Last night I watched The Matrix for the first time in several years. This glimpse into the future was, upon its release in 1999, a revolution in cinematic graphics. It represented the technology we'd be using in 10 years hence (that's next year, folks), and the things we'd be able to do with it.
But just before I fell into a lazy slumber in front of the teevee, I felt a huge sense of disappointment: the future depicted on the screen was already obsolete. The clunky computer monitors were as old fashioned as those in the 1980s sleeper hit Electric Dreams (three cheers to anyone who remembers that one); the mobile phones were gargantuan in their hands. Their techno-speak in many cases was laughable, as many phrases have already saturated the masses.
So even as this so-called future started to fade with the coming of the sandman, I started to search around in my memory banks for games that, like The Matrix, haven't stood the test of time. Pitfall Harry comes to mind - now kitsch, with its 8 bit graphics and uncontrollable interface - and the then-stunning Crash Bandicoot, with its pretty colours but linear gameplay.
I expect there are many others which haven't done well during the ravages, particularly those that fell into the graphical hubris which many a developer finds him/herself distracted by.
Suggestions?
