It may be assumed that people no longer play old computer games. These games have been left in the attic to gather dust and to be lost to time. But you may be mistaken for thinking this.
What needs to be taken into consideration is:-
1) Nostalgia.
2) There are a lot of older gamers out there who like to hark back to the good old days.
You may be surprised to know that people still do play old computer games. This group of people could be labeled as ‘retro gamers’. Retro or classic gaming still has a quiet and passionate community both online and offline. Retro gamers still play old games via emulators, as digital downloads, or for the diehard old gamer, through the original working game systems.
For old passionate gamers – hard copies of these games can still be purchased online, via second-hand shops. Or for the lucky few – the avid collector can also be found at car boot sales trying to get their fix of gaming nostalgia.
For those that want to explore old games today, retro classic games can be found on platforms such as GOG or Steam. There are also online game archives too. ( You may be curious to know whether MS DOS came with games. or whether you can still play DOS games. )
With console gamers, which too has a community of old gamers, retro games are packaged up and re-released in bundles. Such as the Megadrive Classics for PS4 which caters to this group.
Do people still play old computer games? If the Retro Gamer magazine is anything to go by, plus all the DOS emulators and classic games on modern platforms such as GOG. The answer would be yes, there are still people playing old games. Enough to warrant having price tags placed on the games to download. Old gaming still has an active and thriving gaming community. This is for consoles, PC, and other game systems.
Do people still play old computer games | Which Platforms
People do still play old computer games that were originally developed for, PC, Amiga, and older consoles. Many retro gamers play these games either as re-releases, through emulators, or as game bundles.
One such example of the old games that have been bundled together so they can be replayed is the PS4 – Megadrive Classics, as mentioned in the first section. This game bundle had various Sega Megadrive era games such as Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and Alex Kidd to name a few. It is both being sold as a hard copy game online as a digital download on Steam.
Other examples of games that have been released to be replayed are Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis for PC and Lure of the Temptress. These games are being sold ( and free ) on GOG.com for those that wish to replay these in the retro gaming community.
For the Amiga – a classic game that I can recall from my youth is a Knight To Remember, a retro 2D hack and slash where you play the part of 1 or 4 knights. It was gory, scary, and very cool.
People are still playing the games enough to warrant these companies to sell or list them online.
Here is a small list of platforms and some old game systems still in use today:-
- MS DOS
- Amiga
- Commodore 64
- Amstrad
- Atari
- Sega Megadrive
- Sega Master system
- Nintendo 64
- Gameboy
- PlayStation 1
- Xbox 1
- Spectrum
To name a few…
Have you heard of Retro Gamer magazine?
To further affirm that people are still playing old computer games, have you heard of Retro Gamer? The clue may be in the name, but this printed magazine and website is dedicated to old computer games. Retro gamer revisits old computer games dating as far back as the 1970s.
The magazine covers a wide spectrum of old games from console to PC. For those of you that are diehard retro gamers, picking up this magazine could be a worthwhile read!
If magazines aren’t your thing or prefer to look at content digitally, you can always visit the Retro Gamer website to check their archives and read their latest blog post.
Will people still continue to play old computer games?
In my humble opinion, I can imagine people will still want to play the old classic games. Although this is a small niche group, as long as nostalgia remains, so will the desire to play old games.
A downside of occasionally playing older games is wearing those rose-tinted glasses. You may think the graphics were more spectacular than they actually were, and you may find the game controllers slightly more clunky compared with modern games stop. Eg tank controls of Resident Evil 1. The joys of 2.5D. A few may still enjoy a bit of retro clunk!
It is still also my belief, that people will continue to be inspired and play old computer games on PC, amiga, console, or any other gaming system that you can think of. I for one still play old games from time to time. Especially 2D games.
Do old people still play old computer games? Further proof
It is my belief that I’m not in a bubble when it comes to playing old games. Although retro games are still being played today, there is enough market interest for game development studios to start looking at remakes. I’m seeing this, especially in the horror genre of gaming.
Here are some key points as to why I believe people are still playing old games:-
- MS-DOS games are being both sold and given away for free on platforms such as Steam and GOG. For example, you can still buy the classic Monkey Island on Steam.
- Magazines are still being printed about it.
- Gamers are still talking about old games and sharing their thoughts and opinions. They still care!
- Websites and fellow blogs are still writing about old games.
- The old inspires the new. This is my belief in particularly with regards to 2D indie games.
Do people still play old computer games?… Don’t worry, I’m still here to fight your corner!