Video games are not the same as a cell phone computer system. Video games actually have content and can be defined as "media", intangible but with a message. For example, no one really pines for and old Macintosh from the 90s (unless you're a real hardcore Mac fan), but I know a lot of people who would die to play the old Oregon Trail game. The "Up-grade culture" does hold a strong affect on gamers, but that doesn't prevent them from looking back.
There are several things that prevent gamers from playing old games. The main reason is that, like the old Macs, the hardware isn't there anymore. There comes a certain point where things aren't being made anymore and the older working components become harder to find and more expensive. Also, companies go out of business or lose rights to franchises so even if there is a demand for a re-released title there may not be anybody left that can provide it. Lastly, there is a grey area surrounding the question of how long computers and gaming systems can last. We don't know what a Mac computer will look like in fifty years because they haven't been around that long. Not to mention how easy it is to destroy digital data, if back-ups are not made of the games and they're data they can all be lost to time. My NES was done in because my sister kept mistaking it as a coin bank. Pennies will destroy our past!
It should be noted that there is some movement in the underground bringing games back to life. Emulators can be downloaded off the internet and act as game systems on your computer. You can then download cracked games, or ROMs, to play. The whole thing is strictly illegal but opens entire libraries of old games that may never make it to re-release on current game machines. Some extremely devoted fans have even translated Japanese games to English so American gamers can enjoy games that they never got to play but may have wanted to.
I can't be sure of the popularity emulators and ROMs because the illegality often causes the whole operation or website to be shut down. Even faster if they try to use a current companies old works. There are no profits to track (at least there better not be!) so there is almost no public recognition for any of this activity. I try to stay away from the stuff myself, especially after that summer I lost to Super Nintendo RPGs... Did you know the entire NES library of games can fit on one CD? Scary...
With the advent of wireless internet connection on current systems old games have made something of a comeback. The Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 both offer networks where people can legally purchase and download old generation games to keep. The XBOX 360 also offers this but the library is considerably smaller since they only cater to their previous system. Reactions are mixed to this process since the prices are stable, but the product intangible and limited (Most games can only be downloaded on so many systems before the license runs out). For one thing the system asks that you pay $10 for a game that you can buy for $1 in the original format, but can also ask the same starting price for a game that would be a $90 hardcopy. Hardcore gamers were made for the price gouging/wasting their money on originals.
I feel this quote from Henry Jenkins sums up my argument rather well:
"History teaches us that old media never die--- and they don't even necessarily fade away. What dies are simply the tools we use to access media content---the 8-track, the Beta tape ... Delivery technologies become obsolete and get replaced; media, on the other hand, evolve."
Great media is ageless. If there's a way to play something that gamers like, then they will find a way. Some are so devoted that they'll even make a way. Now who wants to buy an old Gameboy?
Works Cited
Newman, James. "Talking About Videogames." A Media Studies Reader. Ed. Kevin Williams. San Diego, CA: Cognella, 2010. 463-83. Print.
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