Pac-man, Pitfall fuel retro video game system revival

Trying to stretch their entertainment dollar, students dig older games from their closets.

Home gaming used to mean playing bridge or Monopoly. Now it means playing video games, but some University students say newer does not always mean better.

Home video game systems have come a long way during the last 25 years or so, but the popularity of some of the first video games still has not faded.

Kathryn Murphy (sophomore-education) still plays her original Nintendo Entertainment System, which she got in the late '80s.

"I never bothered to get a new system because my old one is still fun," Murphy said.

Eric Finch (senior-biology) said he still plays his Atari 2600 on weekends and when his friends come over.

"I think many people play them because we grew up playing these games," Finch said, adding that the old games are especially popular in the dorms.

College students still play Atari 2600 and NES because the new systems are too expensive, Murphy said.

New systems cost about $170, and most games cost $40 to $60.

"There are so many games for Atari," Finch said. "I can't afford to pay $40 just for a new game."

The first home video game, the Magnavox Odyssey, was created in 1972. In 1977, Atari introduced the game Pong and, shortly after, the Atari 2600 game system. Some classic Atari 2600 games include Asteroids, Combat, Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.

Competition soon followed. Mattel released Intellivision in 1979, and Colecovision was born in 1982. By the mid-1980s, however, there was a crash in video game systems due to the growing popularity of personal computers.

The Nintendo Entertainment System brought home video game systems back to life in 1986 and started a video game revolution. Even the NES is outdated now by newer games such as the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo-64.

Old video game systems remain popular though, said Manny Wolfe, owner of Lobo Electronics, 153 S. Allen St.

"College students play them because they're nostalgic for their childhood, but older people play them too because they never replaced their old systems," Wolfe said. In the future, Wolfe said, some of the old video game systems will be worth a lot of money.

"Even now, some collectors will pay up to $100 for certain Atari 2600 games," he said. Wolfe owns a Magnavox Odyssey, which is still in its original box, and he said it is valuable because they are pretty rare.

"The old systems don't die out because most games don't have an ending, they just keep getting harder," he said. "New games have an ending, and once you beat it, you don't want to play anymore. Most old games can't be beaten, (so) you can always get a better score."

Now emulators, which enable anyone to play old games such as Frogger and Pitfall, can be downloaded onto most computers. PC versions of old games help to preserve the original games, which have a limited lifetime.

"The old cartridges don't last forever," Wolfe said.