9 replies to this topic

[Desfeek]

So, last week I replaced my NES with a great boxed one. My old one, in good functioning order, I donated to my childhood friend whose NES has been dead for some time now. He had a couple buddies over, so we hooked up the 4 Score and put in Super Spike V'Ball, a favorite of ours. That game is a blast 4-player, especially when everybody gets good enough to block super spikes...anyway, it dawned on me while playing, and I exclaimed to my buddies, "We might just be the only people in the world playing 4 player Super Spike Volleyball right now". We were at a 'socially acceptable' intoxication level, but this statement got everybody thinking, laughing, and really changed the course of conversation for the night. Have you ever thought that you may be the only person on the planet playing a game? Or doing something obscure and retro game-related? I had the same kind of feeling after breaking the World Record on Vectrex Pole Position...looking at my machine thinking "This thing has gotten a better score than every other machine in the last 30 years...wow". Haha, I don't know why I posted this, I just thought it might stir up some conversation...

[ls650]

Actually that thought has occurred to me. I'll be playing a more obscure game released many years ago, and I'll suddenly think, "You know, I might be the only person on planet Earth playing '#####' on a System such&such right now."

[Chuck D. Head]

Yeah, if there were online leaderboards for Downland on the Coco2, I would still probably be #11,382.

[Reaperman]

It doesn't really have to be an obscure game at all given the low number of 'retrogamers' compared to the number of 'retrogames.' I've had that thought all kinds of times. I rather enjoy the thought.

Even with somewhat recent games with online features, that thought pops into my mind while wondering if anybody would ever join my game as I let it wait there for half an hour or so.

Edited by Reaperman, Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:13 PM.

[BassGuitari]

I've gotten that feeling before. Especially that one time an old friend and I played Basic Math for close to an hour. For some reason we thought it was hilarious. That's got to be the only time that's ever happened. Or those rare times I can get someone (usually my finance) to play Street Racer or something with me. I'd still love to get some 4-player action going at game nights at our house, but when all your friends are couples in their '30s, even when half of each said couple are into classic gaming, what always ends up happening is...Board Game Night! *Sigh.* Oh, the wasted opportunities...4-player Asteroids and Basketball on the Atari 800...4-player Bowling and Computer Golf on the Odyssey 2...4-player Pong games on the Super Pong Pro-Am Ten...4-player Street Racer, Breakout, Video Olympics, Warlords, and Casino on the Atari 2600...

When I play games on my Timex/Sinclair or MC-10 or an obscure Pong clone, or I try out an obscure new game I just picked up, part of me wonders if I might be the first person in 30 years to play that particular copy, if not the game in general. I've felt that about several games.

[Skylark68]

I try to find and read antique books on occasion, and I have to be the only one reading a certain book at that particular instant. I'm sure I'm in the same boat when I break out certain games, although I'm sure one of you guys is probably playing Missile Command at the same exact moment.

[Desfeek]

I like what's been posted so far!

Antique books are a great connection to the topic. Maybe vintage bicycle/car collectors get that feeling rolling an obscure vehicle down the roadway


My buddy and I were probably the only people to beat River City Ransom, Super Spike Volleyball, Mega Man 2, and the first four dungeons of Zelda that day as well...

Good times.

[fiddlepaddle]

I wonder if Kaboom! has been played somewhere in the world continuously since it was originally popular?

[Drixxel]

BassGuitari, on Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:42 PM, said:

I'd still love to get some 4-player action going at game nights at our house, but when all your friends are couples in their '30s, even when half of each said couple are into classic gaming, what always ends up happening is...Board Game Night! *Sigh.* Oh, the wasted opportunities...

Board game night... never a satisfying substitute for 4-player video gaming! I've had many a night end up at that disappointing compromise and I agree, it's tragic, really. Multiplayer gaming sessions with friends have always been more indelible experiences for me than even the best times playing board games; there's just a different sort of potential for stories, memories and inside jokes when you're playing a heated game of, say, Micro Machines compared to a friendly go of Sorry!.

As for an "Only one in the world right now..." moment, I definitely get that kind of feeling when I'm playing an old, obscure favourite. For instance, I'm about to fire up Impossamole on TG16 - could there honestly be anyone else out there gaming the very same at this precise moment? It would be a most unusual connection to make with somebody if somehow you both arrived at that realization.

[Mirage]

Yes, but similar to what BassGuitari said, I sometimes wonder how many years it's been since someone has really played some obscure C64 game that I pull up from the depths of my disk image collection (I don't count whoever dumped and presumably tested it). Or at least how few people have played it in the past 20 years.