List of classic gaming tropes

[Flojomojo]

Video games are for children
Sitting too close to the TV is bad for you
Emulation sucks, only the real thing will do
The real thing sucks, only emulation matters
Gamers live in their parents basement
You will find a super rare/expensive cartridge and make big bucks
Ebay is the end of gaming
Collectors cannot be gamers
Gamers cannot be collectors
Modern games suck
Classic games suck
You don't like my favorite system, so you're an idiot
Kids these days don't know their history
All you need is a cheap fuse
Just replace all the capacitors and it will work fine
Blow on the cartridge
Replace the 72 pin connectors
FPGA consoles will make everybody happy
AtGames is the worst
Famiclones are the worst
Classic NES scalpers are the worst
RetroVGS/Chameleon is the worst
Coleco is the worst
The Flashbacks are for suckers
You must put a cartridge slot in an Atari Flashback 2
The crash never happened
The crash was good for gaming
Atari should have distributed the NES
The Dreamcast was amazing
Digital games suck
Modern games will be unplayable when all the servers go down
Mobile games suck
Free to play games suck
Multiplayer sucks
Voice chat sucks
The Jaguar didn't get a fair shake
Jeff Minter is underappreciated
Jeff Minter is overrated
Game magazines were wonderful
We need another game magazine
We don't need another game magazine
Firmware updates take too long
Copyright is too long
Piracy is bad
Piracy is justified
Altered Beast was terrible
Combat is stupid
Pac-Man on VCS is the worst game
ET the Extraterrestrial is the worst game
Raiders of the Lost Ark is better than ET
Intellivision was very sophisticated
Colecovision helped Donkey Kong and vice versa

There were a lot of Star Wars games that lend themselves to listicles

The first Star Wars games was The Empire Strikes Back

Arcades are gone

Arcades are now mostly ticket redemption machines or in bars

Street Fighter II had a lot of variants

Neo Geo was expensive

Some collectors spend a lot of money

Some collectors spend a lot of time

You can make your own arcade cabinet

You can buy a pre made arcade cabinet

You can make a $30 Raspberry Pi into the heart of a classic gaming machine

The Sega Saturn was early and expensive

The Playstation made gaming cool for the bigger market

Final Fantasy VII brought JRPGs to the bigger market

The girl dies in FF7 and it's a spoiler

Ocarina of Time is beloved by all

Goldeneye 007 was great but now it looks old

There are no thrift finds in the wild anymore because of ebay

Sonic the Hedgehog is a simple game but has nice music and art

The old Sonic games were better than the new ones

Sega used to be a lot better

Nintendo keeps selling the same things over and over again

We want a new Metroid/F-Zero/Kirby/Yoshi game

Nintendo is too aggressive with fan sites and home-brew coders

The GBA SP is too small and cramps hands

The original GBA is too dark

Modding a GBA is too expensive

Kickstarter is no good

Indie games with pseudo-retro style pixel art are no good

Modern TVs suck because they only support HDMI

Input lag

Should get a Framemeister

Cathode Ray Tube displays are the best way to enjoy old graphics

Buy my retro gaming book

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Here's a listicle in YouTube form, posted to a web forum

Some people act like gaming didn't exist before the NES

The N64 had weird shaped controllers

The GameCube was purple, and no one makes purple consoles anymore

Wii was very popular with casuals

Wii got a lot of shovelware

Motion controls suck

Kinect sucks

VR is the next big thing

Wireless controllers have lag

Original controllers are the best

Original hardware with an Everdrive is the way to go

The Atari Lynx ate a lot of batteries

Confusion about why Space Invaders and Pac-Man aren't on Atari collections

Home-brew games should come with a gatefold box, manuals, overlays because collectors

Neo Geo Pocket Color had a nice clicky joystick

Jaguar controllers were big/bad/ugly

Jaguar looks like a toilet

Jaguar only has one good game, Tempest 2000

My Super Nintendo is yellow

My NES is flashing red

The Sega Genesis with the audio port in front is the best one

The Genesis 3 and onward isn't so good

Nothing works with Genesis Virtua Racer except the original hardware

The Sega 32X was a flop

3DO was too expensive

$200 is the magic price point for a game console

Nintendo is stupid because they don't have an account system to allow you to put purchases on multiple systems

Something changed in arcades when everything turned into fighters and driving games

 

I'm not suggesting these are right or wrong, just that they come up a lot.

I'm sure there are many more.

[enoofu]

Pretty sure Stanley Kubrick warns us on AT Games in the 1970's

[mbd30]

Fun topic!

 

ET caused the crash.

Battletoads and Silver Surfer are the hardest games ever.

LJN is the worst video game company ever.

The Playstation, Saturn and N64 era looks ugly. Early 3D has not aged well.

SNES is better, but Genesis has better sports games.

[Flojomojo]

Mortal Kombat on Genesis had blood, SNES version had "sweat," followed by a discussion of 1990s censorship

 

Video game violence causes/does not lead to real life violence

 

"Seals of quality" do not necessarily mean good games

 

Tengen Tetris vs Nintendo Tetris

 

MMORPGS are addicting

 

Standing in lines overnight for new game items

[Eltigro]

The Turbografx only has one controller port.

 

I mean, it's a fact, but does it have to be brought up every time the system is mentioned?

[mbd30]

The Turbografx only has one controller port.

 

I mean, it's a fact, but does it have to be brought up every time the system is mentioned?

 

Also, the 3DO only has one controller port and the controllers are daisy chained together. Player one can just unplug player two's controller if he's losing at Street Fighter 2 or whatever.

[robbievgb]

Wow. Pretty comprehensive, but how about:

 

"I passionately agree/disagree with one of or many of above tropes and am personally offended/vindicated by your statement/position/misunderstanding"

 

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[Flojomojo]

LOL absolutely

 

I'm not taking a stand, just making a list

[DuggerVideoGames]

I'm surprised this one wasn't listed yet...

"Video games aren't for girls."

There were many who had that mentality (and sadly many still do). Don't forget: back in the 1980s, toy stores separated toys by gender. Video game consoles like the NES were in the "boys" section of toy stores.

[Tanooki]

I know this probably and shouldn't but will get political, but why shouldn't toy stores break up sections by gender? I don't see much utility in having GIJoe and Barbie on the same shelf. Not saying either can't play with the others toys, but there's no harm in clustering things together for similar interests.

[DuggerVideoGames]

I know this probably and shouldn't but will get political, but why shouldn't toy stores break up sections by gender? I don't see much utility in having GIJoe and Barbie on the same shelf. Not saying either can't play with the others toys, but there's no harm in clustering things together for similar interests.

There's a difference between saying that girls' toys like Barbies go here and boys' toys like G.I. Joe go here as opposed to saying that toys which should be gender-less (like the NES and other video game consoles) being declared a boy's toy. Back then, EVERYTHING had to be put into a gender category (which was very stupid and narrow-minded); that narrow-mindedness only further reinforced and perpetuated negative gender roles.

[NE146]

This one always made my jaw drop

 

"Atari 2600 Space Invaders has more variations and is better than the arcade game"

[ZylonBane]

People who don't understand what the word "trope" means.

[DuggerVideoGames]

People who don't understand what the word "trope" means.

The word is being used properly in this topic, however. It lists the lies/exaggerations and ironies of overused viewpoints.

[BassGuitari]

All discussions of Double Dragon will devolve into SMS vs. NES flamewars.

So it is written, so it shall be done.

[Rick Reynolds]

Intellivision was very sophisticated

 

Never heard that one.

 

 

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[Flojomojo]

Never heard that one.

The podcast is too damn long

The podcast is perfect, use your pause button, dummy

[Rick Reynolds]

The podcast is too damn long

The podcast is perfect, use your pause button, dummy

LOL!

 

 

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[TDIRunner]

You forgot:

 

I've been collecting since I was 2 years old.

[HoshiChiri]

There's a difference between saying that girls' toys like Barbies go here and boys' toys like G.I. Joe go here as opposed to saying that toys which should be gender-less (like the NES and other video game consoles) being declared a boy's toy. Back then, EVERYTHING had to be put into a gender category (which was very stupid and narrow-minded); that narrow-mindedness only further reinforced and perpetuated negative gender roles.

 

Couple that with people refusing to buy their child things for the other gender under any circumstances. I get so many people bringing me gender-netural baby clothes (think grey onesie with clouds & stars or yellow giraffe-print jammies), desperately trying to figure out if it's for boys or girls so they don't buy the 'wrong clothes'. So many poor kids limited by their parent's insecurities.

 

Anyway, back on topic!

 

-Nobody likes Atari anymore

-Atari sucked & people only played it because they didn't know better

-Nintendo singlehandedly saved videogames from oblivion

-PC gamers are elitist pricks

-Console gamers are causal scrubs

-Sports gamers aren't real gamers

-Pizza & Mt. Dew!

 

There used to be a pizza place on the first floor of the WSCC where they have PAX West. I was on the escalator coming down to the first floor, and everyone- literally everyone- sitting along the walkway had a plate from the pizza place. I about died laughing. Way to perpetuate the stereotype, guys!

Edited May 31, 2017 by HoshiChiri

[Rick Dangerous]

Great thread

 

-Joysticks are the only way to play games

 

-Gamepads are the only way to play games

 

-Blowing on NES carts is bad for them but makes them work

 

-Nintendo makes less powerful hardware than competitors

 

-The Atari 7800 should have been released in 1984

 

-If the Jaguar had one different chip or architecture structure, it would have been more powerful than the PS1

 

-Pokemon Go will cause your kids to walk into traffic, off a cliff, or into a bad area where they will get mugged

 

-Genesis: Sports, SNES: RPG's

 

-The Sega Master System was underrated.

 

-Arcade games are always superior to home ports

 

-The Dreamcast failed because it couldn't play DVD's like the PS2 could, which people wanted at the time

 

-Smash Brothers is the greatest multiplayer fighting game ever, and can only be properly played with a Gamecube controller.

[Rhomaios]

People who don't understand what the word "trope" means.

 

A thousand times this.

 

A lie is not a trope. A repeated lie is not a trope.

 

I blame TVTropes.

 

Also, a trope isn't a topos, but that battle has been lost.

Edited July 3, 2017 by Rhomaios

[Flojomojo]

 

A thousand times this.

 

A lie is not a trope. A repeated lie is not a trope.

 

I blame TVTropes.

 

Also, a trope isn't a topos, but that battle has been lost.

 

Not sure if that is directed here or not, but the dictionary says ... (see 1b)

 

 

Definition of trope

1. 1a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speechb : a common or overused theme or device : cliché the usual horror movie tropes

[Rhomaios]

 

 

Not sure if that is directed here or not, but the dictionary says ... (see 1b)

 

 

Definition of trope

1. 1a : a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speechb : a common or overused theme or device : cliché the usual horror movie tropes

 

 

These aren't figures of speech. These aren't overused themes. It's a cliche opinion, but they're not being utilized.

 

Some of these are indeed tropes (topoi) in the second of 1b. But certainly not all of them. And it depends on how they're used. Someone merely expressing their opinion does not make it a trope, any more than buying a brick makes it a part of a house.

[Flojomojo]

Add to the list -- pendants who take issue with words used