Years ago I bought the cult classic Breakdown for Xbox. I never ended up playing it for whatever reason, but I’ve seen it on so many “Best Games No One Played” lists over the years that I figured I would try it now (why now when there’s an avalanche of AAA out right now? I’m saving all of those for winter break). I was expecting brilliance, and sure enough the premise is right up my alley. But our emphasis on playability has grown so much since Breakdown’s release that I couldn’t play it for longer than 30 minutes. The controls were simply too frustrating.

It saddens me to think that I’m missing out on an amazing experience because my tolerance for shoddy control schemes has steadily decreased over time. What does this mean for our history, when 5 to 10 years from now we go to play an oldie only to find that the mechanics are intolerably outdated? Even Ocarina of Time, the pinnacle of excellence in pacing and level design, is showing its age (let’s not even talk about the graphics). Perhaps Stephen Totilo is right in saying the industry should put more effort into revitalizing the classics. But at what point will we reach that threshold where our mechanics hold up over time? Will we ever? Is this problem unique to the game industry?

What do you think?