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Today when we look at video games we tend to think of the more convenient ways to play, like massive online multiplayer games, purchasing downloadable content, and playing the most hip and trendy mobile phone games. While gaming has clearly changed in just these last couple decades, there is no denying the impact of what came before this current generation.
When you have a conversation with a person who has been a gamer since the late 1980’s or early 1990’s, you would know just how passionate that gamer was of how it was to just sit back and play a game. No futuristic virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift were required and nor were Android microconsoles like the recent failure Ouya even included in conversations. If anything, these were the times when you had a tremendous library of video games to choose from and there were very little to no strings attached.
Take the above stories as examples of a possible revisiting of that past gaming generation. The name of this proposed console is simple. It is called the Retro Video Game System and it might look familiar to gamers who have been around for a while. That is because the Retro VS gets its inspiration from the official console mold of the Atari Jaguar. Unlike the Atari Jaguar, however, this won’t be a console that stays in the past as you will be able to use various USB devices, controllers, keyboards, mouse devices and so on. The Retro VGS is intended to act as a bridge between Old School and New School gaming in some aspects.
The main selling point of the Retro VGS is the fact that it allows gamers to return to acquiring game cartridges, which hasn’t been in style since the days of the Nintendo 64. Ever since that generation, mainstream gaming has exclusively involved using CD/DVD discs for retail. Another interesting note about Retro VGS, which will launch its official Kickstarter campaign on the week of September 14, 2015, is that it saved almost $500,000 in initial start-up costs because of its acquisition of the Atari Jaguar tooling, including the console design and the cartridges.
In other news, while this is only in the speculation stage, it is interesting to receive reports that Nintendo is possibly thinking about dropping discs and going back to making games for cartridges. It has been common knowledge throughout the gaming industry that Nintendo plans to move forward in making a new console, seeing that the Wii U hasn’t exactly been the success that they envisioned it to be. We have been given hints as to what the Nintendo NX, the tentative name of the new console, will bring as far as gaming content is concerned, and we may start getting hints as to the direction the company is headed towards. This new console is said to be backwards compatible, as in there is potential for it to play games that have been featured on past consoles.
Reading between the lines of this possible new approach by Nintendo, if they were to drop optical drive discs in favor of cartridges, it would appear that this would be a move to save money while getting reacquainted with a past practice that helped them generate money in the first place. No official word has been issued by Nintendo regarding this rumor, but this is something for gamers to keep an eye on if they are going to make a key decision as to which console they wish to buy in the next gaming generation.
http://www.retrovgs.com/home.html
