In an increasingly non-physical all-digital climate, there is less focus on production of media in physical form, the standard method of delivery being optical disc form. There is more of a focus on multiplayer experiences in which unremarkable single-player campaigns are tacked on for the sake of the product feeling more "complete".
There is less of a focus on linear game design, and more open-world preference. The latter is more fitting for multiplayer, in my opinion, while a linear game design mentality is far more valuable for developing a cohesive, memorable single-player gaming experience. Something that will stick with a player in the same way that a compelling, immersive book is capable of.
The open-worlds tend to be breath-taking in their sheer scope and graphic fidelity, but lack actual interactive content relative to the sheer size of the game. A lot of space to make up for a lack of ideas, and although I can appreciate the time and effort spent to create these worlds, they are often not particularly imaginative in my opinion even if they are an enjoyable experiences.
Then there are player vs. player first person shooter husks of games, that are also often graphically beautiful and envelope-pushing, but that's as far as their appeal truly goes, and when another over-hyped title is released, the game becomes less playable as time passes and the fickle player bases slowly trickle onto the next title, and the next.
& when the day comes that you can barely get a full lobby in a game, it's overall lack of content will be obvious. Plenty of game console servers have already gone down in the past, rendering the games unplayable and all DLC unusable. The last generation or so of physical copies and consoles could possibly become bricks, abandoned conduits, perhaps the 360 and PS3 less so than their next-generation counterparts.
The console
www.retrovgs.com
With that all being said, the Retro VGS is a video game console product equally as it is a symbol of rebellion in this industry; With physical distribution of the complete hypothetical library, truly treating all games equally, be they completely in 2D or 3D, whether independently developed or developed via major industry established companies. It will be another platform for smaller, unfunded developers to reach an audience, albeit one with physical distribution.
They are also opting for FPGA (field-programmable gate arrays) cores, which will allow them to produce cheap 20$ adapter cables that may process and play older console cartridges. It's likely that the adapters will contain the cores specifically configured to the console hardware of choice. This is not mere emulation, these cores are configured to the same specifications as the intended hardware. They will run exactly the same. This is ideal for someone with multiple older consoles and limited space. You could trade several relatively large and clunky consoles for a few measly interchangeable wires.
This also opens up a whole library for it's player base from the get-go, giving the console a chance to build up it's own internal library of exclusives, spiritual successors, and proper remakes of gaming intellectual properties that have either laid dormant and unused by their still-existing developer, or otherwise completely abandoned. The games themselves will be fairly priced, ranging from 20$ to 40-50$.
Even if the convenience of the adapters only appeal to those who actually own and play games on older consoles, the library of the console will be roughly 20-games strong at the time of the kickstarter.com reveal. Should you not be sold on the product but support what it claims to stand for, you will most likely have the choice of donating as little as 5$, the price of an item or two on a fast food menu, all the way to the price of a console. In which case you will literally be sent a console in a year's time, when the consoles are ready to be manufactured and sent out. You will also have the choice of two or three games, along with the pack-in title, I believe. Hopefully with an adapter of choice as well, but even if I have to spend 20$ for that, it's not a major issue for me.
The few revealed launch titles are all worth checking out if you are not allergic to stylish pixelated graphics.
http://songbringer.com/
http://midboss.com/rom/
http://www.piersolar.com/
NES/SNES-inspired Sydney Hunter & The Caverns Of Death
The pack-in title that will come with the consoles, The Adventures Of The Tiny Knight, doesn't seem to have a quick link to a proper trailer, aside from a youtuber's 8-minute long video. So I'm going to omit it for now, as there appears to be very little information out regarding it anyway. Might as well wait and see how it develops.
Of course, pack-in titles of the past have been known to be mere basic demonstrations of the system's capabilities, with more technically impressive titles being released later on as developers become more familiar with the platform and can push it to it's limits. I would say to be open minded, but unless you have a particular fondness for the style, you may have to wait for a more obvious sales pusher.
Super 3D Noah's Ark is also a title that I'm not going to bother listing. It looks a lot like Wolfenstein 3D - it appears to be a port of an interesting title by SNES developers Wisdom Tree - whom acquired the rights to Hellraiser, along with a license to use the Wolfenstein 3D engine from id Software in the interest of developing a licensed Hellraiser game. Apparently, the original concept was abandoned for several technical reasons, with the added conflict of the game being out of character for them as a family friendly christian developer. So they used the engine to create a game where you're Noah, trying to tranquilize some out-of-control animals, or something like that. It's odd, but cool. Not particularly interested in this myself, personally.
There has also been mention of potential ports of the following games, as well;
Wayforward Games' Shantae & The Pirate's Curse (Very likely to be a release title listed in the kickstarter)
http://www.cupheadgame.com/
The kickstarter point-and-click adventure fundraiser of Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick of LucasArts.
http://www.mightyno9.com/
http://yachtclubgames.com/shovel-knight/
Kickstarter of officially licensed follow up to beat-em-up RPG classic: River City Ransom: Underground
This is the general caliber of the games that will make up the library of this console. This console is also intended to have a long support life-span of many years, and so if there is enough success, the console shall see a steady release of software for years after the console release. There have been mentions of quality control, and so shovelware is not likely to flood the library.
You are not being forced to order the games that you designate to be unworthy of purchase, and can obviously focus on the titles that you do want instead. For ports, you can look up trailers or videos of the games. Even for possible exclusives, I would imagine that they'd have trailers/preview videos to give the consumer a fair idea of the general quality of game/gameplay that they're getting. I would imagine that what the audience for this product may value in a game is different than what those obsessed with current gen's envelope pushing games may find interesting.
With virtually all independently developed games worth having a physical release being relegated to digital download exclusivity, I truly appreciate the idea of a platform that will work with the talented though unproven, while producing long lasting physical cartridge copies of games a la N64, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, etc.. on a made-to-order basis, and so as long as there is a demand for a game in the sense that people order the game from their website's game library store, they will be manufactured. You won't have to worry about shady scalpers trying to hoard a niche title, because you can purchase it directly from the manufacturer.
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