Gaming is fun. But as a young adult who is finishing his undergrad thesis, I don’t get much time to play. A year ago I found the wonderful online community of retro gaming, and I was hooked to the point that I bought this retro handheld a few months ago. It is called the Miyoo Mini Plus. It’s a device dedicated to emulate retro consoles from the first PlayStation and below. I found that it suits my condition very well. I can enjoy some games every lunch break and I’ve spent around 30+ hours on this device. In this article I’m going to argue that retro gaming might also be for you, even with the hype and allure of mainstream modern games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I get it. Modern games have better graphics and all of our friends are waiting for GTA 6 to come out. But many people just want to have some fun and most modern game corporations don’t care much about entertaining their customers anymore. EA or Electronic Arts is the biggest example of this unfortunate truth. Their games such as EA SPORTS FC 26 and Apex Legends are full of microtransactions and battle pass system to make their players spend as much money as possible. There is also a popular gambling system meant to induce addiction through “opening packs”. This system is adopted by popular games like Counter Strike 2, Genshin Impact, Overwatch 2, and Madden NFL. Certain games also require you to be so skillful with progressive ranked system. That means you have to commit countless hours playing those games. The gaming communities use the phrase “git gud” to name this dynamic– a parodized spelling of “get good”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those are the main reasons most mainstream or popular modern games are not for everyone and certainly not for me. I am too broke to build a better PC for contemporary AAA titles and I have no enough leisure time to enjoy those games properly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retro gaming is the simple cure for this modern complexity. Retro games were made for the simpler era when “touching grass” was not an option because it was such a common thing to go outside and socialize. The games were developed with the focus and intention to give the player a sense of accomplishment. This focus and blueprint is distorted by the mainstream modern games. Today they rely more on social media hype and the mentioned gambling system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n“I think that first is that a game needs a sense of accomplishment and you have to have a sense that you have done something.” <\/p>\n\u2013Shigeru Miyamoto (The Creator of Mario and Zelda)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Let’s get to the why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Accessibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You could play retro games with their original hardware or you could choose to emulate them. I opt for the latter because here in my country I couldn’t get my hands on any old consoles from the first PlayStation and below. It’s insultingly easy to start emulating retro games, you could do that with virtually any smartphones or computers. There is no need of any high-end PC or flagship smartphone, you could do it cheaply with older devices since emulators usually don’t require high specs. You could also use an affordable dedicated retro handheld. I suggest checking out Russ from Retro Game Corps<\/a> if you ever need any guide on setting up emulators or deciding to buy a retro handheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Entertainment Factor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I cannot repeat this enough. Retro games deliver the fun directly to your brain circuitry. You don’t need any DLC, battle pass, or microtransactions. The games are usually in complete form including the bugs because there were no online patch updates. So developers were obligated to release the games with little to no bug. This means the player only needs to start the game and immediately have fun. The mechanics they introduced were in their raw, simple forms and today are the blueprint of what makes present day games relevant. Just look at the tactile fine-tuned control of Super Mario Bros, the dungeon system of Zelda, the simple satisfaction of stacking blocks in Tetris, and many more. All of it was purely designed for immediate entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Retro Charm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Retro games also have their own charm because the developers were limited by the hardware of their era. Sometimes it’s the color palette from GBC, the sprites from NES, the boxy polygons from the first PlayStation, or the innovative fun gameplay from Nintendo DS and Wii. They might be outdated but the fact that the retro gaming community is still alive and thriving proves that these properties are timeless. Even today some modern game developers especially indie studios are developing games with retro charm<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In conclusion, although mainstream modern games offer significantly better visuals and hype, I firmly believe that retro gaming still has its own place today because of its unique value of accessibility, genuine entertainment, and charm for individuals who still want to enjoy the wonderful experience of gaming without overly serious commitment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m totally open to any modern games if I ever have more time or better budget to purchase any newer consoles. Until then, I’m sticking to slaying monsters in 16-bit Hyrule dungeons!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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