Comments on: Second Hand Memories http://www.chewingpixels.com/second-hand-memories/ A website dissecting media, especially videogames, written by a British journalist: includes published videogame reviews and features as well as thinking about morality in and around pixel media. Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:04:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Infovore » links for November 23rd http://www.chewingpixels.com/second-hand-memories/comment-page-1/#comment-31230 Infovore » links for November 23rd Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:01:21 +0000 http://www.chewingpixels.com/?p=1401#comment-31230 [...] chewing pixels » Second Hand Memories "Unknown games are always the best ones… They are always stronger, funnier, cleverer and better-executed than their realities and so that walk home from the store, when the game is tangible in your hands but still imagined in your mind, is oftentimes the most potent moment in the videogame experience." A lovely piece from Simon on what the end of a certain kind of retail experience will really mean. (tags: games simonparkin writing retail shops purchasing anticipation ) [...] [...] chewing pixels » Second Hand Memories "Unknown games are always the best ones… They are always stronger, funnier, cleverer and better-executed than their realities and so that walk home from the store, when the game is tangible in your hands but still imagined in your mind, is oftentimes the most potent moment in the videogame experience." A lovely piece from Simon on what the end of a certain kind of retail experience will really mean. (tags: games simonparkin writing retail shops purchasing anticipation ) [...]

]]> By: Mr Blackett http://www.chewingpixels.com/second-hand-memories/comment-page-1/#comment-31218 Mr Blackett Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:16:06 +0000 http://www.chewingpixels.com/?p=1401#comment-31218 When I was a kid we had Chips and Topsoft. Topsoft died in the mid-nineties but Chips is still there. They were both squirrelled away in the deep dark recesses of Costa Del Darlo's town centre. This is when games were still very niche - games were for kids and computers were seen as a threat to jobs - so the only people who really knew about them were kids. I don't remember Topsoft particularly fondly. The manager was the most obnoxious man in the history of retail and it was like a Portakabin. It was too clean and stunk of new carpet tiles. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think it probably was a Portakabin. The last time I went in there was to buy Cannon Fodder for the Amiga so the sheer length of time and a number of subsequent lifestyle choices may have distorted my memory a bit. Chips was totally different. It was dark, stuffy and smelled of geek. It had it's range of joysticks illuminated under the glass counter, a bargain bin of 50p tapes and the far end of the store sold those Warhammer models. I remember getting Jet Set Willy from that that bargain bin and feeling like I'd totally socked it to 'the man'. I got my C64 on my 9th birthday and my Amiga on my 10th which would have made the game about six years old. Still, it was a victory to me. Chips, sadly, will probably go the way of Topsoft. It's amazing that it's still there now. The last time I went in was to check if they had Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube...in 2004. They were the only place in town that had a copy. I remember it being an enormous cavern of joy as a youngster but it's about the size of my front room. It totally relies on second-hand sales and kids round here need it for games. This is a town built on the railways and that's long gone, only to be replaced by poverty, alcoholism and call centre work. Money is scarce and kids don't have the money to buy brand new full-price titles. Chips gives them a place to hang out, talk games with the staff possessing actual knowledge of the industry and they can afford a new game every now and then. You don't get that sense of community (not the phrase I'm looking for but you know what I mean) in Game, HMV or any of the identikit high-street stores. The other sad thing is that when the kids of today get to our age, they won't be able to indulge in 'remember the days before gaming got mainstream' nostalgia trips. They won't get to watch their hobby grow from brothers knocking out tapes from their bedroom into hundred+ man teams working for companies that gamble millions on each game. I don't want to come across as if gaming was somehow better back in the day. It wasn't. Gaming has never been better than it is now. Being an adult gamer isn't something to be ashamed of. The games are astonishing. I can get a new title by walking to the end of my street or entering my credit card details and waiting for an hour or so. Still, kids today are missing something that will never come back. Something intangible but something that can still inspire me to drone on for a couple of paragraphs because of an article that reminds me of my youth...so thanks for that. When I was a kid we had Chips and Topsoft. Topsoft died in the mid-nineties but Chips is still there. They were both squirrelled away in the deep dark recesses of Costa Del Darlo’s town centre. This is when games were still very niche – games were for kids and computers were seen as a threat to jobs – so the only people who really knew about them were kids.

I don’t remember Topsoft particularly fondly. The manager was the most obnoxious man in the history of retail and it was like a Portakabin. It was too clean and stunk of new carpet tiles. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I think it probably was a Portakabin. The last time I went in there was to buy Cannon Fodder for the Amiga so the sheer length of time and a number of subsequent lifestyle choices may have distorted my memory a bit.

Chips was totally different. It was dark, stuffy and smelled of geek. It had it’s range of joysticks illuminated under the glass counter, a bargain bin of 50p tapes and the far end of the store sold those Warhammer models. I remember getting Jet Set Willy from that that bargain bin and feeling like I’d totally socked it to ‘the man’. I got my C64 on my 9th birthday and my Amiga on my 10th which would have made the game about six years old. Still, it was a victory to me.

Chips, sadly, will probably go the way of Topsoft. It’s amazing that it’s still there now. The last time I went in was to check if they had Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube…in 2004. They were the only place in town that had a copy. I remember it being an enormous cavern of joy as a youngster but it’s about the size of my front room. It totally relies on second-hand sales and kids round here need it for games. This is a town built on the railways and that’s long gone, only to be replaced by poverty, alcoholism and call centre work. Money is scarce and kids don’t have the money to buy brand new full-price titles. Chips gives them a place to hang out, talk games with the staff possessing actual knowledge of the industry and they can afford a new game every now and then. You don’t get that sense of community (not the phrase I’m looking for but you know what I mean) in Game, HMV or any of the identikit high-street stores.

The other sad thing is that when the kids of today get to our age, they won’t be able to indulge in ‘remember the days before gaming got mainstream’ nostalgia trips. They won’t get to watch their hobby grow from brothers knocking out tapes from their bedroom into hundred+ man teams working for companies that gamble millions on each game.

I don’t want to come across as if gaming was somehow better back in the day. It wasn’t. Gaming has never been better than it is now. Being an adult gamer isn’t something to be ashamed of. The games are astonishing. I can get a new title by walking to the end of my street or entering my credit card details and waiting for an hour or so.

Still, kids today are missing something that will never come back. Something intangible but something that can still inspire me to drone on for a couple of paragraphs because of an article that reminds me of my youth…so thanks for that.

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