The funny part about video game history: Despite the untold millions of lives the field has touched, given the speed at which such a tech-savvy, hit-driven industry moves, few people care about reliving it. Worse, fewer still concern themselves with preserving it outside of stowing the occasional old copy of The Secret of Monkey Island or Mario 64 away on a shelf to gather dust. This is troubling for several reasons, none the least of which include that we’re failing to preserve the lessons of the past for future generations to study, and that countless pioneering titles for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, Atari 800 and other systems are quickly being lost to time. (As are the names and artifacts behind these seminal works of art.) Worse, it also irks because in many cases, some of today’s hottest outings stand on the backs of giants that will never be remembered, let alone appreciated for the fact that the base gameplay concepts they introduced still remain fresh and relevant to this day.
Whereas we celebrate historical efforts in the fields of art, cinema, literature and TV, too many game companies, titles and systems are presently allowed to fade to dust, and too many franchises live on only courtesy of ‘abandonware’ sites, where these discontinued outings are kept alive purely through the dubiously-legal efforts of diehard fans. (You’d be amazed how many game publishers don’t even know what gems exist in their own back catalog.) It’s positively heart-wrenching for those of us who grew up with classics like The Bard’s Tale, Dragon’s Lair and Space Quest close at hand, let alone the generation depicted in movies like The King of Kong and Chasing Ghosts, who dreamed of what it would be like to be world champion arcade players. Thankfully, as pointed out in our recent CNN column The Importance of Video Game History, from new text adventure documentary Get Lamp to an upcoming Smithsonian exhibition on the gaming field, more and more people are becoming less content to simply let history lay.
It’s not just a boon to older generations, who may feel cheated that classic series from Wizardry to Space Quest and Gabriel Knight have been allowed for too long to remain fallow. It’s also a plus for younger enthusiasts too, who may have missed out on the chance to appreciate these titles, what they mean to the gaming canon, and whose lives may currently be the poorer for not being graced by modern-day updates. Mind you, we’re not saying that every hoary old outing such as Homey D. Clown (yes, there actually was a PC game – Google it) or Zeliard deserves dusting off, let alone being placed on a pedestal. (Truthfully, we only experienced half of these outings ourselves because they were free to download and play thanks to enterprising Europeans who flooded our local BBS systems with cracked copies when we were in grade school.) But it does bear noting that so many old games can, and do, work just as well today if updated to platforms such as Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, WiiWare and the iPhone/iPad – something you can’t necessarily say say about the crop of 3D outings which began to flood computers and consoles circa the mid-’90s.
As a special treat for those of you who’ve kept the torch burning, as an expansion on the story, we present a few additional pearls of insight on the topic, courtesy of a few of our favorite gaming legends ranging from Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins to David Crane, the inventor of Pitfall:
Al Lowe, Creator of Leisure Suit Larry
Q: Does the game industry do enough to preserve its history?
Quick: Give the name and location of the Video Game Hall of Fame. You can’t, can you? Enough said.
Q: Why doesn’t the world treat older games with the same respect it does movies, books, television shows, pieces of art, etc?
Don’t we? Or are we just too young? Was there even an awards ceremony for film during its first thirty years? Was there a TV hall of fame until 50 years after its beginning? These things take a generation of so to achieve. And we’re quickly approaching that time. As the industry founders grow old and their knowledge begins to slip away, I believe we’ll see exactly the same level of interest as in the major sports and other arts museums.
Q: How many people’s lives do you think old games have touched, and in what way?
Until I formed www.allowe.com in 1998, I had no idea. Since then, I’ve received literally tens of thousands of heartfelt emails telling me how my games brought people together, friends, families, romances… I’ve been amazed.
Q: Why is the game industry so quick to dispense with its heroes and favorite companies/franchises?
Gosh, could it have something to do with money? <grin> Leisure Suit Larry had a good 12-year run for me. That’s not exactly short-term. And then the owners of the I.P. stretched it into two more games, so you could say it was 20 years.
Q: When future generations look back, what do you think they’ll take away from older game titles?
“Damn those graphics sucked!” Seriously, I believe they’ll continue to find games that, while they don’t look as slick as today’s games, play just as well.
Q: Is it a crime to let these older titles fade into obscurity? Why so/not?
While it’s not a crime, it’s also not a good idea. I think the “abandonware” movement is a good thing. As a game creator, I know that if my old games are not played, they disappear. I’d much rather see my games pirated and played than ignored and forgotten. On the other hand, I’d rather see this industry develop a “back list” like the book business has, where titles are readily, easily, and legally available for a fraction of the cost of newer titles.
Q: What do we potentially lose by forgetting game history?
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. We struggled hard to learn how to create good game play. Let those who follow learn from us.
Bob Bates, Founder of Legend Entertainment
Q: Why should we care what happens to older video game titles?
I’m not sure that we should. There have been plenty of bad games that are best forgotten. But there are also classics and games with important “firsts,” and those should be preserved.
Q: What’s the historical relevance of older titles, and why do they mean anything?
Some are important, and some are not. If you are a student of computer and video games, you want to be able to trace various innovations back to their inception. Who invented the cutscene? Which was the first real-time strategy game?
Q: How many people’s lives do you think old games have touched, and in what way?
That was always hard for me to get a handle on, until I attended a Video Games Live concert and saw thousands upon thousands of fans who were passionate about just the music alone. And the attendees spanned all ages. There were teenagers singing along with music that was written for games that came out 30 years ago. So the answer is clearly that games have touched millions of lives, and in more ways than a game designer will ever know. I’ve received letters from parents who played games with their dying children. Letters from people who learned English from playing my old text adventure games. Once you create a game, it has a life of its own that you know nothing about.
Q: Why is the game industry so quick to dispense with its heroes and favorite companies/franchises?
I don’t think it’s quick to dispense with its favorite franchises – several have been around for years and years. But the game industry is almost always about “what’s new, and what’s next?”
Q: When future generations look back, what do you think they’ll take away from older game titles?
They may be surprised at how much game developers were able to do under such tight technical restraints. They might also appreciate the elegance and simplicity of the gameplay.
Q: Why don’t we see more programs or outlets like Get Lamp that shine the spotlight on older games?
Get Lamp, like most documentaries, is the result of the passion of a talented film-maker for a certain topic. There isn’t a lot of money in documentaries, and the effort that is required to make them presents a very high barrier to any of them getting made.
Q: How quickly do faces, franchises, companies tend to disappear from gaming history?
Companies come and go with alarming speed. When Legend closed after 15 years, I had had the same business card for longer than anyone I knew in the industry except one other designer. There is also a tremendous “churn” at the front end of our business, where people enter, become disenchanted, and leave after just a few years. According to a recent IGDA survey, over half of the people working in games have been in the industry for fewer than five years. The same was true in a 2004 survey. So we have many people coming in and then leaving. But the survey also shows an interesting “bump” in the 20-25 year range. So there are a bunch of veterans who came into the industry when it was young and who have stayed with it all these years.
Q: What do we potentially lose by forgetting game history?
Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it, and as a designer, if you don’t know what has been done in the past, it’s hard for you to build upon it.
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Scott Steinberg is the CEO of video game consulting firm TechSavvy Global, and founder of GameExec magazine and Game Industry TV. Hailed as a top technology and video game expert by dozens of publications from USA Today to Forbes and NPR, he’s covered the field for 400+ outlets from Playboy to Rolling Stone. A frequent on-air analyst for networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, he’s also the author of Video Game Marketing and PR.