Picture this: Your son or daughter races home from school, leaps off the bus, and tears through the front door only to find his or her PlayStation 5 (PS5) has been replaced by an original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Fortnite has been swapped out with Duck Hunt. All the games must be loaded by hand — not accessed from the cloud — and he or she must “blow the dust off” or wiggle the cartridges within the machine to make them work. The graphics are displayed in 256-by-240 resolution rather than 1080p or 4K. Online gameplay doesn't exist. Wireless remotes with haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and built-in microphones are not available. Instead, players must use wired, two-button paddles.
While the children of the 1980s marveled at the wonders of the original Nintendo, today’s generation of gamers laugh out loud at its clunky, brick-like appearance and pixelated gameplay.