What constitutes classic gaming in your mind, right now?

The_Joker · One Winged Angel Joined: 22 Jul 2002 Posts: 11627

Have the PS1 and N64 become classic consoles yet?

Have games created before 2000 entered the 'classic' phase yet? Would you call games like Half-Life and Starcraft classic?

Or are we not there yet? Or is classic something non-changing, used to define a certain era of video gaming that is restricted to the SNES and prior?
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De-Ting · Formerly Known as Prince Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 7351

Classic is different from retro, to me. Retro has a definitive limit, which ends at anything before PS1/N64 in my opinion. Classic could be just about anything.
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danielrbischoff · Joined: 13 Nov 2009 Posts: 7562

Classic definitely envelops N64/PS1 now. I think De-Ting is on to something though. I wouldn't call those platforms retro.... Give it a few years and I might be saying that though.

cyberjim2000 · Forum Bum Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 1514

I would think, the terms "classic" or "retro" is a bit relative depending on the person.To me the classics would be around the NES/SNES era while to another person it would be around the N64/PS1 era.

MattAY · Posh B**tard Joined: 02 Mar 2006 Posts: 10925

Hah, I was actually thinking about this the other day. To me "Retro" is 8bit/16bit.

I judge classic to be of the highest quality of gaming to me, so I think to what are the best gaming experiences, and I'd have to say gaming when I grew up was always best. So PS1/N64 era would be classic to me. Crash, Medieval, Sypro, fucking Destruction Derby 2...then you've got Super Mario 64, Goldeneye...thinking about these games is almost making me cry by the way!
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Bretimus_v2 · The Japazillian Dynasty Joined: 30 Jan 2009 Posts: 8454

Retro is arcade stuff like Dig Dug, Pac Man and the likes with 8-bit and 16-bit stuff too. Classic is anything that people can unitedly say was good, starting one generation back. It can be said that some PS2 titles are classic.
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WickedLiquid · In Limbo Joined: 18 Mar 2009 Posts: 5475

One day anything pre-HD will be considered classic gaming. But for now I would definitely consider any game over 15 years old as classic. Retro falls into 25-35 years old.
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used44 · Joined: 08 Mar 2002 Posts: 19358

"Classic" is often misused. This forum title, for example.

Sightless · Joined: 23 Jul 2010 Posts: 980

Thanks for contributing, used.

I agree with Bret. Some 16-bit hangs on the edge for me as retro, possibly influenced by questionable willingness to place myself in relation to those games.
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used44 · Joined: 08 Mar 2002 Posts: 19358

You're so very welcome.

Optimus-Crime · bananable Joined: 03 Mar 2012 Posts: 826

When I think of retro I think of seedy, dark mall arcades, movie theater arcades and the random cabinet found at the grocery store. And Atari, Atari is retro...or ColecoVision, for you oddballs. But anything after Atari's era turns classic in my book.

Classic, if used in the traditional sense, ends at the inception of 32-bit for me. Anything with FMV doesn't seem to warrant a classic labeling. But, sure, there's plenty of "classic" titles from all eras.

I wouldn't call N64 classic just because it's however many years old. And I'm still holding out for a proper Mario 64 sequel. No, Sunshine doesn't count.
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UghRochester · Fattest Jedi Around Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 5688

Welcome back! We've missed you!
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Optimus-Crime · bananable Joined: 03 Mar 2012 Posts: 826

Thanks

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elmoreoocyte · Joined: 01 Apr 2012 Posts: 22

I was talking to a Summer intern at work about gaming. He was telling me about this console he used to play with his grandma where you stuck games into the top. I'm thinking Toploader NES or SNES. Turns out it was N64. I'm not even 30 but I felt really old.

I too think De-Ting hit the nail on the head.

Sightless · Joined: 23 Jul 2010 Posts: 980

For either of these categories, "classic" or "retro", do you find that there's a line that will shift as new consoles are released? That is, will the release of, say, the WiiU, push the N64 or Gamecube further into one category or another?

I suppose there are a few measures you could use: time in years, like Wicked suggests; generation or consoles, like De-Ting and others offered; or by personal relation to gaming industry, like I think cyberjim and I sort of point to.

So if the answer to the first question is yes, do you feel like the shift is immediate, or does it take time, or some number of games?
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Affen · Freedom Runner Joined: 19 Sep 2008 Posts: 1890

I don't think I can personally ever view generations past N64 to be classic.

I'm sure the people who grew up with ps2 and Xbox will view them as classic and the same will happen to the 360/ps3 crowd.

The games I grew up as a kid will be my classics.

GiftedMonkey · Very Special Forces Joined: 10 Jul 2001 Posts: 4809

Here's the thing: Like used said, everybody is wrong.

Retro doesn't mean old. Retro means it's in the style of old. Pac-Man, Tetris, and Pong aren't retro games, they're old games (Or, if you want to give them some more credit, they're vintage games). They can also be considered classic games (more on that later). Super Meat Boy, Lone Survivor, and other new games with those old school graphics and mechanics are retro, because they aren't actually old games, they're just acting like it.

Classic, on the other hand, has a much wider definition. It can mean original or very old, it can mean serving as a standard, it can mean it has enduring quality and appeal. Pong is a classic arcade game, because it has been around longer than the rest. Doom and Goldeneye are classic games because virtually every FPS every made has been influenced by them in some way. Tetris is a classic, because it is so widely played and acclaimed. That E.T. Atari game that is widely seen as the worst game ever made? It's a classic because its fucking old. I would go so far as to call GTA 3 a classic, because even though it is from the PS2 generation (which makes an ancient-in-gaming-terms 11 years old) everybody played it, it was met with near-universal acclaim, and its open-ended world structure has been imitated countless times in countless ways.

So, to recap:

Vintage is old, retro is acting like its old.

Classic means it has earned special status or recognition, through its quality or its age.

Classic games are not retro games, but retro games may someday become classic games.
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De-Ting · Formerly Known as Prince Joined: 11 Nov 2006 Posts: 7351

Vintage! That was the missing link. Thanks for straightening it all out, Monkey.

And hey, shouldn't your signature say, "Less talky, more monkey!"?
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Lien · Die Hard Commie Bastard Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 2836

Anything revolving tetris.
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elmoreoocyte · Joined: 01 Apr 2012 Posts: 22