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So does anyone here like Retro Gaming?


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I have been collecting a lot of classic video games for a while, and was just curious if anyone else plays/collects games older than 10-15 years old?

 

I'm a little young to remember the original Atari in its heyday, but I played a hand-me-down from my uncle before I played an NES, so technically I can remember those games like the NES games even though I was born in 1984. (which shows I was a little young for the NES when it was new also, though later in it's lifespan I did get one and it was glorious!)

 

Still, I collect games for the following systems

 

Atari 2600

NES

SNES

Genesis/Megadrive

TurboGrafx 16

N64

PS1

PS2

PS3 (only have 2 ps4 games atm, shows what I think of them so far, lol)

Saturn

Dreamcast

Xbox360

 

I only collect games that I think are interesting gameplay-wise or else are important to gaming history. I also try to get a sports title or two for each system, but I don't really like them too much, so I stop there.

 

I just got a copy of Animaniacs for the SNES today, as well as Marble Madness and Bart vs the World for the NES, and Yar's Revenge for the Atari 2600. None of them are super stellar games from a modern standpoint, but Yar is probably one of the best 2600 games, and I remember renting Animaniacs several times so I figured I could afford a nostalgic 6 dollar game.

 

The classic game systems and the really good games are going up in price constantly. While I managed to get most of the important ones before they became as high as they are now, I am curious if anyone would consider starting a collection of old games at current prices, especially in an age of emulation and things like the NES Classic.

 

Also anyone starting today has to worry about modern bootlegs, which are a disturbingly large amount of the listings on ebay. Though cheaper, they are usually much lower in quality and probably won't last as long as the originals due to bit rot, and the way eproms are flashed, despite being newer.

 

What's everyone's thoughts on this? I thought I'd ask to get a discussion going. I really feel that modern games are losing a lot of the spark that made older games so much fun. Maybe it's just me, but that's how I feel.

 

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The novelty has worn off for me as well, though I've found out that it can be negotiated for. And by that I mean a game that is free - actually free, not this newfangled millennial perversion of the definition of the word "free" - stands a good chance of getting a pass from me. I mean, let's be honest here, there's little else that can explain why I don't care to look in Skyrim's general direction while I've done multiple complete playthroughs of Daggerfall, because every flaw of the former I've ever heard applies to the latter twice over (minus Skyrim being dumbed down I suppose, but than Daggerfall's complexity can't honestly be said to work correctly more than half the time, so...call that a wash I suppose).

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I have a big library at GOG but I will avoid all games that need a Gamepad to play as I can't stand them.

Many pre 3D games can still be fun to play if you have the hardware necessary to get them running and give a adequate displaying but for 3D anything older then 10-15 years is unplayable without a graphic mod in my opinion.

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I remember having a lot of fun with marble madness back in the day, and there's certainly a nostalgic joy with going back and playing the older games. Sadly, like Free says, the prices can be quite prohibitive and with both PC and Console games you can run into hardware issues. Emulation is a solution, but there's a lot of purists out there who say you need the original hardware to get the full effect. Personally I've always thought about just grabbing a raspberry pi and making my own hand-held emulator.

What about the old wire-frame Star Wars arcade game Schwarz, or Mario64? I know the old DeusEx and Tomb Raider games can look pretty ugly, but I think the more stylized games still hold up pretty well. Then again my biggest issue with retro games doesn't tend to be graphics, but UI choices or unfair difficulty levels.

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When it comes to old "retro" games I more or less skirt between the line of very old and just old. I have a lot of computer games that won't even run on the new computers so I play them on an "ancient" windows 95 computer hah hah. I mostly play things like 3D frogger and other games that were remade into 3D and put on the cd. I do have the original Tomb Raiders amd Deus Ex as well, and I totally agree with SillyOne when it comes to UI amd controls. The graphics don't bother me at all, but when things get janky during the game I get frustrated, although hilariously enough it's the newer games that are the culprits. As someone that wasn't raised with console gamws I never got attached to them, so I don't have the nostalgia that everyone else does about the SNES and GameCube and stuff.

 

I hope this doesn't sound insulting, but sometimes it feels like some people are into retro gaming for a feeling of nostalgia they might not even have. It's annoying to hear that older games are "better" and that newer games just "Don't compare". It just comes down to preference I guess, but for someone only passively interested in retro games the attitude is a big turn off.

 

Aside from the prices that is. I'm paying just as much for an old game as a new one and that just doesn't make sense to me

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The reason, I think, why most people dismiss modern games in favor of old ones so readily is because of everything that surrounds games rather than the games themselves. "Back in my day we didn't need these silly plastic Amy-something toys or buy DLC to play on hard mode!" and other stuff like that. Yes, old games had their swindle gimmicks too, but those are all lost to the unrelenting march of time, so they're generally forgotten and unaccounted for. Add to that the fact that modern game's good points in terms of actual gameplay that old games just can't or don't have (and there are at least some) are ignored just as much as the graphics differences between Daggerfall and Skyrim, and you end up with a viewpoint very strongly biased in favor of the old games.

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Don't forget Sturgeon's law Metis. 99% of everything is trash. There's some great modern games, and there's some rubbish modern games - same thing with retro games - but there's a lot, lot more retro games out there. Which means there's a lot, lot more excellent retro games out there just as an artifact of there being a broader library to choose from (especially depending on where you put the cut-off between retro and modern).

Nostalgia is absolutely a massive part of it, and I wouldn't want to gate-keep for people what is and isn't nostalgic for them, but there is an element of truth to saying new games "don't compare" (or can't compare) to classic games precisely because of that nostalgia, in two subtly different ways, which I'd like to illustrate from my own experience.

No game can compare to GoldenEye 007. No game. Not even GoldenEye 007 - because the GoldenEye I remember, doesn't exist. At least not outside my memories. I remember the graphics being amazing, the controls being tight and multiplayer being balanced. None of these things are true anymore - not to say GoldenEye isn't enjoyable, it's just not as enjoyable as I remember. And it never will be. Though I do now want to play GoldenEye again.

The second game (and type of Nostalgia) that springs to mind is Sonic 2. My best friend-slash-neighbour got a mega drive and Sonic 2 for Christmas and we played it to death. Sonic 2 just feels like christmas and friendship to me. And it's still a great game - and, unlike GoldenEye, when I play it nowadays it's not worse or less enjoyable than I remember. But it does feel like Christmas to me in a way I wouldn't expect it to feel like for anyone else.

And that's what I mean when I wouldn't want to gate-keep nostalgia. If I meet some twelve year old and they're really nostalgic for Doom then, sure, maybe they're just trying to be cool. But maybe, just maybe, they actually do have some great memories and emotions tied up with playing it.

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I still remember getting my N64, which is the oldest system I still have from my childhood. I agree that some N64 era games haven't aged well, especially in the graphics, although, I can easily play early 3d games without being pestered by the graphics.

 

I agree with Sturgeon's law. There were over 400 titles released for the N64. I own I think 31. For the NES I now own 72, even though there's over 10 times as many games out there. (not even counting unlicensed!) There are a lot of games that just aren't worth collecting for the most part IMO, sadly for consoles those are the only really cheap ones left for the most part.

 

For PCs, it's getting really, REALLY hard to find the physical disks for games. I still have my copy of GOTY Deus Ex on disc. I'd hate to have to find a new one. I can and do play digital only games, but I find that digital distribution is not without its own problems, even if it has its perks. One thing that annoyed the hell out of me is buying a physical disc of the original Portal way back ago at a gamestop only for it to give me effectively a copy of Steam and a key for the game. I was pretty miffed over that.

 

Like I said before, I played Atari as a kid in the late 80's, early 90's. That's after the Atari had been out for 10 years, but I still have some nostalgia for the system, so I can understand that the same thing can happen with younger folks and more recent consoles. I just wish that I could get my hands on a copy of Chrono Trigger for the SNES without having to compete with them, lol. I have 2 rereleases for the PS1 and DS, but my obsessive ways tell me I need the original, lol.

 

But there are games that are old and well loved, yet I have serious problems getting into. The first 2 fallouts still throw me for a loop, with their interface. I still haven't gotten very far with either, despite having acquired copies of them for free on GOG.

 

Edit: also, congrats metis on finally catching up with my post count. Though it pisses me off slightly. ;)

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When it comes to Nostalgia my two games are The Hobbit, Darkened Skye, and Zapper. My brother and I always fought each other for who got to play the games first (until we found out we could remove the disks and still play). We've always been PC players so in the end I can't get to the same level as retro gaming nostalgia, but I see what you guys are saying!

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Anyone remember the old Army Men games. You know the one with "Real Combat, Plastic Men" slogan. I am talking about the old RTT ones, not the shooter ones. Anyone or is it just me?

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Mmm. I might be remembering the shooter ones, but I remember the series on the N64. Overall, I wasn't impressed with it. Then again I never played it much, I was too interested in other games back then.

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