[QUOTE="YourChaosIsntMe"] Also, we have to consider the fact that we all inherently consider "retro" gaming from a subjective position. As this thread shows, there are a lot of kids around the age of 15, who we can assume have exceptional taste in comparison to their peers, who say they play "retro" games and love N64 and PS1. For many of us, this is not classic. We cannot really consider it "classic" in the same way a 14 or 15 year old kid can, but these kids may not have any interest in an Atari 2600, Magnavox Odyssey, Sega Master System, or NES. Likewise, this may even apply to the Genesis and SNES. For them, their "retro" games can begin in the mid 90's, with previous generations being archaic history. For any teenager who has posted on this thread, can you honestly say you enjoy playing Combat, Space Invaders, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Kid Icarus, Excite Bike, Street Fighter.....? If you can, how many peers your age can say the same? Do you come across many? Or do you find that you're an exception, even where the 32/64-bit generation is concerned? I'm 22, and most other people my age that enjoy retro gaming do not go past the Master System/NES/7600 due to the lack of historical reference. Most people my age don't play retro games preceeding the late 80's, and kids that are 15 probably aren't going to play retro games that preceed the early to mid 90's. Due to technology's inherent rapid growth (and the expansion of our consumer culture into every aspect of commerce and industry), the widespread enjoyment of any form of media for a given age demographic is going to be dictated by historical reference. Anyway, I'm aware of the fact that most people my age don't enjoy arcade and home console titles from the late 70's to the mid 80's, but due to extenuating circumstances, I do. My best friend had a 7600 with an armload of 2600 game before I got an NES, so I inevitably came to develop reference for the original titles (but only a select few). Over time, we can develop a more concise appraisal of history with maturity and greater knowledge and awareness, which may lead individuals to discover the history of their art, profession, or hobby, which provides ample reference for enjoyment in and of itself, though most gamers aren't as involved or interested as most of us, so in essence, we're ALL the exception, rather than the rule.
LoG-Sacrament
lol yeah. when somebody called n64 retro, i was thinking "wth? i remember when mario 64 was cutting edge." i never thought that someone probably looked at me calling the sega genesis retro and thought "wth? pong is retro."
One of my points exactly! To the original gamers, we're the same thing as 12 year old kids calling an Xbox or N64 retro are to us. Retro is subjectively defined by age! Obviously, it's easier for gamers older than us to recognize the NES etc. as "retro" now, because of how much time has passed, but it's still effectively the same thing. As kids, we looked back on the Intellivision and Colecovision with criticism, we certainly came to appreciate them for what they were with age, but as children, we couldn't care less, some of us weren't even interested after getting into "classic" gaming! Even with my enjoyment of some of the classic 2600 titles as a child, I ripped through old 2600 titles in comparison to the almighty NES. Even the 7600 titles seemed archaic in comparison even though they were the same generation, because of what Atari represented.
Though now, I've come to realize how useful older consoles (2600 era-NES era) are. My girlfriend wont play anything between the NES and Wii. Not even interested. Sure, she thought the Katamari games were interesting, and thought Viva Pinata was cute, but she wont really PLAY them. She'll just comment on them as I play them. Seriously, an Atari 2600 and Nintendo Wii are indispensable in getting game-time before 11pm in a "serious" co-habitation relationship. Nothing like letting a girl believe she's better at Combat than you are ;)
Log in to comment