If you listen to the Barrel Roll! podcast, then you know I’m the type to knock down a cinematic, goppy, story-driven, fully orchestrated game in favor of a simple, arcade-style, jump-on-in style game. So it might surprise you to learn that, well… I’ve never much cared for Space Invaders! And this is true for the vast majority of shoot-em-ups.

I’ve just never had the interest and patience to develop skill in them, and outside of a handful of very simple shmups like B-Wings and Volley Fire, I’ve hardly given them the time of day. Of course, Space Invaders is the simplest of all shmups, but it’s so primordial. Being born in 1983, I am not a true child of the arcades – I got into gaming at the tail-end of the NES era. To really get into Space Invaders, I would need it to evolve.

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I really enjoy playing old games. This will come as no surprise to readers that keep up with our Friday Old Games series. But when I do get in the retro mood, I almost always do it on the real console. ROMs, collections, and downloadable releases just don’t feel the same as hooking up an NES (or whatever other system) and playing the game with the setup it was intended for, controller and all.

Lately, this has got me thinking. 20 years from now, will we still be able to experience this current generation of games? And if so, to what capacity?

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In a real life fight, some people will scratch, claw, bite, and pull hair in order to win. They will use whatever tools will give them an advantage, regardless of how unfair it might be. These are the type of people whose first move in combat will always be the kick to the groin. These are the type of people that always have an over-shield in Halo or an RCP 90 in Goldeneye.

To some, they are cheap bastards, to others they are simply taking advantage of what the game provides.

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"Old School"

As Ciandi has pointed out, online gaming has vast potential to connect us all in crazy new ways.  Xbox Live, and to a lesser extent the Playstation Network have completely changed the gaming landscape. I have spent hours crushing guys from Germany in Burnout: Revenge. I have witnessed 8 strangers working together as one perfect unit to crush alien scum in Resistance 2.

So why am I defending something old and antiquated like split screen multiplayer? Click past the break, adventurous reader, to find out.

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I am playing Lumines. I am in the groove. The whole board is basically clear. I am already at my previous high score and I am quickly taking off for the stratosphere. If life were NBA Jam, I would literally be on fire. My hands are moving with a precision that a concert pianist would envy. There is nothing that can stop me. When Masterlookas sees this score, honest to god, tears are going to fall out of his eyes.

And then bloop blip.  I’ve got a message from my friend.

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