InkstainTheBatat what point do you draw the line for "retro"?
Enamel94Anything that does not get made anymore is classed as retro is it not?
ArugulaZThat's where I currently draw the line. Unfortunately, there's a perception that obsolete is not necessarily retro. Typically, a machine that was just abandoned (ie the Xbox One) is not considered fashionably retro... just old.
Things were a lot easier back in the 1990s where the line was more easily drawn. Everything before the video game crash was retro; everything after was modern. But time marched on and the 21st century arrived, and the rules changed. Now even game systems with polygons are retro! Now even game systems with hyper-realistic graphics, like the Xbox 360, are retro! I feel like Danny Glover. I'm getting too old to keep track of this shit.
like the Xbox 360, are retro
That's just one generation ag... oh
It still doesn't feel like anything on the XBox 360 and maybe even the PS2 is retro in the same way that older games are retro. In the Xbox 360 era games had already settled into conventions we are using to this day.
Hell, GTA 5 and Skyrim have been released for the XBox 360 and they keep being rereleased remastered with no significant gameplay changes to this day.
But SNES? PS1? That's a whole different world.
‘Leigh 🏳️⚧️In my view, systems without an HDMI output or defaulting to a 4:3 aspect ratio are retro. But I don’t expect everyone else to share this opinion. 🙂
MapleHow I like to see it, going backwards on the timeline (you can tell mine was a PlayStation household lol);
- PS5 Era = Modern
- PS4 Era = Last Gen
- PS3 Era = Transitional
- PS2 Era = Classic
- PSX to NES Era = Retro
Anything before that is Prehistoric.
I called Nes retro back in the ps2 era
lol, that’s fair enough.
I just remember going to GameStop back then and the nes games were in the retro section, but 2 get 1 free.
Loaded up on a ton of nes and genesis games that I never got to play.
skellener20 years is considered vintage if that helps.
nmac101Wait... So ssbm is vintage? Oh gosh, time sure is fast
20 years is vintage, yes.
I've been playing a vintage game for 2 years and i didn't even know? gosh
thor@InkstainTheBat most people draw the line at about ~3 console generations ago. So now anything in PS2 era and under is considered retro. As people get older, and console generations are longer (see: Switch, PS4) it tends to get a bit messy.
GameCube, PS2, and Xbox are now retro since Xbox Series X and PS5 are out.
When PS6 and Xbox 5 comes out, Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii will be retro.
ChojinDSLI would argue that retro is individual. Depending on when you grew up and which games you played back then.
Cevilia (they/she/…)My own personal line in the sand is what Wikipedia calls “the sixth generation”: Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo Gamecube, Sony PS2, Microsoft Xbox. They’re “retro” to me. Starting from the seventh generation, there was a noticeable bump in the ability for systems to churn out relatively-realistic graphics, with the PS3 and Xbox 360 leading the way, and the Wii embracing its delightfully-modern cartoony style.
SavvyWolfI’m at the age now where I know deep down the Wii is retro, but I don’t want to accept it.
Sploosh the WaterIt’s a moving target. For me, I would say anything older than about 15-20 years is “retro” and anything older than 30 years is “vintage.”
Anything with a capacitor about to blow. Seriously get rid of your clock capacitor xbox collectors!
tomkattFor me I’d say retro is Gen 6 and below, but specifically including the Dreamcast and PS2, but probably excluding the Xbox, and maybe GameCube.
The Xbox was the first console with internal storage built in and both the Xbox and GameCube used shader pipelining aka modern GPU architecture. Basically, I feel if shader compilation is a requirement for emulating it, I don’t consider it retro.
I feel like gc is retro because it had weird conventions. Weird ass controller. Weird controls. Xbox had started to settle in with modern standard schemes. Especially for things like fps and tps.
True, and it’s why I’m on the fence about GameCube. It’s kinda retro but kinda not. The weird controller and small disc sizes make it feel retro, but it has modern-ish dual stage triggers, and a PowerPC architecture with a modern GPU design, double precision floats, OOE compute.
Meanwhile the PS2 was still weird, included the PS1 chip, and mostly just had a massive fill rate to make up for its shortcomings.
Akatsuki LeviIn my POV, anything past the current generation - 1(so current gen + previous gen), it is considered retro
Xbox One X? Not retro. Xbox One? Not retro. Xbox 360? Retro.
demonswordI have a simple definition, hardware is retro if it’s no longer being produced, software is retro if it’s no longer beind sold
So never heard of GoG huh?
I like the theory, but is the original Legend of Zelda retro?
Cause Nintendo puts that up for sale every new game console release. But that is one of the original adventure games from 1986.
Digital releases muddies the water somewhat. But, as far as I know, Nintendo doesn’t issue the original NES cartridge anymore – so it’s still retro for me
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆The way I see it based on what was retro 20 years ago, something becomes retro when it’s 20+ years old.
samus12345By pure dictionary definition. something new that’s made to look old is retro, not things that are actually old.
relating to, reviving, or being the styles and especially the fashions of the past : fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned
Imitation is just one kind of retro. Actual old stuff is also retro. It also means to go backwards, or regress.
Don’t just go by the singular definition Google gives in their dumbass blurb. Look in an actual dictionary.
To me, GameCube and PS2 are retro. Wii is getting there, and god, I feel old. Had to convince myself to put down “GameCube” instead of “N64”.
The Picard ManeuverMy line is at 2d to 3d mostly.
2d is retro. Early 3d is like the awkward teenage years. Everything since Xbox 360/PS3 is modern to me.
Yup. Initial 3D games were, let’s just say awkward.
suprjamiI’m not interested drawing a hard line at a year or system. Something is retro if it feels old.
Once upon a time PS2 was new but now it feels old (and looks garbage compared to new games) so it’s retro.
~15 years is the arbitrary cutoff that feels right to me, despite how old it is continuing to make me feel
Personally, for me PS2 era and older is retro for sure. There is a clear distinction where many PS3 games share similar feeling with modern games, while my PS2 ones feel from a past time. PS2 is also the last generation console games where completely different from PC, and in my childhood gaming up to then wasn’t mainstream but a nerd hobby, causing it to have a very different community. With the generation of the PS3, all of that changed to modern standards.
PS3 and DS I’m a bit in dubio about. Whenever I feel bored with modern games, PS3 and my (3)DS are on the list of “old” consoles I grab back to (together with PS2, PS1, and recently GBC/GBA which I’d consider retro for sure). On the other hand, at least half the games released on it are games I still play on my PC as “modern games”. DS is extra hard, as I barely distinct between 3DS as DS in my mind, unless it’s using the GBA port for stuff. After all, I play them on the same console and the transition was quite smooth between the DS models making it not feel like a huge gab, unlike the PS2 to PS3. But at the same time, early DS is much older than late 3DS, which I would consider too new for sure.
Anything after that, modern for sure.
(One of) the biggest tech sites in my country uses “at least two generations old” as definition, making PS3 the last retro generation currently. I like it because it fits my usage, but as said I’m a bit in dubio about actually calling the PS3 retro. It doesn’t feel old fashioned enough. I mean, that would technically make Skyrim retro. But that’s definitly one of those games that are in my “modern gaming” list on PC and Switch…
I can at least personally attest that PS3 is currently the newest gen where people either think you’re awesome for buying it now (because they get the fun of old stuff) or stupid (because they think the old stuff is crap and only the new is cool). For that reason I would agree to allow it on retro places, as modern gaming places just wouldn’t appriciate it at all while people who are already into older stuff do on a somewhat regular basis.
Hmm… An interesting thing I’ve noticed is a lot of people seem to put the DS and 3DS together in their head as if the difference is minimal, but I’ve tried them both (tough i only own a 3DS) and it feels to me like two entirely different experiences, like the jump from NES to SNES, hell, we went from the largest games on the DS being <1Gb to the largest on a 3DS being almost 4Gb
It’s something I never really understood…
Well, I also have both atm. Altrough I need to admit my DS Lite is only used as GBA console and for stuff that requires the GBA slot because of weird accesouries (like Guitar Hero On Tour).
I think it’s because of that. I play the old DS games on my new 3DS. And while the games did improve, the games on 3DS still wheren’t that advanced even for most of the time it was alive, since it laster quite long. So it easily feels more “backwards” than "last gen”. I also don’t see as much difference between them as the jump from PS1 to PS2 to PS3. Or the jump from GameBoy to DS serries, and 3DS to Switch for that matter. For the most part, the different DS’ feel more like different models than different consoles.
While the 3DS was released in 2010, the DS is only 6 years younger releasing in 2004. The hardware isn’t thát far apart. And while the last game for the 3DS was released in 2021, that still was made for at that moment 11 year old hardware (and by now 13 year old). And while the size of games may have quadruppeld between the first DS and the last, 4GB games where nothing in 2021. They bassically kept making games with restrictions of old hardware longer, rather than having a huge improvement.