I once wrote an (EXTREMELY) long rant on the NES boards at GamwFAQs about this same thing you're talking about. They flamed me because I was only around 14 or 15 at the time...fags.
I hate the phrase "old skool" to, it just sounds retarded and usually only people who don't even play classic games use the term. It's "Classic" dammit! Classic! I have around 5 Nintendo-ish shirts. But hell I would kill for a DODONGO DISLIKE SMOKE shirt with a sprite of that old guy on it.