What is the definition of 'retro' to you?

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

I've never been entirely sure. To me, "retro" feels like it stops after PS1/N64, but that's because that's when my childhood transitioned into my pre-teen years and it just feels... different. Plus, starting with PS2 gaming stopped feeling like "toys" trying to do their best with limited assets and began to feel like more than that, like they were these advanced pieces of programming that can do anything and were way more broadly appealing.

I almost feel like it's... subjective, really. By definition what's retro has to change periodically, so... who's to say it's even really a definitive thing?

 

[Ikagura]

I'll tell it again but when I was younger I discovered gaming with the Dreamcast then the PS2 and Gamecube but I had a SNES and N64 as well.

Retro gaming as a whole was barely starting as a concept but I also emulated the Genesis and SNES on an old computer.

To me the N64 was retro despite that it was merely the gen behind (before the Wii was even announced) simply because it was no longer the current gen.

 

[JaguarGod6]

I think 25 years should be enough to be able to call something retro. Games from the year 2000 definitely feel retro, but those from 2005 aren't there yet.

 

[NatalieZaki]

if something is easy to emulate, its retro for me

 

[Ikagura]

I think 25 years should be enough to be able to call something retro. Games from the year 2000 definitely feel retro, but those from 2005 aren't there yet.

I think that 2006 was a major year for consoles.

Sure, the 360 came out in 2005 but it was very late 2005.

if something is easy to emulate, its retro for me

Careful with that argument, the Sega Saturn and original Xbox are both hard to properly emulate.

The Switch has emulation without too much troubles yet is current gen.

 

[NatalieZaki]

switch is retro and saturn is not i will not change my mind

 

[Ikagura]

I know this is a joke but I think multiple factors are taken into account for that.

 

[NatalieZaki]

yeah i know but i dont like things being called retro cause then i see stuff that doesnt feel that long ago be called retro and i age 40 years in a span of minutes

 

[Ikagura]

yeah i know but i dont like things being called retro cause then i see stuff that doesnt feel that long ago be called retro and i age 40 years in a span of minutes

I can hardly call the PS2 modern myself.

The PS360 and the Wii are in the "transitional phase" between modern and retro imo.

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Retro is when a game looks like my lower back (im saying it in the respectful manner) and has clunky and unappealing piece of crap mechanics and a soundtrack that sounds like its made using a calculator with a washing machine.

I think retro can be defined as games made during the 80s and mid 90s I hardly think the masterpiece FF8 can be considered retro.

Or the amazing game known as silent hill.

 

[CG4R12I4N]

Yeah, the cutoff is probably during PSX/Saturn/N64 when videogames actually tried to add 3D graphic features. That's when the videogames era actually feel modern-ish for once.

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Mid 80's to early 90's

 

[ThatOneLum]

Pretty sure most people's answer to this is based on their own childhood feelings about when games stopped feeling 'Classic'.

Personally, my rule has been "one console gen as buffer" so when the Ps5 released, the PS3 entered retro territory IMO. I know the argument can be made that the PS3 doesn't even feel that different to current-gen games, but is that still true if you a ask a kid who grew up with the PS3 as their first system?

Realistically, retro is probably about more than just feeling old, it's about games that have different design sensibilities or just straight up wouldn't see a classic full console release these days. I see plenty of that on the PS3 and it's contemporaries.

 

[Ikagura]

Mid 80's to early 90's

I am curious about what in the mid-to-late 90's is making you think it's modern.

 

[ThatOneLum]

I thought that this thread is about my definition of 'Retro'.

tbf it is, I think they're just curious about your reasoning, I know I am.

 

[Kid Dynamite]

I am curious about what in the mid-to-late 90's is making you think it's modern.

I see what you mean now. I just deleted my first response. Well, it's been like 30 years since the early 90's. To me that falls under the category of retro. If you look it up retro, technically it refers to things from the past right? Maybe retro wouldn't apply to games say 5 to 10 years old. You don't feel that 30 year old games should be considered retro?

 

[Graw]

I still find it weird that the ps3/Xbox360 era is retro. I still think of ps2 and GameCube games as shiny and new. I never bought any of the 7th or 8th generation consoles and my computer fell behind the times and I've been running Linux exclusively since 2014 so I haven't really played a lot of modern or even near retro games. I had friends with consoles and my computer could run a bunch of stuff so I have played a bunch of those games but I don't really identify with them very much.

I honestly started losing interest in gaming when microtransactions and DLC and all that shit started becoming a thing. I watched a bunch of game series I enjoyed release inferior sequels as an excuse to cram in a bunch of microtransactions. The ps4 and Xbox one in particular seemed like they only existed so Sony and Microsoft could charge money for things that had previously been free.

The Nintendo switch was about the only console that interested me but then Nintendo had to go and be Nintendo and go after AM2R and I decided I wasn't going to give them money ever again so that ended that.

It was really only the mid-late 2010's indie games that got me back into gaming again. But I guess even they're retro now.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

Pretty sure most people's answer to this is based on their own childhood feelings about when games stopped feeling 'Classic'.

On the contrary, mine is based on horse armor.

 

[Bomberman]

Of those definitions… ps2 era and before.

However on Retrogames reddit they declare 6th gen not retro which I kinda understand. A lot of the modern game mechanics were refined in 6th gen.

Fifth gen is my favorite gen. Early 3D is amazing. I think 6th gen being retro is debatable but 7th gen to me still is modern minus the Wii.

 

[carmak]

Before Dreamcast. Can't see anything more complex and call it retro.

 

[bdk]

usually I'd say anything from over 20 years ago, but the marketing thing really spoke to me.
Whoa I commented in a forum.
That's kinda retro, too... forums are super old-school.

 

[lil_thang]

with the slowing pace of console generations, basically anything that isn't current gen minus two eras is retro nowadays isn't it?

PC and Piracy is Eternal

 

[TheSoulWalker]

Retro at this point I think covers PS3/360 and earlier because we have a concise pinpoint of each definition of the era, 8 bit, 16 bit, 32bit/Early 3D, 3D, HD.

The jump in graphics between Xbox One and PS4 to PS5 and Series is so small that I wouldn't even call it a generation

 

[snes9x]

Wii/360/PS3 is my cutoff, specifically pre-Skyrim. Accessible online play/marketplaces, the advent of DLC, and achievements/trophies are the last developments in gaming that feel significant enough to warrant a generational leap.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

This is one of things that your perception can be different with how old you are. I have a difficult time thinking of the PS2/Gamecube/XBox/Dreamcast as retro despite knowing that they are, and everytime I hear the 360 or PS3 be referred to as retro I gain a new grey hair.

I guess for me, I consider when stuff like Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty first blew up to be the start of the "Modern" era, when certain modern game design philosophies and tropes began to take shape.