|
|
|
|
The Video Game Time Warp
By Brett Walther
Saturday September 14, 2002
It is my firm belief that video games reached their pinnacle in 1983.
That's right, I said 1983.
The fact that I was five years old at the time might have something to do with it, but it seems to me that no Game Cube, XBox or Playstation since has come close to generating the same excitement or imagination as the original bunch of video game systems from 1983.
Although the first brand that comes to mind when recalling video game systems of this era is Atari, in reality the best of these early systems was ColecoVision.
With a diverse range of games-does anyone remember "Smurf"?-and screen graphics that were outstanding at the time, ColecoVision was enough to elevate those who were lucky enough to own one to near-celebrity status amongst their peers.
Although it is no longer exists as a company, ColecoVision maintains a web site at www.colecovision.com that is a must-see for anyone who enjoyed their games at any point over the last two decades.
At this site, you can reminisce about the glory days of video gaming by browsing through image galleries featuring classic game cartridges and actual screen shots of the games themselves.
The Frequently Asked Questions link is particularly invaluable in providing advice on how ColecoVision owners can keep their systems functional over twenty years after their initial purchase.
This site also features a number of links to related pages, and I particularly enjoyed the link to The Video Game Critic site at www.thevideogamecritic.com. This site provides extensive reviews of not only newly-released video games for contemporary systems like XBox, but also for "classic" systems from the eighties. You can select the video game system from the column running down the left-hand side of the page. Each game is given a grade from A+ to F, and is accompanied by a short paragraph summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of the game.
These sites will inspire you to take your ColecoVision out of mothballs and reclaim your status as the coolest (older) kid on the block.
Brett Walther is with the Oxford County Library Rural Resources Partnership. He specializes in providing Internet-based job searching assistance in the branches of Oxford County Library and can be reached at 519-423-1928, extension 204.
|
|
