This is definitely a thing on YouTube and on Podcasts. You get these shows run by a member of this new generation of kids who are into old games, and they just try too hard to establish credibility.
Now we're getting somewhere...
Just recently I was searching for a Wizard of Wor video for a 3-D modelling project. For the record, I used to jam on some Wizard of Wor, and it was one of the games I used to play co-op with my dad. So in my search results, a Wor video pops up authored by AVGN's bottom bitch. The first thing he says is something like, "Back in my day WoW meant Wizard of Wor, not World of Warcraft" or some shit like that. If the info on his age is correct, that fool was 1 year old when Wor came out. The frequency with which they changed out arcade machines at the time, meant that when he was finally old enough to go to an arcade and remember the experience, the odds of Wor still being there were almost nil.
Don't get me wrong. If some snot nose comes along, picks up an old copy of Contra and really enjoys it, well that's just fine. What the "come lately's" and the posers need to realize, however, is that their opinions will always be worth less than the opinion of someone who was there. Like music, movies, t.v. shows, and toys, video games are cultural artifacts. They are products of a specific time that encapsulated the trends, fads, and attitudes contained within. I can pick up a CD of Vietnam War era protest music, and maybe even enjoy it. I am, however, unable to enjoy or understand it the same way someone from that era is able to understand it. Their connection will always be by default, much stronger than mine. For me to stomp around grousing about Ho Chi Minh and LBJ would be comically stupid.
Just in case, if anyone is thinking about throwing out the word "elitist" after reading this, I suggest you don't. Elitist is another word that has been ruined by the internet because dummies don't understand what it means. My position is neither elitist nor even exclusionary. To clarify, I am not saying the kiddies can't play. I am saying that they cannot understand these things the way that I do and they shouldn't
pretend that they can.
The people who talk about their torment and how they were ostracized for being nerds for playing video games are probably mostly exaggerating as well. I am not saying it didn't happen, I just don't think it was as widespread or severe as a lot of people say it was. You can see evidence in the news reports and sales figures from the time. Arcades were always packed, the home console and PC gaming market were huge for the time. I was in junior high when Zelda came out, and the person who told me about the hidden rupee island was the quarterback for the football team. I am willing to bet that a good number of these "tormented" cut off and segregated themselves, rather than the other way around.
