User name checks out, I really enjoy your writing. Do you keep a blog?
Games, as much as anything else, is a hobby and are something that people have to have a passion for to stay up with it. Just like the hobby of your coworker, who hits up the car show circuit every summer weekend, can cite every part number for the general Lee dodge charger out of the Dodge parts catalog, might be intimidating to someone who isn’t a car person. Our hobby has time and financial commitments that gatekeep others out too. We love it anyway.
Chasing an authentic or definitive experience, is like going for tops at a car show. A goal worth striving for but not required to enjoy the hobby.
Just like we can talk about how Donkey Kong, or Super Mario Bros. or Doom impacted gaming forever. So could your car guy about thunderbirds, corvettes, or some other third thing.
Equally sad is cars today, like games, are engineered to make as much money as possible and not for repair or longevity. Meanwhile the classics will always have a community dedicated to preserving them even as the stock of parts grow thin and less accessible.
In 30 years no one is going to be able to drive a car from the near future even if they wanted to as they get reduced to required apps to start and LTE connectivity for the on board computer functionality, the same way Fortnite won’t exist even though Super Mario Bros still plays fine on OG hardware
I’ve seen it in local grocery stores in really small towns. Never a supermarket