You Can't Know Where You're Going If You Don't Know Where We've Been

Torrence Davis of The Bitbag writes, "As I embark on the 40th year of my life, I can't stop thinking about today's youth and how shallow they are about our culture. The word classic is in our vocabulary for a reason. It represents creativity that stands the test of time. You can't ignore the 90's if you are into Hiphop. You can't ignore the history of film if you are a movie buff. Finally, you can't ignore retro gaming if you are a gamer".

[Sunny_D]

What the? Did they use Illmatic's cover on purpose just to lure me in? Too bad, he really doesn't say much about it.

[DarK-SilV]

At least it is a great article

[Sunny_D]

Yeah, it is.

[Lifendz]

just a shame that it came from one of the biggest fanboys out there.

[tyrex]

is a great read. thebitbag.com is where its at

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY VICS VAPOR RUB
"cause when you need to rub you grab the tub"

[tordavis]

ROFLMAO

Man, it's spreading!

[RedPawn]

40 years damn, I'd pat you on the shoulder, but I'm afraid I'd break your clavicle, LMFAO.

Great Track BTW "I'd love to take a trip down Memory Lane, comin outta QueensBridge."

Congrats

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Illmatic is almost 20 years old and it completely destroys the so-called hip hop of today.............(goes back to watching Justified)

[RedPawn]

Also on that note

Rip Guru of Gang Starr

[JAMurida]

RIP Guru as well, it's really sad how a lot of people will hear the news on his death and not even know who he was. Nor will they know how much his death effects the music world...

[ThaOutKast]

"It's a long way to go if you don't know where you're going"
R.I.P. Guru.

[Crusade]

Illmatic FTMFW

[360Mirror]

Imagine pushing a 9-5 while bringing up a child and then find the time to create the Bitbag. I have been following your site for over 2 years and find it more entertaining than most of the AAA sites out there. Keep up the passion and 1up to your team.
HHG 2 – AAA developers 0

[Kakihara]

You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been but you can't get lost if you don't know where you're going.

[DominicanNinja]

illmatic was a great choice to reel people in

[Cajun Chicken]

I have a general rule with videogames, I don't really play games prior to Amiga. Amiga was the first thing I ever played on and in my opinion still has some great games that should be remade or otherwise. I never owned a console until the PSX, I played others around people's houses, but never had my own Megadrive or Snes, I purely caught up with that thanks to emulation.

I just can't play games that are supposed to be something, but look totally abstract, sometimes I even steer away from NES games for this very reason, it's because I can't tell what I'm playing as, it's not me being picky with the graphics, it's the art behind the games. At least most Amiga games you could actually tell what you play as or are fighting against.
My argument is if you can certainly tell what you play as if it has more than 16 colours on screen, the games playable I don't do Atari or C64, those to me are jokes and should be left in the past.

Obviously classic arcade games get exceptions, but not every game made in the past with limited pixels and colour pallets were great.

Great article though, amazed that a kid wouldn't play Final Fight with such great animation in a 2D game. Just to say, I'm 23.

[Cherchez La Ghost]

That caught my eye off the break. Now I'm about to read this article since everyone giving positive reviews. Artilces and good feedback remarks still exsist here at N4G.

Damn, now I want to listen to "It Ain't Hard to Tell".

[EVILDEAD360]

Classic Hip Hop Nod..R.I.P. Guru..to Classic gaming..

I loved the old days of gaming..but all it did was make me appreciate what we have today..

Tor D. hit it DEAD on the nail about the silly pixel count thing..it always makes me laugh when these internet haters throw insults at games b-be-because it's 'sub-HD'..when 100% of the games were prior to this generation.

I laugh at one of my closets filled with past gaming system collection..bundles of systems, joysticks, wires etc. that would take hours to undo..and cartridges? WOW..

I think I even got PONG in their somewhere..

But, as much fun as the past gens and arcade world was..this is by far THE best gen of all time..

Why?

We get the best of both worlds..I already owned all the ROMS..the emulators etc...and I even loved playing all the classics (some enhanced) on Xbox Live arcade..

But the truth is..being connected to the living rooms of friends and fam that had the same passion for games that you had..in the early years of this gen was (and still is) priceless..

and even though you have an internet world of gamers filled with 'bad apples'..there's still nothing like gamers being able to express their love for their hobby..even if it's one simple account on N4G.com

The World is YOURS...

Evil

[CARRIERHASARRIVED]

As far as pixel counting goes, last generation there wasn't much of a market for it. Now you can buy up a domain for cheap, post the crap, and then reel in the hits. Torrence calls these fly-by-night sites, and yeah, they are to blame, but it's also larger sites that do this that should show some consideration for the industry itself. Unfortunately, those sites can only be as considerate as the average gamer in this day and age, and that's how I like to think of them (less even). If any of the people running these sites developed games for a living, they would have respect for the craft, and obviously they do not, so why listen to them? What do they REALLY know anyway?

I think it would be in the publisher and developer's best interest to seek damages against sites like these. It really boggles my mind why they don't do this, current-gen video game production is NOT a cheap investment (sure there are a few exceptions--indy games mainly).

Edit: Just to clear up what I meant there, the average gamer is fine, I was basically saying they have less consideration than a casual would, only they have a slightly more technical vocabulary. They don't seem very enthusiastic to the hobby and would rather pick apart a game. That to me warrants the term "less even".

[chad22hkd]

I am somewhat of a old school gamer myself. I'm 27 so I started out back on the atari 2600. Things have changed a lot now. It's all about the visuals. We granted it's a lot about the visuals. But without great gameplay the visuals mean nothing. You know everyone complains about small differences in console multiplats. Or how an exclusive is at a lower resolution. But does that truly ruin a game. NO It just has to look good and play great with a great story. These same people that complain i'm sure they game on the go some how. With a ds psp or iphone. When they play do they say. Oh my god this is so horrible i have to play a lower resolutions now. No they play and still have fun. A game like Uncharted 2 is the mastery of both the visuals and gameplay. That's what makes it a true next gen gem. But that has never been and never will be everygame. You know some of the most fun I have had gaming in years is from Worms. As old as it is the gameplay and style is just so fun and addicting. But it is crazy to see how time is changing gaming. I just hope it's not changing for the worse. Where every game just tries to be the next MW2. Or the next best graphics. Gaming is getting so big that games are going to be like movies. Cheesy B action and comedy movies that are lame and just try to please everyone. Just trying the lamest ways to be cool, and have big pretty explosions. But if you guys want to see what he is talking about. go download Cave Story it's a free indie game for pc and mac. It's done in 8 bit graphics but it's so much fun I can't stop playing it. Well another great article from the bit bag thanks