Why aren't there simple games anymore?

Ah, nostalgia: it’s a powerful drug. I recall those summer nights where I stayed awake past bedtime, breathing the heavy air accumulating under the covers, playing Pokemon on my GameBoy.

The GameBoy was a simple device, therefore only simple games were released. In that era, LRZ triggers didn’t exist, XY buttons were available only on console systems, and 3D graphics were reserved for the most elite systems. The GameBoy was something you could pick up as you left the house, and play on the way to the playground. Games could be started and stopped at whim, and only a few games could save your place (most used passwords that were entered to start where one left off). Why aren’t games like this produced anymore?

I liked those simple games. To an extent, simple games are readily available, cheaply, on iOS devices. However, these games lack that classic RPG-esqueness (less than 1% of them, probably, are actual RPG games). I’m now on a quest to find another RPG game to play during down-time.

I could resort to emulators and flash cartridges, sure, but I want something better. I want a new game, not the same old ones I’ve beat a thousand times.

Back in 2008 and 2009, I programmed homebrew games for the GameBoy. These were nothing extraordinary, and most were demo-quality at best. The thing is: one man cannot create a legendary game. That is why I need to recruit a team of passionate developers with a pinch of experience to create a new rad game.

I’ll be looking at my options for the next few months. When my computer pals come home from college over the summer, most will find jobs. I’m hoping, though, that some see the business opportunity in this idea. If I yearn for a new game that brings memories of nostalgia, a thousand others do, too. If our team could make a truly great game that throws gamers back to simpler times, while being fresh, thousands and thousands of dollars are to be made from sales.

This is more than idea to me: it’s a quest to blend old and new; to unite young adults with their childhoods.