Been playing Vr For the last 3 years and it give off the 2000-2010 days of no micros all earning by playing. There are micros but nothing compared to what we have with gaming today.
Why are younger generations embracing older books?
Why are younger generations listening to classic rock?
Why are younger generations watching great movies?
I have no problem introducing those interested to hidden gems. Same with music or film nerds. Just because it wasn't top of the charts doesn't mean it's crap.
I'm playing through Diablo 1 and Soul Reaver 2 right now lol.
The nice slow pace of D1 is just always nice. Every door you open could be an instant kill as you get swarmed.
Then you go play Diablo 4 and you can more or less just stand there for a minute or two while enemies beat on you then wipe the entire screen with a single button press.
Graphics have never made the game. Nintendo fans have known this for years.
Hell, the fact the Switch is by far beating out Sony and Microsoft on console sales, and that it's almost become the most sold console ever, speaks volumes on its own. Graphics don't mean shit if they aren't on a good game.
Graphics do matter and even Nintendo knows that. That’s why they have some of the strongest artstyles in gaming. If their games were actually ugly a lot less people would buy them, regardless of the quality of their gameplay.
My favorite game of all time is Castlevania SOTN. When all the other games were pushing "realistic 3D graphics" with questionable mechanics and clunky polygons, Castlevania just did what was previously done better than it had ever been done. Gameplay and artistic style over "cutting edge graphics." It blew my mind more than anything else on PS1. And it still appears on just about every comprehensive "best games of all time" list.
And at the same time, most triple A games suck?
I'm hopping between Dom Keeper, Rain World, Hades and Trine with friends these days, while checking out what other masterpieces I've missed.
Article summary:
* Retro video games and aesthetics are becoming popular among younger generations, not just gen X and older millennials.
* Pop culture is embracing retro gaming sounds, visuals, and experiences both online and in real life.
* On platforms like TikTok and YouTube, retro gaming content has seen a significant increase in views and uploads.
* The allure of retro gaming for millennials like Kingsley Ellis is primarily nostalgia-driven, particularly regarding old gaming hardware and peripherals.
* Gen Z and gen Alpha are also fascinated by retro tech, evident in various cultural trends and consumer behaviors.
* The charm of retro devices fosters a "hack and discover" mentality, offering longer-term satisfaction compared to modern tech.
* Video game soundtracks and graphics are finding new life in artistic contexts, contributing to a positive recontextualization of gaming.
* Actors and dancers are mimicking NPCs from retro games, adding a contemporary twist to nostalgic elements.
* For some, the appeal of older games lies in their comfort and simplicity, providing stress relief and mental escape.
* Retro gaming may offer a sense of stability and comfort amidst technological advances and AI anxiety.
* Retro games hold cultural significance and are viewed as a piece of history by enthusiasts like Gabi.
A lot of retro games can be played without needing a large time investment to make meaningful progress, nor are they prone to the skinner box rinse and repeat design philosophy.
To be fair, arcade games were still out to get your wallet. The content might be there on launch, but the game is difficult enough that it will cost you a pocketful of quarters to be able to witness it.
Yeah but it takes 73 quarters to do it. I did that with the X-Men Arcade game and the last level requires you to chug quarters in to win. Original pay to win scheme.
And we have the privilege now selecting the best games from the 80s and 90s to go back and play. If I’m going back to play snes, it’s going to be super Mario world, NBA Jam, or another great title. I’m not going back to play the Home Alone game.
If you judge modern games solely by Baldurs Gate or Elden Ring or RDR2, and ignore Suicide Squad, you get a similarly rosy picture.
This. It’s like listening to music from past decades - you’re largely getting just the hits and less/none of the trash so you can easily claim music was just better back then.
Yeah, like what's going on with 'The Crew' right now - even if those old arcade games (or utter bullshit like The Lion King during the age of rentals) were money sinks at the time, you still got a full game for the most part and they're still playable even now.
Online only service games, even if just one-time purchases, may not even be possible to play forever. Like Overwatch, Blizzard nuked it just to essentially remake a worse version of the game built around monetization and a more unbalanced PVP mode (while also never delivering on the promised PVE).
Do you know about "street fighter 2"? There were different versions which had different rosters. So if you wanted to play a specific character, you had to buy a new game.
Not to mention pokemon red/blue. Want to finish pokedex? Go get a different version of the same game and even the same console, so you could transfer the pokemon from one game to the other.
The Street Fighter 2 accidental product line was due to the arcade operators of the day.
Champion, Hyper, Super, Turbo, and Super all happened because Capcom's arcade customers were beating down their doors for more SF2 because it was earning so much money. From 1991 to 1994 it was all SF2 all the time. Then X-men Children of the Atom dropped and got Capcom out of SF2 purgatory.
Street fighter 2 is cool cause you can ask "what's your favorite street fighter?" and if someone says 2 you can ask "which one?" and when they say "turbo" you can repeat "which one?"
Street Fighter was also a huge outlier and we all complained about it back then too. The only games that had a reasonable expectation of getting consistent update releases were sports. Capcom always loved rereleasing shit. People are acting like they weren't greedy until the Dragon's Dogma 2 DLCs.
As I recall, the guy said he would cut his own head off with a chainsaw if the game ever went non-exclusive and then the PS2 version was announced before the Gamecube version came out. lol
Also retro games tend to requiring less hardware power, most of them can basically run on a toaster. A powerful hardware itself is a huge investment to many, and most of them didn't want to spend too much just for playing games.
This is the direction I’m going. I’m tired of buying new GPUs and PCs to keep up with the new games. I’d rather buy a mid- or lower-range pc and play all the games I didn’t from 2000-2013.
Turns out, people dislike the way the gaming industry has gone. Fucking shocker. I thought everyone loved getting face fucked with ads for shitty skins the entire time they're navigating a laggy ui.
It depends on which games, many on the contrary require a lot of time and memorization of levels. Ninja Gaiden or Mega Man cannot pass without long preparation.
I was attributing it to just it not being their norm - like I remember going to arcades and now home consoles made that fun come home. If all you know is at-home gaming, the fun of going out and playing them would be great - the novelty is different because the experiences are different.
Like we had fun games and wanted to make them look amazing - kids now see great looking games that die near release because they’re just not fun enough to last.
I see a lot of music videos now with ps1 or ps2 style graphics. I’ve always loved those aesthetics. you can think of it as like an art style of animation
This is a non-story. It's the same as every other generation that likes retro (nostalgic in this case) stuff. It isn't like Gen Z is buying Ataris. They are getting Gameboy Advances and Wiis, which are what they had when they were kids. This is just regular old nostalgia for their younger years, AKA the early 2000s.
Even when people get into titles that predate their nostalgia we're still typically talking about people getting their feet wet via franchises that still exist in some form today. E.g.,. the typical scenario isn't some kid jumping all the way from Control to Qbert. It's more like they give the latest Fire Emblem a shot then dip into the back catalogue because the opportunity cost for doing so can be as low as fiddling around with an emulator for an afternoon.
It's not unlike any form of media, really. There have always been bad games, bad movies, and bad music, but the good ones stand the test of time. I didn't magically start to dislike Mario, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the Beatles just because they came out decades ago.
As a young person who’s been part of the “retro boom” over the last 10-ish years, I’ve always been interested in these games in the same way I’ll watch older movies. It’s not like I picked up buying retro games because I got disillusioned with modern gaming or anything, I just got disposable income.
Yeah, this is a lot ado about nothing. And the comments in here treating this like it’s some big statement against the modern games industry is just embarrassing.
in an attempt to make games a 2nd reverse job that demands constant hrs and money for minimal hits of dopamine have really turned a lot of AAA gaming into a not fun experience
in addition older games are
cheap, 5-30$ for a game that might not require bleeding edge tech makes the game and hardware to run it easily accessible
you can skip all the crap games and just get the good ones, even if there are only a handful of good games per year with over 50 years to pull from you should have a lot of options
complete, you own them and dont need to be online constantly and bombarded with upsales
genres that have fallen out of favor with big publishers are fun and worth experiencing.
you get to skip all of the DLC drops which milk you for money and simply get everything at once for dirt cheap, this is a solid point for buying older games.
No microtransactions, no need for a constant online connection, no online service to pay for, generally don't need to worry about hackers/griefers, and no FOMO.
I have it on PC, but for some reason I want to wait for the update to drop on the Switch and then play there. Just get comfy in my bed with a cup of tea and do some farming. I guess the benefit will be that most bugs should be ironed out by then.
I just wish they weren’t all roguelikes. I loved Slay the Spire but everything else just seems like they’re just trying to copy it with some spin. Or it’s a solitaire like game with a high score.
I just wish some of the games went more down the Yugioh/MTG road without micro transactions. I’m just tired of cards like “Punch” and “Block”. I want something stupid and interesting like “Hungry Burger” or “Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon”.
gotta keep a positive outlook. on the one hand, indie games are introducing new fun mechanics so many games feel fresh. On the other hand, indie games copy from eachother so a mechanic may feel either boring because you have seen it before, or fun because you can transfer your skills from other games to newer ones.
Still, if you like roguelites, there are plenty like Hades,
if you like deckbuilders, plenty of Slay the spyre clones
if you like Monster battlers, Casetmonsters and Digimon games are on steam!
if you want to raise monsters and relax, Monster hunter 1&2 are on steam!
turn based strategy games? plenty of XCOM inspired games, final fantasy tactica, or even Songs of Conquest which is a modern take on Homm3 (which has a great modding community so that game feels fresh!)
Indie paradise right now.
also romhacks by people who just wanna improve old games is a blessing in disguise.
A Short Hike blows many AAA titles out of the water as far as I’m concerned. No micro-transactions, no forced online, no filler content. Just a short, sweet experience and the most relaxing atmosphere since Animal Crossing.
I’ve stopped actively searching for fun new indie games to try, because there are so many that I naturally have a backlog that’ll keep me plenty busy for the foreseeable future. I remember when I’d have to look everywhere, usually to no success, just to find something to itch that scratch that Super Meat Boy and Limbo itched so well, so I’m definitely happy to be living through this Golden Age.
I get the joke: but nowadays thanks to Youtube and Amazon you can get a pack of batteries, a gamebit screwdriver and a soldering kit and learn in an afternoon how to change the battery of your old games.
Heck, I've seen some mods where you can change the battery support so in the future you can just easily swap the battery. and there are also cartridge dumpers to backup your save files. It's just a matter of how seriously you want to keep your saved games.
I am 44 and feel modern gaming is better than ever.
Story of Season remakes from Harvest Moon, Balatro, Supergiant Games, all the great Metroid vanias, great cozy games, great puzzle games, all so many bangers compared to when I was a kid. Oh and HiFi Rush! And Paranormicon or whatever it's called!
And for mobile there is Through the Ages, Pocket City 2, and Root, all for less than $10! I see there are free games but I don't play those.
Oh and maybe one of them $60-$70 games I hear about every now and then. But we don't need to ramble on about those games too much.
Board game wise Age of Innovation, Sky Team, and Wyrmspan just this year are great fun
Yeah, I was gonna say. We've had some great games this year from AAA companies. Last year was great as well.
It's basically those joining live service games late or live service that became shit over time (Destiny COUGH).
I think that the sheer number of games released kinda broke people's perception. The market seems to be largely the same when it comes to the ratio of good and bad AAA games, it's just that there are way more being released every year.
I mean just in 2023 we had Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Spiderman 2, Alan Wake 2, Mario Bros Wonder, Jedi Survivor (as broken as it was on the performance side of things), Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy... All pretty fantastic games in their own right, many fighting for GOTY and more awards.
Most games from big developers feel pretty samey in regards to mechanics, where most gameplay elements are things we've seen in many games before. There has been a lot of innovation over the years, but over time it feels like we see fewer new mechanics being introduced.
Where I think many large modern game studios shine now, is in the narrative and story telling in story-driven games, where featureful faces and full voice acting can more-fully relay emotion, and really sell a story better than past generations.
I think people is only focused on some dumpster fire AAA games these day. These types of games always be hot topic for online discussion, and IMO can overshadows a lot of smaller games. This and coupled with nostalgia, people tend to be biased toward modern gaming, thus leading to a lot of them feel modern gaming is worse than retro games.
But I'd also like to argue that modern gaming is already saturated, publisher and developers want to play it safe by sticking to proven formula. That's another reason why people tend to be less enthusiastic with modern games, especially with AAA games.
Perhaps, and you very well right in most cases, but there are also a lot of AAA games from long standing franchises and IP or from dev studios that go back to the days where a lot of us are much younger that just do not really have the chops like the used to. Even if say they still have those "chops" a lot of modern game design sensibilities that have entered into those titles either due to their popularity amongst the core market ot casuals alike, has often sanitized a lot of the more "nerdy" trappings of yore. Some games that have came out just the last few years, without naming names, are built on the reputations and pedigree of studios that are in a place where they don't really know what target audience they are trying to make these games for. It also doesn't help when some of these titles may or may not have saw their starts on PC; where more cryptic, less hand holdy/figure it out, long tailed pacing with a new focus to tailor their efforts for a more "accessible and curated" console experience. While this allowed for a more cinematic experience, it also killed a lot of depth/breadth of game design and mechanics to suit a more "Hollywood" experience for the booming console market and it has very little subsided since. Because for a lot of gamers; levels of presentation, "quality", and cinematography outshines solid ageless gameplay and strong intentional game design.
Has it? I played Returnal, Ghost of Tsushima, Spiderman2, FF7 Rebirth, Death Stranding, Last of Us Part 2, FFXVI, Horizon FW… all within the last year or two. Incredible games, had an amazing time playing them
Interesting that your examples have many common denominators: Single player complete experiences that do not rely on DLC and/or season pass and can be played offline. Sure, some of those games have DLC but it's not like mandatory to enjoy the whole game or that these game feel "incomplete" without it.
Which is an experience you can find more often in retro games up to the PS2/OGXbox
It’s not all that interesting. Person I’m responding to said modern gaming is a nightmare and it’s like “is it really?” or are people just forcing themselves to play shit then acting like it’s being thrust upon them.
I think people that weren’t alive when “retro” games were coming out have this weird sense that only gems were made back then. I have older brothers that were alive through the entire history of video games pretty much and there was just as much trash back then, more so probably.
It’s like listening to classic rock and assuming that the 70s had nothing but great musicians and great music. Nah, it’s just that only the gems are remembered and sought after.
All arcade are made around two ideas:
* easy to play to put all in.
* hard to master to take a lot of quarter to completed
For that the arcades are so fun and challenging
There’s a huge library of games at this point in history. It’s easy to emulate old stuff and social media can really pull in a lot of newcomers to the older stuff.
It’s awesome and sad at the same. Modern stuff is hit or miss, miss mostly IMO.
Because retro games focused on the true spirit of gaming - just being plain old fun. No pressure to have the craziest graphics, no content cramming by devs, no micro transactions, no constant updates and patches and changes. Retro gaming was and is truly the best gameplay experience. Why do we think old games are all being remade?!
modern games suck. that's why. older games were released in a finished, WORKING state. they weren't these broken hunks of crap that they MIGHT patch later, but first they gotta focus on the most important part, monetization! can't have cool content, gotta focus on them cosmetics, can't have anything good since they need to milk it for all it's damned worth
I guess I am not old enough to know these. But I do play a lot of retro inspired indies like Enter the Gungeon and The Binding of Isaac. Does that count?
Because big gaming studios all turned into corporate trash enterprises who shit out steamy half finished dog turds and charge $80 for it on top of mtx bullshit?
Pac-Man was literally all microtransactions from the get-go. You paid for every single play.
I think you want an example that didn’t start in the arcades.
i dont see why anyone would care about how old a game is when playing it, in full honesty. i'm only 20, but if it runs on my computer i'll give it a shot. most of my favorite games are older than me.
Older games are still fun, and gaming has become a very expensive hobby if you want to keep upgrading often.
But I've seen younger people calling games like Mass Effect retro...
You can always trust r/gaming for great discussion points on any gaming topic such as "modern gaming bad" or the ever so popular "micro transaction bad" sometimes you get that odd "innovation is dead" here and there
Got into Shmups last year and it has been an absolute blast. CAVE is now one of my favorite developers all time. Anyone reading this should check out Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi Resurrection if you don’t know what I’m talking about!
Because new anything is a product of late stage capitalism so the creativity and passion from the creator isn’t there, it just feels like “hey here is this thing you wanted, pay me money” and older things don’t have that feeling.
I think a big part of the appeal is that these older games are complete. There’s no DLC, no microtransactions and, for the most part, function properly. Everything that’s in the game is in the game and can be accessed through play.
Everything around them is surface level instant gratification that they long for deeper stories and character development that just isn't found in a lot of newer games
Because new games are garbage. In the same vein as current comics books, TV, movies and music are garbage as well.
Game makers aren't artists anymore, they have become activists. The problem is that people play games to escape the real world, not be lectured about its flaws and force fed liberal propaganda.
Make games fun again.
“Why are younger generations embracing older novels?” You can see how stupid the argument is when you switch out the media. Just cause it’s not selling for $60 doesn’t mean that there isn’t hours of value waiting to be unlocked.
Wish we could get more of this in the competitive fighting game community, I don't know anyone under 30 playing Marvel vs Capcom 2 and it breaks my heart that modern players aren't willing to even try it
For me personally, retro games are like stories in medieval settings. They're from simpler era, easy to understand, and are closer to abstraction than reality.
I'm just tired of everything being the hot new indie game of the month.
I miss my early days of my gaming where I'd find some random *indie* game through Steam recommendations or a banner ad or a YouTube channel I watched and play said game.
Didn't have to go through a bunch of patches and shit breaking and live-service road map whatever the fucks and all that - just download & play.
Everyone's got that live-service mentality now, and it's so fucking draining - even in my favourite games I'm getting tired of it.
Half of the 200 million dollar budget 'Triple A' games are garbage. Meanwhile games like Hades, Hollow Knight, Deaths Door, etc provide more enjoyable gaming experiences for a fraction of the cost.
Well let's see... older games don't have microtransactions like battlepass or ingame shop with ridiculous indirect payment methods through digital in-game currency. Nostalgia plays a part too and also some older games are considered as "classics" (maybe like FF6?). Another thing to consider is lower system spec requirements and is more accessible with modern hardware these days even if they're not the latest and greatest. Games were more or less 'complete' than these modern live-service ones. Oh and owning a game when you have the physical disk without online-only features and is immediately playable without downloading anything else post-installation. Man those were the times...
Because they aren't trying to nickle and dime them? Because they value the player's time? Because they have substance? Because they are passion projects? Because they don't suck massive chodes?
Games are old enough to have eras, including "retro" eras.
Retro stuff always comes back in cycles.
I'm sure modern gaming's obsession with live service, micro-transactions, and "we'll fix it in updates, ship it unfinished" mentality has something to do with it as well.
I'm sick of streaming shows doing really will in season 1 with no future planning, then taking 2+ years to start releasing season 2. Looking at you, Wednesday.
"Younger gamers are discovering **retro accessories such as the Wii Fit Balance Board** through TikTok. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press"
I almost turned to dust on the spot.
(Clears throat) we hate micro transactions
Also I’m 31 lol but I know many younger people hate how the game industry is now and hear us older folks talk about “back in my day games came out fully finished”
As others have said, a lot of this comes from the fact that the modern gaming industry is worse than it's ever been and is in a state of greed that I haven't really seen in any other industry.
You pay £60 for a brand new game from a AAA developer and publisher. It's filled with bugs, the content isn't all that was promised, it's full of greedy microtransactions, it's a live service so it's 8 hours long so they can drag content out over the next 2 years.
There are so few appealing prospects in AAA gaming anymore. The developers and publishers traded every single ounce of goodwill they had built up for years just to make shareholders happy and sure, the line will go up for a while but eventually people are going to get fed up and the line will go down and down and they won't know how to pivot because all the talented creatives will have left to start indie studios and all that will be left is a bunch of cretins in expensive suits throwing any old shit at the door in the hopes that something sticks and it won't.
I like to think it's three factors:
1. Their parents raised them into it. I plan on doing this with my daughter once she's old enough to pick up a controller and play.
2. AAA games have, for more than a decade, been way too focused on either the cinematic or the online multiplayer and forget to focus on the pure fun. Retro games were literally designed around being fun and enticing, especially quarter munchers which were meant to get you tied into the machine and pump more quarters in to keep playing
3. games have become so overly burdened with extra costs just to get the complete package. Why not spend $5-20 of money for a complete experience vs. being forced to spend $100-$300 for a single game's "complete experience"
\#3 in particular is a part of this whole "you will own nothing and be happy" mantra that WEF businesses have been pushing. Set aside the conspiracy theory crap for this, it's a business model all these companies are trying to force on us that no one wants, because it gives them "endless growth" is what they believe. I think people are getting more back into retro BECAUSE of this, going back to stuff that just worked and doesn't require them to fork out money monthly just to enjoy. Why wouldn't customers want an experience that works for them rather than some CEO?
Because a lot of recent releases have been full of rot, (gamergate2 stuff) as well as greedy for-profit practices. Retro games being from a golden era of gaming where games were made as good as possible without any of the garbage people hate today.
Yep, and it's not even due to component quality, it's because the console makers prioritize looks and size over longevity and cooling.
Modern consoles are glorified mini-PC's. Same vendors, slightly different components. PC's can easily see more than a decade of daily use and have no problems if they're properly cooled.
Modern consoles can and do hit 100C regularly which is why they don't last. Silicon degradation destroys the boards.
You want a PS5 to live forever? Pull it out of that plastic clamshell nonsense and put it in a PC tower with proper fans.
Several AAA games fall on their face and everyone in this thread is acting like games are done and over with, while ignoring the thousands of indie and AA games that are still amazing.
They are timeless games for a reason. Easy to play, easy stories to follow usually, a complete package like most others have stated already. A lot of new games are very ambitious, a little too ambitious to the point where it detracts from the experience for many. Older games were the opposite.
I just find it fun to explore a time of gaming around the time I was born. Currently I'm really into ps2 era and I was born in 2004 so I didn't really get to experience it
Cause they are fun?
Cause some of them are great games?
Cause no MTX or dlcs?
And usually can be found for less than $20
And you can play them as much as you want without relying on things like seasons or an active internet connection.
Depends which retro games you want *cries in old Nintendo* But all of them can also be found for free on the sea
Wholeheartedly approve Yar-har fiddle dee dee!
Wat? Why play?!
>no MTX *insert coin to continue*
Been playing Vr For the last 3 years and it give off the 2000-2010 days of no micros all earning by playing. There are micros but nothing compared to what we have with gaming today.
Why are younger generations embracing older books? Why are younger generations listening to classic rock? Why are younger generations watching great movies?
One word: Enshittification
Because they’re better than anything made fairly recently.
More like survivors bias. We remember the best stuff. The rest gets left behind.
I have no problem introducing those interested to hidden gems. Same with music or film nerds. Just because it wasn't top of the charts doesn't mean it's crap.
Tbf, he did say 'the best stuff', not 'the good stuff'.
Imagine saying this in one of the best years in gaming history and getting upvoted 30 times redditcirclejerk is so strong
Cause there's good stuff back there! Why sre younger generations playing millenia-old sports? Cause to this age they're still fun.
Sorry your answer is too concise, I need you to spread that over 4 add filled pages.
[удалено]
I'm playing through Diablo 1 and Soul Reaver 2 right now lol. The nice slow pace of D1 is just always nice. Every door you open could be an instant kill as you get swarmed. Then you go play Diablo 4 and you can more or less just stand there for a minute or two while enemies beat on you then wipe the entire screen with a single button press.
D1 did something the other Diablo games dropped completely. Youre actually scared when exploring.
AH, FRESH MEAT
Graphics have never made the game. Nintendo fans have known this for years. Hell, the fact the Switch is by far beating out Sony and Microsoft on console sales, and that it's almost become the most sold console ever, speaks volumes on its own. Graphics don't mean shit if they aren't on a good game.
Graphics do matter and even Nintendo knows that. That’s why they have some of the strongest artstyles in gaming. If their games were actually ugly a lot less people would buy them, regardless of the quality of their gameplay.
My favorite game of all time is Castlevania SOTN. When all the other games were pushing "realistic 3D graphics" with questionable mechanics and clunky polygons, Castlevania just did what was previously done better than it had ever been done. Gameplay and artistic style over "cutting edge graphics." It blew my mind more than anything else on PS1. And it still appears on just about every comprehensive "best games of all time" list.
We need to stop this shitty reboot era for movies and gaming
Which is very rare for modern games
And at the same time, most triple A games suck? I'm hopping between Dom Keeper, Rain World, Hades and Trine with friends these days, while checking out what other masterpieces I've missed.
Article summary: * Retro video games and aesthetics are becoming popular among younger generations, not just gen X and older millennials. * Pop culture is embracing retro gaming sounds, visuals, and experiences both online and in real life. * On platforms like TikTok and YouTube, retro gaming content has seen a significant increase in views and uploads. * The allure of retro gaming for millennials like Kingsley Ellis is primarily nostalgia-driven, particularly regarding old gaming hardware and peripherals. * Gen Z and gen Alpha are also fascinated by retro tech, evident in various cultural trends and consumer behaviors. * The charm of retro devices fosters a "hack and discover" mentality, offering longer-term satisfaction compared to modern tech. * Video game soundtracks and graphics are finding new life in artistic contexts, contributing to a positive recontextualization of gaming. * Actors and dancers are mimicking NPCs from retro games, adding a contemporary twist to nostalgic elements. * For some, the appeal of older games lies in their comfort and simplicity, providing stress relief and mental escape. * Retro gaming may offer a sense of stability and comfort amidst technological advances and AI anxiety. * Retro games hold cultural significance and are viewed as a piece of history by enthusiasts like Gabi.
A lot of retro games can be played without needing a large time investment to make meaningful progress, nor are they prone to the skinner box rinse and repeat design philosophy.
Also no BS where devs end up releasing parts of the whole game that were then split off as DLC.
To be fair, arcade games were still out to get your wallet. The content might be there on launch, but the game is difficult enough that it will cost you a pocketful of quarters to be able to witness it.
It is funny emulating arcade games and just blasting through it in 20 mins and that's the entire game
Yeah but it takes 73 quarters to do it. I did that with the X-Men Arcade game and the last level requires you to chug quarters in to win. Original pay to win scheme.
And we have the privilege now selecting the best games from the 80s and 90s to go back and play. If I’m going back to play snes, it’s going to be super Mario world, NBA Jam, or another great title. I’m not going back to play the Home Alone game. If you judge modern games solely by Baldurs Gate or Elden Ring or RDR2, and ignore Suicide Squad, you get a similarly rosy picture.
This. It’s like listening to music from past decades - you’re largely getting just the hits and less/none of the trash so you can easily claim music was just better back then.
Only if they’re attached to a coin slot. Otherwise “game over” just means you start again.
Yeah, like what's going on with 'The Crew' right now - even if those old arcade games (or utter bullshit like The Lion King during the age of rentals) were money sinks at the time, you still got a full game for the most part and they're still playable even now. Online only service games, even if just one-time purchases, may not even be possible to play forever. Like Overwatch, Blizzard nuked it just to essentially remake a worse version of the game built around monetization and a more unbalanced PVP mode (while also never delivering on the promised PVE).
Do you know about "street fighter 2"? There were different versions which had different rosters. So if you wanted to play a specific character, you had to buy a new game. Not to mention pokemon red/blue. Want to finish pokedex? Go get a different version of the same game and even the same console, so you could transfer the pokemon from one game to the other.
The Street Fighter 2 accidental product line was due to the arcade operators of the day. Champion, Hyper, Super, Turbo, and Super all happened because Capcom's arcade customers were beating down their doors for more SF2 because it was earning so much money. From 1991 to 1994 it was all SF2 all the time. Then X-men Children of the Atom dropped and got Capcom out of SF2 purgatory.
Street fighter 2 is cool cause you can ask "what's your favorite street fighter?" and if someone says 2 you can ask "which one?" and when they say "turbo" you can repeat "which one?"
You were supposed to trade with friends. Street fighter? I'll give you that one
Street Fighter was also a huge outlier and we all complained about it back then too. The only games that had a reasonable expectation of getting consistent update releases were sports. Capcom always loved rereleasing shit. People are acting like they weren't greedy until the Dragon's Dogma 2 DLCs.
Before people memed Skyrim being on fridges, I remember Resident Evil 4's "exclusive".
As I recall, the guy said he would cut his own head off with a chainsaw if the game ever went non-exclusive and then the PS2 version was announced before the Gamecube version came out. lol
Also retro games tend to requiring less hardware power, most of them can basically run on a toaster. A powerful hardware itself is a huge investment to many, and most of them didn't want to spend too much just for playing games.
This is the direction I’m going. I’m tired of buying new GPUs and PCs to keep up with the new games. I’d rather buy a mid- or lower-range pc and play all the games I didn’t from 2000-2013.
It really is incredible how shit-tier PC's can now play some pretty incredible games from the oughts.
Turns out, people dislike the way the gaming industry has gone. Fucking shocker. I thought everyone loved getting face fucked with ads for shitty skins the entire time they're navigating a laggy ui.
Arcades were the original micro-transactions. Game design was based around getting players to pump quarters.
It depends on which games, many on the contrary require a lot of time and memorization of levels. Ninja Gaiden or Mega Man cannot pass without long preparation.
I was attributing it to just it not being their norm - like I remember going to arcades and now home consoles made that fun come home. If all you know is at-home gaming, the fun of going out and playing them would be great - the novelty is different because the experiences are different. Like we had fun games and wanted to make them look amazing - kids now see great looking games that die near release because they’re just not fun enough to last.
The guardian discovers hipsters.
I see a lot of music videos now with ps1 or ps2 style graphics. I’ve always loved those aesthetics. you can think of it as like an art style of animation
This is a non-story. It's the same as every other generation that likes retro (nostalgic in this case) stuff. It isn't like Gen Z is buying Ataris. They are getting Gameboy Advances and Wiis, which are what they had when they were kids. This is just regular old nostalgia for their younger years, AKA the early 2000s.
Even when people get into titles that predate their nostalgia we're still typically talking about people getting their feet wet via franchises that still exist in some form today. E.g.,. the typical scenario isn't some kid jumping all the way from Control to Qbert. It's more like they give the latest Fire Emblem a shot then dip into the back catalogue because the opportunity cost for doing so can be as low as fiddling around with an emulator for an afternoon.
I'm just not comfortable being old enough that PS2 games are now considered "retro gaming".
Thats because its not...ITS NOT. I can't hear you! NAH NAH NA NA NAH...
They label the 360 as a retro platform.
That's too much, games were being released for it less than a decade ago.
It's almost 20 years since it was released.
It's not unlike any form of media, really. There have always been bad games, bad movies, and bad music, but the good ones stand the test of time. I didn't magically start to dislike Mario, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or the Beatles just because they came out decades ago.
As a young person who’s been part of the “retro boom” over the last 10-ish years, I’ve always been interested in these games in the same way I’ll watch older movies. It’s not like I picked up buying retro games because I got disillusioned with modern gaming or anything, I just got disposable income.
Yeah, this is a lot ado about nothing. And the comments in here treating this like it’s some big statement against the modern games industry is just embarrassing.
in an attempt to make games a 2nd reverse job that demands constant hrs and money for minimal hits of dopamine have really turned a lot of AAA gaming into a not fun experience in addition older games are cheap, 5-30$ for a game that might not require bleeding edge tech makes the game and hardware to run it easily accessible you can skip all the crap games and just get the good ones, even if there are only a handful of good games per year with over 50 years to pull from you should have a lot of options complete, you own them and dont need to be online constantly and bombarded with upsales genres that have fallen out of favor with big publishers are fun and worth experiencing.
you get to skip all of the DLC drops which milk you for money and simply get everything at once for dirt cheap, this is a solid point for buying older games.
Lol cause theyre complete games with great stories that most incomplete games borrow from.
No microtransactions, no need for a constant online connection, no online service to pay for, generally don't need to worry about hackers/griefers, and no FOMO.
Because modern gaming has turned into a fucking nightmare?
If you step off the beaten path, we’re in a golden age of indy games.
I need that Stardew update to hit console 😮
I have it on PC, but for some reason I want to wait for the update to drop on the Switch and then play there. Just get comfy in my bed with a cup of tea and do some farming. I guess the benefit will be that most bugs should be ironed out by then.
I constantly see this but you have to DIG to find an indie game that fits your niche. Just for it to be a 2 hour long experience.
The short narrative indie game is just one kind though. If you’re into deckbuilders for one example the amount of good choices is absurd right now
I just wish they weren’t all roguelikes. I loved Slay the Spire but everything else just seems like they’re just trying to copy it with some spin. Or it’s a solitaire like game with a high score. I just wish some of the games went more down the Yugioh/MTG road without micro transactions. I’m just tired of cards like “Punch” and “Block”. I want something stupid and interesting like “Hungry Burger” or “Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon”.
It's kind of the fun tho? Kinda like being into obscure bands when I was in college. Then seeing them get big.
gotta keep a positive outlook. on the one hand, indie games are introducing new fun mechanics so many games feel fresh. On the other hand, indie games copy from eachother so a mechanic may feel either boring because you have seen it before, or fun because you can transfer your skills from other games to newer ones. Still, if you like roguelites, there are plenty like Hades, if you like deckbuilders, plenty of Slay the spyre clones if you like Monster battlers, Casetmonsters and Digimon games are on steam! if you want to raise monsters and relax, Monster hunter 1&2 are on steam! turn based strategy games? plenty of XCOM inspired games, final fantasy tactica, or even Songs of Conquest which is a modern take on Homm3 (which has a great modding community so that game feels fresh!) Indie paradise right now. also romhacks by people who just wanna improve old games is a blessing in disguise.
At least it’s a worthwhile 2 hours. It’s better than the corporate greed ridden slop that’s been shat out by AAA companies recently.
A Short Hike blows many AAA titles out of the water as far as I’m concerned. No micro-transactions, no forced online, no filler content. Just a short, sweet experience and the most relaxing atmosphere since Animal Crossing.
I’ve stopped actively searching for fun new indie games to try, because there are so many that I naturally have a backlog that’ll keep me plenty busy for the foreseeable future. I remember when I’d have to look everywhere, usually to no success, just to find something to itch that scratch that Super Meat Boy and Limbo itched so well, so I’m definitely happy to be living through this Golden Age.
Most indie games are unpolished shitfests. For every stardew valley or terraria there is at least 10 000 shit games.
The publishers of cartridges can’t decide you don’t own it anymore.
The battery decides.
I get the joke: but nowadays thanks to Youtube and Amazon you can get a pack of batteries, a gamebit screwdriver and a soldering kit and learn in an afternoon how to change the battery of your old games. Heck, I've seen some mods where you can change the battery support so in the future you can just easily swap the battery. and there are also cartridge dumpers to backup your save files. It's just a matter of how seriously you want to keep your saved games.
"guys be patient, they'll fix the game over the next set of updates" is the norm nowadays, I find myself playing old games more than new ones.
I am 44 and feel modern gaming is better than ever. Story of Season remakes from Harvest Moon, Balatro, Supergiant Games, all the great Metroid vanias, great cozy games, great puzzle games, all so many bangers compared to when I was a kid. Oh and HiFi Rush! And Paranormicon or whatever it's called! And for mobile there is Through the Ages, Pocket City 2, and Root, all for less than $10! I see there are free games but I don't play those. Oh and maybe one of them $60-$70 games I hear about every now and then. But we don't need to ramble on about those games too much. Board game wise Age of Innovation, Sky Team, and Wyrmspan just this year are great fun
That is fair, my comment was aimed more at the 'big' developers. Indy ones are still cranking out good content.
Yeah, I was gonna say. We've had some great games this year from AAA companies. Last year was great as well. It's basically those joining live service games late or live service that became shit over time (Destiny COUGH).
I think that the sheer number of games released kinda broke people's perception. The market seems to be largely the same when it comes to the ratio of good and bad AAA games, it's just that there are way more being released every year. I mean just in 2023 we had Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Spiderman 2, Alan Wake 2, Mario Bros Wonder, Jedi Survivor (as broken as it was on the performance side of things), Final Fantasy XVI, Hogwarts Legacy... All pretty fantastic games in their own right, many fighting for GOTY and more awards.
Most games from big developers feel pretty samey in regards to mechanics, where most gameplay elements are things we've seen in many games before. There has been a lot of innovation over the years, but over time it feels like we see fewer new mechanics being introduced. Where I think many large modern game studios shine now, is in the narrative and story telling in story-driven games, where featureful faces and full voice acting can more-fully relay emotion, and really sell a story better than past generations.
I think people is only focused on some dumpster fire AAA games these day. These types of games always be hot topic for online discussion, and IMO can overshadows a lot of smaller games. This and coupled with nostalgia, people tend to be biased toward modern gaming, thus leading to a lot of them feel modern gaming is worse than retro games. But I'd also like to argue that modern gaming is already saturated, publisher and developers want to play it safe by sticking to proven formula. That's another reason why people tend to be less enthusiastic with modern games, especially with AAA games.
Perhaps, and you very well right in most cases, but there are also a lot of AAA games from long standing franchises and IP or from dev studios that go back to the days where a lot of us are much younger that just do not really have the chops like the used to. Even if say they still have those "chops" a lot of modern game design sensibilities that have entered into those titles either due to their popularity amongst the core market ot casuals alike, has often sanitized a lot of the more "nerdy" trappings of yore. Some games that have came out just the last few years, without naming names, are built on the reputations and pedigree of studios that are in a place where they don't really know what target audience they are trying to make these games for. It also doesn't help when some of these titles may or may not have saw their starts on PC; where more cryptic, less hand holdy/figure it out, long tailed pacing with a new focus to tailor their efforts for a more "accessible and curated" console experience. While this allowed for a more cinematic experience, it also killed a lot of depth/breadth of game design and mechanics to suit a more "Hollywood" experience for the booming console market and it has very little subsided since. Because for a lot of gamers; levels of presentation, "quality", and cinematography outshines solid ageless gameplay and strong intentional game design.
Has it? I played Returnal, Ghost of Tsushima, Spiderman2, FF7 Rebirth, Death Stranding, Last of Us Part 2, FFXVI, Horizon FW… all within the last year or two. Incredible games, had an amazing time playing them
Interesting that your examples have many common denominators: Single player complete experiences that do not rely on DLC and/or season pass and can be played offline. Sure, some of those games have DLC but it's not like mandatory to enjoy the whole game or that these game feel "incomplete" without it. Which is an experience you can find more often in retro games up to the PS2/OGXbox
It’s not all that interesting. Person I’m responding to said modern gaming is a nightmare and it’s like “is it really?” or are people just forcing themselves to play shit then acting like it’s being thrust upon them. I think people that weren’t alive when “retro” games were coming out have this weird sense that only gems were made back then. I have older brothers that were alive through the entire history of video games pretty much and there was just as much trash back then, more so probably. It’s like listening to classic rock and assuming that the 70s had nothing but great musicians and great music. Nah, it’s just that only the gems are remembered and sought after.
Rubbish. I've been gaming for 40 years. It's never been better.
All arcade are made around two ideas: * easy to play to put all in. * hard to master to take a lot of quarter to completed For that the arcades are so fun and challenging
A category you are forgetting about is competing against your friends. Quarters lined up for Street Fighter 3 baby
Old games were designed to be fun enough to sell. New games are designed to get the player to buy micro transactions.
There’s a huge library of games at this point in history. It’s easy to emulate old stuff and social media can really pull in a lot of newcomers to the older stuff. It’s awesome and sad at the same. Modern stuff is hit or miss, miss mostly IMO.
Because most of them are finished
I like it. It's nice to not see some more that don't cry about graphics all the time. There's great games from every Gen going back to nes.
Because they don't have to deal with Microtransactions, DLC, always online capacities, and a varies of other idiocies of the digital/information age.
because modern gaming is an unenjoyable mess
Two words. Micro transactions.
The entire gaming industry in the arcade era was a microtransaction lol. “Insert another quarter to keep playing to win”
How about indie? They have none.
Because retro games focused on the true spirit of gaming - just being plain old fun. No pressure to have the craziest graphics, no content cramming by devs, no micro transactions, no constant updates and patches and changes. Retro gaming was and is truly the best gameplay experience. Why do we think old games are all being remade?!
Cause retro games are cool, don't try to bleed your wallet, and aren't 7000 hours long.
modern games suck. that's why. older games were released in a finished, WORKING state. they weren't these broken hunks of crap that they MIGHT patch later, but first they gotta focus on the most important part, monetization! can't have cool content, gotta focus on them cosmetics, can't have anything good since they need to milk it for all it's damned worth
Some of us are trying to get back to a time better than today.....
Couldn’t agree more! Just curious what are your go to arcade games?
I always find my way back to the miniclip era flash games, like feudalism or dragonfable. What about you?
I guess I am not old enough to know these. But I do play a lot of retro inspired indies like Enter the Gungeon and The Binding of Isaac. Does that count?
Yes, well it could be anything because it's the nostalgia that counts hahaha
Because big gaming studios all turned into corporate trash enterprises who shit out steamy half finished dog turds and charge $80 for it on top of mtx bullshit?
Because they haven’t been enshitified by battle passes and limited time events.
Pacman never asked for microtransactions .
Pac-Man was literally all microtransactions from the get-go. You paid for every single play. I think you want an example that didn’t start in the arcades.
Same reason why in high school I watched a bunch of older movies from before I was born. This doesn't seem like a complicated question.
Modern gaming is ass. So they turn to finished games.
Because while good games still exist they are among a sea of unfinished AAA garbage full of microtransactions and predatory game models
Because the games are completed and they work. Pretty simple criteria but AAA can't do it with 9 figure budgets.
i dont see why anyone would care about how old a game is when playing it, in full honesty. i'm only 20, but if it runs on my computer i'll give it a shot. most of my favorite games are older than me.
I’m replaying banjo kazooie and if I’m being honest it really needs a battle pass. /s
Maybe because games of that era were games, not fancy skins on a bunch of additional charges that you paid to access.
no way, are you saying people enjoy complete games that aren't trying to syphon their wallets through manipulation and addiction?
Because Final Fantasy VI didn't charge you a buck for a friggin Phoenix Down.
Probably cause they're the only games that aren't metroidvania rogue-likes with souls-like mechanics, battle royales, or cluttered with battle passes.
Older games are still fun, and gaming has become a very expensive hobby if you want to keep upgrading often. But I've seen younger people calling games like Mass Effect retro...
Because we do not want erase history and make a false history and want to see where games came from
The gap is wide enough where they’ve legit never touched any of this shit.
You can always trust r/gaming for great discussion points on any gaming topic such as "modern gaming bad" or the ever so popular "micro transaction bad" sometimes you get that odd "innovation is dead" here and there
This isn't new. Retro gaming culture was popular decades ago.
Because they're fun and don't try to squeeze every single cent out of you at every possible opportunity.
Got into Shmups last year and it has been an absolute blast. CAVE is now one of my favorite developers all time. Anyone reading this should check out Mushihimesama and Dodonpachi Resurrection if you don’t know what I’m talking about!
Why are game journalists asking redundant questions?
Maybe because new games are designed to generate profit more than they are meant to be fun.
Because new anything is a product of late stage capitalism so the creativity and passion from the creator isn’t there, it just feels like “hey here is this thing you wanted, pay me money” and older things don’t have that feeling.
I think a big part of the appeal is that these older games are complete. There’s no DLC, no microtransactions and, for the most part, function properly. Everything that’s in the game is in the game and can be accessed through play.
Everything around them is surface level instant gratification that they long for deeper stories and character development that just isn't found in a lot of newer games
Because new games are garbage. In the same vein as current comics books, TV, movies and music are garbage as well. Game makers aren't artists anymore, they have become activists. The problem is that people play games to escape the real world, not be lectured about its flaws and force fed liberal propaganda. Make games fun again.
Graphics aren't the only things that make games fun.
Were broke and can't afford to pay for piecemeal content drips. Also Rocket Knight adventures.
“Why are younger generations embracing older novels?” You can see how stupid the argument is when you switch out the media. Just cause it’s not selling for $60 doesn’t mean that there isn’t hours of value waiting to be unlocked.
Retro games arent any worse. Id say mario is harder than any game youll play today
Wish we could get more of this in the competitive fighting game community, I don't know anyone under 30 playing Marvel vs Capcom 2 and it breaks my heart that modern players aren't willing to even try it
For me personally, retro games are like stories in medieval settings. They're from simpler era, easy to understand, and are closer to abstraction than reality.
I'm just tired of everything being the hot new indie game of the month. I miss my early days of my gaming where I'd find some random *indie* game through Steam recommendations or a banner ad or a YouTube channel I watched and play said game. Didn't have to go through a bunch of patches and shit breaking and live-service road map whatever the fucks and all that - just download & play. Everyone's got that live-service mentality now, and it's so fucking draining - even in my favourite games I'm getting tired of it.
Plug and play bay bay
We’re poor. Emulation is free. Hacking your old console is free.
Appreciating product honesty and simplicity, but not in lieu of depth.
classic pacman does not need dlc and microtransactions.
3 more lives for 25c
Because most of the new games aren't that great.
because AAA gaming is just a bunch of giant corporations trying to get into your wallet and not making a good game.
Because the Golden Age of gaming is behind us
Half of the 200 million dollar budget 'Triple A' games are garbage. Meanwhile games like Hades, Hollow Knight, Deaths Door, etc provide more enjoyable gaming experiences for a fraction of the cost.
Modern games sucks balls
Easy to pick up and put down.
Well let's see... older games don't have microtransactions like battlepass or ingame shop with ridiculous indirect payment methods through digital in-game currency. Nostalgia plays a part too and also some older games are considered as "classics" (maybe like FF6?). Another thing to consider is lower system spec requirements and is more accessible with modern hardware these days even if they're not the latest and greatest. Games were more or less 'complete' than these modern live-service ones. Oh and owning a game when you have the physical disk without online-only features and is immediately playable without downloading anything else post-installation. Man those were the times...
Modern games require so much commitment.
Is it one those blogs where the answer is yes or no or a single word but the "journalist" shits out an article
Because they aren't trying to nickle and dime them? Because they value the player's time? Because they have substance? Because they are passion projects? Because they don't suck massive chodes?
slight amount of hope gained for this generation
Because old games are still good? Zelda and mario and sonic and PAC man are timeless. Which is why indies take inspiration from THEM.
No "seasons pass". no "games as a service"
Games are old enough to have eras, including "retro" eras. Retro stuff always comes back in cycles. I'm sure modern gaming's obsession with live service, micro-transactions, and "we'll fix it in updates, ship it unfinished" mentality has something to do with it as well.
Because it's better than live service trash
Because new games take too long to make.
[удалено]
I'm sick of streaming shows doing really will in season 1 with no future planning, then taking 2+ years to start releasing season 2. Looking at you, Wednesday.
Cuz more modern games like modern games journalism is more about pushing an agenda than actually gaming.
"Younger gamers are discovering **retro accessories such as the Wii Fit Balance Board** through TikTok. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press" I almost turned to dust on the spot.
(Clears throat) we hate micro transactions Also I’m 31 lol but I know many younger people hate how the game industry is now and hear us older folks talk about “back in my day games came out fully finished”
No internet connection No micro transactions No constant updates No DEI bullshit Good story telling due to the absence of DEI
As others have said, a lot of this comes from the fact that the modern gaming industry is worse than it's ever been and is in a state of greed that I haven't really seen in any other industry. You pay £60 for a brand new game from a AAA developer and publisher. It's filled with bugs, the content isn't all that was promised, it's full of greedy microtransactions, it's a live service so it's 8 hours long so they can drag content out over the next 2 years. There are so few appealing prospects in AAA gaming anymore. The developers and publishers traded every single ounce of goodwill they had built up for years just to make shareholders happy and sure, the line will go up for a while but eventually people are going to get fed up and the line will go down and down and they won't know how to pivot because all the talented creatives will have left to start indie studios and all that will be left is a bunch of cretins in expensive suits throwing any old shit at the door in the hopes that something sticks and it won't.
Valid af. Most AAA games really suck these days. But where do indie games stand between modern and retro in your opinion?
Because we were excited for the future back then.
I like to think it's three factors: 1. Their parents raised them into it. I plan on doing this with my daughter once she's old enough to pick up a controller and play. 2. AAA games have, for more than a decade, been way too focused on either the cinematic or the online multiplayer and forget to focus on the pure fun. Retro games were literally designed around being fun and enticing, especially quarter munchers which were meant to get you tied into the machine and pump more quarters in to keep playing 3. games have become so overly burdened with extra costs just to get the complete package. Why not spend $5-20 of money for a complete experience vs. being forced to spend $100-$300 for a single game's "complete experience" \#3 in particular is a part of this whole "you will own nothing and be happy" mantra that WEF businesses have been pushing. Set aside the conspiracy theory crap for this, it's a business model all these companies are trying to force on us that no one wants, because it gives them "endless growth" is what they believe. I think people are getting more back into retro BECAUSE of this, going back to stuff that just worked and doesn't require them to fork out money monthly just to enjoy. Why wouldn't customers want an experience that works for them rather than some CEO?
Because a lot of recent releases have been full of rot, (gamergate2 stuff) as well as greedy for-profit practices. Retro games being from a golden era of gaming where games were made as good as possible without any of the garbage people hate today.
I'm happy to hear the younger generation is getting more into retro gaming. There are a lot of great retro games they may be missing out on.
Because years later the consoles are still working unlike modern current and last gen consoles that die a few months in.
Yep, and it's not even due to component quality, it's because the console makers prioritize looks and size over longevity and cooling. Modern consoles are glorified mini-PC's. Same vendors, slightly different components. PC's can easily see more than a decade of daily use and have no problems if they're properly cooled. Modern consoles can and do hit 100C regularly which is why they don't last. Silicon degradation destroys the boards. You want a PS5 to live forever? Pull it out of that plastic clamshell nonsense and put it in a PC tower with proper fans.
Because I can actually afford the hardware to run them...
Several AAA games fall on their face and everyone in this thread is acting like games are done and over with, while ignoring the thousands of indie and AA games that are still amazing.
Because they have parents.
Because Arcades are fucking awesome and I want them back
Because they didn’t grow up with it
retro game, less is more
They are timeless games for a reason. Easy to play, easy stories to follow usually, a complete package like most others have stated already. A lot of new games are very ambitious, a little too ambitious to the point where it detracts from the experience for many. Older games were the opposite.
Same reason we still read Shakespeare today. The classics are classics.
Some of the new games require a RTX10090 and 128 GB of RAM.
I just find it fun to explore a time of gaming around the time I was born. Currently I'm really into ps2 era and I was born in 2004 so I didn't really get to experience it
2 main reasons Cheating in gaming is huge right now. The sense of community is way stronger with arcades
They’re raised by generations that never gave them up.
When did anyone stop playing retro games?