I’m still in disbelief as I write these lines. Why do I say this? Why I’m a gamer from 1998and I find myself catapulted into what seems like a future science fictionbut which all things considered is my new present.
I was there, intent on inserting a CD into my PlayStation that I bought a few weeks ago, when suddenly I find myself in a room that isn’t mine, surrounded by monitors and huge screens that reflect like mirrors and by devices that I don’t recognize.
Panic attacks me: where am I? What happened to my video game collection? As I began to explore this new “world”, I discovered that the future of video games is completely different from the present I have known.
I peek at the shelf of my “new” room: I see two consoles, one of generous dimensions in white and one black, similar to a monolith and equally powerful. I read: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.
What do you mean “5”? Are you saying that there were other Sony consoles after the PlayStation, up until this huge gaming system with a bizarre design? And then, why was it placed vertically and not horizontally? Can I still lay it on its side or do I risk breaking the shelf and everything else?
About this Xbox, however, I know nothing at all. I find out that it is Microsoft to produce it, and which in reality is also a latest model after various versions released over the years. I read Xbox, 360, One, One X: has Microsoft, the one of Windows PCs, launched itself into the console market? What did I miss?
I also notice a third device, smaller and with a screen that looks like that of a Game Boy, but several times larger. I read: Nintendo Switch. Nintendo, it still exists! After all, with Nintendo 64 he demonstrated that he wanted to surpass PlayStation in terms of power, who knows how far he has come since then.
Between Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, GameCube, Wii and Wii U, I discover that the history of the House of Mario is paved with successes and some failures, but that apparently Nintendo is now playing in a league of its own.
AND SAW? I remember that the Saturn it was rivaling the PlayStation, but I chose not to buy it in favor of the latter, which many of my friends did. How do you say? Did SEGA stop producing consoles after a certain Dreamcast? And how would you say that Mario And Sonic they met as protagonists of one or more video games crossovers? It’s really true that times change and we shouldn’t rely on the certainties of a lifetime…
I realize that the world of video games has become a place of connection and competition.
Another shocker is this thing called Game Pass: Nearly thirty years ago, the idea of having unlimited access to a vast library of games seemed like science fiction. And yet, here we are, with the ability to access hundreds of titles with a monthly subscription.
However, how do today’s players manage to deal with all these titles every month, “downloading” them onto their console as if they were files on a computer, without having the physical disc?
Yes, the physical support: In fact, I see that people are buying fewer and fewer video games on disc or cartridge, and it scares me. Let’s hope that in another thirty years or so video games won’t just be downloadable, it would be a big problem for all the collectors who also and above all like video games as a collection, not to mention that preservation can be a big problem, after all.
Then there’s this other thing called PlayStation Pluswhich is the same but in its own way even more complex (and which can be bought on a portal called Amazon, which sells everything), given that without this service it is not possible to take part in online challenges. In 1998, the The idea of playing games on the Internet with other people was certainly not within everyone’s reach, but in 2024 it seems to be an everyday reality.
I realize that the world of video games is no longer a solitary thing. It has become a place of connection and competition, where friendships can begin and end miles apart, without ever meeting. So, play on the same console between friends, in split screen, is it no longer possible? Doubt assails me.
Luckily, single player games also still exist, even if they are very different from how I remembered them: I discover series like The Last of Us And Uncharted, practically roller coaster rides, with a plot and characters so real they’re scary. The stories also seem to have gained much more depth and importance, rivaling some Hollywood productions.
In my day we were satisfied with a handful of polygons that looked like who knows what, but here the level of involvement (as well as the pure and simple graphics) is off the charts. “Boomers“, I hear myself called. An ironic and partly derogatory name, attributed to a person who displays attitudes and ways of thinking now considered outdated by the new generations.
As I adjust to this new world, I can’t help but notice the cracks in the facade, something that sends a shiver down my spine. In fact, I discover that in 2024 the video game market is in a difficult situation. While the so-called Game Pass offers an abundance of choice, many developers struggle to survive in an increasingly competitive market.
I discover that some recent releases from this century actually concern the video games of my time: Metal Gear, Tomb Raider, Crash, Final Fantasy VII.
Some of my favorite games seem to have disappeared into thin air, replaced by titles that seem to focus more on monetization than the gaming experience. As the video game market comes under increasing pressure, controversies over these strange things called “microtransactions” and some business practices dominate discussions on the Internet.
However, I am happy to discover that many of the recent releases of this century concern the games of my time: Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII. There are (almost) all the titles that were popular in my time, and people seem to go crazy for these (almost) 1:1 re-proposals.
So I understand that for today’s players cling to nostalgia of the themes that were is almost therapeutic: Is the historical period they are experiencing so bad?
Yes, because now players meet on online portals called social networks, similar to the forums of the past but at the same time profoundly different, even if the amount of hatred poured into those pages is truly dangerous.
It’s as if the charm and innocence of the video games of my time have been lost in the midst of this commercial and opinion frenzyin which everyone feels entitled and obliged to have their say, even if at times aggressive and profoundly wrong.
And if these issues outline a struggling market, I can’t help but be excited by what I see. There are still hidden jewels to discoverexperiences that capture fantasy and imagination as much as the video games of my past, even if aimed at a more inattentive audience, who perhaps no longer love the challenge as much as they once did and who often like to be taken by the hand and accompanied at the end of the credits.
And as I begin to understand more and more this new way of understanding video games, I realize that, despite the challenges and difficulties, the love for gaming (as the new generations call it) is timeless. Yes, these 2020s, thanks to many real problems off the screen – from economic crises to global pandemics – are revealing themselves a difficult decade, very hard. And from what I see it’s still not clear how or when it will come out completely.
Perhaps, however, thanks to a passion that both boomers like me and today’s players have in common, we can still experience at least the magic in video games, even in this era in which tomorrow is all to be written, amidst doubts and fears. Hoping everything goes well.
Now, however, you will have to excuse me: I’m going back to playing my dear old PlayStation 1.
