When does a game become "retro"?

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by oldmanwinters

Arguably, when it gets a budget-priced re-release (physical media era).

Definitely, when it gets a remake/remaster.

Not physical and not a re-release, but Deus EX Human Revolution came out in 2011 and by late 2012 it cost like €1,99 with a 90% discount on Steam. No way that game was retro only a year after it came out lmao. It got an upgraded version a few years later, though, called Director's Cut.

Originally Posted by IMJ

It's hard to believe but there are kids who probably consider the PS3 "retro" now.

Originally Posted by Barkworm

Well, that's two generations ago. That's pretty retro.

I think his point was more about how it's hard to believe that a system like the PS3 is considered retro by many by now. I was 15-17 years old when the 360/PS3/Wii came out. It was referred to as the next gen back then. I remember games coming out in 2009 for those systems still being advertised and announced as "next gen" even though they were current gen by then.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I think his point was more about how it's hard to believe that a system like the PS3 is considered retro by many by now.

It's a full-on 20 year old system. Of course it's retro. That's not up for debate, really.

There was only 6 years between the NES and the SNES in the United States. Imagine the SNES not coming out until 2005 (20 years after NES) and anyone of sound mind going, "WTF? It is hard to believe NES is retro now!"

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

It's a full-on 20 year old system. Of course it's retro. That's not up for debate, really.

There was only 6 years between the NES and the SNES in the United States. Imagine the SNES not coming out until 2005 (20 years after NES) and anyone of sound mind going, "WTF? It is hard to believe NES is retro now!"

I'm not disputing it's retro. I made this thread in 2022, 4 years ago. At this point, I cannot deny the fact that the PS3, Wii and the 360 are all retro.

I think IMJ was just saying that it's kinda surreal it's been 20 years or close to it since the PS3 came out. And I get that. I was 16 years old and that generation were my late teens and early adulthood years. He's some years older than me iirc. For him it might even be more surreal. The PS4 and the Wii U came out when I was 22-23 and it's also kinda wild to me how that was over a decade ago already.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I'm not disputing it's retro. I made this thread in 2022, 4 years ago. At this point, I cannot deny the fact that the PS3, Wii and the 360 are all retro.

I think IMJ was just saying that it's kinda surreal it's been 20 years or close to it since the PS3 came out. And I get that. I was 16 years old and that generation were my late teens and early adulthood years. He's some years older than me iirc. For him it might even be more surreal. The PS4 and the Wii U came out when I was 22-23 and it's also kinda wild to me how that was over a decade ago already.

Pretty much hit the nail on the head there....

Also combine that with what Cybercubed said:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

That's because power levels have hit a ceiling in terms of videogames. That's why back in the early 2000's, retro games were strictly considered 2D games like NES, SNES, Gameboy or Genesis games.

Then N64 and Playstation 1 games became retro because they were early 3D games and look very old graphics wise.

Now we're at the point where PS2/Gamecube/Xbox games are over 25 years old, and are basically retro.

PS3/360+ onward still feel relatively recent, and while are a little outdated graphic wise, don't feel much different than modern games.

and you have the full scope of what I was hinting at less articulately above.

It's a function of time but also a function of the fact that you can put a PS3 game in right now and honestly, the largest visible change in the graphics might be lack of 4k texturing or something like that and there are a lot of people gaming even on the PS5 who aren't fully equipped for that anyway.

The leap from Atari to NES was huge. The leap from SNES to PSONe was huge. But the PS3 is arguably the system that went to the modern baseline and the leaps were less obvious and therefore also feels "less retro".

But on that note, let's face it - the word "retro' does a lot of lifting on it's own merits - retro implies "back in time" and so things like "game design" and "gameplay mechanics" I suppose could impact that as well.

[CyberCubed]

I think early/middle era PS3 games definitely look dated now, you can tell games prior to say 2009/2010 do not look as good as PS4 or PS5 games.

But to me a lot of PS4 games look exactly like PS5 games, I honestly can't tell the difference with a lot of games. Like Uncharted 4 came out on PS4 in 2015, that was like 11 years ago (!), and the graphics and facial animations of the characters still look great today like modern games. Same for Metal Gear Solid V, Batman Arkham Knight, Witcher III, etc.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I think early/middle era PS3 games definitely look dated now, you can tell games prior to say 2009/2010 do not look as good as PS4 or PS5 games.

But to me a lot of PS4 games look exactly like PS5 games, I honestly can't tell the difference with a lot of games. Like Uncharted 4 came out on PS4 in 2015, that was like 11 years ago (!), and the graphics and facial animations of the characters still look great today like modern games. Same for Metal Gear Solid V, Batman Arkham Knight, Witcher III, etc.

The Witcher III came out in 2015 and Roach's controls feel very dated. They're rather frustrating. Lots of people can no longer play the game in general without mods. I still think the game holds up well nowadays besides Roach's controls, however.