What Makes a Retro Game?

[Kilokk]

Ok acidmods, what do you think makes a retro game? I want to know your definition of a retro game.  Is it a game on the Atari 2600? A game that was pre '95? what exactly do you think?

In my opinion a "Retro Game" is something that predates the current console generation, so anything pre-2005 on ps2 xbox and gamecube or earlier

[robin1989]

i haveto agree with you that for me a retro game would suggest something previous to the current generation and usually consisting of a game whos graphics arnt the best but whoes gameplay is still good and are usually games that when played bring back memorys of when you were a kid

[H-Sauce]

I have always regarded retro as anything pre-2000's.

[bustinthejustin]

I would say pre ps2/xbox/gc era... Since Ps2 is still being sold and xbox/gc aren't THAT old.

[Luke]

i'd say at this point anything N64 and before.

[Modded Matt]

thats because you guys dont remember the atari system. I had a system before that the had 4 built in games pong, tennis,  brick breaker, and something else I dont remember. then when the atari dropped we were freaking out...omg got a stick and a button!!!!  then here comes the nintendo and it was on super mario untill I couldnt hold my eyes open, with no memory, so you had to leave the console on 24 hrs a day. and when mom turned it off it was the end of the world.

I bet most of you never played the flat table pacman arcade. it was like a desk with a monitor inset...great times.. those were retro games

[Kilokk]

oh ye of little faith... i have indeed played the pacman arcade cabnet

[802Chives]

Hey Matt, what was jesus like? How did the dinosaurs die? when fire was discovered, was it really a big deal or just kinda gimiky like the microwave? lol

Retro is upto and including N64... like luke said.

[SN!P3R]

Ps3 and xbox 360 and older

[~:Dhruv:~]

hmmm personally i'd go as far as saying that anything before the nes is retro the reason behind it is that the only console i have right now is the nes ha ha... Haven't played it in a while but mario always feels good ...

[Modded Matt]

lol feels great, I have the three nes mario games downloaded on my wii. they are great. everyone remembers them..

[Kilokk]

hell yeah matt! but i have the original carts XD

[ryan0]

A retro game is any game that has been outdated by new advances in graphics and in ways of interacting with the game itself,that's it,there's no two ways about it.
An old game might be crap,but it's still retro,the controls are retro,the graphics are retro,it's all retro.
These kind of threads are magnets for old gamers who insist on saying things like "you young folk don't know jack about consoles,you weren't even around when the [insert name of old console that nobody has heard of or actually cares about] came out",then there's the young gamers who want to look "o0b3r r3htr0" and will say stupid things like "if it was made after 1937,then it's not retro.

Retro is old,something from the past,it doesn't have to be good,just has to remind you of times gone by.

[Modded Matt]

A retro game is any game that has been outdated by new advances in graphics and in ways of interacting with the game itself,that's it,there's no two ways about it.
An old game might be crap,but it's still retro,the controls are retro,the graphics are retro,it's all retro.
These kind of threads are magnets for old gamers who insist on saying things like "you young folk don't know jack about consoles,you weren't even around when the [insert name of old console that nobody has heard of or actually cares about] came out",then there's the young gamers who want to look "o0b3r r3htr0" and will say stupid things like "if it was made after 1937,then it's not retro.

Retro is old,something from the past,it doesn't have to be good,just has to remind you of times gone by.

thats crap... so by that statment, graw2, cod4, or gears of war 1.. as the graphics engines used in those games are now out dated..wrong, just because something is old doesnt make it retro. something being retro is in the eye of the beholder, as the definition of retro is:

"retro" describes an item that is out dated, but has once again become worthwile"

pong is not retro, its old. super mario is retro. mario is wothwile to me pong is not. these types of threads are opinionated/based. for you to make a statment that all old games and consoles are retro, although well wrote, is inacurate. 

[H-Sauce]

I would consider pong retro, but that's just me.

[802Chives]

ya i feel like in order for something to be retro it has to come back in style, for example:

1980's Parchute pants... will never be retro
1970's Bell bottom pants... retro becuase they have come in and out several times.

Mario = Retro cuz he keeps coming bak
Pong = Retro cuz we still see it pop up a lot (wii party, arkanoid, brickle, ect)

Shaq-Fu = not retro cuz no one will ever revive that mess.

[ryan0]

thats crap... so by that statment, graw2, cod4, or gears of war 1.. as the graphics engines used in those games are now out dated..wrong

Don't be stupid,current gen games are by no means retro.
Retro is something that reminds somebody of an era gone by,such as bubble coats in the 90's or terrible computer generated effects in old movies,they're not good,but you look at them and the second thing you think of is "retro",the first being "woah,and we used to think that was cool".

[Modded Matt]

no ryan, you need a dictionary, you are now confusing retro with sentiments.


the only thing stupid is your logic here:

A retro game is any game that has been outdated by new advances in graphics and in ways of interacting with the game itself,that's it,there's no two ways about it.

by that statment, let me quote you again:

outdated by new advances in graphics

means that graw1 and such games are retro, by your logic not mine. before you try to insult people you need to have your facts straight.

[ryan0]

I never insulted you for one.

I meant SEVERELY outdated,not as in outdated by 5 years which you are saying.