I wish more streamers played retro and obscure games.

[Mochi Panic]

I understand that on sites like Twitch and Youtuber, the algorithm rewards what's current and new, but it sucks to see great games just slowly fade away into time. There's a whole new generation of people that don't know about some amazing classics and its sad to see them ignored. A big streamer playing a game like Fire Emblem, Star Ocean, or something like Eschatos could introduce thousands to a genre of games they may not have even considered.

 

[Waffles]

I agree.

Vinnysauce Joel used to steam some really obscure ones. Ross Scott occasionally does, too.

 

[Somnia]

A big thing that people tend to forget is that modern games are also kind of made with streaming in mind, too. There are so many fucking amazing games that just kind of suck to stream on a conceptual level because they're slower, have more down time, are grindier, less visually flashy, more difficult etc etc.

Talking to people who do stream, it is shocking yet at the same time not shocking at all hearing about how certain games they want to try out just never get their time to shine. They'll think about the pace and general energy of the stream and realize that while they'll have a great time, in terms of engaging an audience and capturing the attention of people just passing so many older games just are not gonna cut it, especially if it is a blind playthrough.

It definitely bleeds into how obsessed modern audiences tend to be with remaking every perfectly good old game, too. Can't stand things that aren't constantly engaging, can't stand anything that doesn't have cutting edge production values, can't stand anything that deviates from modern homogenized design trends in terms of game feel, control scheme, pacing etc etc. The amount of times I'll see someone playing a bonafide classic that is still amazing and playable you'll see tons of people in chat or comments going "Wow I would love a remake". My brother in christ the game is already great!

 

[DunkeyKong]

It is what it is unfortunately
Fortunately though, there's still channels like That Video Game Show covering quite a lot of hidden gems (I discovered most of the games there)
Like this one for example

 

[Patches]

Most streamers are trying to escape the 9-5 rat race and older and obscure games just won't pull the views they need to do it as well as a lot of naive people like to share where they get their wares online and personally its fine to share, but it is best done in a way that only your intended recepient gets it and not someones team that is against you. The early lets players did a lot of obscure games perhaps if gaming does plunge some here soon you may get your wish.

 

[Mochi Panic]

A big thing that people tend to forget is that modern games are also kind of made with streaming in mind, too. There are so many fucking amazing games that just kind of suck to stream on a conceptual level because they're slower, have more down time, are grindier, less visually flashy, more difficult etc etc.

Talking to people who do stream, it is shocking yet at the same time not shocking at all hearing about how certain games they want to try out just never get their time to shine. They'll think about the pace and general energy of the stream and realize that while they'll have a great time, in terms of engaging an audience and capturing the attention of people just passing so many older games just are not gonna cut it, especially if it is a blind playthrough.

It definitely bleeds into how obsessed modern audiences tend to be with remaking every perfectly good old game, too. Can't stand things that aren't constantly engaging, can't stand anything that doesn't have cutting edge production values, can't stand anything that deviates from modern homogenized design trends in terms of game feel, control scheme, pacing etc etc. The amount of times I'll see someone playing a bonafide classic that is still amazing and playable you'll see tons of people in chat or comments going "Wow I would love a remake". My brother in christ the game is already great!

I dislike how streaming more or less rewards fast pace content and devalues anything too slow. Even modern RPGs have some sort of fast forward feature to get past the "boring parts".

 

[moonbits]

With their peanut brain, I doubt they'd get far with that.

 

[Mochi Panic]

I agree.

Vinnysauce Joel used to steam some really obscure ones. Ross Scott occasionally does, too.

It also helps that Vinnysauce Joel and Ross Scott are much older than the average streamer and came from a much older era of youtube. Their fanbase kinda already knows what's up with retro games. It would be cool if a 18-25 year old streamer played an old game and suddenly kids discover a new interest.

 

[OmegaKatanaXIII]

I just wished they can expand their horizons and not let what their audience dictates what they should play or not to play but knowing the algorithm they are going to go what benefits from it.

 

[Clippy]

I kinda have to go against the grain here as there are multiple arguments you could have as to why retro games haven't taken off. Now, don't get me wrong, I too would like to see an old game streaming renaissance since it was the golden age after all but it's not going to happen.

#1 No emotional connection. We grew up with these games and as such we think of them very fondly but to the social media obsessed younglings out there they're nothing more than relics of the past same way the Punic Wars are to us.

#2 Old games do not respect your time. Back when we were young we only had a few games to play so those unskippable animations or cutscenes weren't a big deal since we had nothing better to do anyway but they are a big deal now. Asking a kiddo to sit through a 10 minute long cutscene every time they fail to beat a boss would be a war crime these days (rightfully so tbh, that should've never been a thing)

#3 Some games are too archaic and their difficulty is pure BS. Should be self-explanatory. In many cases ye old games try to be cute by introducing mechanics upon mechanics that are there to be hostile to you as a player. This can be rewarding if you're into micromanaging every single aspect of a game but can you really expect that sort of dedication out of, say, Fortnite crowd.

#4 Quality of Life improvements. We loved GTAIII because we didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourite GTA games but I know that it's a mess by today's game design standards. No map? No clear way to get to the objective unless you know the map by heart? Yep, that's GTAIII at some points.

I could probably make a few more arguments but I think you get the drill by now.

 

[IyoTheHelpfulWolf]

I'm actually interested in playing retro games on my channel as that falls under the umbrella of getting use out of old and/or cheap hardware. Work had been kicking my ass and I've been putting off finishing my first full video because I always fuck up the scripted part, so I'm thinking of just playing some games and uploading them as practice. I do have a channel trailer to show I'm still serious (about being a goof anyway). I'd love some recommendations.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I kinda have to go against the grain here as there are multiple arguments you could have as to why retro games haven't taken off. Now, don't get me wrong, I too would like to see an old game streaming renaissance since it was the golden age after all but it's not going to happen.

#1 No emotional connection. We grew up with these games and as such we think of them very fondly but to the social media obsessed younglings out there they're nothing more than relics of the past same way the Punic Wars are to us.

#2 Old games do not respect your time. Back when we were young we only had a few games to play so those unskippable animations or cutscenes weren't a big deal since we had nothing better to do anyway but they are a big deal now. Asking a kiddo to sit through a 10 minute long cutscene every time they fail to beat a boss would be a war crime these days (rightfully so tbh, that should've never been a thing)

#3 Some games are too archaic and their difficulty is pure BS. Should be self-explanatory. In many cases ye old games try to be cute by introducing mechanics upon mechanics that are there to be hostile to you as a player. This can be rewarding if you're into micromanaging every single aspect of a game but can you really expect that sort of dedication out of, say, Fortnite crowd.

#4 Quality of Life improvements. We loved GTAIII because we didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourite GTA games but I know that it's a mess by today's game design standards. No map? No clear way to get to the objective unless you know the map by heart? Yep, that's GTAIII at some points.

I could probably make a few more arguments but I think you get the drill by now.

That's true unfortunately, the difficulty might throw some people off. Some games while the story is great, are just a thing of the past (or like you said, a relic)

It's sad though but that's the reality (or that's just how the media works). However, I think most of them would eventually search for old games. Maybe not as old as the arcade or Atari, but they at least know how great some of these old and Retro games are

 

[Yousef]

I kinda have to go against the grain here as there are multiple arguments you could have as to why retro games haven't taken off. Now, don't get me wrong, I too would like to see an old game streaming renaissance since it was the golden age after all but it's not going to happen.

#1 No emotional connection. We grew up with these games and as such we think of them very fondly but to the social media obsessed younglings out there they're nothing more than relics of the past same way the Punic Wars are to us.

#2 Old games do not respect your time. Back when we were young we only had a few games to play so those unskippable animations or cutscenes weren't a big deal since we had nothing better to do anyway but they are a big deal now. Asking a kiddo to sit through a 10 minute long cutscene every time they fail to beat a boss would be a war crime these days (rightfully so tbh, that should've never been a thing)

#3 Some games are too archaic and their difficulty is pure BS. Should be self-explanatory. In many cases ye old games try to be cute by introducing mechanics upon mechanics that are there to be hostile to you as a player. This can be rewarding if you're into micromanaging every single aspect of a game but can you really expect that sort of dedication out of, say, Fortnite crowd.

#4 Quality of Life improvements. We loved GTAIII because we didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourite GTA games but I know that it's a mess by today's game design standards. No map? No clear way to get to the objective unless you know the map by heart? Yep, that's GTAIII at some points.

I could probably make a few more arguments but I think you get the drill by now.

Good post. Definitely bookmarking it.

I actually beat gta iii twice and even 100%ed it. I really love how chaotic it is.

 

[King_Fisher]

I understand where you come from but to be honest it's observable that big streamers bring big trouble.

For various reasons streaming culture thrive and live off drama and toxicity. Just look at all the shit that goes down in current triple A game circles like say Smash or many live competitive games. Major streamers themselves struggle to stay out of trouble and often fight with each other which of course causes even more fighting between their respective fanbases. And this isn't going into culture war issues that's a can of worms itself.

I say retro gaming being a fairly quiet niche is a blessing in disguise. It's more peaceful this way for all of us that major streamers stick to modern games.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I understand where you come from but to be honest it's observable that big streamers bring big trouble.

For various reasons streaming culture thrive and live off drama and toxicity. Just look at all the shit that goes down in current triple A game circles like say Smash or many live competitive games. Major streamers themselves struggle to stay out of trouble and often fight with each other which of course causes even more fighting between their respective fanbases. And this isn't going into culture war issues that's a can of worms itself.

I say retro gaming being a fairly quiet niche is a blessing in disguise. It's more peaceful this way for all of us that major streamers stick to modern games.

That's right, can't let them know too much

 

[Mochi Panic]

I understand where you come from but to be honest it's observable that big streamers bring big trouble.

For various reasons streaming culture thrive and live off drama and toxicity. Just look at all the shit that goes down in current triple A game circles like say Smash or many live competitive games. Major streamers themselves struggle to stay out of trouble and often fight with each other which of course causes even more fighting between their respective fanbases. And this isn't going into culture war issues that's a can of worms itself.

I say retro gaming being a fairly quiet niche is a blessing in disguise. It's more peaceful this way for all of us that major streamers stick to modern games.

That's true. All it takes is one bad streamer and suddenly the entire community is under the same label as them forever. I can't even tell people I am a fan of Smash Bros without someone bringing up the kid touching drama that happened with the pro smash players.

Retro gaming being a niche group of people that share old games and help each other with fan translations is charming.

 

[Yousef]

I understand where you come from but to be honest it's observable that big streamers bring big trouble.

For various reasons streaming culture thrive and live off drama and toxicity. Just look at all the shit that goes down in current triple A game circles like say Smash or many live competitive games. Major streamers themselves struggle to stay out of trouble and often fight with each other which of course causes even more fighting between their respective fanbases. And this isn't going into culture war issues that's a can of worms itself.

I say retro gaming being a fairly quiet niche is a blessing in disguise. It's more peaceful this way for all of us that major streamers stick to modern games.

I certainly agree retro gaming is a place for true enthusiasts and hobbyists. Modern gamers tend to be quite close minded and disinterested in old game design. When I begun diving into retro games, I made sure to adjust to inverted camera controls to save myself the hassle every time. If you approach things with an open mind and give the benefit of the doubt, the sky is the limit.

 

[bjork]

I love old games, but I'm okay with big accounts not covering stuff. I feel like a lot of them would turn it into streams that were just longer version of those videos where they hand a kid a cassette tape and they pretend like it's some sumerian relic. No thanks. Give me old playthroughs like the old derschmu channel on YT or smaller and lesser known YT people revisiting stuff from their youth or whatever.

 

[badultamvan]

I understand that on sites like Twitch and Youtuber, the algorithm rewards what's current and new, but it sucks to see great games just slowly fade away into time. There's a whole new generation of people that don't know about some amazing classics and its sad to see them ignored. A big streamer playing a game like Fire Emblem, Star Ocean, or something like Eschatos could introduce thousands to a genre of games they may not have even considered.

I agree,i wanna see them play nds games

 

[Gorse]

#1 #2 #3 #4

Jeez-a-loo, Clippy…. Not that I don’t get your point, but I have to ask: beyond the “emotional connection”, do you even like retro games? Call me crazy, but most of your arguments are what draw me to these things in the first place.

 

[Yousef]

Jeez-a-loo, Clippy…. Not that I don’t get your point, but I have to ask: beyond the “emotional connection”, do you even like retro games? Call me crazy, but most of your arguments are what draw me to these things in the first place.

I agree with you here so I think it may have been a wording issue.

 

[Leifang]

I kinda have to go against the grain here as there are multiple arguments you could have as to why retro games haven't taken off. Now, don't get me wrong, I too would like to see an old game streaming renaissance since it was the golden age after all but it's not going to happen.

#1 No emotional connection. We grew up with these games and as such we think of them very fondly but to the social media obsessed younglings out there they're nothing more than relics of the past same way the Punic Wars are to us.

#2 Old games do not respect your time. Back when we were young we only had a few games to play so those unskippable animations or cutscenes weren't a big deal since we had nothing better to do anyway but they are a big deal now. Asking a kiddo to sit through a 10 minute long cutscene every time they fail to beat a boss would be a war crime these days (rightfully so tbh, that should've never been a thing)

#3 Some games are too archaic and their difficulty is pure BS. Should be self-explanatory. In many cases ye old games try to be cute by introducing mechanics upon mechanics that are there to be hostile to you as a player. This can be rewarding if you're into micromanaging every single aspect of a game but can you really expect that sort of dedication out of, say, Fortnite crowd.

#4 Quality of Life improvements. We loved GTAIII because we didn't know any better. Don't get me wrong, it's still one of my favourite GTA games but I know that it's a mess by today's game design standards. No map? No clear way to get to the objective unless you know the map by heart? Yep, that's GTAIII at some points.

I could probably make a few more arguments but I think you get the drill by now.

I agree with the points, but there's exceptions to every rule:

I've personally known people who played games older than they were, it's especially accessible for 16-32 bit eras, where QOL became a thing and genres were more or less established. As someone who grew up with PS1 & PC, I can personally vouch for loving older Final Fantasy titles playing them with zero nostalgia, tho it took a WHILE to get used to RPG combat systems that are worse than Grandia 2... Which is all RPG combat systems except Tactics.

I also love playing through arcade games I never could as a kid.

2/3/4 are mostly solved by emulation and mods, and modern re-releases often take care of those things too, even if you have to install a fan patch (i.e. I just finished Final Fantasy X, game infamous for 10 minutes of cutscenes before replaying a boss fight, Special K has a speedup to fast-forward them, but Square themselves added no-encounter mode and other cheats to save on backtracking frustration, as they do with all releases of old games now).

That brings another point, and I think that's more important than things you can get around with save states: convenience. It's one thing when I just launch the game and it works from the box, and whole another issue when I need to install half a dozen fan patches or use some obscure emulators that need to emulate memory cards and manual control binding, which can get really painful for games and systems you don't know (how TF do people use Nintendo 64 buttons?).

Setting up BIOS in emulators easily gatekeeps tons of people who are used to Netflix, Google Play Store or PSN convenience. If not for Steam, PC gaming would be as dead as it was during PS3/X360 era purely because setting up things is a pain, do you remember installing Half-Life, then Counter-Strike and patches for it, and bots _separately,_ then downloading the maps? I do. It was horrible!

Special mention for PS2 and later systems emulation, why is there 6 scanline mods that ruin either menus or shake gameplay and where do I even put the second screen on Citra for streaming 3DS? Like, there's a reason more people play Pixel Remasters than arguably better versions of FF games, they JUST WORK. Anything that doesn't need a degree in computers to avoid crapping out will always win.

Jeez-a-loo, Clippy…. Not that I don’t get your point, but I have to ask: beyond the “emotional connection”, do you even like retro games? Call me crazy, but most of your arguments are what draw me to these things in the first place.

You like old games for inability to skip cutscenes and lack of QoL features and try to gatekeep people who think that watching Tidus reading a monologue to Rikku every time you retry Seymour Natus fight is ridiculous? Like how TF can lack of basic features make you like the games? We loved them DESPITE this crap.

Nobody says "Metal Gear Solid is one of the best games of all time because it doesn't let you skip cutscenes", same with games putting stuff in manuals as anti-piracy measures.

GTA 3 not having on-screen map example above is fixed by mods because guess what, fans of GTA wanted a map overlay. But installing the mods without your computer exploding is whole another issue. We need more pre-modded repacks released.

That's final reason people stay away from old games: fandom toxicity. Many streamers dropped games after chat was bullying them for "playing the game wrong" and spoiling everything, acting as if you are supposed to know all secrets in Zelda 5 before starting playing or something.

 

[Mecharocca]

Me too. And I'm sure there are some relatively well known streamers who will play some, but that tends to be on occasion from what I've gathered (I don't particularly get into or watch streamers so I could be wrong). It would be nice though, simply one random play a week to keep things fresh. Sounds like a nice way to have a solid fanbase but still mix things up once in a while.

 

[Cris_Agev]

I don't like game streaming that much because most of them get distracted with too much chatting, failing to understand mechanics and story. Not all of them are like that and I understand the appealing of chatting with that amount of people watching you but I'm not there for that, instead I prefer pre recorded videos with people 100% focused in the game.

Jeez-a-loo, Clippy…. Not that I don’t get your point, but I have to ask: beyond the “emotional connection”, do you even like retro games? Call me crazy, but most of your arguments are what draw me to these things in the first place.

He is just putting himself in the shoes of the general typical modern player. When you have been only playing recent games and jump to the older ones it's very likely that this difficulties could throw them off. Since moderns games baby feed you in comparison with older ones, the player need to go through a process.

 

[Clippy]

Jeez-a-loo, Clippy…. Not that I don’t get your point, but I have to ask: beyond the “emotional connection”, do you even like retro games? Call me crazy, but most of your arguments are what draw me to these things in the first place.

I love me old video games to bits but:

Nobody says "Metal Gear Solid is one of the best games of all time because it doesn't let you skip cutscenes", same with games putting stuff in manuals as anti-piracy measures.

GTA 3 not having on-screen map example above is fixed by mods because guess what, fans of GTA wanted a map overlay. But installing the mods without your computer exploding is whole another issue. We need more pre-modded repacks released.

He is just putting himself in the shoes of the general typical modern player. When you have been only playing recent games and jump to the older ones it's very likely that this difficulties could throw them off. Since moderns games baby feed you in comparison with older ones, the player need to go through a process.

One thing I'll add to that is that I speak about old games in general rather than just the ones I grew up with. I can play a PSX game I never heard of before because I'm used to the usual curveballs and technical limitations of the time. Can I reasonably expect someone who grew up with modern gaming to fall in love with tank controls or early 3D graphics that aged like milk? Probably not. Of course, as mentioned by the fine folks earlier, there are exceptions but they are exactly that, exceptions.