By Owen Jones
Loads of people still like playing the crappy old games of 20-30 years ago. The reason has to be nostalgia because the games of today are superior in graphics, speed, playability and sound. Only the content might be worse.
Twenty to thirty years ago, there were cannon games for shooting down warplanes and blowing up tanks and naturally they were being driven by individuals who got killed, but you never saw them. These days, these same shoot-em ups have blood, gore and body parts scattered everywhere.
Perhaps it is more truthful, but does it teach anything? I don't think it makes children more aware of the horrors of war, it just numbs them to it a little more. In the past, those old cannon games were roughly all about raising the cannon and permitting for windage, movement and distance. But what is Kitten Cannon about?
Twenty to thirty years ago, there were cannon games for shooting down warplanes and blowing up tanks and naturally they were being driven by individuals who got killed, but you never saw them. These days, these same shoot-em ups have blood, gore and body parts scattered everywhere.
Perhaps it is more truthful, but does it teach anything? I don't think it makes children more aware of the horrors of war, it just numbs them to it a little more. In the past, those old cannon games were roughly all about raising the cannon and permitting for windage, movement and distance. But what is Kitten Cannon about?
There is no knack to the game. You only blast a kitten out of a cannon to its death and the one who shoots it the farthest is the winner. Why a kitten? Just to become gruesome, I suppose. Kids like gruesome and the game is addictive and so it is popular, but older players are the ones who are thinking back to their Super Mario and The Hobbit adventure games.
However, most of these old games came on 5.25" floppy, cartridge or cassette tape. A couple were on 2.5" diskettes. However, hardly anyone has the ability to play these formats anymore. Some have been converted to run on contemporary PC's, but then you have to buy the same old 20-30 year old game again and the graphics and sound are no better.
You used to be able to play the old games, say, 10-15 years ago by downloading or buying an emulator, because computers back then were (or could) still loading from the old storage devices mentioned previously. So, if you want to play a boxful of old Commodore 64 or Atari 250 games that you recently found in the attic, you will have to strive to buy a 10-15 year old AT or something like that.
The only other option is to hunt the Internet for compilation disks that enthusiasts have put together after copying and converting them for use on modern PC's. The newer versions will probably run faster and smoother than what you remember, although the music will still be just as repetitive.
It is up to you what you think about copyright law. I am fairly sure that most of the companies that made most of those games no longer exist, but it is probable that someone still owns the copyright although they may no longer worry whether it is infringed as long as y
However, most of these old games came on 5.25" floppy, cartridge or cassette tape. A couple were on 2.5" diskettes. However, hardly anyone has the ability to play these formats anymore. Some have been converted to run on contemporary PC's, but then you have to buy the same old 20-30 year old game again and the graphics and sound are no better.
You used to be able to play the old games, say, 10-15 years ago by downloading or buying an emulator, because computers back then were (or could) still loading from the old storage devices mentioned previously. So, if you want to play a boxful of old Commodore 64 or Atari 250 games that you recently found in the attic, you will have to strive to buy a 10-15 year old AT or something like that.
The only other option is to hunt the Internet for compilation disks that enthusiasts have put together after copying and converting them for use on modern PC's. The newer versions will probably run faster and smoother than what you remember, although the music will still be just as repetitive.
It is up to you what you think about copyright law. I am fairly sure that most of the companies that made most of those games no longer exist, but it is probable that someone still owns the copyright although they may no longer worry whether it is infringed as long as y
You used to be able to play the old games, say, 10-15 years ago by downloading or buying an emulator, because computers back then were (or could) still loading from the old storage devices mentioned previously. So, if you want to play a boxful of old Commodore 64 or Atari 250 games that you recently found in the attic, you will have to strive to buy a 10-15 year old AT or something like that.
The only other option is to hunt the Internet for compilation disks that enthusiasts have put together after copying and converting them for use on modern PC's. The newer versions will probably run faster and smoother than what you remember, although the music will still be just as repetitive.
It is up to you what you think about copyright law. I am fairly sure that most of the companies that made most of those games no longer exist, but it is probable that someone still owns the copyright although they may no longer worry whether it is infringed as long as you do not try to sell hundreds of CD's of the games on eBay.
Perhaps the old games of 20-30 years ago were far happier than the modern variety. Computers were still new and exciting in the Eighties and Nineties and I don't remember any blood and guts featuring in any of the games and I don't think anyone thought of firing a kitten out of a cannon.
About the Author:
The only other option is to hunt the Internet for compilation disks that enthusiasts have put together after copying and converting them for use on modern PC's. The newer versions will probably run faster and smoother than what you remember, although the music will still be just as repetitive.
It is up to you what you think about copyright law. I am fairly sure that most of the companies that made most of those games no longer exist, but it is probable that someone still owns the copyright although they may no longer worry whether it is infringed as long as you do not try to sell hundreds of CD's of the games on eBay.
Perhaps the old games of 20-30 years ago were far happier than the modern variety. Computers were still new and exciting in the Eighties and Nineties and I don't remember any blood and guts featuring in any of the games and I don't think anyone thought of firing a kitten out of a cannon.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on various subjects but is presently involved with cat cannon games. If you would like to read more, please go over to our web site entitled Kitten Cannon 3.