Whether or not a game or system qualifies as retrogaming is a difficult thing to quantify and something that different people will often think very differently about. The ‘retro’ in the word ‘retrogaming’ is itself a bit misleading. Retro, by definition, is a style that intentionally evokes memories of an older style that has gone out of style. Movies from the 30s are not retro, but The artista recent film made in the style of an old silent film, is vintage. If we apply the same logic to video games, then something like mega Man not retro but game like shovel knight it’s because it pays homage to the NES games of yesteryear. Gamers have appropriated the word ‘retro’ into the new word ‘retrogaming’, but unlike the traditional definition, ‘retrogaming’ refers to playing old games rather than games that play like old games.
The origins of the word ‘retrogaming’ are, as we’ve established, pretty murky to begin with, but the definition isn’t any clearer. With the speed at which technology develops, games released at the beginning of a console generation look noticeably worse than those released at the end of the generation. And that’s just the lifespan of a single console. Games visibly age pretty quickly, but in terms of the actual number of years since release, they might not be that old. It also doesn’t help that the contemporary indie development scene has a fascination with making games that deliberately look and play like games of yesteryear. It’s all so confusing. At what point does a game qualify as old enough to be considered retrogaming?
Well, depending on who you talk to, you’re likely to get a different answer. Someone like me who has been playing video games for over twenty years and started their gaming life with a Commodore 64 will have a completely different perspective on whether or not a game is old to a kid whose first console is the PlayStation 4. But that’s not it. necessarily makes neither of us right, it’s just a matter of perception. I could watch a game like clumsy prince for the Commodore 64 as a fairly primitive side-scrolling platformer, but for my father, who grew up with stink the game was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
The PS2 is not a system that comes to mind when I think of retrogaming; I think sprites, MIDI music and two dimensions. But those are the eyes of a thirty-two year old looking at this, and not a ten year old. the likes of Devil can cry, Icon and Braided metal: black they’re games I remember picking up and being impressed with, but to a kid used only to PS4, the games can feel positively archaic.
Since we all, depending on our age and experiences, have different ideas about how old something has to be to be old, there has to be some kind of objective rule. For my money, once a system has been discontinued by the manufacturer, we can safely call it old enough that playing it is considered retrogaming. By that definition, the most recent console to fall under the retrogaming umbrella would be the PlayStation 2, and while some of you might deny and scoff at that, consider this; the PlayStation 2 launched sixteen years ago. Every few years, another new console joins the retrogaming ranks, and while they may not adhere to our personal retrogaming ideas, they still fit the bill.
However, age is only the beginning. All we have determined is how much time must pass before we can safely refer to something as retrogaming. If we accept that retrogaming is playing games or consoles that have already been discontinued, then the next step in understanding exactly what retrogaming is is how to play these discontinued games.
The first and easiest way that we can play old games is to choose a remaster or a port. These are becoming more and more common in recent years, with the PS4 in particular receiving port after port of popular (and not so popular) PS3 games, as there is no true backwards compatibility available for the system. But the PS4 has also seen the release of some older games. final fantasy 7 and x both have been ported to the latest PlayStation console, and going even further back than that, gloomy fandango It has been re-released with some graphical and control revisions.
As technology evolves, there are also more options available to gamers who only have the current generation of consoles. With a service like PlayStation Now, people don’t even need to buy the old games they want to play, as Sony offers a subscription program similar to Netflix to gain access to a large number of old titles. It’s backwards compatibility, almost retrogaming for a monthly fee. If you have the money and a stable internet connection, this might be a preferable alternative to dusting off your old consoles and fighting to get them to work with your high-end TV.
Another way that we can play older games by improving technology is through emulation. This falls into two categories; First, there’s the emulation we see on the PlayStation Store or Nintendo’s Virtual Console. Here the games are emulated making your modern console act like an old one. The PS4 recently introduced PS2 games to the PlayStation Store and they run through emulation, just like Nintendo does on the Wii U.
Of course, there is also illegal emulation. Often there is no way to play an old game without illegal emulation. gloomy fandango it has been recently re-released on PS4, but before that happened there was actually no way to play the game legally unless you had a very old PC and a copy of the game. While it’s technically illegal and basically piracy, there should be a better system in place to ensure legacy games and platforms are preserved for future generations. a game like gloomy fandangoYou shouldn’t risk wasting your time, so while illegal emulation isn’t necessarily something I’d fully approve of, in certain circumstances it may be understandable or even necessary.
The last way we can play old games is the old fashioned way. That means picking up the console it was released on and a copy of the game itself and playing it as God commanded. No downloads, no emulations, no tips, tricks or cheats. Just you and an old console and a dusty old cartridge and a wired controller. And there’s something incredibly satisfying about that.
Playing an old game on a new system feels inherently different than playing it now, and playing it asyou played it at the time. I still remember playing final fantasy VI as a kid blasting my way through one of the best JRPGs of all time on my trusty SNES. I am playing the game again currently on my PlayStation Vita and the game is as good as ever. The new technology powering the handheld means the game runs smoothly, controls well, and looks as lovely as ever. But playing it now on a handheld feels different than playing it when it was released on a control pad attached to a Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
There are many reasons to play an old game. It may be that you want to experience historically important moments in the evolution of the medium, or perhaps a shorter arcade title will fit your schedule better than the latest, blockbuster. But maybe you prefer to play old games. Nostalgia can be a powerful agent, and if it’s nostalgia you’re after, there are few better ways to bring back a moment in the game than by playing it on the original hardware.
I’ve been interested in retrogaming for a long time, and it’s not for historical or academic reasons, and it has nothing to do with the free time I have. I enjoy retrogaming because playing an old game, like watching an old movie or listening to an old song, brings back memories from a long time ago. if I look Return to the future I remember renting the videotape from a local store and watching it on a Sunday afternoon with my parents. when I listen Time Tunnel doesn’t remind me of rocky terrorbut from old school nightclubs where the song was played regularly.
Similarly, when I hear the first few chords of the final fantasy VI theme I don’t plan on playing it on my PlayStation Vita, but rather being in the spare room at my friend’s house where we would spend a whole day taking turns on the controller trying to get to the end of the story. Playing the game on a SNES feels completely different than playing it on the Vita because of the memories that come back while you’re holding the controller. There’s something special about holding the old controller, blowing the cartridge out of the dust, and powering up a system from a bygone time. It is not about living history, but about remembering a time when these things they were not history.
Retrogaming can be considered to be anything up to and including the PS2 generation, and those games can be played via emulation or by selecting a port or remaster. But to me, retrogaming means playing the old games the way we played them back then. Playing a Commodore 64 game on PC via emulation is all well and good, but sitting around and waiting while the tape loads is a whole different beast. Having the NES classics on your Wii U Virtual Console is a great way to quickly experience mega Man goldThe legend of Zelda again, but there’s something much more satisfying about sticking the cartridge in the slot and sitting cross-legged in front of the TV because the controller cord isn’t long enough to reach the couch.
If you’re a gamer, chances are you’ll have a different interpretation of what retrogaming is for the next player in line. the child who thinks crash bandicoot it’s old The thirty-somethings who grew up with games that came on tapes. The grandfather who played Pong in the arcades. We all have different ideas about what qualifies as an old game. But what retrogaming is to me, what it essentially is, is retrieving the past and reliving fond memories of years gone by. That’s why there’s still a Super Nintendo Entertainment System in my house and why a few times a year I take it out of the cupboard under the stairs and spend a weekend under the TV. My friends will come and we will play street fighter ii together as we did more than twenty years ago. And there’s something incredibly special about that.
What do you think qualifies as retrogaming? Do you like to choose classics to play on PC through emulation? How about waiting for them to get a port for the current gen console you already own? Or maybe you are like me and think that there is no better way to experience a game than the way it was experienced at launch? Whether through hacking, academic purposes, or to relive memories, retro gaming is something gamers of all ages can enjoy.
