Weekly Thought: A Taste of the Old School

Going all misty-eyed…

Due to a distinct lack of ‘proper’ multiplayer features, cutting edge HD graphics or buffed-up processors, most are more than happy to poke fun at Nintendo and their motion-happy Wii for not keeping up with the times. So why do swathes of hardcore gamers still defend it to the hilt, then? I, for instance, believe that the Wii can - at times - offer a lot more than any of the other consoles are capable of. Why? Well, although I enjoy the likes of Wii Sports as much as the next person, there are very few places left in our high-tech gaming world where you can experience such a blast of pure nostalgia.

As a perfect example, Metroid: Other M has recently proven that no-one can reminisce quite as well as Nintendo, and with Donky Kong, Kirby and Goldeneye all making re-appearances later this year, things don’t seem likely to change either. Booting up these titles feels like stepping into a pair of old shoes or looking through a treasured photo album, and there’s something very comforting about playing them even when they aren’t as ‘up to date’ as we’d like. Hell, even though they may not come neatly packaged upon a Blu Ray disc or might not boast a thriving online community, going through titles like New Super Mario Bros. Wii can be like coming home, a feeling that you’ll rarely find anywhere else. Sometimes the past can be a whole lot more interesting, and - unlike a lot of the competition - Nintendo really understands that.