Retro Revolution: What The Hell Is "Retro", Anyway?

Yeah, I'd call pretty much whatever I don't play on a regular basis "retro." For me, PSone and later is current.

I like the Two Generation rule. Though there are always exceptions and rule breakers.

Or maybe a 10yr type rule on the individual game itself rather than when the system came out.

To me, Retro is still SNES generation or before. I started gaming on the PS1, and I'm not THAT old! I'm not retro! I refuse to believe this!

Oh hey, I saw a Masterrrwabbit playing BO. Was that you?

If you're not old enough to remember the controversy (though mild by today's standards) over a certain scene in Phantasmagoria, you don't belong in this topic. Just saying.

Games Sierra put out in the mid 90's had a retro feel to them when they were current. I don't really think that argument has much to do with this topic.

It was mutual. What woman DOESN'T cry after consensual dry humping that involved bestial grunts and scary music?

I like the Two Generation rule as well. The 10 year rule I think is no good. Yeah, the PS2 was released 10 years ago, but the system still had NEW games coming out for it as recently as 3 years ago. If you want to use a 10 year Rule, I would say it has to be 10 years, not from the time the console was released, but from the time the last new game was produced. Persona 4, for example, as PS2 game, was released in December 2008. That's less than 3 years ago... that's not nearly enough time to be considered "Retro."

On the other hand though, maybe retro means more than just "how old" it is. Final Fantasy 7 looked old by the time Final Fantasy 10 came out, but 10 doesn't look old yet and we're already at 14. Graphically, there is less difference it seems between PS2 and PS3 than there was between PS2 and PS1. Ditto the SNES and N64 compared to the N64 and the Gamecube. As we progress, it seems like graphics are kind of plateauing. In FF7- 9, the FMVs looked amazing compared to the in game graphics. In 10 and 12, there was less disparity, and in 13 even less so. Graphically, you can only approach so close to realism before you're there, and you can't go any further in that direction.

I guess what I'm saying is, what we consider "retro" might be less based on how long ago it was, and more based on how different it is from what we currently have.

i totally agree with your plateauing graphics idea. The graphical leap from the 16-bit era to the 32/64 i too feel was way more significant than the ps2 to ps3 era. though admittedly the change in focus from sprites to 3d polygons probably had a bit to do with it. the latter just seemed to heighten the resolution and add moar polygons.

FIFA 12 released on the PS3, 3DS, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and the PS2 this year. Thus they are still supporting the PS2 platform. Check out (gamerevolution.com/game/fifa-soccer-12) if you don't believe me.

Wow, so they did. That really drives home the idea that PS2 can't possibly be retro. =D

I think whenever you start discussing something as "Retro", you need to start examining the term "Classic" as well. Retro is something that has past its peak, but not by much, and thus still holds a decent amount of relevance. Classics have came and gone, and now exist solely as generational icons. Can something retro be classic? No.

i have recently lumped the N64 into the retro category. My rule is basic: if i played it in my youth, it is retro. I'm old enough to remember playing NES as a kid (not that i don't still play it today in all honesty) and also having an atari 2600 lying around the house.

To me, PS2 is NOT retro. Dreamcast is NOT retro (though sorely missed). hell i sometimes don't always consider PS1 to be retro, just kind of that awkward middle school phase type of thing.

Retro is anything that didn't come out today.

Like someone mentioned above, I wouldn't consider the console's age. I'd consider the last software developed for a console to be its death cry. Death cry + ten years = retro console. The software becomes retro way before the console does, as in I would've thought of Goldeneye as retro before Perfect Dark.

Is this really an important topic for discussion? I’m probably the oldest person here, at 48, and I have no personal definition of what is retro, so I looked it up in a dictionary. The part of the definition that fit was “fashionably nostalgic or old-fashioned.” So I now believe that retro as it applies to games should be anything not of this current generation that has an nostalgic or old-fashioned feel. A tad vague, but anything we feel nostalgic about is retro.

NBA Jam OFE is nostalgic. Does that fit in the category?

A new can be nostagic, yes but if it is this generation of game then by my definiton it wouldn't be retro. Read and comprehend drathbone, read and comprehend.

I used selective comprehension when I was typing that. I was also drunk.

Home brew? Have you figured out what your going to brew for Skyrim yet?

Retro is... apparently... the original syndicate. sigh...
*Prepares himself some sudokus*

To me retro is everything 16 bit and under. I think it'll stay that way too. New 8bit indie games are bending the rules though, so I'll say SNES and everything before it.

"And who wants to play "old" when there's all kinds of shiny "new" that "everyone else" is playing?"

I f*ckin' do! I still love the SNES, 64, Nintendo, old Sega games, all that stuff. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to go back and play stuff that I was really into when I was 8 years old. Age does not negate awesomeness.

My general rule of thumb is that "Retro" is not the same as "Classic"... There are games from the PS1 days that are classic and some that are just old... Hell if I could find a playable copy of KOTOR for the Xbox I would still be playing that... Its more of a subjective matter... Some games are dated for a specific time frame and audience... Others, few others, are timeless... We can go back to them after a decade and still find that challenge and satisfaction... So let's call Retro "Games that were good then" and Classic will be "Games that are still good"... and the rest we just shove into card board box or turn into undead art...