Why don't people talk about video games from the 1980s and earlier?

Everywhere on the Internet, I rarely ever see discussion of video games from the 1980s and earlier unless it's a retro-games board. People talk a lot of about games from the 1990s, but the only time you would ever see discussion about games from before that time is if a game was highly influential.

It's quite telling to see how heavily discussed video games from the 1990s on these boards, but see little to no discussion on video games from the 1980s. I suspect a generational gap is in place, where older gamers are hesitant to talk about the 1980s because few would remember what they are talking about, and younger gamers ignoring games from that era because the games are just so archaic when you compare them to stuff from the 1990s and later. Plus, getting access to those games is not as easy, and few are bothered to do so.

Theres a forum for that its called LEGACY PLATFORMS and I know you see it since its right above system wars in the forum section

well I'm thinking it's because most of those gamers are now actually working for a Video Game Developer or Just moved on with their lives and never bothered with Gaming, it was just a toy to them.

If anything you might find the occasional PC Gamer that's been playing since the 80s, but seriously I don't think anyone wants to argue if Pacman on the Atari 2600 was better than Pacman in the Arcades, or something to that extent.

or heck I don't think anyone wants to pull out super old "rubbish" PC games from the 80s either.

In this Generation of Gamers in Forums you'll probably find a lot of them Grew Up Playing Games from the NES or Super NES or the Genesis.

Theres a forum for that its called LEGACY PLATFORMS and I know you see it since its right above system wars in the forum section

Chris_Williams

well I'm thinking it's because most of those gamers are now actually working for a Video Game Developer or Just moved on with their lives and never bothered with Gaming, it was just a toy to them.

If anything you might find the occasional PC Gamer that's been playing since the 80s, but seriously I don't think anyone wants to argue if Pacman on the Atari 2600 was better than Pacman in the Arcades, or something to that extent.

or heck I don't think anyone wants to pull out super old "rubbish" PC games from the 80s either.

In this Generation of Gamers in Forums you'll probably find a lot of them Grew Up Playing Games from the NES or Super NES or the Genesis.

LegatoSkyheart

the atari 2600 had plenty of exclusives you know

[QUOTE="LegatoSkyheart"]

well I'm thinking it's because most of those gamers are now actually working for a Video Game Developer or Just moved on with their lives and never bothered with Gaming, it was just a toy to them.

If anything you might find the occasional PC Gamer that's been playing since the 80s, but seriously I don't think anyone wants to argue if Pacman on the Atari 2600 was better than Pacman in the Arcades, or something to that extent.

or heck I don't think anyone wants to pull out super old "rubbish" PC games from the 80s either.

In this Generation of Gamers in Forums you'll probably find a lot of them Grew Up Playing Games from the NES or Super NES or the Genesis.

rilpas

the atari 2600 had plenty of exclusives you know

Not Doggin' on Adventure man.

That game was amazing.

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="LegatoSkyheart"]

well I'm thinking it's because most of those gamers are now actually working for a Video Game Developer or Just moved on with their lives and never bothered with Gaming, it was just a toy to them.

If anything you might find the occasional PC Gamer that's been playing since the 80s, but seriously I don't think anyone wants to argue if Pacman on the Atari 2600 was better than Pacman in the Arcades, or something to that extent.

or heck I don't think anyone wants to pull out super old "rubbish" PC games from the 80s either.

In this Generation of Gamers in Forums you'll probably find a lot of them Grew Up Playing Games from the NES or Super NES or the Genesis.

LegatoSkyheart

the atari 2600 had plenty of exclusives you know

Not Doggin' on Adventure man.

That game was amazing.

tower of doom was amazing

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

Gue1

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

Everywhere on the Internet, I rarely ever see discussion of video games from the 1980s and earlier unless it's a retro-games board. People talk a lot of about games from the 1990s, but the only time you would ever see discussion about games from before that time is if a game was highly influential.

It's quite telling to see how heavily discussed video games from the 1990s on these boards, but see little to no discussion on video games from the 1980s. I suspect a generational gap is in place, where older gamers are hesitant to talk about the 1980s because few would remember what they are talking about, and younger gamers ignoring games from that era because the games are just so archaic when you compare them to stuff from the 1990s and later. Plus, getting access to those games is not as easy, and few are bothered to do so.

The_Capitalist

I don't talk too much about them because a bunch here probably weren't even born yet and are totally clueless except for what a site like Wiki might mention. They may even play the games. But, there's no way to gauge the impact of a game unless you were actually there when the game first appeared. Doom is a good example. Another is when the Amiga and its games first appeared. But, if someone brings it up, I'm here and ready to provide my insights.

Because most people here probably weren't even alive then...? This shouldn't even be a question really.

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

rilpas

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

Gue1

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

You already mention one: Pac-man

want more?

Ms. Pac-man

Asteroids

Donkey Kong

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

rilpas

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

You already mention one: Pac-man

yeah, but the point is that they are soooo very few.... Couldn't you get it by reading my first comment? You're making me going in circles for nothing.

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

Gue1

You already mention one: Pac-man

yeah, but the point is that they are soooo very few.... Couldn't you get it by reading my first comment? You're making me going in circles for nothing.

"they're sooooo very few..." because people like you assume that Atari is nothing more then space invanders and pacman clones. Nevermind the fact that it had great RPGs

or the absolute huge library on the Commodore 64

I rarely see people talk about games from the 90s anymore.

The new generations are clueless to those type of games, I'm always the only one trying to tell them about all the awesome games from the past

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

rilpas

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

You already mention one: Pac-man

want more?

Ms. Pac-man

Asteroids

Donkey Kong

Still too few.

http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

Gue1

You already mention one: Pac-man

want more?

Ms. Pac-man

Asteroids

Donkey Kong

Still too few.

http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games

what's that got to do with anything? :|

I was born in 1980 and I have fond memories of gaming in the 80s. The arcade scene was at its height, NES games were actually challenging (Double Dragon, Contra, etc), and the console market was really coming into it's own and becoming a cultural force.

I think the reason I enjoyed 80's gaming the most was the emphasis was on gameplay, not graphics (the opposite of today mostly). Games like Super Mario Bros 3 felt so fresh and new.

Now.............I don't want to talk about today's gaming. :(

because anything before the snes doesnt matter anymoremems_1224

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

Gue1

Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

Gue1

Honestly, the games generally weren't that good before the snes. There was horrible amounts of input lag and the games were generally really bland. I enjoyed the games when I was a kid, but I wouldn't go back and play them now. Last time I tried playing my 2600 and intellivision, I almost threw them across the room because of the frustration controls. Well that is my opinion at least.

As others have said, go to legacy platforms. I still play my PS2 and GC and SNES from time to time. N64 is hard to play though because the controller is so awkward to use by today's standards. But I love Zelda and Mario 64 and Goldeneye dammit! :P

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

rilpas

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

rilpas

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

He's gonna take you back to the past...

I started gaming in mid 80s, but personally, 16bit gen (early 90s) was the golden age of gaming.

System Wars is not the place to ask.

Legacy Platforms is the place to ask.

Because most people in these forums were born in the 2000s and have no clue what these games were....

Some of those Pre-NES systems and games weren't that great. And for me, I wasn't really into gaming during that time.

Plus a vast majority of the gamers in here probably were never born during that time.

I'm 35 years old and my first ever system was a second hand Atari400 in 1982, the next 2 years I got an Intellivision system, during these times, I may have gotten into gaming, BUT I didn't actually FOLLOW gaming, UNTIL about the Sega Genesis vs SNES years.

During my Junior High days 6th-8th grade (1989-1992), I officially began to keep up with the gaming trends (sega genesis vs snes) and followed gaming all through high school.

That is why Generation 4 is what I considered my favorite generation in videogame history.

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

You already mention one: Pac-man

want more?

Ms. Pac-man

Asteroids

Donkey Kong

rilpas

Still too few.

http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games

what's that got to do with anything? :|

Everything!

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

Still too few.

http://www.1up.com/features/top-25-nes-games

Gue1

what's that got to do with anything? :|

Everything!

by showing me that the NES has 25 good games?

5 of which I never even heard about?

not a very strong argument there

Because most people in these forums were born in the 2000s and have no clue what these games were....

DeadMan1290

Bingo, what I was gonna say.

Honestly, the games generally weren't that good before the snes. There was horrible amounts of input lag and the games were generally really bland. I enjoyed the games when I was a kid, but I wouldn't go back and play them now. Last time I tried playing my 2600 and intellivision, I almost threw them across the room because of the frustration controls. Well that is my opinion at least.

rockydog1111

I had fun with the Atari 2600 and NES. Whatever liabilities the control scheme had, you worked your way around them just like with controllers today.

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

Gue1

You already mention one: Pac-man

yeah, but the point is that they are soooo very few.... Couldn't you get it by reading my first comment? You're making me going in circles for nothing.

Space Invaders

Galaxian and Galaga

Pacman

Asteroid

Battlezone

Dig Dug

Pole Position

Star Raiders

Phoenix

Pitfall

Pacman

Rampage

Missile Command

Lunar Lander

are some of the more common ones.

[QUOTE="mems_1224"]Of all daft things to say that's pretty incredible. [QUOTE="Gue1"]

because all those consoles that came before the Nes and Sega Master had the crappiest of games ever. Beside some games like Galaga and Pacman (which still are early 80's) there nothing more to talk about.

skrat_01

Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

Gue1

and again. Beside a few arcade games that got (awful) ports to consoles later on like Pacman how many more of them stood the test of time like Mario did (and it did it more than once)? The first generation of consoles was basically you putting a piece of paper on the screen of the TV to play pong. The second one finally resembled video games but the gameplay was still very very very bad and unresponsive. Only a few games like Pitfall were marginally good because developers had to be very creative with their games and that isn't something that grows on trees you know.

It wasn't until the Nes that we finally got games that were playable. And that is my opinion and whole point about why nobody talks about the first or second generation of video games. The few that does talk about it is to tell how bad it was back then, or about all the imagination you had to use in order to blind your eyes enough to enjoy it. But you can bet you can find any little kid right now and show him the first Mario game on the Nes and he will like it.

and again. Beside a few arcade games that got (awful) ports to consoles later on like Pacman how many more of them stood the test of time like Mario did (and it did it more than once)? The first generation of consoles was basically you putting a piece of paper on the screen of the TV to play pong. The second one finally resembled video games but the gameplay was still very very very bad and unresponsive. Only a few games like Pitfall were marginally good because developers had to be very creative with their games and that isn't something that grows on trees you know.

Gue1

Pitfall

Pitfall 2

Keystone Kapers

Medieval Mayhem

River Raid

Adventure

Dragonfire

Frogs and Flies

Gunfight

Kaboom!

Dragonstomper

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Yars' Revenge

Wizard of Wor

Air Raiders

Haunted House

Thunder Castle

Snafu

Night Stalker

Tower of Doom

Swords and Serpents

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

The Castles of Doctor Creep

Space Taxi

Airborne Ranger

Cauldron

Boulderdash

Elite

Delta

Bounder

Chuckie Egg

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin

and that was ust at the top of my head

It wasn't until the Nes that we finally got games that were playable. And that is my opinion and whole point about why nobody talks about the first or second generation of video games. The few that does talk about it is to tell how bad it was back then, or about all the imagination you had to use in order to blind your eyes enough to enjoy it. But you can bet you can find any little kid right now and show him the first Mario game on the Nes and he will like it.

Gue1

nah, it wasn't until the PS1 that games became playable dawg

2D games suck dawg

besides, all the NES got was piss poor ports of arcade games, Contra, super C, Life force, Gradius, Double Dragon, etc.

Most people that post here were born in the late 80s/early 90s and were too young to play any of those games. I had some experience with the NES and C64 but most of my childhood gaming was done on the SNES and Genesis. Ther is a legacy board on this site though.

[QUOTE="Gue1"]

[QUOTE="rilpas"]

ah the ignorance of the masses

It'll be fun seeing the reaction of people like you when in 20 years people will start saying that all consoles before the PS1 and N64 had the crappiest games ever because they were in 2D

rilpas

it's different my man. Games like Super Mario and Pac-Man transcend barriers thanks to their godlike design but what game from the late 70's or 80's actually does the same? I mean, there is a reason why the crash happened. People lost interest and stopped buying games.

You already mention one: Pac-man

want more?

Ms. Pac-man

Asteroids

Donkey Kong

Because most people in these forums were born in the 2000s and have no clue what these games were....

DeadMan1290

The NES is covered well enough in the Legacy forum. But, the Amiga isn't. There were a number of 80's exclusive and multiplat games I liked on the platform. Some of them are also finding new life in smartphone gaming.

Dungeon Master

Arkanoid

Star Wars (the faithful arcade reproduction)

Dark Castle

Port of Call

Elite

Hybris

Battle Squadron

Marble Madness

The Cinemaware games: TV Sports Football, TV Sports Basketball, It Came From The Desert, Three Stooges, etc.

Sim City

Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Inception

Because most people here probably weren't even alive then...? This shouldn't even be a question really.

GD1551

Games require much more patience and time than Music, sure, but still defeats the point that people won't like/talk about things that came before they were born.

By the time I was born, the SNES was already out so that has alot to do with it for me. Though I have had a little experience with retro arcade games from the 80's and atari games through a couple of TV plug n' play devices. I do find it hard to really get into many old 80's games since I was never born at thee time to really appreciate the whole "get the highest score" design many games had back then. Doesn't mean all the games made back then are bad though.

Everyone here started gaming this generation and are graphics whores as well. They don't understand the legacy of the NES or Atari.