[Winnebagel]

This is a good article.

Although, I do miss alot of the challenging games of Yore, I don't think you can really compare classic and current games at all, as they are two totally different animals.

For the most part, current games are focused on good cinema quality stories, and newer and newer technology to realize games in a more realistic way. I don't see that as a bad thing. Rather I see it as evolution, and just different.

Classic/Retro games didn't have the advantage of today's technology/graphics, so many of them had to rely on the challenge factor and a fun hook (to borrow a musical term) to pull players in and keep them putting the quarters in keep them from tossing away their cartdrige. I would bemoan the loss of this today except that places like the Xbox Live Arcade (and some others) are still producing new Classic style games for the people who want them. I have personally enjoyed things like Heavy Weapon, and I just recently found out about Mushihimesama Futari which is notoriously difficult and I will be checking that out soon too (Thanks for the recommend Steven).

The only area I would disagree with this article on is that it makes it seem like all Retro games were as difficult as Battletoads, Ghoul's & Ghosts, etc. That really wasn't the case especially by the time home gaming took hold. I would argue that for every Battletoads game that was released, you would have 50 Adventures in the Magic Kingdom. Not that that's a bad game, but there's a reason why the same few "brutal" games are mentioned in every list. They were still more the exception than the rule.

If Retro Coin-Ops are the only point of discussion, then I would concede more of the points since their purpose was to keep the money pouring in, and in most games you would just keep playing until you were dead.

Ultimately, I think there is still a place for both Retro style games as well as contemporary games.