I agree. One of these days I'm going to get around to making my "Matt Chat" supplementary podcast so I'll have time to develop these ideas properly. But, yes, I agree that gameplay is what makes games like Archon still fun and worthwhile today. I think it's safe to say that if there's ANY game from the early 80s that people are still playing and enjoying today, that's pure gameplay. As you get better and better audiovisuals, gameplay becomes less important (at least to most gamers). Thus, developers can trot out the same game year after year, with slightly improved visuals/audio, and bodda bing. On the other hand, classic gamers will often stick to an original (say, the C-64 Archon) over "superior" sequels such as Archon Ultra. I can imagine a young pup looking at A:U and thinking we're nuts to prefer the C64 version. They just don't get that graphics and such don't make the game.