By Samson Afolabi-11th Grade, Trinity Christian School

From Pac Man to Street Fighters to Halo, video games have been around for a long time and will not be leaving us anytime soon. There are different genres, remakes, and sequels of video games, as well as different eras of games. Some prefer older games like Space Invaders and the older Mortal Kombat and some prefer newer ones like Call of Duty and the newer Mortal Kombat.

While there are a lot of people that prefer newer games, older games should not be disregarded. For one, the games of the past had simpler graphics and a less complicated design. This benefitted the creators of the games as well as the players. On the creator’s side, it was easier for them to build and had less complex programming. Also, on the user side, there was less risk of visual complications and vision issues and users could enjoy quality gaming without too much involvement on graphics. While there today’s 3D gaming offers cool, engaging graphics, it can be too distracting sometimes and takes the focus away from the game itself.

Another reason older video games may have the advantage is the fact that newer games are sometimes too complicated. In previous games, there was a simple plot and game objective one could figure out easily with no need for additional tools. Nowadays, there is a complicated plot that usually requires its own manual and tons of additional content you may have to pay extra for. Sometimes, you even have to find cheats or check online for clarification on how to do something. While there were cheats in old games, they were mainly just for cool moves, but now it is almost required to have cheats.

Finally, older video games have an advantage because they usually were cheaper. There were the arcade games that were inexpensive and there were those consoles you could get that would have a ton of games on them. All of these options were less expensive than what you have today. In additional to buying a console that costs a lot, the games themselves cost a large amount and lead to downloadable content that might also cost money.

Video games are popular commodities that have been around for a long time and are not going anywhere soon. While there is a large market for newer games, older games should not be completely dealt away with. They have a lot of use and are sometimes more practical than newer ones. However, that does not mean that the newer games should be completely denied. Ultimately, it all depends on whether or not you like it.

Samson is an 11^th grader at Trinity Christian School. He lives in North Braddock and has been on the Trinity School Newspaper Staff. He is interested in programming, and is seeking to major in cyber security and have a career in cryptology.