I have always been an avid video gamer. In fact, I started playing Mario when I was just a kid. My friends and I got all the classic Nintendo games as soon as they would come out.
I'm not old enough to have played on the Atari, and I must confess, I've never really even played on one yet. But, I have all the respect in the world for the Atari generation and their serious gaming skills, especially at Pong. You see, I'm a huge gamer and love almost any game. I even today buy all the coolest game shirts out there. My room is filled with game posters and the latest game apparels and figurines. And it all started with that little Italian plumber, Mario.
Over the years, I've grown quite considerably fond of the real-time strategy genre perfectly exemplified by the Starcraft franchise. I played countless hours, thousands of Battle Net games and bough all the Starcraft game shirts sold online.
Throughout my experience as a serious gamer, I've noticed that the best games were not the ones with the greatest graphics or stories. The greatest games were the ones which transcended technology, trends, society and culture. Games like Tetris, Pac Man, chess and even backgammon have such powerful game mechanics that very few video games have ever come close to replicating them. These games have gameplay which tap into our core human psyche and are thus able to stay relevant in the 21st century.
From the Age of Nintendo to a game shirt buyer culture where game fans partake in massively commercialized cultures, the best video games to be found are still the ones our parents played on the Atari.