It had to be coming. With the explosion of games both online and for your computer or console, there is a nostalgic mood for games of the past. The best comparison might be antique toy collecting; looking for that lost childhood novelty item.

Now gamemakers have decided that heavy-end CGI graphics with the latest game engine isn’t always what the public wants. Sometimes we long for games from a simpler time. Why not design video games to look like they were made in the eighties?

Xseed Games fills that niche and may be fueling a new game design category with Retro Game Challenge for Nintendo DS. Per GDMag.com: “…an intentional 8 bit throwback aesthetic; four channels of audio, a palette limited to sixteen colors, and occasionally unforgiving play mechanics and level design.”

If you go to the site for Retro Game Challenge they have a nice collage of eighties icons, including Max Headroom, against the backdrop of controllers that look like they’re from a Commodore 64 and a TV with turn knobs (geez, I had one of those. I tuned in The Fox Station when it first went on the air and played unedited movies like Animal House).

Some of the game titles include Cosmic Gate, Haggle Man, Rally King, Star Prince (which looks awesome), Haggleman 2 (a sequel already?), Guadia Quest (an old-fashioned RPG), and more. All designed to make you feel like you went back in time.

This brings hope to all game designers who feel they are being put out of date by the next generation coming up. What if you could design games based on your childhood loves like retro-Mario sequels or retro-Zelda rpg’s with new stories? Hell, what if you could take a new game like Fallout or Silent Hill and do a retro-inspired version?

The possibilities are endless. Nostalgia has been fueling movie remakes and tributes for decades, gaming may begin to see the same thing happen; it’s not bigger and better technology, it’s retro-technology done on purpose for an old-school effect.

 After all, we love Donkey Kong because of the old audio and graphics, not some modern 3D sculpted version. How about a retro-Donkey Kong sequel. How about retro-crossovers like PacMan versus Donkey Kong?

The scenarios are limitless. And the job opportunities for game designers who thought their skills and sensibilities were put out to pasture are now available once again.

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