What's the definition of retro gaming?

[Zed Clampet]

Like those handheld football games from the 70's?
PC games older than 2018 if you are young, older than 2000 if you are old?
The Royal game of Ur?

 

[Colif]

maybe we could use Wiki definition

Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing and/or collection of obsolete personal computers, consoles, and/or video games (generally arcade), in contemporary times. Usually, retrogaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued. It is typically put into practice for the purpose of nostalgia, preservation or the need to achieve authenticity.

Retrogaming - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I think it depends on your age, by that definition PS3 is retro gaming. That is only a few years ago to me?
I see it as 80-90's consoles and computers. Maybe even pre dating PC.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Anything pre-1995 is retro. 🙂

 

[Colif]

The Royal game of Ur?

i wonder how many actually play it still

is Monopoly retro if people still play it online?

 

[Brian Boru]

i wonder how many actually play it still

Great video! I've had a 2D digital version in my Steam library for 3 years, and I see there's a new 3D version out this year which player reviews say is very well done.

Here's another 22m video of it using the 2D version:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZBBWsVemDo

 

[mjs warlord]

I started my gaming life in 1982 and regardless of what machine a game is on my definition of a retro game is one that you revisit and either lol or cringe because the last time you say it you thought it was good.

Take a look at some old videos of spectrum games and then go to a spectrum remakes site , some of the remakes are ace ...... look for atic atac

 

[Colif]

i remember a Spy Vs Spy game from the early 80's. My memory of game doesn't seem to match the reality of it. So I get where you coming from. In those days, we didn't expect amazing graphics

I watch speedrun videos, most of those play what i classify as retro

 

[Pifanjr]

I suppose PS4, Xbox One and Windows 7 are all retro, but they don't really feel like it. The generation before that only barely feels retro now. But a lot of that is probably also that I'm lagging a couple years behind in the games I'm playing.

is Monopoly retro if people still play it online?

According to the Wiki definition, only digital games can be retro. So it depends which digital version you're playing.

 

[redmark_]

Hmm, I guess for me PS1 games are already retro, the current generation of kids hardly ever played a PS1 unless someone older in their family kept and collected them. 😅🎮

 

[Colif]

Retro is meant to start when we went from 2d to 3d, so if N64 is the start, the ps1 is a modern game machine ... that its kind of borderline. Looking at its games can make you question if its modern.

I had an N64 so I skipped PS1

its really hard to type when its only -4c outside.

 

[Brian Boru]

its really hard to type when its only -4c outside

Ah, that affects you too, huh? Same here.

That's what convinced me to move my PC indoors, cooling be damned! Try it.

 

[Colif]

Got down to -6 before i weakened and turned heater on.
I just stopped typing for a few hours.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I suppose PS4, Xbox One and Windows 7 are all retro, but they don't really feel like it. The generation before that only barely feels retro now. But a lot of that is probably also that I'm lagging a couple years behind in the games I'm playing.

Earlier, I said anything pre-1995. I wasn't really totally serious about that. But I think one generation back is too new to call "retro." It's definitely outdated, but I wouldn't call it retro. I guess my true opinion is anything 2 generations old or older counts as retro. So right now, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii...

 

[Colif]

So right now, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii...

Problem then is it just refers to hardware as most of the software makers remake older games again.

Retro has to be things you can't play on current consoles and probably a modern PC**. You have to use a different device to play... I am willing to allow emulators as they sort of cross a line.

**Anything prior to Pentium maybe is retro? I was going to say Dual Core and then I remembered Crysis. where is the line with PC? 486?

 

[redmark_]

Retro is meant to start when we went from 2d to 3d, so if N64 is the start, the ps1 is a modern game machine ... that its kind of borderline. Looking at its games can make you question if its modern.

I had an N64 so I skipped PS1

its really hard to type when its only -4c outside.

Problem then is it just refers to hardware as most of the software makers remake older games again.

Retro has to be things you can't play on current consoles and probably a modern PC**. You have to use a different device to play... I am willing to allow emulators as they sort of cross a line.

**Anything prior to Pentium maybe is retro? I was going to say Dual Core and then I remembered Crysis. where is the line with PC? 486?

hmmm, I think I get it...
so true retro games are supposed to be dedicated gaming cabinets? Or custom dedicated OS/game/machine like in the 80's arcades?(I wasn't born yet at that time) 😅

 

[Colif]

I didn't mean arcade machines really. Arcade machines are different, they always had custom boards/chips and its only now people have the money to collect them and make their own arcades.

Arcade machines were ahead of the PC/consoles for years
For example

I mean, old PC from prior to 1999 are retro. Anything before the Voodoo cards. Before 3d was introduced to PC - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo2

As the explanation said, when we swapped from 2d to 3d.

 

[redmark_]

@Colif ahh, I see. when it was still pure 2D games, the time before Doom etc etc.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Problem then is it just refers to hardware as most of the software makers remake older games again.

Retro has to be things you can't play on current consoles and probably a modern PC**. You have to use a different device to play... I am willing to allow emulators as they sort of cross a line.

**Anything prior to Pentium maybe is retro? I was going to say Dual Core and then I remembered Crysis. where is the line with PC? 486?

Yeah, good point on games carrying over and being multi-gen/multi-platform.

As far as PC goes, that's a lot tougher because it's way more muddled. Backwards compatibility goes back a lot farther. I'd tend to say anything pre-Windows 7 would be retro because a lot of compatibility was broken, and everything post Windows 7 mostly still works. But then there are a lot of old games from the early Win7 days that would probably still run, but they're pretty old.

From a PC perspective, I kind of think it makes more sense to judge games by console generations (other than what carried over, like you said), just because PC backwards compatibility goes back so far.

 

[Colif]

@Colif ahh, I see. when it was still pure 2D games, the time before Doom etc etc.

Doom was a dos game, it was released in 1993 and was on a lot of computers that aren't PC. It came before 3d GPU existed on PC.

Its retro. It just showed the way of future. It didn't need 3d cards to run but it ran much better with one. Software that ran 3d came before hardware that supported it... sort of makes sense as no one make hardware without some expectation of demand.

3d cards were more likely when there are games like Doom and Descent using 3d.

When Retro started doesn't have a set date... its more a period of years.

 

[Brian Boru]

anything pre-Windows 7 would be retro because a lot of compatibility was broken

But a lot [?] was fixed again in Windows 10—eg I was able to play 1995's Command and Conquer on Win10, but not on Win7.

when it was still pure 2D games, the time before Doom

And a bit earlier too 🙂
Generally acknowledged first 3D game is Atari's Battlezone from 1980. There were others in 80s, altho first I played was Id's Wolfenstein 3D from '92.

I still maintain however that 3D didn't become truly essential until Tomb Raider.

When Retro started doesn't have a set date

Yeah, I wouldn't stress about definition or inclusion—just enjoy discussing 'old stuff' 🙂

 

[Colif]

Wolfenstein started as 2d and became 3d. It was the first successful 3d corridor shooting game and also the first game to ever transition from 2d to 3d. Many others followed.
I played this one...

 

[Frindis]

My first good retro memory was playing on the arcade machine at the local blockbusters back in the early 80s.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he-_v3NZz_A

 

[Colif]

Most of the games I have ever played are retro

I spent several years playing the same machine at a local shop. Owner would replace games enough that it was never stale. Finished Galaga there, clocked Gyrus, got to end of Bank Panic... most arcade games had no ends but some did. Galaga only ended as it got boring with the monsters not shooting back

IN the past cheats like that were things of legend you read in magazines if you lucky, now its just a Youtube search away.
We left high score as 000020 and waited for someone to score a few points and wonder why they didn't get top score... it was 1million & 20. Alas shop owner turned machine off and score was gone. We only wanted to see if it worked, didn't care about forever.

 

[Zloth]

Wolf3D and Doom weren't FULLY 3D, though. The play area was 3D, but the enemies were all sprites. Games like Battlezone were fully 3D, but they use wireframe to pull it off. Descent (1994) was almost fully 3D. The map was wireframe and some of the effects looked to be sprites, but the map and enemies were definitely 3D. Thief (1998) was pretty 3D, as was Final Fantasy 7 (1997).

I'm thinking that only devs who wanted to make a 2D game were doing so by 1999. Maybe just use "Pre-2000" as a cut-off?

P.S. Funny thing is, it's only a 5 year difference between 95 and 00, but the games were advancing SO FAST back then!

 

[WoodenSaucer]

But a lot [?] was fixed again in Windows 10—eg I was able to play 1995's Command and Conquer on Win10, but not on Win7.

Really? That's cool. I didn't know that.

And a bit earlier too 🙂
Generally acknowledged first 3D game is Atari's Battlezone from 1980. There were others in 80s, altho first I played was Id's Wolfenstein 3D from '92.

Battlezone was cool for the novelty, but it wasn't a great game. The first really good 3D game I played was AD&D: Treasure of Tarmin on the Intellivision. It came out in 1983.

Wolf3D and Doom weren't FULLY 3D, though. The play area was 3D, but the enemies were all sprites.

If you want to get technical, even the play area was just fake 3D. You couldn't jump or move up and down in any way. It was just a 2D overhead map that was raised so you could see it from a first person perspective. I think Duke Nukem 3D was the first game I saw where you could actually move in 3 dimensions. You could jump, use the jetpack, and swim in water. The enemies were still 2D sprites, though.