What made you 'go retro'?

[Flojomojo]

As it is, I'm lucky to find a few hours a week to play the retro stuff. How am I ever going to find a few hundred hours to play Witcher? I have no desire to make anything else in my life suffer to make room for that. It's kind of like my policy on junk food--if I eat it I enjoy it, but I don't want to eat it and get fat, so I don't keep it in the house. Out of sight, out of mind. I feel I am able to maintain a much healthier relationship with electronic games by keeping them simple and suitable for quick/short sessions, and that is where retro gaming really shines.

 

Dammit, this is so much more healthy than my attitude of "well, I have the money so I think I'll buy that thing, just in case I get a chance to play it."

 

I've scheduled a day off two weeks from today so I can play with the Nintendo Switch. I'm pretty sure I'll have a blast with the first two hours of Zelda before life comes crashing back down on me and it goes on a shelf.

 

Curse you, Cynicaster, for making me feel bad about myself!

 

[NE146]

I'm all for the quick play.. 99% of the time I start up a "current" game like Call of Duty on the Xbone, it's to play a single multiplayer match which tends to last anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

 

I just do ine or two of those and I'm done.. like a quick pickup game of basketball.

Edited February 17, 2017 by NE146

[adamchevy]

The most retro gaming I have done lately is on the Ouya, which I generally use for emulation. I purchased a few more controllers, and me and the kids have been playing meltdown. I've been surprised how much my kids have enjoyed the Ouya .

[MadZiontist]

Console modding and emulation pretty much brought me back.

[Tanooki]

 

Dammit, this is so much more healthy than my attitude of "well, I have the money so I think I'll buy that thing, just in case I get a chance to play it."

 

I've scheduled a day off two weeks from today so I can play with the Nintendo Switch. I'm pretty sure I'll have a blast with the first two hours of Zelda before life comes crashing back down on me and it goes on a shelf.

 

Curse you, Cynicaster, for making me feel bad about myself!

 

Agreed. I've been trying to move in that direction too. Both with games and food after I got really sick Dec 2015 (lost 20+lbs the hard way.) I keep far less crap on both shelves, games and pantry. I still have some around, but it's in moderation and it's slowly moving its way out too for better more bite sized things to enjoy. Perhaps it's why I'm digging so much my Neo Geo off and on since I got it last May. Quarter dropping arcade fun can be had in 5minutes or an hour or so with no regrets. For the times I can go longer, that's what a nice portable or my laptop are good for since you can still also double down on time burning with a TV or music on at the same time multi-tasking.

[+wongojack]

Right, retro games can be enjoyed in short bursts. For adults that makes it easier to get enjoyment out of them.

 

Modern games are incredibly time consuming, but some of them tend to break into chunks that can be consumed in 45 - 90 minute segments. I really liked the Halo 4 campaign for this reason and Portal 2 did a nice job of giving you a game segment that was easy to consume in a series of smaller chunks. The Dead Space series has been pretty good at that too. I have to say that if you are going to complain that you can't spend 45-90 minutes on a game then you are just choosing to do other stuff with your free time.

 

Still, this entertainment format takes longer to consume than just about anything besides reading a book. People still read books of course, but the commitment is considerable. My wife and I have dealt with this by taking an annual staycation where we double down and consume the entertainment we've already purchased. That usually ends up being a lot of video game hours. Go here for a little more info if you care. Here is a quote that I blogged about back in 2010 about the length of modern games:

 

"One thing that has struck me during both the 2009 and 2010 staycations is just how truely long these video games are. Its almost discouraging to think that I spent 5 whole days playing about 6 different games and I didn't 'finish' any of them. If you start to break this out it gets even worse. Each day, I played games between 9-10 hours. Over 5 days this is 45 hours. During the rest of the year I probably will play games a little less than that over 3 months. So I was able to make about 3 months worth of headway into these games in 5 days. If (big if) I got halfway through all 6, that means that I need to be playing only these games over the next 3 months to 'finish' them. Thats pretty staggering in my opinion. I mean how is a person with a job expected to get through these games? The games industry acts like we need to be playing a new release every 2 weeks, I mean how do people do it? Even if I had no job, it would still take tons of time to keep pace with the exhausting release schedule of only the games I actually want to play . . ."

 

 

Tanooki, I think you posed the question "If you were around back then CAN you go retro?" That made me think a little. I was definitely around back then. I have the photo of myself when I was 7 years old opening the Atari on Christmas day. I had a NES and a C64 and played SNES Street Fighter with my friends in HS. BUT - I definitely have a few very memorable moments where the desire to seek out older games (shared previously in the thread) seemed fresh and interesting. In those moments, I could have said "Nah, that's too hard, I'll buy something or play something else." Instead, I got further into classic consoles and games. That's how I interpreted the topic of this thread, but admittedly that is from my own perspective.

[MaliciousCarp]

I find the high score self-challenge much more rewarding than finishing a story.

 

Not that I don't enjoy the cinematic masterpieces that are modern games, but it is not as rewarding to me as breaking my previous high score on Solar Fox or PacMan.

 

The other aspect that really drew me back into retro gaming is the hardware. They had some really cool and unique hardware and had to use some really creative programming solutions to push that hardware to the absolute limit. These days the PS4 and XBone are nearly identical gaming PCs, and less interesting (to me, at least)

[Keatah]

There's still so much more retro material to discover. More than a lifetime supply. That's a huge plus.

[adamchevy]

There's still so much more retro material to discover. More than a lifetime supply. That's a huge plus.

It's widely known what the best games are, which makes gaming experiences especially wonderful.

[Asaki]

I've scheduled a day off two weeks from today so I can play with the Nintendo Switch. I'm pretty sure I'll have a blast with the first two hours of Zelda before life comes crashing back down on me and it goes on a shelf.

I'm not taking any days off (I just did two weeks ago), but I'm setting aside as much time as possible to binge through this one, just like I did with Skyward Sword.

 

I just hope they release the WiiU physical version download in advance, so I can get started ASAP (a 3 gig file so the game loads more smoothly).

[Cynicaster]

I find the high score self-challenge much more rewarding than finishing a story.

 

 

 

Exactly! I think anybody my age who is not in this hobby would think it sounds extremely geeky or weird, but it is absolutely rewarding to achieve a high score on a classic game, especially when it comes after lots of trying and failing. In contrast, if I "finish" a modern game, my reaction is usually more like "finally! I thought that game was never going to end." It's just not rewarding for me because anybody with enough time, patience, and an internet connection can achieve the same thing. A week or so later, I will have completely forgotten about the game, barely able to recall what the story was. Anyway, it all comes down to what you want to get out of the hobby... for me it's quick bursts of entertainment with no strings attached, and the intermittent gratification of high scores. I realize some people don't care about scores and would just rather use games as a way to veg out for a while, and that's cool too.

[Keatah]

Sandbox games are good for "vegging out". No goal. No score, nothing to finish. Just pure play!

Edited February 19, 2017 by Keatah

[R.O.T.S]

I have always played games on older systems through the years regardless of what I have owned at the time but I almost completely gave up with modern games during the PS3 era, once a game of interest did actually appear they often seemed infuriating to play and it simply was not what I would call fun.

So I U-turned to look at systems and games I had never owned or simply missed and this has been one of the best decisions I ever made, exploring old systems and games unfamiliar to me is far more interesting than trying to find or having to wait for a half decent game to arrive on modern gen.

I still do purchase the odd FPS game of interest on steam when they appear for a good price like Doom or Farcry 4 but I consider my self 95% retro .

[Keatah]

Once I got into PC I stopped with consoles. Especially DLC/disc consoles. A good thing is I never really got into NES/SNES/SEGA all that much. I simply didn't have the time. But now I do. So I'd imagine there's a world of discovery to be had there. Yes?

[adamchevy]

Once I got into PC I stopped with consoles. Especially DLC/disc consoles. A good thing is I never really got into NES/SNES/SEGA all that much. I simply didn't have the time. But now I do. So I'd imagine there's a world of discovery to be had there. Yes?

So much! In my opinion the second best era of gaming, and really close to being the best.

[Tanooki]

More than you can possibly imagine. While the site doesn't bother to update much anymore content wise, racketboy you should pop a look at and look at their best games by genre/subgenre for various Nintendo cart based systems. The top most get a little write up with a picture or two and you also get added ones with links to go mine info. It's a pretty consistent solid resource and you'll find I'm sure more than enough to keep you busy for decades to the point unless you felt the need to own a modern system (other than a phone or tablet) you'd have more than you could find time to bother with (and this is strictly meaning just NES+SMS & SNES+Genesis, not even digging into the Gameboy line, Game Gear, or N64 stuff.)

[Asaki]

I think anybody my age who is not in this hobby would think it sounds extremely geeky or weird, but it is absolutely rewarding to achieve a high score on a classic game, especially when it comes after lots of trying and failing. In contrast, if I "finish" a modern game, my reaction is usually more like "finally! I thought that game was never going to end." It's just not rewarding for me because anybody with enough time, patience, and an internet connection can achieve the same thing.

Sometimes I'll get on a really big kick to play "high score" style games, but I'm really not that good, so it gets to the point where I feel like I'm practicing just to practice, and that I'll never achieve any real sort of goal.

 

So then I need to go back to games you can actually finish, so I feel like I have an actual goal...and when I reach that goal, I have so many other games I need to beat.

 

 

On a related note, one thing I really like in modern games is achievements. When they're done right (and not just because they're required, like most XBox games), they're fun little mini-goals to accomplish...heck, half of the time they're "rewards" for stupid things I was going to do anyway.

 

And then, to tie it back in, you have "high score" games with achievements, like The Pinball Arcade. Sure, I'll never get a score worth bragging about, but at least I can say I unlocked a bunch of Wizard Goals and achievements.

[Flojomojo]

Achievements in modern games remind me of the Activision patches, but without the hassle of developing film and snail mail shipping.

[Nebulon]

Once I got into PC I stopped with consoles. Especially DLC/disc consoles. A good thing is I never really got into NES/SNES/SEGA all that much. I simply didn't have the time. But now I do. So I'd imagine there's a world of discovery to be had there. Yes?

 

Super Metroid!

 

And of course anything with Kirby in it.

 

This is coming from someone who also discovered this stuff long after the NES, SNES, and SEGA were replaced by later consoles.

[BydoEmpire]

Exactly! I think anybody my age who is not in this hobby would think it sounds extremely geeky or weird, but it is absolutely rewarding to achieve a high score on a classic game, especially when it comes after lots of trying and failing. In contrast, if I "finish" a modern game, my reaction is usually more like "finally! I thought that game was never going to end." It's just not rewarding for me because anybody with enough time, patience, and an internet connection can achieve the same thing. A week or so later, I will have completely forgotten about the game, barely able to recall what the story was. Anyway, it all comes down to what you want to get out of the hobby... for me it's quick bursts of entertainment with no strings attached, and the intermittent gratification of high scores. I realize some people don't care about scores and would just rather use games as a way to veg out for a while, and that's cool too.

I do agree, but I'll add that for me, though, it's not even about getting the high score. A good arcade game is fun while playing it regardless what the final score it. It's not the destination it's the journey. A lot of classic arcade-style games would still be fun even with no scores. I don't know what my high score in Ms. Pac Man is, but I can still pop it into the 7800 and have fun. There's huge psychological motivation (for me) in in a great arcade game where if you have one life left, there's always a chance you can get to the next round or get a high score. Would the game be fun even if there was no score? There are little moments of lining up a perfect shot, gobbling the 4th ghost on a stage, or just reaching Kong before the jackhammer hits you... those are tiny bursts of joy.

[Nebulon]

I do agree, but I'll add that for me, though, it's not even about getting the high score. A good arcade game is fun while playing it regardless what the final score it. It's not the destination it's the journey. A lot of classic arcade-style games would still be fun even with no scores. I don't know what my high score in Ms. Pac Man is, but I can still pop it into the 7800 and have fun. There's huge psychological motivation (for me) in in a great arcade game where if you have one life left, there's always a chance you can get to the next round or get a high score. Would the game be fun even if there was no score? There are little moments of lining up a perfect shot, gobbling the 4th ghost on a stage, or just reaching Kong before the jackhammer hits you... those are tiny bursts of joy.

 

I totally agree.

 

I'll often play just to see how long I can survive.

 

Other times, I just zone out completely and decompress while playing old-school arcade games. It's very therapeutic.

[Rick Dangerous]

Buying these systems in the first place and never stopping playing them for one...

 

for two, seeing other systems and older games and realizing they looked cool and I wanted them.

 

For three, and these days, the ease of use of older systems, with no updates, online requirements, etc.

 

And i'm not going back to being a "modern gamer" !

[Eltigro]

I got old. The games didn't.

[LutzfromOz]

being the poor family in my region in australia that had console 1 and 2 generations behind. in the late 90's i was playing super nes, nes, colecovision and x486 dos games on pc, and to this day i love games that use sprites and scaling way more than the 3d counterpart available today, i own a pc im on steam, and i play modern games, but i love retro more because it has originality, and a fun factor that modern games today just do not have.