Last week, Penny Arcade scribe Tycho called for a moratorium on reviews of classic games, claiming that “there’s simply no need…for young men to toil in describing them, because these games are so elemental: they have two buttons, and one mode of movement.”

This sentiment was echoed by Jeremy Parish, who does the weekly Retro Roundup for 1up.com, a feature which rates the latest classic titles for XBLA, Virtual Console and PS Network as either “Worth It” or “Not Worth It” rather than delving into the gameplay mechanics of games which are themselves archetypes of entire genres, and assigning them scores for things like graphics and sound. By today’s standards many of these games can barely even be considered as having graphics and sound, so reviewing them based on such factors certainly seems silly.

I think, at the end of the day, two things can be said about a retro game: It has either held up well, or it hasn’t. All a retro review really needs to answer is that question and nothing more.

What do you think? Are Retro Reviews a waste of time or do you find they help you in deciding whether to buy a particular title or not?

Interested in classic video game memorabilia? Got a few hundred thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket? If you fit this profile you’re probably going to want to head over to Sotheby’s in NYC this Thursday morning when a veritable holy grail of Atari marketing materials will be auctioned off to one well-to-do geek.
 
 
 

An extensive archive of original marketing materials (as detailed below) from the “Golden Age” of Atari, ca. 1981 to 1983, comprising more than 2,000 items of widely varying sizes and formats, including manuscript memorandum, internal specification guidelines, original sketches, blue lines, mechanicals, proofs, color separations (including acetates), and screen diagrams; the archive is mostly related to marketing materials for Atari games and game consoles, especially boxes and manuals, but includes some early design and graphic work for specific game characters and components.

That’s one crazy collection, and even though the $250,000 the set is estimated to sell for might seem like a lot, just imagine what this stuff will be worth in another 20 years.

So, can anyone spot me a few hundred G’s? You know I’m good for it…

[Sotheby's via Kotaku ]

It’s virtually hit every platform to date, so it was only a matter of time before Namco’s compilation phenomenas made their way to the Wii. Now before you start to bemoan about this being more of the same, things are going to be different — sorta.

What?!? I am serious.

Today the company announced Namco Museum Remix will consist of five classic titles (Pac ‘n Roll, Galaga, Pac-Motos, Rally-X, and Gator Panic) retooled with Wii’s unique capabilities in minds. In other words, be prepared to twist, shake and wave your arms… a lot! Namco provided a short background of each remixed title as follows:

Pac’n Roll Remix – Pac-Man will ROLL his way to victory instead of chomping his way through. Players navigate Pac-Man by rolling him through worlds where he will face deadly obstacles, roll-up classic pac pellets and use awesome power-ups.

Galaga Remix – With Galaga invaders arriving from the far reaches of space, players must try to shoot down the invading forces and save Pac-Man from ultimate destruction. With up to four-players able to challenge the oncoming invaders, and scores being tallied for each player, wiping out an alien species has never been so much fun.

Pac-Motos Remix – The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to knocking your opponents off a series of unique and colorful stages all while using the Wii Controller to move, dash and power-up your Pac-Man! Players engage in a small arena where the goal is to knock opponents off while grabbing power-ups and navigating through challenging environments.

Rally-X Remix – With up to 4 players capable of taking the screen at once, this classic Namco title is brought new life with slick graphics, power-ups and a new intuitive control scheme using the Wii Remote to steer. All these new features for Rally-X equal one thing – fun.

Gator Panic Remix – Gators pose a serious problem and Pac-Man is here to solve it. Players use Pac-Man to whack at emerging gators that appear on screen. The player with the most gator whacks at the end of a match wins!

Namco Museum Remix will revitalize popular Namco games, recreating them from the ground up with intuitive controls utilizing the Wii Controller and with new visuals in terms of both graphics and presentation. Each game delivers a unique experience that can be shared between anyone wanting to jump in on the action.

Nine faithful (read: original) classic titles will also be included on the disc. I hope you’ve got a thing for Pac-Man, because he makes up a third of the list. The list consists of: Galaxian, Dig Dug, Mappy, Xevious, Gaplus, Super Pac-Man, Pac & Pal, Pac-Mania and Cutie Q.