Whilst the world of video games promises to bring us some impressive innovative achievements in 2016 with the arrival of virtual reality technology, there’s a growing movement within the gaming sphere who are more inclined to celebrate pre-existing gaming glories.
The retro gaming scene has been in existence for a while now with players gathering to play antiquated Sega, Amiga and even old-fashioned table games. But what’s getting interesting is the way that the classic gaming events are starting to affect the releases of the major games studios.
Classic gaming events sprang up in the US with massive competitions like the RetroWorldExpo in Connecticut where players revisit vintage arcade titles such as Street Fighter II.
And the movement has recently gone international with many UK events like PLAY Expo in Blackpool offering the chance to play retro titles as far-ranging as Gran Turismo, Manic Miner, Pong or even take part in a four-player game of Mario Kart.
Such events haven’t restricted themselves to video games, as it’s also common to see a new generation of gamers taking part in pinball tournaments, and even playing a variety of boardgames and card games.
The card gaming scene has recently enjoyed something of a revival in the online gaming domain with the likes of Mr Smith Casino offering another variant of the game poker through titles like Caribbean Stud that can be played from the convenience of a smartphone.
Mobile technology has also led to the revival of other card games with the likes of Heads Up! quickly becoming one of the world’s best-selling apps thanks to its exposure on the Ellen Degeneres TV show.
The card gaming trend has also been given further momentum in 2016 with the Japanese gaming creation Pokemon returning to the headlines with a re-release of the original Pokemon trading cards that was ushered in by a none-too- subtle 20 year anniversary Superbowl advert.
Pokemon began as a pair of games for the Nintendo Gameboy and the brand will definitely be looking to resurrect past glories in 2016 with a revamp of The Legend of Zelda for the Wii U and their mysterious upcoming Nintendo NX console. And with the iconic characters Mario and Sonic The Hedgehog reuniting for a special Rio 16 Olympics game, it looks like there’ll be no end of fun for the nascent retro gaming scene.
And joining the revival of table games and comical cartoon gaming characters will be the highly anticipated rebirth of sci-fi shocker Doom that will hopefully illustrate that just because a game is old, doesn’t mean it can’t be terrifying!
