Missing the days of Pac-Man and Frogger? Retro gaming is making its return

Today's video games may boast photorealistic graphics, surround sound and worldwide multiplayer support, but many still long for the days when games were simple. You know, when a game didn't require more than a joystick and a button or two? Perhaps it's no surprise, many are buying cabinets for the home, including replicas of classic coin-operated ("coin-op") games and pinball machines. "Simple games that are'quick to learn but difficult to master' have a special addictive quality that we tried for when designing them with our limited graphic palette," recalls Nolan Bushnell, who established Atari and Pong in the '70s, and shortly thereafter, founded Chuck E. Cheese (smartly, as a distribution channel for Atari games). "Often games are for turning off your mind and entering kind of a Zen state."