” entry into the series is lacking because the game might be brining back 2D to the title- and trying to mimic the Sonic of old with the physics- but one thing they got wrong is that Sonic might look like it belongs- but it doesn’t, why? Because something long riddled out of gaming for the “good” is now missing from these newer titles which bring nostalgic aspirations to gamers. What is this? Its hard to explain- as it isn’t just one thing.
Your missing primary the bugs and the holes which allow gamers to explore regions or try tricks to achieve the unachievable. Things the programmers never dreamed of- now days the only things which gamers can explore are horrible faults in the games design which ruin the experience for other gamers- especially online.
You also have physics- these days they are so realistic sometimes its just drab to think back to the days of old- and some games do benefit from the newer ways of thinking and designing the world around the character- but there are other titles which lack the skills to grasp these new inventions, and need to desperately get hold of some magic potion to go back in time- because they need it.
Things are also not as black and white as I’m trying to make it- or think. Back in the day games revolved around the console, these days the console is pretty much a super computer- what I’m saying is there’s no creative thinking to loop themselves around problems which the system would normally have. For example, thinking of ways to save space- or thinking about a different solution to a problem which would require more direction from the player etc. These things are lacking in now- these days games are so much about the picking up and playing aspect have they forgotten how to trick the player into thinking the game is more complicated then it is?
Now back to the education aspect I wanted to preach because it seamed my current point is lacking- or least explained quite horribly. You see the main point is kids these days have their Halo and Call of Duty and other restrictive franchises stuck in their heads they don’t know about our Pokemon or Zelda or Mario or Space Invaders- or even- god forbid Pacman. Also they think everything old like that is ripping off their modern crap- seriously? Are kids that shallow? Someone should tell them Pong isn’t a rip-off of Wii Sports Tennis.
I think by creating more “retro” style games with the problems and restrictions “faked” then kids will learn to appreciate what they have now- and at the same time, learn about true art in video games. Also at the same time release some of the more older prominent IPs which have been around for along time- if they are 2D games with “retro overlays” which change the graphics, sounds and other features to mimic that of the original games in the series.
A few years ago I decided to dwell in the idea of making one- because I saw it somewhere- while I know it was on Mythbusters for the episode which they did the technique to polish a turd, I’m pretty sure I heard of the technique before then. Anyway a little awhile after the episode aired (November 2008 it seems) I decided to try it out- because who wouldn’t want a shiny mud ball in on their mantal piece.
Well my attempt was a complete disaster. I was with a friend at the time who I tried to convince to do it as well- but wouldn’t because he didn’t want to touch the mud.
Anyway mine was a complete disaster- and while I did get it to the stage the above picture is- I never was able to polish it- instead it crumbled in my hands after awhile- so I gave up and went on to do something else.
If you too want to achieve the same failure! Nows the time to learn about the technique, how it is achieved, and what you can do to it if it does indeed crack and brake for you.
All you need really is mud. Lots and lots of Mud. My suggestion is to dig up your parents garden to make a “Mud Bath” to have ample amounts of mud for this project.
The first thing you want to do is make a sphere which you will want most of the water squeezed out from it. Once you have the sphere, your goal is to continue to “coat” it with dirt.
With the dirt you are adding to the sphere you want to rub it into the ball. If its still not a perfect sphere you will also be using to to “shape” the ball.
Continue to rub the sphere then put it into a plastic bag for the water to disappear, then after a few hours remove it and put some dirt on it again while rubbing it. After awhile it should be polished if not you might want to try some different techniques.
There are a few variations to this main technique- which is based off the one from eHow. Another one which was more along the lines what I used a few years back involved a more “quicker” method which you would continue to rub it like traditionally, but putting it into the freezer in a box or leaving it out in the sun will speed the time required to wait for it dramatically and then you could move onto working on its coat again.
Also if it cracks- there are solutions to fix it. People can slap some mud into the cracks and work it around the ball- once that is done the dirt method and putting it around and around like before will work and just continue from there.