Will next-gen consoles kill off retro gaming?

Next generation consoles won’t mean the end of retro gaming. Image credit: Doug Kline

Following on from our look at the ways retro gaming has flourished into the 21st century, we’ve written a guest post for the lovely people at 1001-Up.com. It too focuses on retro gaming, but while our first article examined the reasons for retro gaming’s remarkable longevity, this time we turn our attention to the threat of next gen consoles – and why they won’t be killing off retro gaming just yet.

From the article:

Next gen consoles have been somewhat hogging the limelight recently, with every man and his dog ruminating on which one to buy, what the best games will be and comparing them head-to-head. The gaming blogosphere is riding a wave of zealous excitement like a kid at Christmas, deconstructing the consoles and everything about them with admirable vigour. It’s all rather overwhelming.

The question that no one seems to be asking, however, is what impact the new consoles will have on retro gaming. To put it bluntly, will they kill it off? There are those who would say there is a perfectly good reason for this lack of curiosity: no-one plays retro games any more, they argue, those things died a death years ago. Well, not quite.

Read the rest of the article at 1001-Up.com here.

We wish you a Mario Christmas

What games are on your Christmas list? Image credit: Bryan Ochalla

Apologies for the terrible pun.

With the festive season well underway, we want to know what your retro wish would be. If you could find one retro game or console under the tree this Christmas, what would it be?

A retro classic like Super Mario 64, Secret of Mana or Sonic the Hedgehog? Or a super rare collectible like Clay Fighter 63 1/3, Eliminate Down or Pro Sport Hockey for the NES? Or maybe even something fiendishly difficult like the infamous Battletoads?

Whatever your dream choice, let us know in the comments below.

And don’t forget to give us a like on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Could it be a SNES? Image credit: Hades2k

Welcome to The Next Level Gaming!

The PlayStation 4 launched a few days ago, selling over a million copies in 24 hours. Not bad.

It may seem strange to launch a gaming site that aims to take a measured look at the industry at a time when both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are being launched to global fanfare.

But if anything, this is the perfect time. With screaming headlines and frenetic column inches being filed the world over, this is a good opportunity to take a step back and ask ourselves: how did we get here?

From this to the PlayStation 4. Image credit Jonas Nilsson Lee

The gaming industry is an amazing world, and there are some pretty incredible things going on. Mobile gaming is radically changing the way games are played, shared and created. Big name titles are propelling many bands and singers into fame and fortune, something that would have been unthinkable in the past. Gaming shapes us and our world in so many incredible ways. And we love it.

It all seems a long way from the days of Pong and Pacman. But if you want to see how we got here, this is the site for you.

What better time to get started?