Why though? I think, being one of the younger generations of gamers, and seeing the likes of the NES and SNES era evolve to this time, it's really weird to see my childhood games age. I'm almost 20, so it's strange to see things that have been a part of my life finally be considered "old" or "retro." It's something I'm certainly going to get used to as I age, but isn't that interesting?

It's like witnessing the birth and rising of this form of entertainment that has and will become a major staple in our life. Films and books have been around long before any of us were around, and compared to those, gaming is a baby. I wasn't around to see the "birth" of gaming since it began with systems that predated the NES, but the NES is what kicked it off in my mind. In the future, when gaming is a major part of society, having evolved past any stages we could foresee right now, it'll be cool being able to say I played the NES when I was a little boy and was able to grow up with gaming side by side.

I always remember playing my Grandads Commodore 64, but now.. it doesn't even seem possible I even played something like that, when comparing to the likes of the Xbox 360 and current PC generations.

I remember gaming from the very early days, Atari, Colecovision and all.

Retro is great because it's a) all the stuff i played as a kid and b) all the stuff i WANTED to play as a kid but never got the chance.

Retro isn't about HDR, specular lighting and full field bump-mapping - it's about the gameplay, it's a more......well, pure form of gaming.

The thing to remember is that whilst there were a large number of great, classic games, there were just as many unplayable piles of shite as you get these days (maybe more).

Well, i grew up with a SNES and a Megadrive. Good times. I guess we love them so much is because it was the beggining. You couldnt get anymore original that the retro games. Yes some games were rediculously impossible to play because they were designed and made by apes... (Silver Surfer, NES), but we have the iconic characters such as mario, sonic, snake and more. They will always live on. There's maybe a few from this gen gaming (master chief for example) but hardly as many as in the 80's/90's.

My gaming, believe it or not, started in chip shops playing Space Invaders and Pac-Man; then on a mate's Atari with Pong etc. Holidays in arcade centres playing Kung Fu and Pole Position. Then it was the Spectrum with Jet set willy and Manic miner, breaking loads of joysticks in the process; then back to the arcades with Double Dragon and Donkey Kong.

Though it was the Nes which really kicked it off for me going all the way through to the PlayStation; after that it's mainly been the PC. I have had other consoles since but none seemed as good as the Nes, Snes or PS1.

It's sad really that with all the technology we have today there is very rarely a sustained wow factor anymore, more of a exaggerated yawn......

Retro = 1950's. I'd say over use of the word.

We don't really have a word to describe the 1980's to 1990's gaming environment.

Originally Posted by Gaius_Baltar

Retro = 1950's. I'd say over use of the word.

We don't really have a word to describe the 1980's to 1990's gaming environment.

Old school? (not that i'm terribly fond of that term either)

Originally Posted by schatuk

I remember gaming from the very early days, Atari, Colecovision and all.

Retro is great because it's a) all the stuff i played as a kid and b) all the stuff i WANTED to play as a kid but never got the chance.

Retro isn't about HDR, specular lighting and full field bump-mapping - it's about the gameplay, it's a more......well, pure form of gaming.

The thing to remember is that whilst there were a large number of great, classic games, there were just as many unplayable piles of shite as you get these days (maybe more).

This.

Modern console/PC specs have made dev's really,really lazy.

Also with the so called "Retro" games; we see or should i say remember them; through rose tinted glasses. If we actually played the games again that we so fondly remember; would they really give us the same appeal that we actually remember? I would bet the majority would not.

It's mainly because we remember the game for the pleasure it gave us at that time in our life, not for the actual gameplay itself. It's different for retro games that we have never played before because that experience would be new.

I hold a lot of games dear, but in recent years I have replayed them and the experience has been dulled somewhat in the process; the memory being more engaging than the game itself.

No.

When I play old games, the first thing that comes to my mind.. "how the fuck did games get so easy compared to this"

You've be VERY surprised on how hard Sonic actually is these days, yet back then.. completing a game was like WOOOOO I BEAT THE GAME!, nowadays it's like Yay. I just beat Alan Wake. NEXT!

I always remember playing Sonic and completing it for the very first time, and funnily enough it was on an Emulator on the PC.

I then played it on the Wii a little while ago, and beat it.

But, I don't know, beating an old retro game seems to have a different feeling compared to a game these days.