With all the hype surrounding the release of the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X, you would be forgiven for only having eyes for those two. However, I believe that rather than spending a pretty penny on the most recent console, you’d actually be better off in terms of enjoyment, by buying one of the older consoles from at least 20 years ago. Call me crazy but the times before the developers became fixated on realism were actually the best times for gaming. The younger generation who were not around during that era may disagree, but the fact than Minecraft, with its simple, pixelated graphics is one of the biggest titles of all time or that generation, shows that realism is definitely not the be-all end-all.
If you think back to the time when the internet was in its infancy and online gaming was still unknown territory, we cherished the times we could play games shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends and family, allowing us to share the enjoyment, competitiveness and occasionally the pain that came with losing. Multiplayer split screens which surprisingly are still ongoing today, back then was the source of immense excitement. Think playing Crash Bandicoot, Mario Kart or Goldeneye with your friends and how exciting that was compared to today where you are often sat at home alone with a headset playing against random people from all over the world. It’s a completely different time.
The price of a brand new top-of-the-range Playstation 5 or Xbox Series X will set you back a hefty sum and that’s even before you have bought games, accessories and in-game add ons. When you compare it to buying a Playstation 1 or Nintendo 64 at today’s market price around 25 years after their original release, that will get you thinking. For a fraction of a price you can get one of these now-affordable games consoles, and with it a lot of nostalgia and a huge stack of games. Really, how could you not?!
While the modern games consoles are also considered as more than just for playing games (they are often referred to as home-hubs), isn’t it sometimes nicer to have the simpler option? Do you really want or need the option to watch Netflix through your console when you probably already have it on every smart device you own? Retro games consoles are so pure in that they only had one purpose, and that was for you to play games on it.
Call me nostalgic in my pining for a simpler time for video games, but the simplicity of my childhood is likely attached to these consoles and probably my reason for preferring them over the new latest-and-greatest console. While this article may not be enough to convince you to not purchase the new PS5 or Xbox, I hope it encourages you to buy a retro console and keep those days alive!
