Retail Risks, Hidden Gems, Reviews, and Future Retro Gaming

[dsheinem]

I've been thinking of this issue for a bit, but I was curious what y'all think...

For me, one of the joys of retrogaming as a hobby is unearthing little-known games and discovering hidden gems while browsing through stacks of games in a thrift store. Finding games that didn't sell particularly well at the time of release and, subsequently, have been "rediscovered" by folks like us in the years afterwards is a practice that helps define the hobby. Games like Guardian Heroes, Gaiares, The Guardian Legend, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Tomba!, or anything on these lists is what I am referring to: retail flops, retro gaming mainstays.

My central question isn't about whether these kinds of risky or undiscovered games still get made (they do) but about whether or not future retrogamers will have access to them. In the era of escalating production costs for games (and thus higher risk), it seems that most of the "risky" games get relegated to online distribution via PSN, XBLA, Steam, WiiWare, etc. It seems that it might be much harder to stumble across some unknown gem while browsing racks of discounted PS3 games after the PS4 or PS5 is out because the unknown/unloved games didn't get retail releases. In fact, if one looks at a shelf of used contemporary games right now @ GameStop, for the most part the used section is made up of games that sold reasonably well and/or that people generally know a lot about (or can easily find out).

The internet is another factor here: every game that hits retail anymore is reviewed across the web, and a thread like our "Games You Can't Find Reviews For" thread would almost never be populated by questions about anything made in the past 5-10 years (aside from maybe imports and the aforementioned games on download services). Am I nuts to think that the "discovery" aspect of our hobby will be almost a non-factor in the future?

(Oh, and let's not turn this into a thread bitching about digital releases and ownership. Think of it this way: will my two year old be able to discover unknown, interesting, PS3 games at a thrift store when he's 22? Or will he only find games which were widely known and meticulously analyzed in umpteen articles across the web?)

[CRTGAMER]

Risky games are normally a download purchase only. This is a good and a bad thing. A risky game may not have seen the light of day if the download option was not available. On the other hand, the download will be lost for future gamers to discover years from now.

Rayman Origins is a perfect example. Ubisoft took a chance and invested a lot to retail the game on disc. Because of poor sales, this style of Retro game might be destined to always remain as just a download in the future.

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 44#p313544

Retro Collector is Now Retro
GOG is the light in the tunnel offering DRM free downloadable games for purchase, but even these will be lost over time. There is no disc copy to be discovered years later by a future Retro collector at the local Goodwill or Swap Meet. If DLC activation becomes required for all new games, what will become of the used game market? Even worse the Retro collector of tomorrow will have a very tough time playing any of those great old 360, PS3 and Wii DLC activation games. Especially the current great unique DRM games which will eventually be no longer available in the future, truly lost vaporware.

[noiseredux]

I still think there's things that slip through the cracks. Things I don't see reviewed. So called "budget titles" for instance -- physical releases often assumed to be "shovelware" and things like that. Every time I go to Target I feel like I see clearance games that I didn't even know existed. Recently I saw a 2D fighting game for PS3 for instance. It was based on Naruto (if I recall) which I know nothing about. Maybe the license is what caused it to sort of fly under the radar?

...just thinking out-loud while typing.

[Erik_Twice]

PSN releases sound like not caring at all for me. While some games are succesful, it reminds me of putting new shows on friday's night death slot.

It doesn't need to be, I think that companies simply do not understand the newer distribution methods and how to sell to a tiered market.

In other words, it seems to me that most current companies are only good at making blockbusters or niche title, with no overlap between the two. This is a very backwards way of thinking that really undermines profit. They should learn from the music industry.

[CRTGAMER]

I still think there's things that slip through the cracks. Things I don't see reviewed. So called "budget titles" for instance -- physical releases often assumed to be "shovelware" and things like that. Every time I go to Target I feel like I see clearance games that I didn't even know existed. Recently I saw a 2D fighting game for PS3 for instance. It was based on Naruto (if I recall) which I know nothing about. Maybe the license is what caused it to sort of fly under the radar?

...just thinking out-loud while typing.

Agree, look at the Wii games. A whole pile of shovelware to muddle thru, sometimes finding an unknown gem.

To add to this, there are Downloads that were later released as discs. Wii Bit Trip and XBox 360 Live Arcade discs for example. There are also downloads on one system that got a disc release on another such as GeonCube and Geometry Wars. Luckily, Download Geometry Wars later on got the 360 XBLA compilation disc release.

[noiseredux]

To add to this, there are Downloads that were later released as discs.

yup. PopCap spread out 6 of their PSN games over 2 physical discs in November as well. And I think we'll see more of this. I think PSN/XBLA/Wiiware is almost like an audition in some instances where if a game does well as a download it may see some sort of physical re-release later, or perhaps remake or expansion -- or it means that developer will get to make a bigger budget game later.

[brunoafh]

There are definitely a lot of games that slip through the cracks, especially ones that don't get brought over to this region. The main reason there aren't going to be many "hidden gem" type retail games down the road is because gaming is so mainstream now, and gets tons of coverage from all sorts of different media outlets.

I do think there are quite a few titles that meet the hidden gem criteria though. Just glancing at my PS3 and PSP collection I see a number of games that (in my opinion) are very under appreciated and slipped under the radar upon release.

[CRTGAMER]

To add to this, there are Downloads that were later released as discs.

yup. PopCap spread out 6 of their PSN games over 2 physical discs in November as well. And I think we'll see more of this. I think PSN/XBLA/Wiiware is almost like an audition in some instances where if a game does well as a download it may see some sort of physical re-release later, or perhaps remake or expansion -- or it means that developer will get to make a bigger budget game later.

The Pop Cap games did a couple of jumps. Download for PC then PC Disc. Disc PS2 then PSN Download and now back to disc again for the PS3. Makes one think about how many sold in each medium, maybe the download on PSN had more sales then the late released PS2 disc versions? A side note, I like Zuma as a quick gameplay distraction, but I still think they copied the Arcade Puzz Loop.

[dsheinem]

I get what y'all are saying, but I don't really consider budget titles and compilations of downloadable titles to fit the criteria I am suggesting. I think the example of GOG is an interesting one, because they offer downloads of some older large-budget yet niche PC games that are very hard to find in retail boxes but WERE at least released at retail at one point. By contrast, I don't think there are a lot of retail releases right now for games that are eventually going to become defining genre games/retrogamer mainstays but that are under appreciated by contemporary gamers. I'm hard pressed to think of retail games that, given time, might become sought after because they did something really interesting or innovative. I feel like if they do these things that contemporary gamers generally know about them already from extensive coverage on the web, and that future retro gamers will also because of this.

We have this thread and this thread, but so far those are populated primarily by games that are for current handhelds, games that are "also decent" but not especially innovative from this generation (mostly in well established genres), or games that are from previous generations.

[brunoafh]

We have this thread and this thread, but so far those are populated primarily by games that are for current handhelds, games that are "also decent" but not especially innovative from this generation (mostly in well established genres), or games that are from previous generations.

What's wrong with mentioning handhelds? A lot of the games I was thinking of are indeed for handhelds, but I don't see how the game being on a handheld makes it not fit your criteria.