The Winter Olympics Feel Like ’90s Snowboarding, and I’m Here for It | games

AAs someone whose childhood holidays consisted of narrowboat rides along the Grand Union Canal or wandering the harbor side of Whitby looking for vampires, I’ve never been on a ski holiday. The idea of ​​rappelling down a hill using nothing but a plastic sled is completely foreign to me. However, my wife and I have been busy with the Winter Olympics, especially the snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions. And I think I know why. These events channel the look and feel of the winter sports simulation games you’ve always loved — especially those that arrived during a golden period in the mid-’90s.

This was the era in which the popularity of snowboarding boomed, especially among people in their 20s with disposable income and no responsibilities – which coincidentally was the toy industry’s target market at the time. Perhaps the first title to capitalize on this trend was Namco’s 1996 arcade game Alpine Surfer, which challenged players to stand on a skateboard-shaped controller and swoop down a mountainside as fast as possible – it was one of the most physically grueling metal games I’d ever played. Later that year came the PlayStation sim Cool Boarders, and then, in 1998, my favorite game of all time, 1080° Snowboarding on the N64, with its intuitive analog controls and incredibly authentic sound effects of boards cutting through deep, fluffy snow.

What I think brings these classics to mind is the very immersive presentation of events at Milano Cortina. Obviously there’s the innovative use of first-person drone cameras, which provide live chase camera footage from behind and slightly higher than competitors. Watching the snowboarding events, in which four competitors race against each other on steep runs, now feels just like playing 1080° Snowboarding’s race mode, which is viewed from a similar angle and pits players against AI-controlled skiers. In both experiences, you’re there among the riders, pushing and shoving to get to the perfect racing line.

At the same time, the use of stroboscopic analysis and 360-degree return systems Together, they allow broadcasters to freeze, zoom and slow-mo for very specific moments, and also mimic the highly elaborate replays that modern 3D sports simulation games enjoy. A decade ago, sports channels like ESPN began taking inspiration from FIFA soccer games by using computer-generated imagery (CGI) to animate replays and on-screen statistics, bringing viewers closer to the action and helping them understand the skills and tactics on display. Could the Olympic streaming services dig out their old consoles for similar inspiration?

The BBC is also channeling this era of video games – perhaps unwittingly – in its Olympic commentary. For freestyle events, the company uses former competitor Tim Warwood and veteran extreme sports presenter Ed Lee. The duo brought a tremendous amount of technical know-how to the events, but also brought a sense of relaxation and fun, recalling the overly enthusiastic in-game commentary used in the Cool Boarders and SSX titles, where experienced voice-over actors like Mark Hildreth (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots) and Mel McMurrin (Twisted Metal) shouted all the ’90s slang they could muster. SSX even included famous beatboxer Rahzel who brought his range of sound effects to the mix. These Games recognized professional snowboarding not just as a sport but as a culture, as figure skating has its own musical, linguistic and fashion sensibilities – and the Milano Cortina Games reflect this.

In 1999, Activision released Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, a series that really cemented the relationship between street/extreme sports and video games – but the skateboarding titles got there first, and it was curious to find a counterpart in Milan Cortina’s coverage. After watching Huw Nightingale and Charlotte Bankes take gold in the snowboarding event on Sunday night, I dug out 1080° Snowboarding and gave it a try. Although the graphics are dated, it still has that nice feeling of smooth movement through deep snow, with the camera lurking just beyond the border as it zigzags down the narrow slopes. Gaming borrows from sports and vice versa, and there is no doubt that this symbiotic relationship has proven beneficial to both. But it can also create unexpected moments of magic and nostalgia – and that’s certainly the case at Milano Cortina, even for those of us who’ve never been on ice, let alone on top of a frosty mountain range.

What are you playing?

Released in the shadow of the Resident Evil series, Capcom’s dinosaur horror adventure shares a lot of similarities with its zombie counterparts: groups of special ops soldiers placed in remote locations with minimal ammunition only to be attacked by a variety of dangerous monsters. Now both Dino Crisis 1 and 2 It has been re-released on Steam allowing veterans and newcomers to discover and re-evaluate these overlooked classics.

Director Shinji Mikami, who also created Resident Evil, refers to these games as “panic horror” games as opposed to the slower “survival horror” of Resi’s titles. Taking cues from Jurassic Park, you’re constantly being chased and ambushed by giant reptiles in wild moments of massive violence, but there are periods of tension too. Of the two, I prefer the original, which is more similar to Mikami’s Resident Evil titles. Produced by Resident Evil veteran Kobayashi Hiroyuki, the sequel ramps up the action and bloody intensity. The re-releases update the visuals but don’t mess with the formula too much. I hope they herald the long-awaited reboot of the series.

Available on: computer
Estimated playing time: 15-20 hours each

What are you reading?

• On Sunday, news broke that Sega’s hardware mastermind Hideki Sato He died. Sato joined the company in 1971 and oversaw the development of its arcade technology as well as all home consoles, from the Master System to the Dreamcast. His goal with home consoles was always to bring the excitement and liveliness of the arcade experience into people’s living rooms – a technical challenge he undoubtedly achieved, especially with the Mega Drive and Saturn.

• If you want to escape screens for a while, but are still reading about them, there are two new academic books on video games that I recommend. Animal Crossing: New Horizons: Can the game take care of us? Written by Noah Wardrip-Fruin, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, it’s a fascinating study of what made Nintendo’s cute life simulation game so popular during the Covid pandemic. The author brings in his family’s experiences, adding a poignant personal element to the analysis. He is also out King Pong: How Atari Bounced Through Markets to Make Millions by Raiford Guins, which examines the success of Atari’s first arcade game and how it effectively invented an industry.

• Commitment to printing publications and the latest wonderful issues Forgotten worlds The magazines are out now, looking at Japanese gaming magazines of the 80s and 90s, and the current state of gaming culture – well worth a look.

What do you buy?

Great push button subscribers,

From the maker of playing cards in Kyoto in 1889 to the creator of Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, the story of Nintendo is one of reinvention, creativity and play. That’s why I wrote a book about the company that was so formative in my gaming life. In Super Nintendo, I explore how this unique developer helped shape the modern video game industry – and why his games mean so much to so many. Drawing on interviews with key creators and lifelong fans, this is more than just a nostalgia trip: it’s a story about the importance of play, and what Nintendo can teach us about ourselves. If you’ve enjoyed reading this newsletter, I hope you’ll consider getting a copy – which is what it is 20% discount In the Guardian Library if you click here.

Kiza MacDonald

What to click on

Block of questions

This week’s question comes from Graham Dwho has a problem close to my heart:

“I just cleared out my parents’ loft and found a bunch of my old game consoles in a cardboard box, including a badly discolored Super Nintendo Entertainment System and an original PlayStation. I dusted them off and miraculously they’re still working. Now I’d really like to maintain them properly — but how do I do that?”

As the owner of about 20 vintage gaming systems, from the Prinztronic Tournament TV Game (one of the many Pong-style consoles released in the late 1970s) to the Sega Pico (the cheerful green e-reading game for kids), maintenance is a constant obsession of mine. Your main concerns are around the environment – ​​you need to keep the machines at a temperature of around 18°C ​​and a humidity of no more than 50%. I have a dehumidifier that automatically turns on when the number reaches 51. Wipe it down regularly with a suitable microfiber cloth that removes and retains dust, or use a small vacuum attachment to suck up dust from grills and other vulnerable areas. Also, give your controllers plenty of room to ventilate when you turn them on – don’t stack them on top of each other, or place them in small openings.

If you return them to storage, I recommend using airtight plastic containers, with a packet or two of silica gel to take care of any moisture (they need to be replaced – I do this every three months). Unfortunately, there’s always a chance that an internal component will fail at some point – your SNES console will likely be over 30 years old. If you’re not ready to give up that, there are a growing number of vintage console restoration tools online. You and I are definitely not alone.

If you have a question about the Q&A – or anything else you’d like to say about the newsletter – Email us at pushbuttons@theguardian.com.