What happens when a 21st-century kid plays through video game history in chronological order?

[beero1000]

https://medium.com/message/playing-with-my-son-e5226ff0a7c3

Start with the arcade classics and Atari 2600, from Asteroids to Zaxxon. After a year, move on to the 8-bit era with the NES and Sega classics. The next year, the SNES, Game Boy, and classic PC adventure games. Then the PlayStation and N64, Xbox and GBA, and so on until we’re caught up with the modern era of gaming.

Would that child better appreciate modern independent games that don’t have the budgets of AAA monstrosities like Destiny and Call of Duty? Would they appreciate the retro aesthetic, or just think it looks crappy?


Or would they just grow up thinking that video game technology moved at a breakneck speed when they were kids, and slammed to a halt as soon as they hit adolescence?

 

[dx713]

https://medium.com/message/playing-with-my-son-e5226ff0a7c3

Start with the arcade classics and Atari 2600, from Asteroids to Zaxxon. After a year, move on to the 8-bit era with the NES and Sega classics. The next year, the SNES, Game Boy, and classic PC adventure games. Then the PlayStation and N64, Xbox and GBA, and so on until we’re caught up with the modern era of gaming.

Would that child better appreciate modern independent games that don’t have the budgets of AAA monstrosities like Destiny and Call of Duty? Would they appreciate the retro aesthetic, or just think it looks crappy?


Or would they just grow up thinking that video game technology moved at a breakneck speed when they were kids, and slammed to a halt as soon as they hit adolescence?

If I judge by my kids, flashy realistic graphics are NOT what appeal kids in videogames.
On the PC, they prefer minecraft squares to many more beautiful games. We now have PCs in the house able to run World Of Tanks at near-full graphics, but once they saw the track marks once, they just went back to minecraft to have a more open, sandbox-like, creative environment, and the possibility of setting up their own server to invite their friends.
On tablets and/or phones, they prefer simplistic, fast-paced games or community-building games where they can brag about / invite their friends than simulations with nice textures.
One of them still like to duel against me on the old Vectrex from my youth. (8 bits, monochrome vector-base 11' screen, and audible transformer buzz, for those who don't know what it's about)

It's about socializing and imagination. They don't need fully fleshed-out graphics as long as there are enough details to support their imagination and not impede gameplay.

 

[Jayjay]

Why do I think that this story will end with Child Protective Services intervening while the father is being dragged away in a straight jacked screaming "You don't understand! He has to finish Double Dragon II in hard mode to see the final boss!"