Retro gaming- Come back?

EnterNow wrote: »

Come back? Sure it never went away

When the PS1 was current, the Snes was retro.
When the PS2 was current, the PS1 was retro.
The PS3 is current, the PS2 is retro.

You can guess what happens next

The PS2 has yet to be deemed "Retro"!
It still feels too current in my opinion.

I said it before but I think a retro console/gaming is more down to a different time in your life to the one you are experiencing now, and the games and consoles are reminders of these happy times. Memories are intertwined with the hardware and software both, the experience a mix of the two.
The is why emulation tends to be so unsatisfying, as well as reflecting the now ready access to all those games you had to struggle to afford then.

To be sure, to some whose first console was a PS2, it will seem retro now, especially if there has been a lifestyle change in the interim, memories of games enjoyed in some lost youth, nostalgia peaking the emotions, and so on.

For some, the draw is, bizarrely, to consoles we couldn't have owned the first time, not I as I am 40!
But there are those, those who are mere striplings at 20 who weren't even born in the Megadrives heyday, and whose parents were likely in short trousers when the Atari 2600 was new.
To these people there is a draw to older games, probably a similar draw for some folk to vintage movies.
The experience is rich and, more importantly, different to the games output of now.
There is also the part escapism of videogames tempered with the more cerebral pursuit of retrogames as a hobby, the collecting of gaming obscurities and classics as a valuable activity in itself.

This is why it is cool to have ISS Pro for the Snes but not to have Fifa 96. The former is an example of great Japanese development, creating a soccer game of character, making the best use of the hardware, preferring to focus on gameplay instead of a license.
The latter, Fifa 96, is a massive license cash in, and a poorer game for it.
Only in recent years has the Fifa franchise overtaken ISS' successor Pro Evo in the soccer game stakes.

But these reflect the difference between a great game and a game, one to collect and one with little more value than any of the other identikit games in the same genre on countless different formats, with a common theme of unexceptional gameplay and predictable visuals at it's heart.

So, retro gamers pick up the games with meaning to them, the good stuff, the gold.
This gold may differ for individuals, some think this or that is gaming perfection, others may vehemently disagree, Mario World Vs Sonic 2, or more controversially Super Mario World Vs Super Mario Bros 3!
And this is part of the fun, making all collections individual.

Speaking of collections, all retro collections are valid and worth taking pride in, be you a collector of Shmups, Gameboy games, a bit of everything, whatever, the collections constituents say a lot about your gaming taste, and that's always cool, be it games and consoles that are green and feature frogs, male dating sims or Darius fans.

So, that's my opinion on Retrogaming, not sure if this helps answer the OP but, hey, we all like a chance to mouth off!

Oh, and one last thing, I really don't think we consider ourselves particularly "retro gamers", not with each other (unless it's your username!), we see each other as gamers, see ourselves as gamers without frontiers, not disregarding any good game as unworthy to play regardless of when it was published.
We find ourselves using the "retro" prefix when describing ourselves to other parties, to regular gamers, casual ones, Sony/Ninty/MS fanboys, those who play little other than MMORPGs, those that spend their time camping and sniping noobs from a mile out. Now I think of it, they are the ones that require the prefix, a retro gamer is a true gamer!

Hardcore!

EnterNow wrote: »

I'll always remember that night, not because of SF4, but because that's the first night I heard Dinorex playing in the background. I remember gaming or talking to someone & saying to myself after a few minutes "what in the holy name of fukc is that noise?!", turned around & seen Dinorex in all its glory {or lack thereof}

That'd be this....