Thanks for this! What a nice introduction and food for thought on the topic I know nothing about. Retro gaming isn't on my radar but I'd love to read more essays from you on it.
Wow, this really gave me some food for thought! I agree with your definition of what should be considered “retro” in gaming, but it also got me thinking about why we start calling something retro even when it still feels relatively new.
I think what often drives that shift is the influence of whichever generation holds the most cultural and economic weight at the time. For example, we’re seeing a resurgence of pocket consoles like the Analogue Pocket and repro cartridges because Gen Y grew up with the Game Boy and 16-bit systems. That nostalgia now fuels design and demand.
It’s likely that Gen Z will revive early 2000s aesthetics next... and maybe they already are. The upcoming Anbernic RG Slide, for instance, totally channels that old-school flip phone vibe that also is reminiscent from the PSP GO.
Anyway, that's what I enjoy about posts like this. You make me think about new perspectives altogether. Good stuff!
I think they already are for sure. It feels like every year a popular-yet-discontinued PS2-era IP gets a re-release on modern platforms, not to mention just how many have come from the generation prior; Gex? I didn't expect that, they were decent games but always a bit of a punchline.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! That's what I like to do.
Interesting and an old point of contention, my own view is that if the console and its games are no longer sold then it’s retro. Regardless, there is a whole other branch of discussion from this topic with emulation, game preservation and games as art. Old games are just disappearing forever and yet we can still read millions of books, see paintings and watch movies from many, many (sometimes hundreds of) years ago. Nintendo closed down the 3DS eshop, effectively closing legal access to thousands of games forever. The industry must do better imo.
Definitely want to see more done on this front. I actually wouldn't be opposed to limited re-releases of certain games and consoles a bit like that HDMI, original cartridge compatible Atari 2600 that came out a while ago.
Nintendo need to go all-in on the Switch Online service. I don't own it myself purely because in the time it takes them to add games, I could have bought ones I wanted myself.
This was a fun read! I regard retro as an aesthetic. If the game or hardware's design intentionally evokes an experience from the past then it's retro. So, boomer shooters, pixel-art metroidvanias, and horror games with PS1-style graphics to me are retro. I would also call the Analog Pocket retro, wince that is what it's going for.
And I'm hesitant to tie retro just to the age of a game. Then, 'retro' in some cases would mean 'unplayable' due to antiquated control schemes or a problem with game features. Point in case is the original Doom. The recent engine updates have been great, but it still lags so far behind features in the open-source engines that I simply don't enjoy playing it in its original state anymore. Dune 2 is another: it's very frustrating to play since it lacks the control refinements that RTS games would soon adapt after it.
I'd call old games 'vintage' or 'classic' to reflect their age, and games that evoke the past are 'retro', even if they are actually new games.
I think you've made a nice distinction between retro, classic and vintage. I enjoy playing older games from the past, but I'm not so beholden to having them run on actual hardware (yet).
The retro "feel" could come in different forms. For example, I got one of the SNES mini consoles when they were popular, and using the replica controllers would be as close to the original as I would probably get, whilst still being convenient enough for me to play via HDMI. However, playing the same SNES games on the Switch Online service with JoyCons will not feel quite the same, even though they are probably emulated exactly the same.
Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for what the original hardware brought to a game. I'll always be fond of arcade cabinet versions of games. There was something different about how they played.
I am unfortunately a bit too young to have experienced much arcade but I hate to play anything older than the PS3 on an LCD TV; it is an inferior display technology in a lot of ways and it absolutely ruins the way 8/16Bit games are supposed to look
Thanks for this! What a nice introduction and food for thought on the topic I know nothing about. Retro gaming isn't on my radar but I'd love to read more essays from you on it.
Wow, this really gave me some food for thought! I agree with your definition of what should be considered “retro” in gaming, but it also got me thinking about why we start calling something retro even when it still feels relatively new.
I think what often drives that shift is the influence of whichever generation holds the most cultural and economic weight at the time. For example, we’re seeing a resurgence of pocket consoles like the Analogue Pocket and repro cartridges because Gen Y grew up with the Game Boy and 16-bit systems. That nostalgia now fuels design and demand.
It’s likely that Gen Z will revive early 2000s aesthetics next... and maybe they already are. The upcoming Anbernic RG Slide, for instance, totally channels that old-school flip phone vibe that also is reminiscent from the PSP GO.
Anyway, that's what I enjoy about posts like this. You make me think about new perspectives altogether. Good stuff!
I think they already are for sure. It feels like every year a popular-yet-discontinued PS2-era IP gets a re-release on modern platforms, not to mention just how many have come from the generation prior; Gex? I didn't expect that, they were decent games but always a bit of a punchline.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! That's what I like to do.
Interesting and an old point of contention, my own view is that if the console and its games are no longer sold then it’s retro. Regardless, there is a whole other branch of discussion from this topic with emulation, game preservation and games as art. Old games are just disappearing forever and yet we can still read millions of books, see paintings and watch movies from many, many (sometimes hundreds of) years ago. Nintendo closed down the 3DS eshop, effectively closing legal access to thousands of games forever. The industry must do better imo.
Definitely want to see more done on this front. I actually wouldn't be opposed to limited re-releases of certain games and consoles a bit like that HDMI, original cartridge compatible Atari 2600 that came out a while ago.
Nintendo need to go all-in on the Switch Online service. I don't own it myself purely because in the time it takes them to add games, I could have bought ones I wanted myself.
Yes! I totally agree that repros are the future of retro gaming - if you want to play on original hardware.
The demand for these old games is far outstripping the supply.
It's inevitable in my eyes... and I'm totally fine with it, they just need to manufacture them a little better.
These games are finite, people need to keep that in mind.
This was a fun read! I regard retro as an aesthetic. If the game or hardware's design intentionally evokes an experience from the past then it's retro. So, boomer shooters, pixel-art metroidvanias, and horror games with PS1-style graphics to me are retro. I would also call the Analog Pocket retro, wince that is what it's going for.
And I'm hesitant to tie retro just to the age of a game. Then, 'retro' in some cases would mean 'unplayable' due to antiquated control schemes or a problem with game features. Point in case is the original Doom. The recent engine updates have been great, but it still lags so far behind features in the open-source engines that I simply don't enjoy playing it in its original state anymore. Dune 2 is another: it's very frustrating to play since it lacks the control refinements that RTS games would soon adapt after it.
I'd call old games 'vintage' or 'classic' to reflect their age, and games that evoke the past are 'retro', even if they are actually new games.
I think you've made a nice distinction between retro, classic and vintage. I enjoy playing older games from the past, but I'm not so beholden to having them run on actual hardware (yet).
The retro "feel" could come in different forms. For example, I got one of the SNES mini consoles when they were popular, and using the replica controllers would be as close to the original as I would probably get, whilst still being convenient enough for me to play via HDMI. However, playing the same SNES games on the Switch Online service with JoyCons will not feel quite the same, even though they are probably emulated exactly the same.
Yeah, there's definitely something to be said for what the original hardware brought to a game. I'll always be fond of arcade cabinet versions of games. There was something different about how they played.
I am unfortunately a bit too young to have experienced much arcade but I hate to play anything older than the PS3 on an LCD TV; it is an inferior display technology in a lot of ways and it absolutely ruins the way 8/16Bit games are supposed to look