Pixels 62 – NostalgiaBox

 

On this episode we discuss:

  • SNES Classic, AtariBox: nostalgia galore.
  • Blizzard Corner (Twitch deal, Hearthstone expansion, Doomfist in OW)
  • PUBG, Markiplier, Honor of Kings, Stream Sales…
  • And more!

More info on the show:

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Comments

  1. Corey Berry says:

    Hey Patrick,

    I just wanted comment about you guys discussion on nostalgic games and consoles.

    I don’t see any reason to buy the SNES Classic or similar consoles. Especially considering that I can get the same experience by emulating titles that I already own using a Raspberry Pi or PC. However what if these consoles did more than just play a handful of nostalgic titles.

    [Entering wishful thinking area]

    What if…

    1) They had built-in support for platforms like Twitch for sharing game play with friends…

    2) The consoles supported competitive gaming events. For example, each game could contain modified versions of the original with support for additional players, larger more complex levels, improved graphics, improved game play, increased difficulty, etc.

    Imagine a modified Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game with 2 to 32 players racing through an insanely large level competing for rings, kills, etc.

    Or imagine a Zelda: A Link to the Past game with multi-player (MMO) features in addition to harder dungeons and more monsters.

    3) They were released with consumer / indie developer tools (something like Super Mario Maker/Unity for classic games) publicly available to the public to further extend existing games and/or create more content for these classic consoles.

    All this may sound like heresy for game purists but I think it would breathe new life into these old titles once the nostalgic feeling wears off. Just a thought.

    Anyway, love the show and keep up the good work!

    • Hey Corey, I agree these are all super interesting ideas, but you’re talking about something very very different from the nostalgia products being released these days at this point. The scope would be immensely more ambitious. Would be cool indeed though! Would love to see it happen.

  2. Matthias Keller says:

    I’m surprised about you being so critical about the S/NES Classic, Patrick. I thought if anyone would be willing to spend more money on Nintendo stuff it would be you! 😉

    Personally, while I prefer the DIY version of setting up a Raspberry Pi, I like the idea of a SNES Classic purely for nostalgic and convenience reasons. The SNES was THE console of my youth and while I still have the original console along with a number of games sitting in a box somewhere, it is a bit tedious to get it out and set it up: It’s big and bulky, takes up a lot of room next to the TV (especially with all the game cartridges) and besides all the cables you already got you maybe even need an adapter to plug it in. The Classic version, on the other hand, is rather small and a bit more up to date when it comes to connectors.

    But it might not just be simple nostalgia to get one but also a question of price: You get the console including 24 games for around 80€ (assuming you don’t have to go through a reseller who is charging ludicrous prices as they already do). If you want to get a game for your old SNES today you have to go through ebay or a video game store and depending on what title you want they are not that cheap (at least not if you take their age into consideration; if you take the retail price back then most of them are a steal, I guess). So if you really wanted to get a few of the games that are included in the package you might pay more if you buy them on the second-hand market and you get a bit of updated hardware on top.

    And let’s expand that thought a bit: As far as I know, they haven’t done it with the NES Classic yet but maybe they will offer some additional games as small online purchases or games collections on SD cards. (hey, even more nostalgia with the return of those ‘super games collection’ type boxes maybe? 😉 ) Might not be a huge market but depending on the number of console sales at least a little bit of money on the side for Nintendo; especially if they manage to sell the popular titles or more along the line of Starfox 2.

    But coming back to your skepticism regarding the whole thing, Patrick, I’m curious: Are you also critical of the whole “let’s reboot our 20-year-old game and re-release it in an updated version”-trend? For example Square Enix reselling all their Final Fantasy games with a little bit updated graphics for 10-20 Euros or Microsoft revisiting the Age of Empires series. Because that’s also mostly nostalgia since the game design on a lot of those titles is almost as dated as the original games themselves (although not all of them of course: AoE, for example, is still pretty playable by today’s standards).

    • patrick says:

      You’re misunderstanding our point (or maybe we didn’t express it well : the SNES Classic is cool, but what I’m saying is I think most people who buy it will plug it in, play for two hours, and never use it again. Sure some people will get a lot of use out of it, but I just don’t think the format of an “old games box” is very practical in actual real world life.
      And to answer your question, I’m fine with old games (or old anything) remakes. I don’t think they’re quite the same thing though, and to be clear, I have nothing against nostalgia, I just think most people think they’ll get more “use” out of it than they usually end up getting.

      • Matthias Keller says:

        Maybe I just misunderstood and as you pointed out maybe some people overestimate the time they will be using it. But at least they have something nice looking to put on their shelf I guess.

        I still think the old games analogy kind of works though because we all have a tendency to romanticize some classics, so there might be a lot of people that buy one of the remakes, see how bad some of the game mechanics were back in the day and then never play it after two hours (happened to me more than once). So kind of the same like you described the S/NES Classic purchases 😉

        In any case both the NES Classic and the SNES Classic are a hit in terms of (pre-)orders, so good on Nintendo for doing that; if not for monetary than at least for PR/reputation reasons.

  3. Hey Patrick, good episode. When I heard the SNES classic was being released I immediately rushed online to try and pre-order……and then I took a moment, and then realized, I don’t actually want this thing – at all.
    Just let me buy all of those games on my Switch…like come on Nintendo.
    More artificial content-gating for marketing purposes. Oh, and nostalgia is overrated.

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