What system do you consider retro?

[thetallguy24]

I was debating with someone over the whether or not the the PS1 should be considered a retro console.

 

For some reason, I can't seem to place the PS1 in that category, while I tend to think of the Saturn and the N64 as retro. I think that has to do with the fact that the PS1 games could be continued to be played on the PS2 and PS3. What makes consoles and games retro to me, is that they aren't made anymore or that you are required to use the original equipment get the real experience (I know there's the Retron 5 and Virtual Console).

 

What do you guys think? What systems are retro to you and why? Which aren't?

[Keatah]

Anything pre-NES.

[VectorGamer]

Anything up to and including NES, Atari 7800 and Master System.

[Keatah]

The NES and SMS would be a stretch-goal for me. The 7800, yep.

[mitchd61]

Everything from the Dreamcast going back.

[The Usotsuki]

I tend to see 8 and 16 bit machines as "retro", and nothing forward of them.

[thetallguy24]

I tend to see 8 and 16 bit machines as "retro", and nothing forward of them.

 

Any reason why? Won't that rule out the 32x and Neo Geo? Those releases are 21 and 24 years old, respectively.

[The Usotsuki]

Although not, strictly speaking, 16-bit, the 68000 CPU is usually lumped in with the 65816 as such.

 

Neo Geo counts just as much as the Genesis does.

[Keatah]

Although not, strictly speaking, 16-bit, the 68000 CPU is usually lumped in with the 65816 as such.

 

Really? I would not have made that observation..But thats ok.

 

As discussed in many previous threads, what is retro and what is not is gonna change depending on how old you are and how old you were when you experienced your first videogame.

 

Eventually PS4 will be hardcore retro.

[Giltygear]

The 32-bit systems are the last systems that can be considered "retro".

 

That term is irrelevant when it concerns anything post-32-bit.

[Keatah]

Any reason why? Won't that rule out the 32x and Neo Geo? Those releases are 21 and 24 years old, respectively.

 

By the time 32x and NeoGeo were out, the industry had many years experience with itself already.

 

Retro is going to mean different things to different people, no surprise there.

Retro to me is the VCS and some non-cartridge consoles.

[SoulBlazer]

Not that anyone gives a damn about my own thoughts, but....

 

In my mind, you can't consider one system of a generation retro and leave another one out from the same time frame.

 

So the Playstation, N64, and Saturn are retro to me.

 

And pretty soon I'll consider the Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and PS2 Retro.

[Torr]

I hate to say it, but I'd say anything prior to the year 2000 is pretty "retro".

 

My reasoning for that is:

1) Most young 20 somethings these days remember playing N64 and PS1 back when they were ~5 years old and they ARE ~20 year old systems.

2) If you were still playing Atari VCS or Colecovison in 1995, you were playing a retro console, and they were hovering around the 15-20 year old mark then.

[R.Bear]

For me, anything which is more than 2 generations old since the gaming scene can change a lot in that time.

 

So for me, PS2/GC/DC and older I consider to be retro consoles.

Edited March 27, 2015 by R.Bear

[omegadot]

I remember being in high school and finding out that the PSX was considered retro by the younger kids. I go with NES and back because I was spawned in the 80s. I don't have fond memories of anything earlier because I wasn't alive.

[Dripfree]

I have always drawn the line at any type of disk. Meaning cd or dvd etc. Although lately seeing a game in a jewel case is starting to feel a little retro, and that bothers me a little for some reason.

[+LS650]

I'd say anything that runs carts instead of optical media/downloads.

So a N64 is, but a PS1 isn't. Bit of a contradiction there, I know.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

The cut off line for retro is something that is going to constantly move as new systems come out. Like Torr said, when I got back into "retro gaming" in the 90's, I was playing games that were 15-20 years old. Now the games that were new then are 15-20 years old. If you go strictly by age, the PS1, N64 and Saturn would have to be considered retro then.

 

I tend to differentiate between "retro" and "classic" games. Retro is just anything old, and what's old varies depending on who you ask and when you ask them. You could make the argument that the PS3, 360 and Wii are retro because they aren't the current generation. Classic, to me anyway, evokes a specific era, anything pre-crash or pre-NES. I tend to use "retro" for anything that is no longer commercially supported.

Edited March 27, 2015 by KaeruYojimbo

[phoenixdownita]

Personally everything 2 generations or older, a generation now spans 5 to 7 years so 2 gen ago is enough for that retro feel.

 

Each Gen tends to have something pretty unique to it.

 

Gen 1: first fixed TV games (Pong et al)

Gen 2: cart based (VCS, Intellivision and Coleco)

Gen 3: post crash NES, SMS, 7800, (improved graphics, gaming gets quite popular Mario is re-born)

Gen 4: 16 bits, more colors, better sounds, games starts to look like arcades, GameBoy is a hit

Gen 5: 32+ bits, CDROM, 3D is all the rage (lots of 3D fighters and 3D racers)

Gen 6: 3D is getting real, more details than ever, online makes its first steps, lots of content on those DVD, shift to story based games

Gen 7: it's all online, FPS galore, 3D is very convincing, HiDef (720P mostly)

Gen 8: HiDef, 3D has never looked better, more FPS, more online [still ongoing not sure what its defining traits would be]

 

So for me PS2/XBOX/DC/GC are in the retro bucket (not yet classics though)

[high voltage]

Magnavox Odyssey

[hookem]

I have always drawn the line at any type of disk. Meaning cd or dvd etc. Although lately seeing a game in a jewel case is starting to feel a little retro, and that bothers me a little for some reason.

That's been my definition for the longest time too, and I limit my collection to pre-disk systems just so things don't get out of hand.

 

But I'm also thinking it's time to move the line a bit. To me, an updated definition would be to include any system prior to the Sony/Microsoft domination of the market. But it's a fuzzy line for me -- not a specific date (like the release of the PS1). For example, I'd consider the Saturn retro, but not the PS1. Perhaps due to the PS1's continuing lineage or connection to a current system. With Nintendo, it's even fuzzier. Like I might even consider the Gamecube retro, or right on the cusp, perhaps because it was a little behind the times even when it was released, and doesn't feel connected to the current or previous Wii iterations (despite the Gamecube compatibility on the original Wii). As I said, it's fuzzy.

[+GoldenWheels]

Count me in as one who also draws the retro line between cartridges and optical discs.

[Gabriel]

This thread makes me realize I consider the PS2 era consoles retro. Even the 360 and Wii are in the grey area now for me.

 

 

[Algus]

This thread makes me realize I consider the PS2 era consoles retro. Even the 360 and Wii are in the grey area now for me.

 

 

 

Man, the early greats on 360 like Condemned and F.E.A.R. are definitely retro now.

 

I remember when PC F.E.A.R. was used as a benchmark test for video cards too. Could probably max it on my integrated chip if I wanted now.

[roland p]

I would consider the VCS with wood veneer 'retro' since it looks old: