T w e n t y S i d e d

A big part of my “experiment” in retrogaming has been purely technical: just to see what I could do; even see what I could get away with. But that goal was meant to serve the idea of simplicity and aesthetics. Ideally, I would be able to play everything, up to a reasonable point, on one system. When that proved impossible, you add a system. And moving on, you only add complexity if absolutely necessary. I didn’t want to just set up an emulation PC, either. While that could, arguably, reduce the number of systems needed, it adds in a level of difficulty in control and integration that a console doesn’t have. That is, a PC isn’t really designed for simple, straightforward control on a TV; consoles are. And yes, there are MANY caveats, and many arguments to be made for how to mitigate this, and many opinions that are going to differ about how much of a problem, or even whether it *IS* a problem…but please accept that for me, this is not the solution I’m looking for.

Another major component of the experiment is to get away from my computer. I have spent a significant portion of my life in front of a computer screen, and I’m trying to find ways to reduce that time. Certainly you could argue that moving away from the computer screen to sit in front of a television screen isn’t much of an improvement, but I have learned that the key element to breaking any behavior-related addiction, or even just a behavior that is negatively affecting your life, is to change your routine.
Continue reading ⟩⟩ “An Experiment in Retrogaming: Coming To Terms”

Paige Francis He/him

Remember that time Nintendo released a console named after an embarrassing bodily function? Remember that time everybody was laughing at Nintendo for thinking handheld motion controls were the future of console gaming? Remember when Nintendo followed up their hit GameCube console with…two GameCubes taped together?

The “success” of a console can only be judged in context and with understanding; there are very few absolutes. The Wii did some important things, but only lasted five years…half of the hardware generation it was part of. It was replaced with the WiiU, which only lasted five years as well, and was basically a trial run for what would become the “Switch,” Nintendo’s actual next-gen console. The WiiU was technically a “better” system than the Wii, but is generally considered a lesser success. Our interest in the WiiU is because it actually has the ability to play every Nintendo console that preceded its release.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “An Experiment in Retrogaming: Backward Compatible Consoles”

Paige Francis He/him