The Video Game Critic

Interesting topic, and as has been pointed out previously, completely subjective depending on your respective perspective.  I thought I might want to add my two cents.

Having over 60 video game consoles (no handhelds or clones, just consoles), I think the term 'old-school' can be applied differently, primarily based on the evolution of technology and the experience of the gamer.  Everyone is aware of the video game tech leaps that have occurred during the years for the various consoles.  IMHO, there is just one thing that separates these tech jumps - proficient use of processing power.  That being said, the following is my attempt to 'classify' old-school gaming classes:

o 77-78  --> Atari VCS

o 84-85  --> Nintendo Famicom \ NES (Sega SMS in 1985)

o 87-89  --> Sega Genesis \ Nintendo Super Famicom (1987 NEC PC Engine)

o 91-94  --> 3DO\CDI\VIS technology)

o 95-     --> Sony Playstation

That being said, experience in each of these areas does inherently bring to it a general average age range of users that have experience in the systems:

o 77-78 --> 40+

o 84-85 --> 35+ 

o 87-89 --> 30+

o 91-94 --> 25+

o 95+    --> 15+

Of course, this is just a generalization, because there can be no way to clearly determine the term 'old-school'.  I have to tend to agree with the VGC - separate 2D from 3D graphical capabilities of the games,  Using this criteria, the Nintendo Famicom\NES and it's 8-Bit counterparts would garner the titla as 'old-school'.  If, however, you deem 3D/FMV is the major factor, then you have to go with the 3DO as your yardstick.

Just my two cents.  I happen to fall in the 40+ range of gamers out there.  I agree - it is very difficult to determine what is 'old-school'.  Very good topic.

Terry

[QUOTE=Adamant]I disagree with those age groupings - back in the pre-PSX games, videogames was mainly a children's activity. The majority of people who grew up with a NES are in their twenties now, not their thirties - the 30-year olds played 2600 and Intellivision in their past.[/QUOTE]

You're wrong. If you were born in 1976 then you'd be 10 years old in 1986, around when the NES was taking off in the US. Plenty young enough to still be playing video games.

Anyway I'd define "old school" as two generations of consoles ago which is about every 10 years. When the NES came out, Atari 2600 was old. Ten years later when Playstation, Saturn, etc. came out then the NES days seemed nostalgically distant. Now it's N64 and PSX games. A nice rule of thumb is if current generation PC's can emulate it full speed then it's old school.

Yeah, those age groups are way off.  I am only 20, but I consider myself to be part of the NES era, not the Playstation era.  I've been playing games since I was 2, and I remember playing awesome NES games like Battletoads, Super Mario Bros 3, Final Fantasy (I learned how to read when I was young), and double dragon 2 when I was 4-6 years old.

Old School to me is any game or system that is pre-32 bit (as in PS1 and Saturn, not jaguar or 32x though) Someone said a game or system kids/teenagers are unfamiliar with or would laugh at is old school. I don't believe you fully understand the way people percieve older games and being old school.Some of the people I know who don't even play many games know about and play the older games and not the newer ones so much (NES, SNES, Genesis, etc.) As I said, I believe old school is anything Pre 32-bit.

For me, "old-school" is something 16 bit and back. I'm 20 years old and have been a gamer since I was like 4 or 5. I've had at least one system a generation since the NES days, and to me "old-school" is something over 15 years old. That would make anything SNES/Genesis and back "old school", at least in my opinion.

There must be something innately appealing about this topic, because whenever it comes up the verdict usually ends up being "undefinable", yet in most forums it usually entails lots of enthusiastic and well defined thoughts.

My personal old school will always be Master System games because they were the first ones that made me actually want a console.  Nostalgia helps me overlook a pretty weak lineup, which I still play regularly.

Here's a solid definition for you: if the console is predominately 2d, it's old school. That means anything 16-bit or earlier is old school.