http://money.cnn.com/2004/05/13/commentary/game_over/e3_column_gaming/index.htm

The question remains, though:

Are these games truly enduring in their entertainment value, or is their success based on nostalgia?

I am reasonably certain that the gameplay remains as compelling as ever. I don't think the success of Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, and Galaga were based entirely upon novelty... they were hardly top-of-the-line technologically when they were released. But is the relatively simple gameplay at all attractive to a new generation of gamers that have grown up playing modern PS2 / Gamecube / XBox games?

I'm not sure why they still work in arcade settings but they do. I operate games as a side business and pacman, galaga, and tetris are still among my best earners. I've had much more expensive(newer) games that just don't earn as much.

I think people like something that doesn't require a book to learn to play. And the arcade industry has not been very innovative in the last 3 years.

In my experience, some classic games remain just as fun as ever and some.. don't.

Pac Man, Galaga, Tetrix, Qix? Just as fun as I remember.

Donkey Kong, Defender, Battlezone? Not so much.

I would agree with that assesment. Ultracade has tried to bring back alot of the classics in one CD Rom package in the arcade. My friends that run some of those machines, say they don't bring in as much as a dedicated Galaga. Nor do they have long lasting value coins begin to drop off after about 2 months.

The assumption I believe from Ultracade was that the top classics of their day would all do well. But it seems that only the best of the best are still being played.

Cartman hit on something about the difficulty factor. My wife would sooner fire up Mame and play an 80's arcade game than any new PC or XBox game. She can't handle the twitch games and she gets frustrated with anything that isn't immediately intuitive and obvious. My parents are the same way. They'll play those oldies for hours on end and they usually having a running high score contest. (A game with a *score*? You don't see that much anymore!)

Yup, left right and fire is pretty hard to beat for people who don't want to spend all day learning complicated controls. And a 5 minute game is pretty enticing when you don't have the luxury of sitting around on the couch all weekend. I think this is more what is appealing to 30-somethings rather than nostalgia. Maybe today's kids will find it the same when they get a bit older, we'll have to see.

But when it comes down to it, Galaga, for example, is just a fantastically well-engineered game. Hundreds of lesser games will be forgotten, but certain games are just too damn good to die.

Interesting quote in the article... "a big part of the success was the inclusion of Robotron 2084". Sweet, so it wasn't just me who spent my entire childhood and thanks to mame / x-arcade controller some recent adulthood playing Robotron.

Last Christmas we saw those controllers all over in the mall. What a great idea. No game box, just plug the controller directly into the tv and all those classic games for the cost of just around $30. Total impulse buy. Had to tell the lady "no don't do it" just to make sure didn't end up a stocking stuffer.

In 5 - 10 years bet the game box goes away and play using a controller that connects to a crisp HUD display. Then the lawyers make a mint from all the people getting hurt running into things while playing games with the display on :-)