When does a game become classic/retro?

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PSX1
Posts: 388
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

When does a game become classic/retro?

Postby PSX1 » February 15th, 2015, 10:39 pm

My attempt to objectively answer is that, at a minimum, a console must be at least 2 generations old to be "retro".  In other words, PS2 is now retro, PS3 is not.  When the PS5 comes out, PS3 will be retro.

The problem that comes up with this question is that most of us (myself included) are inherently biased to think that "retro" cuts off at the generations of our youth.  So, to me, PS1, N64 and Dreamcast is the last set of retro consoles.  Other gamers, included some in this topic, have made the cut-off in the 8-bit or 16-bit generations.  While there's no right or wrong answer, keep in mind that many people in their late teens and early 20s are now getting into the hobby, and the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube are the consoles that they "grew up with".  They want to relive those days, not the Atari days.  Find me a 17 year old kid, and I guarantee you that he wouldn't pick the NES as the cut-off for retro gaming.  He probably hasn't even played an NES before (*gasps*).  So it's all age-relative.

strangemachine011
Posts: 4
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

When does a game become classic/retro?

Postby strangemachine011 » February 17th, 2015, 2:32 pm

As a game collector I've always been behind on the times. I'm only just getting into modern games like COD Black Ops and the Arkham series and they blow my mind. Other than that I've been retro collecting for years. That said, PS1 and PS2 games are neither modern enough for me and too new to have any charm. There is something NES, SNES, and Atari have in their graphic limitations that's cool as an art form.

The in between years of gaming on getting from where we were like Pitfall and Super Mario Bros. to basically interactive movies like Arkham Asylum just don't hold up for me. PS1 games are a step towards modern gaming but most don't hold up as cool retro. Just dated. 

But someone younger than me who didn't live through this era in high school may look at the first Resident Evil like I do Q-Bert.


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