How do we define what is "Retro"?

Some of you who follow me on twitter were probably wondering when this was coming. Almost on a daily basis for a while I was going off on people over what I thought was misuse of #retrogaming. PS2 is Retro, PS3 and 360 are Retro, PSP Is out of production IT's Retro. It drives me nuts I have my own idea of Retro and that the Era of gaming from the 2600 to the first run of disc based consoles. So From the 2600- the PS1/Saturn/N64. That's Retro to me I think it is it to alot of people. But in my twitter rantings no 2 people seem to really have any idea what Retro is? At the worst I find what some people consider Retro Annoying and pretentious at best it's a nod to our past. I've gotten so annoyed with #retrogaming that I've started suggesting a more catchall term #classicgaming. Anything can be a classic, but not everything can be retro. I suggested Vintage too, but apprently in the UK it's a douchebag hipster term like I feel Retro is becoming. So, what's is Retro?

 

I would say your definition is valid, though you could certainly include ancient Pong consoles in it too. I would put the Dreamcast in retro too, even though it's newer than the N64.

Maybe by 2020 the PS2/PS3 will be retro, it's hard to tell.

 

My definition used to be: "You know you are retro gaming when a majority of people, upon seeing what you are playing, would just frown and inquire why you are still playing those old craps."

But nowadays "retro gaming" has become kind of "cool" and " hip"...
So not sure that definition works anymore.

 

Retro being "cool and hip" is exactly why I'm moving away from using it myself. I wish I could find and list and have room for all the pretentious tweets I see on Twitter and what those people consider Retro. You know somebody actually considers Angry Brids retro now? Fetch me a tazer and a bucket of water....

 

I totally agree with you. I'm sick and tired of all these retarded hipsters and their retro PS2s and retarded 8bit indie games. I've said time and again that if I want to play 8bit games, I'd get my NES or GameBoy. Those idiots don't know what retro is. They play Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Angry Birds while us true gamers prefer River City Ransom, Chrono Trigger, and Conker's Bad Fur Day. It's sickens me to my stomach to have these stupid fake hipster gamers overpower us in numbers.

 

I personally define anything that was released 20 years ago or more or anything that hasnt been officially supported for 10 years or more as retro, whichever comes first. I think the problem with newer generations declaring themselves retro is because of the fact that hey didn't bear witness to any clearly defined continuity technology wise (ie 2d/3d eras were clearly defined by technological limits once, but not any more.).

 

Hey now, I like retarded 8bit indie games. Retro City Rampage is a good time. But otherwise you're right. Kids today don't know what retro is and it makes me want to reach through the internet and choke a bitch.

 

BACK IN MY DAY you were considered poor if you played a Genesis in the late 90s. You either had a Playstation or an N64 (like nobody in America had a Saturn).

Proof or it didn't happen.

I dunno about that, the PS2/Xbox/GC era was clearly defined by 3D graphics that didn't suck that bad. I can't believe people get nostalgic over 3D PS1 games. They look so, so, so badddd.

 

fuckin HIPSTER!
BRILLIANT :witless:
...
if you was wondering what the english considered to be 'retro'...too much time on hands.
...
i'm from UK (sadly) and consider sixteen bit (and beyond) to be retro, not any higher.
then again, a site mandate determines that. (by what can be discussed/OPENLY shared, NOT what some human meatbag IRL says)

 

I basically agree with the PS1/Saturn/N64 as being the last consoles you can consider "retro". I might extend that to say that any console released before 2000 is retro. So that would also include the Dreamcast. It is ultimately just a word though, so it has whatever meaning we assign to it. I think it's informed somewhat by when you were born, what consoles you grew up with, etc. You also have to consider that the entire history of videogames is pretty short compared to the histories of most other things. So it's relative, and it'll change over time. Eventually the PS4 and the Xbox One will be considered retro. I don't know how to end this, but there you go.

 

If comics have the Golden age, Silver age, Bronze age ect then there should be terms for gaming simular. Retro age, Classic age, DLC bullshit age.....

 

That's exactly what i think. PS2, Gamecube and Xbox will probably join that list in a couple of years.

 

I don't know if the PS2, XBOX or Gamecube will ever be considered Retro. Not becuase they aren't great systems but just, I can't think of them as Retro and I don't think alot of people can either. That's where the catch all Classic Gaming comes in. Not everything can be Retro but anything that is good enough can be Classic.

 

It really isn't that hard is it?

As of today:
Next Gen = PS4
Current Gen = PS3
Last Gen = PS2
Retro = PS1 an everything before

As soon as PS5 gets announced it will be:
Next Gen = PS5
Current Gen = PS4
Last Gen = PS3
Retro = PS2 an everything before

 

I judge on when a console is released, not when it stops being supported, and my "retro" cutoff is a two-console difference and at least 11 years since its release. So I guess I'm in a minority here in that I consider the GCN/PS2/XBOX "retro".

Also, when the fuck did gamers decide to call the most recent generation of consoles "next generation" (cuz I've seen more people than just sanni do it)? That's silly, inaccurate, and confusing.

 

I'd judge it based on obsolete formats more than anything, for instance, cartridge > CD > DVD > Blu Ray, or 240p, 480p, 1080p and so forth. The current generation still uses Blu Ray and 1080p is a commonly used resolution so I wouldn't really consider 360 and PS3 retro until their formats are truly obsolete.

 

If Physical media is here to stay (and face it internet sucks in the US so it's not going anywhere) then Blu Ray can in theory keep growing to hold Terabytes of date. Who knows if Blu Ray will ever be obsolete at least until we're old men.

 

I got into a tiff with someone about 7 years ago over the N64 being considered "retro" or not. I pointed out it had been out of production for over half a decade, and had been released 11 years ago. It WAS retro. It's weird to think about since the PS4 & Xbox One have been out for only 7 months, but the Xbox 360 has been out for 9 years almost!

I remember when I got involved with "RETRO" gaming, the NES was mainly considered retro...it had only been out for 11 years, and discontinued for 2! "CLASSIC" and "RETRO" gaming are used interchangably often however I consider "classic" gaming to be anything pre playstation. "retro" is anything not current gen (PS3 and 360 as "retro" is debatable since there are still constant releases for them)

 

So basically the flip of my definition. Honestly I can just stop using Retro alltogether. Douchbag Hipster 90s kids ruined the term for me. But I'm just repeating myself. I do that often.

 

Well the word "retro" has a concrete meaning. It just means past. So anything NOT current is retro, literally by definition. The word "CLASSIC" is subjective. When something is a "classic", that is a matter of opinion. Typically "classic" is used as a "highlight" of something. A "CLASSIC" car, a "CLASSIC" film. Those are used to describe something in it's prime. So "classic" gaming is gaming in it's prime - to me is the 80s/90s. The amount of games from that era that still hold up is VERY high.

The mid 90's was a time of trials and experimentation that lead to a lot of awkward controls, pop up visuals, etc that make it hard to go back to. Pre-NES titles are often too simplistic.