USgamer Community Question: What Game Would You Want Future Generations of Gamers Playing?
What game would you bequeath to your descendants?
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Older generations have a responsibility to pass down our knowledge and experiences to the younger generation. That way, kids can preserve our achievements -- and learn from them.
Video game history already spans a few generations, and there are several titles that are considered timeless (or ought to be). What game do you hope to see your kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids playing?
Nadia Oxford, Staff Writer
Super Mario Bros. I know there's probably a corny "Kids React!" video out there where young people stumble through the game and "Ohh my gaaaawd" about how bad it looks, or whatever. I also know reaction videos are cut to serve a specific tone. There's still something hypnotic about watching and playing Super Mario Bros for the NES, especially when you watch someone play it well. Besides, kids love Minecraft and Roblox despite their simple visuals; I'd venture to say they're not as shallow about graphics as we believe they are.
Super Mario Bros just nails how a good action game ought to look and feel. It's an excellent enduring case study for flawless game design, and I hope kids never lose sight of what makes World 1-1 special.
Caty McCarthy, Staff Writer
Maybe I'm only thinking about this because at this very moment, I'm literally writing about it ahead of its 15th anniversary in North America, but I hope Animal Crossing is still around for future generations. Or at the very least, I hope future generations seek out the series, and find their lives forfeit to virtual debts and pristine towns. Animal Crossing as a series is one that I feel is ultimately timeless—nothing grows old, and revisiting an old town is just like stepping foot into it for the first time.
It's a world where there's so much lovely mundanity to partake in, from fishing to fossil digging to clothes designing. In Animal Crossing, the world is truly your oyster. I don't see that freeing concept getting old anytime soon, even as new generations come around.
Matt Kim, News Editor
This is a pretty hard question since I don't know if there's any one game that deserves to preserved for future generations. If I had to choose, and it's a title that probably has a chance at being sold forever into the future, I'd pick Cave Story.
Cave Story has the the distinction of capturing a lot of unique aspects to gaming I'd love to be preserved and replayed in the future. It has the classic 2D gameplay of classic generation of games. The story has a few post-modern flourishes that subverts and deconstructs those same classic gameplay tropes. And it still just has a look and sound that's timeless. Also, Cave Story teaches empathy which I think is a valuable lesson for all future gamers.