When you’re a kid, museums bore you.
Except dinosaur museums—those never bore you.
Regular museums.
Non, dinosaur, museums.
Not the kind of thing you’re all that into, when you’re freaking six.
Thing is, though, eventually, you’re not six anymore.
Eventually, you’re thirty six.
And I think it’s a gradual thing, it’s something you don’t even notice.
But one day, you wake up, and all the sudden…you realize everything you love, is now old.
And suddenly, you can relate to museums.
It’s like walking through your attic.
Here, we have your first Atari, and your first NES zapper, and your poster of Phoebe Cates,
that your first girlfriend made you take down.
Point is…eventually, you’re old.
And you lose as much interest in the now, as the now loses interest in you.
And you start to turn more and more to the old stuff, to your own museums.
And, also, dinosaur museums.
You never lose interest in dinosaurs.
It’s Namco Museum 3.
You know, there’s a lot you could say about these games, that’s already been said a
million times over.
I mean, there’s not much left to say about Ms. Pac-Man.
But to me, what’s super interesting about playing these games now…is how they feel,
in the now.
They’re just so…refreshing.
Like, all of the now’s DLC, and hour-long updates and installations…
They, just…wash away.
I mean, modern gaming is like a desert sometimes.
Hot, dry…so to play this, is just…you know how, right before a summer storm, the
air gets that sweet smell?
And it’s almost sticky—you can feel it.
And the wind picks up, and the trees start to sway, and… the screen spazzes out, for
a second…
And then, all the sudden…
It just pours.
Now, that’s all very poetic…all this talk about growing up, and getting old, and sweet
summer storms.
What about the games?
Well, I mean, I just described the feeling of playing them, pretty vividly, I thought.
Use your goddamn imagination.
Kids.
See why I hang out in museums now?
Anyway, I mean…these are some of the all-time great video games.
Specifically, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug and Galaxian.
Those three games, play as great now, as they did 30 years ago.
Seriously, it’s amazing.
They control great, they look timeless…which is another interesting thing about playing
them now.
There are games released half as long ago, that were considered these huge graphical
advancements…
That don’t look as charming as Dig Dug.
That don’t have the color of Ms. Pac-Man.
The great thing about playing these three now, is that they’re still great.
It’s not a nostalgia thing…it’s not a legacy act.
They’re so well-made and designed, they really are timeless.
But of course, that’s only half the package.
There are three other games, too.
You get Pole Position II…as well as two games I’d never played before.
Phozon, and the Tower of Druaga.
Druaga, or however you say it.
But anyway, Pole Position II is…well, it’s Pole Position II.
It’s tough to get a handle on its mechanics, and you’re gonna crash most of the time.
Until you remember you can play Ms. Pac-Man.
At which point, you just play Ms. Pac-Man.
But after that, you have Phozon.
Which is actually pretty interesting—at least, aesthetically, and conceptually.
It’s like a puzzle game set beneath some kind of super microscope, or something.
You control this little atom, and you have to create new atoms, by attaching the right…electrons,
or whatever.
Look, I don’t know, all I know is it looks awesome.
And it’s a cool idea for a puzzle game, so Phozon at least had me intrigued.
Only problem is, it’s a lot more interesting than it is fun, and it certainly won’t interrupt
your normal rotation of Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaxian.
But you know, the only game in this collection I’d call outright bad…is this one, Druaga.
This thing kind of reminds me of Gauntlet, but without the cool stuff in Gauntlet.
You walk around a maze, you find a key, you get to the exit.
Sounds fine, but holy crap, it’s boring.
And a little frustrating, too.
Your sword has, like…a half a pixel, of reach.
You want to kill a bad guy?
You better be on him.
Which is uncomfortable for both of us, thanks, Druaga.
I’ll just play Ms. Pac-Man.
Don’t have to be on top of her, she has morals.
Anyway, big thanks to dear, close, personal friend Kris, from Jersey City, New Jersey.
He sends us all kinds of crap, which is awesome, and something that’s insanely cool of you
guys to do.
It’s extra awesome when it’s crap like this—I have become an old man.
So I appreciate this museum, in a big way.
This thing’s probably aged better than most of your original PlayStation games, and it’s
made from games that are twice as old, boy, funny how that works, it’s Namco Museum:
Volume 3.
Some of the best games ever.
And Druaga.