Kid's today on classic games

[+SpiceWare]

Child's Play

Would today's tykes tolerate the classic games you grew up with?

On Pong

Niko: Hey—Pong. My parents played this game.

 

Brian: It takes this whole console just to do Pong?

 

Kirk: What is this? [Picks up and twists the paddle controller] Am I controlling the volume?

 

...

 

Andrew: Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip.

 

Becky: I don't even see the point of having sound on this.

On Donky Kong

Becky: It looks like a Mario that got run over by a car.

...

Andrew: Someone take over before I lose my dignity. [Mario picks up the hammer power-up]

 

Andrew and Niko: Hey, that's from Super Smash Bros.

 

Andrew: So that's where they got the idea from.

...

Tim: Mario dies way too easy. Oh, grab the umbrella. Those are cool. Unfashionable, gay, but cool. Oh, 300 points. That's it? All you get is points? That's lame. Can't you do something with the umbrella?

...

EGM: Who's that chick Mario is rescuing up there?

 

Brian: It's Princess Peach.

 

Kirk: It's a hooker.

 

Niko: She looks cut in half.

 

Tim: Oh wow—she's one of those pole dancers.

They don't like ET on the Atari either

[ZylonBane]

The consensus over on Fark, which I concur with, is that this article is a work of fiction. The quotes seem to be in turn too articulate, too clueless, and too knowledgeable to come from actual ~12-year-olds.

[+SpiceWare]

I dunno - I've heard things out of kids before that I never would have expected them to know about.

 

Anyway, even if it is a work of fiction, it's still funny.

[sku_u]

This consensus over on Fark, which I concur with, is that this article is a work of fiction. The quotes seem to be in turn too articulate, too clueless, and too knowledgeable to come from actual ~12-year-olds.

 

I teach 12-14 y.o's and i can assure you that they are quite capable of making comments like those.

[NE146]

I dunno - I've heard things out of kids before that I never would have expected them to know about.

 

Anyway, even if it is a work of fiction, it's still funny.

 

 

And it's also old. We've discussed this article in depth a while ago

[+SpiceWare]

Old? it's dated 10-14

 

Aha - I see that it's the "uncut" version of the original article, with an additional game.

[sack-c0s]

I got paid to spend a week in a room full of retro games playing games with 16 year old schoolkids

 

'This is f***ing s**t - why isn't it 3D?' was a common question about the pacman arcade machine (Their teacher were loving every minute of it though!)

 

Scariest thing was playing 'Jack Attack' on the Commodore 64 - i had the C16 version when it came out and i realised I'd been playing the game for 16 years on-and-off, which incidentally was the age of the oldest kid I taught to play it.

 

suddenly I felt very old, despite only being 22 myself

[Mr.FoodMonster]

This consensus over on Fark, which I concur with, is that this article is a work of fiction. The quotes seem to be in turn too articulate, too clueless, and too knowledgeable to come from actual ~12-year-olds.

you have got to admit, me being a dirty farker myself, that place is the biggest bunch of moronic/ignorant/dumb witted people on the INTIRE internet. also, its not fake, i used 'big words' like that when i was 12. these kids are quite stupid as well, there CANNOT be a superbomb in space invaders, it dosnt work that way

[wrldstrman]

Actually my 11 year old has a game cube ps and x box but he loves playing the old atari .he likes river raid and bowling along with trying to whip dad with the old rockem sockem robots. He also trys an play the swordquest games but I dont have the instructions to any of them.But anyway its a great way to spend time together during winter months when you cant get outside.

[joeybastard]

Actually my 11 year old has a game cube ps and x box but he loves playing the old atari .he likes river raid and bowling along with trying to whip dad with the old rockem sockem robots. He also trys an play the swordquest games but I dont have the instructions to any of them.But anyway its a great way to spend time together during winter months when you cant get outside.

 

You can view (or save and print the manuals forthe Swordquest games from here

 

Earthworld

http://www.atariage.com/manual_html_page.h...wareLabelID=541

 

Fireworld

http://www.atariage.com/manual_html_page.h...wareLabelID=542

 

Waterworld

http://www.atariage.com/manual_thumbs.html...wareLabelID=543

[keerad]

I'll bet that article is 100% FAKE

[Csonicgo]

oh man. I think the 15 year olds are the only ones left that vaguely remembers those games.

 

but making them play ET was cruel and unusual punishment. I'd rather take the Death penalty!

[vanman]

I dont know, that article might not be fake. I am a 15 year old, and I have friends who are just like that. I am a huge fan of the 2600 and I have many friends who can spend an hour playing pong with me. I never really played those games when I was young, I really played more SNES. I was exposed to these games and I loved them, but some of my friends hated them.

[Mindfield]

I dunno. I was preccoutious for a 12 year old, but even phrases like "Someone take over before I lose my dignity" were beyond my grasp of wit. Let's face it; 12 year olds don't have much in the way of dignity, and I knew very few 12 year olds who had anything resembling the dry wit exhibited by that statement.

[sku_u]

I dunno.  I was preccoutious for a 12 year old, but even phrases like "Someone take over before I lose my dignity" were beyond my grasp of wit.  Let's face it; 12 year olds don't have much in the way of dignity, and I knew very few 12 year olds who had anything resembling the dry wit exhibited by that statement.

 

I'm sure what was said was creatively edited in some instances, but the gist of their conversation is very believable.

[Blackbird]

I doubt that there's a single kid I know who would last through Pong, or at least very few of them. They probably picked the kids who would make the biggest deal out of playing these old games, just to make the article funnier. I'm sure they didn't just pick them off the street...

[wrldstrman]

Hey thanks for the info on the swordquest I ll let my boy look up the directions and let him figure out how to play.

[RCmodeler]

One problem was that the kids didn't understand the point of the game. Like Tetris.... it would have been nice if someone had told them, "The idea is to fill up an entire row so that it disappears... if the screen fills with blocks, you lose." Dito with Donkey Kong: "The goal is to score as many points as possible."

 

It's obvious from the comments that these kids didn't know the goals of the games. Even we had instruction manuals so we could understand what each blob on the screen was supposed to represent and do.

[AtariYoungin]

I am 16 and love the classics, I never had an Atari when I was younger but have since bought one and love every minute of it. Its also the only game my dad can beat me at

[Nateo]

I'm also 16, and I'd rather play a game of Galaga any day over some crap for GameCube or PS2 (or that other one). To me, the older games are the best ones. My brother, however, who is only two years younger than me, highly dislikes (im not gonna say hate, he does like a few) any video game released before 1985. One of his more popular complaints is that video games should have in depth story lines.

[George Gray]

I have not read the article in question (and, judging from the various comments, I don't care to) but I think, in general, most kids today are spoiled by the flashy graphics and sound of today's consoles and computers. I say 'most', but not all. I've noted, in other posts, that my own six year old loves many of the classic games that daddy plays. Galaga, Dig Dug, Pac Man (any flavor) Burgertime and Freeway are among his favorites. He was first exposed to the Nintendo 64 and my PC, so he was already used to hi res graphics. When he first saw me play Pac Man on the N64 (Namco Museum 64) he asked why the game was 'broke'. It took me a few minutes to realize that he meant the graphics were not like the Donkey Kong 64 game. I explained that the game was more like what daddy used to play when daddy was much younger. He understood that and does not mind playing the 'olden time' games.

We got the PacMan World game disc for the GameCube and the first thing he does now is go to the arcade to play the OLD games! Heck, he can go right from something as simple as PacMan to Rollercoaster Tycoon and not think anything of it.

Kids are a lot smarter than we tend to credit them, so I think it very possible that the article is not fake. I know many 12 years who have blown me away with what has come out of their mouths. Give them a little credit.

[JB]

For the record, my little sister likes the older stuff.

 

 

She enjoyed a run through Videotopia when they were down here(though admittedly not near as much as I did, as she's not much of a gamer).

 

She also declared cocktail cabinets to be "cool" on that trip.

I'd tried to explain the concept before, but seeing one makes things much clearer.

[bjk7382]

Still, I don't think any kid (or anyone for that matter) would have fun sitting down playing some of the worst games made for it. Like Pacman and ET and Streeet Racer. I also think they would have liked it (if it is real) if they played some of the better games like Hero, River Raid, Kaboom, Seaquest and the list of good ones goes on....

[Rob Mitchell]

... but I think, in general, most kids today are spoiled by the flashy graphics and sound of today's consoles and computers.

 

While getting their asses kicked playing my 15 yo nephew's Vectrex games, his friend said, "I thought I was good at video games!"

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[bjk7382]

Today's games arent about timing as much as in the past. I love classic games but they still only require good timing and blind luck. On the other hand todays consoles are more realistic so they require more skill than just luck and timing.