Old Games Are Like Old Movies

There is a general consensus as of late to remake Final Fantasy VII with updated graphics, voice actors, and enhanced sound. It’s the graphics which many modern gamers really bash Final Fantasy VII for. This was not always the case. When the game first came out in 1997 its graphics were lauded as a technical masterpiece. Never before had people seen 3D rendered so beautifully, with great backdrops, all along with an intriguing story and memorable characters. It was hailed, by many, as one of the best games ever made. But over the years, Final Fantasy VII hasn’t withstood peoples’ criticisms. What was once hailed as a gaming masterpiece is now looked at as almost archaic by some. “The graphics need to be updated,” people cry out. “They need to remake Final Fantasy VII” are the words promulgated on many message boards. But why? When did people start caring so much about graphics? True, new games should make as much use of the new strides in computer graphics as possible, but why can’t an old game just be appreciated for the way it was originally programmed? The fact of the matter is that even the games of today will look dated in the near future. Graphics change rapidly. Even back in the 80s it’s amazing how EGA graphics on the PC became smoother and less blocky by the latter half of the decade. By the early 90s VGA graphics, with 256 colors, came into place, - a huge leap from EGA – blowing anything people had seen before out of the water. Aside from the advancements of the PC, Super Nintendo and Sega graphics and sound were amazing compared to original Nintendo. Then Playstation and the Nintendo 64 would come along making further advancements. Now with even greater computers, and the Wii U, PS 4, and Xbox One, graphics and sound seemed to have reached their pinnacle, even though in the future that may not look like the case. In the future should today’s games be thought of as inferior when new games come out with better graphics and other better technical specifications? Should games continually be remade to satisfy those who love high quality graphics? It doesn’t stop at Final Fantasy VII, as message boards are full of people asking for Elder Scrolls 1, 2, and 3 to be remade. In fact, some people have made mods to enhance the graphics of Morrowind and even Oblivion. King’s Quest games also haven’t been immune to people wanting remakes, with many remaking King’s Quest I-IV, with VGA graphics, voice acting, and new scenes and characters, and in the process making a more complicated story from what was a simpler one. It seems most modern gamers have become, for lack of a better word, graphic snobs, in which they cannot appreciate a game unless it has the highest caliber of graphics and other technical specifications possible. Too often there are posts on message boards, or YouTube comments, stating that they can’t play an old game because they can’t get past the graphics. Imagine if this same mentality was applied to movies. Most people throw up their hands in exasperation when old movies are remade, or black and white movies are recolored. For example, colorizing beloved black and white classics like It’s A Wonderful Life and Casablanca? Absolute blasphemy! Adding CGI special effects in the original Star Wars trilogy? Most cry out foul, claiming disrespect to the originals. Remaking Clash of the Titans with better special effects? Loads of critics and audiences pan it, saying it lacks heart compared to the original. This begs the question of why can’t most gamers have the same mentality about classic old games that film lovers have about classic old films? Why can’t gamers love Final Fantasy VII for its blocky character sprites and other outdated graphics, just as movie lovers love original classic movies in their own format? When did gamers become such graphic snobs? The real question to ask oneself about old games is not if the graphics have withstood the test of time, but is the gameplay and the enjoyment still there. In the case of some of the aforementioned games, such as Final Fantasy VII, the gameplay is still wonderful. VII still has wonderful gameplay, allowing the player to customize the characters, using materia, anyway they see fit. The game’s side-quests with Chocobos, and mini games in the Flying Saucer are, according to many Final Fantasy fans, better than the side-quests and mini-games in Final Fantasy X. VII’s story is still strong, ripe with symbolism and archetypes, and the character growth is still excellently conceived, allowing us to feel emotion ranging from happiness to sadness as the characters grow. The same can also be said for games such as Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, a game with dated graphics, but one of the biggest maps to explore in video and computer game history and loads of quests, making it still highly enjoyable. Even Final Fantasy I can be enjoyed in its original Nintendo form, and, in some ways, is more charming than the GBA remake. And while Super Mario Bros 1-3 were re-released with updated graphics on the Super NES and then the GBA, they seemed to lose something with enhanced graphics and sound. In a way, the original Mario look from the first game has a charm to it, kind of like the old Disney cartoon Steamboat Willie has its own charm compared to the later Mickey cartoons. While there have been loads of people who have praised the Metroid remake, titled Metroid Zero Mission, I for one have been less than thrilled with it. Yes, the game is squeaky clean looking, with enhanced graphics, but it all felt so superfluous, devoid of the beautiful simplicity which made the original so grand. Though, in all fairness, they did include the original NES version on the Gameboy Advance remake. On another note, games that are made with just good graphics in mind usually don’t withstand the test of time. Altered Beast is a case in point. Altered Beast was popular when it came out, but it was more so for the graphics, rather than the enjoyment of gameplay. As the years have passed, this game hasn’t really withstood the test of time, as people have begun to recognize how weak it really is. However, games like the first Super Mario Bros, are still being played fondly, even by a new generation of kids. While updated graphics in games can be fun, gaming really isn’t about the graphics. It’s about the gameplay and the enjoyment it offers gamers. If the gameplay is solid and enjoyable, what do graphics, or sound for that matter, really matter if they grow dated? Games like Super Mario, Final Fantasy series, Elder Scrolls series, King’s Quest, Metroid, and so forth should be looked at and appreciated the same way old, classic movies are appreciated. Now, in order not to look like a hypocrite, though I have berated gamers for wanting old games to be updated, I myself have loved some remakes. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two Monkey Island remakes, the Pokemon remakes, and the Duck Tales remake. Granted, many would disagree with me, and others would say the games I bashed for being remade didn’t deserve my criticism. It’s all a matter of opinion. So, yes, there are games I love being remade, which others have hated being remade, and vice-a-versa. Maybe it’s not games being remade that I hate so much as I hate people always complaining about old games lack rather than appreciating them for what they have. That said, I certainly love it when companies include the original version to play alongside with the remake. I just can’t help but feel that games like Final Fantasy VII don’t need the updated graphics, voice acting and superior sound added to be better. Even with its blocky sprites, and other flaws, it still stands the test of with its excellent storyline, intriguing characters, and mesmerizing gameplay. In the end, that’s all that matters. Sadly there are many modern gamers who say they won’t play an old game due to its older graphics, and in the end they are guilty of missing out on the magic of some of these older titles.

Video Games and Endurance

Life is tough, and finding a career, going to school, and paying off loans, and other aspects in our day to day endeavors take up so much time and energy that to play video games would be just a waste of time. This is how many who hate video games feel, thinking that they are of no importance. But are they right in their assessment? Are video games just a time-killer that hampers the important things in life? They can be. But so can sports, watching movies, playing board games, and even exercising and working if taken to an excess. Moderation is a beautiful word and playing video games in moderation can not only be fun, but also can teach people important lessons about endurance when life gets hard. We all face challenging levels and enemies when playing games. We play Megaman X, fighting robot master after robot master, only to get to Sigma X and get wiped on the floor by him. The Ninja Gaidan games, both for the original Nintendo and the Xbox and the Playstation consoles, are merciless in their difficulty. The Dark Souls games are unforgiving, challenging players to think outside the box when defeating enemies such as the dynamic duo of Dragon Slayer Ornstien and Executioner Smough, and when withstanding the cruel blows of the Lost Sinner. In the Starcraft and the Warcraft series, players face insurmountable odds when they are swarmed by enemies. Is this any different than real life? True, we aren’t fighting monsters in a life and death battle, nor can we wield magic, and nor are we fighting aliens or zombies, but we do face insurmountable odds in life that feel impossible to overcome. Just as the player is hit in the darkness by Lost Sinner in Dark Souls II, often it feels like the darkness of life is hitting us from each and every direction. Financial problems can close in on us, like a swarm of Zerg threatening to overwhelm us. Maybe it feels like we’re about to lose our sanity, from our job or our not being employed, and we are just holding on as hard as we can to that last extra heart to keep it from going out. I remember one time in particular in which I was jobless. I spent about a year looking for a job, with nothing coming up. I was despondent. What really helped keep my sanity was an old NES game I downloaded onto my Wii. Castlevania III was a difficult game to say the least. By the time my party reached Dracula, it didn’t seem like I’d be able to beat him. He was just too darn hard. It took me numerous tries to beat his first form, only for him to take on a second and much more powerful form. By the time he reached his third form, I was fighting for dear life. Each time he handed me my heart on a platter, mocking me and my insignificant attempts. I cannot possibly enumerate the times I died, and the pain of having to start over at the beginning of the level (though thankfully not at the beginning of the game) again and again and again. Then one day, I dealt the final blow to that vampire. The credits rolled as the castle fell, and I felt a sense of newfound glory after numerous attempts. It was then that an epiphany hit me. If I could eventually slay the dark vampire lord, then I could also eventually get a job. Yes, there were some hurdles to overcome, some barriers that felt nigh impossible, but it could be done. In time I did land a job, and it felt glorious. I have Castlevania III and other video games to thank for that. Aside from being compared to an action game, life can also be thought up as an RPG. Sometimes it takes work and effort to reach a certain point. One can spend hours upon hours playing the Nintendo’s Dragon Warrior I, trying to level a character up to a suitable level to brave another territory. But that experience of fighting monsters makes your character stronger. We defeat one challenge, only to face a bigger challenge, but in the end more XP is earned. Just like in an RPG, we start out weak and frail as children, having to start out fighting slimes, but as we gain experience and turn into adults, we become warriors fighting dragons. We learn strategies in life for how to cope with problems barraging us from every direction, fortifying our defenses as though we would against an attack from an enemy army in Warcraft. We think of new ways to overcome a problem, like Dark Souls teaches us. We learn to be quick on our feet to act, but graceful, like a Ninja facing his adversaries. Sometimes we die in games, true, but we continue on. When we mentally die in life, we can choose to press our own continue button, even though going through life living each year is a level full of obstacles. Video games can teach the importance of endurance, and that we can keep going on. Truth be told, perhaps when life is hard is when it’s the best time to learn from a video game.