Is Anyone Here a Retro-Only Gamer?

I'm sure this has been discussed before at some point but, well, members come and go, gaming habits and opinions change, etc.

I get the impression that most folks on the forums like are gamers of both the modern era and times gone by. That certainly describes me - Last night I was playing Mega Turrican and the night before that I was playing Starpoint Gemini 2 - so definitely a mix of time periods for me.

But I was wondering about others who frequent these boards.

If we define a "retro-only" gamer as someone who only plays games from the PS2/Xbox/GC era and earlier, who among us would fall into that category?

I like playing psp games like snk collection for neo turf masters

I play everything. Just yesterday I managed to get my Majora's Mask cart working (I'd thought it was pretty much dead for the past 10 years) by cleaning it thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol and a q-tip. I proceeded to play it for an hour afterwards.

Later that afternoon I play Final Fantasy HD on my PS3.

I'm going to guess that it's a pretty rare occasion where you'll find a purely retro gamer. They're either a really frugal person that doesn't like to pay much to play games, are fairly strapped for cash, or just play the older stuff for nostalgia's sake.

i only play SMS GEN 32X SCD and old DOS games, thats it.

the newest game i play is from '95.

I play the occasional PC game, like the newly released Divinity: Original Sin (pure awesome). But I've never touched a console newer than a Dreamcast.

I've not really touched anything beyond PS2.
Online, and downloads, and updates and user profiles and tutorials, and all the other hurdles to playing a game, completely turn me away from newer systems.
If it isn't plug n play, I'm not interested.

I don't like this " retro gamer " stigma; there are no "retro book readers", no "retro movies"...Personally i think that's silly.

A good is a good game, it doesn't matter what year they were made.
The thing with the society today is that you're always encouraged to consume more, to buy the new shit that's available, shit that you doesn't really need; the new phone , even though the one you have works fine; and with the video game industry this happens every time a new machine is available.
Like a friend of mine that said he was going to 'upgrade' to the PS4 even though he only had played like 10 games on his PS3.

I made the choice of having a few handful of consoles and explore their library to the max., one game at the time; and apart from a few games here and there i have very few interest in today's games.

I lost complete interest in video games after the Dreamcast was discontinued around 2001.

Since 2011/2012 I've only been playing Genesis and SNES - there is something about the 16bit era that is so simplistic yet refined; part of it also is the thrill of being able to play what I missed out as a kid the first time around, it's really just as exciting.

Nothing against modern games, but 16bit for me is like a vintage wine. Except I don't drink. So maybe just a really good cup of tea...

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Originally Posted by Bottino

I don't like this " retro gamer " stigma; there are no "retro book readers", no "retro movies"...Personally i think that's silly.

A good is a good game, it doesn't matter what year they were made.
The thing with the society today is that you're always encouraged to consume more, to buy the new shit that's available, shit that you doesn't really need; the new phone , even though the one you have works fine; and with the video game industry this happens every time a new machine is available.
Like a friend of mine that said he was going to 'upgrade' to the PS4 even though he only had played like 10 games on his PS3.

I made the choice of having a few handful of consoles and explore their library to the max., one game at the time; and apart from a few games here and there i have very few interest in today's games.

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This is how I feel about it. I'm not "retro only", and I wouldn't even consider DC/PS2/Xbox/GC "retro" anyway. I like a game when it suits my gaming tastes, particularly Action games that would have worked in Arcades that are easy to pick up and play but hard to master. Modern FPS or Western RPGs are polar opposites of this, so I don't usually care for modern releases or cyclical sequels.

Retro only for me. Haven't played mosern games since the xbox/ps2 era and all i played was sports games in that era (an absolute shitload mind you)

when talking about still playing old games youre really talking about replay value, which is something newer games dont have.

lots of truely excellent games ~ have zero replay value.

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Originally Posted by marlowe221

If we define a "retro-only" gamer as someone who only plays games from the PS2/Xbox/GC era and earlier, who among us would fall into that category?

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That pretty much describes me. I've played things on my relatives' Xbox 360s and Wiis, but the only post-2000 consoles I own are the GameCube and GBA.

There are tons of reasons why: small budget, lack of a HDTV (I only have a CRT and a LCD monitor), lack of interest in most modern franchises and mainstream gameplay styles, distaste for DLC, and the fact that I'm a Mac user all play into it. I also like the idea of deeply exploring a console's library or an era, and obviously if I start focusing on recent games, it takes time away from that.

I only play up to the 4th generation myself(no discs though). Maybe the occasional literal definition of retro PC freeware game.

I stopped caring about new games shortly after the PS3 was released. At first the 360 seemed interesting, but then the games that kept getting released kept getting more and more boring. That and new systems and games are always expensive, it made more sense to just buy and play games for the GC/Xbox/SNES instead. Then I bought a N64, Genesis, NES and I've been focused on older games ever since. I still have a lot of fun games for the GC/Xbox, I even got a Wii and soft modded it into a Super Gamecube, hard drive ISO loading and all.

That said, I've played lots of 360 games over the years, but they've always been couch co-op and multiplayer games. I don't own a 360 and probably never will. I have had zero interest in the PS4/XBone, I didn't even watch E3 this year. I'm still enjoying games I first played 10 - 15 years ago.

I wouldn't say I'm a truly "retro-only" gamer, but I am quite disconnected from the 8th generation of games and my interest in modern games has taken a MASSIVE nosedive since the influx of unappealing games after the Call of Duty yearly release bullshit prompted so many developers to make First-Person Shooters. I have nothing against the genre itself, but its implementation nowadays just makes everything look so generic with the only difference being the coat of paint. There's zero appeal to the vast majority of 7th-generation and 8th-generation games, and I would go so far as to say, at least at the beginning of its generation, the 8th generation of consoles is the WORST generation I have ever seen. Now granted, this is my personal opinion ranging from the 5th generation of consoles on, but think about it: unappealing games, the only console that's got a unique hardware architecture is the Wii U and my new laptop can run circles around both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Those consoles are redundant and have unappealing games to me. Does that mean I won't get them? No, I collect gaming hardware of all sorts, but their use would be fairly limited due to them being gimped gaming computers. I'm likely to get more use out of my Wii U and laptop than either the Xbox One (which I would NEVER buy brand new because f*** Microsoft's attempt to impose their restrictive bullshit on their potential customers, and even though they were smart enough to dump this shitty idea, I am not going to give my money to a company that will even THINK of imposing this nonsense) or PlayStation 4 (and screw you Sony for jacking up the price $50 in Canada).

My place as a gamer is between the 3rd and 6th generation of consoles. That's where I feel most at home, but if a modern game has me interested, I will pick it up and play it.

I'm not a retro-only gamer. I have a 360 and a 3DS but they make up a real tiny fraction of my collection. Like Ace I'm pretty disconnected from modern gaming. I can't see myself ever moving on to the current gen consoles.

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Originally Posted by marlowe221

If we define a "retro-only" gamer as someone who only plays games from the PS2/Xbox/GC era and earlier...

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Son...What have you been drinking?

Most of what I own is cartridge based. I own more older games now than I ever did as a kid. I think a lot of it was wish fulfillment, but at least I turned out happy with my little investments.

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Originally Posted by Lync

I lost complete interest in video games after the Dreamcast was discontinued around 2001.

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That's when console gaming stopped being a thing for me. I only got excited over fighting games and Gundam games on the PS2 after that.

Also, dat Hiro :cool:

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

Son...What have you been drinking?

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Well personally, I don't consider the PS2 era to be "retro" but I thought I would leave some wiggle room.

Also, I hate the term "retro" but used it for lack of a better term.

Lots of interesting responses in this thread though!

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

Son...What have you been drinking?

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they are pushing 14 years old by now
isnt that old enough to be called retro ?
or new retro
or nu retro ?

even the wii ps3 and xbox 360 are pushing 8 years now so when is something retro ? ( yes this old chesnut again)

the ps 1 is 20 years this november


on topic i am more a retro gamer then a modern gamer but i still play modenr games ( ps3 mostly )
i have zero not no interest in the 8th gen i dont really like the direction gaming is taking ( more generic military fps blah more dlc crap more sequels more of the same more moving away from single player to multiplayer only and more micro transactions )
if i am going 8th gen it will probably be the wii U oddly enough

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Originally Posted by marlowe221

Well personally, I don't consider the PS2 era to be "retro" but I thought I would leave some wiggle room.

Also, I hate the term "retro" but used it for lack of a better term.

Lots of interesting responses in this thread though!

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considering the ps2 is 14 years old now i think its old enough to be termed retro
lots of gamers who play nowadays were only just born when the ps2 hit the stores

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Originally Posted by KitsuneNight

considering the ps2 is 14 years old now i think its old enough to be termed retro
lots of gamers who play nowadays were only just born when the ps2 hit the stores

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Geez I'm getting old.

For me, it's gotten to the point that the only modern games I play are TBS, space sims, and the occasional ARPG. I also like some of the new-old-style indie games too.

So 99% of the time it's PC or Genesis for me.

The newest game system i could get into, was the Dreamcast. After it died, i bought a PS2, didnt care for it, so i traded it for a PS1 with a ton of games. One of the games included was Rockman 4, a game i hadnt played in almost 8 years. After playing it for a few hours, something snapped in my brain, i realised that this was the kind of gaming that i loved. So i ordered a Genesis...then a NES...then a SNES...then a 2600. 32 consoles later and with the advent of flashcarts, i am in gaming nirvana.

Funny, for some reason, i cant get into current 3d gaming, but i love the Playstation, Saturn, Nintendo 64 era.

I get to watch my brother play many of the current stuff, and i admire the games photorealistic 3d graphics, but nothing can sustitute old school pixel art for me, nor the old school game mechanics, nor the chiptunes.

So, yeah, i only play pre-Dreamcast stuff since like 2003.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

I'm going to guess that it's a pretty rare occasion where you'll find a purely retro gamer. They're either a really frugal person that doesn't like to pay much to play games, are fairly strapped for cash, or just play the older stuff for nostalgia's sake.

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Well here I am. A couple of years ago I got a few CRTs, NTSCJ MD, Scart to component transcoder etc and started collecting the games I wanted. Since then I've pretty much stuck with Sega 16-bit.

I play these games to 1-credit clear so arcade-style console games are all I really need. Today's hand-holding tutorial/cutscene/autosave/QTE nonsense leaves me cold - I want to get better as a gamer, not worse. There is jack shit that uses digital controls these days apart from fighters, and I've officially given those away. I prefer twitch controls, period.

There are exceptions to the rule of course, like the Souls series (so I hear), but quite frankly I just don't have the time, and I never really loved 3D gaming anyway.

Well I did, but that was pretty much just the Sega/Namco arcade stuff from mid-late nineties.

I've got a PS3 (never play it) and a Japanese 360 for all the shmups, but I'd hardly call those 'modern games'.

At the minute i've actually found myself more into modern games than older ones.

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Originally Posted by gamevet

I'm going to guess that it's a pretty rare occasion where you'll find a purely retro gamer. They're either a really frugal person that doesn't like to pay much to play games, are fairly strapped for cash, or just play the older stuff for nostalgia's sake.

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Haha you've described me very well!
I can buy a box full of fantastic 16 bit games for less than the price of 3 new AAA titles. That's not to say that I never buy current gen games... but by the time that I do, they're either half off 'GOTY' with all of the DLC included, or used for 10 bucks. Or a combo of the two! :D

*wears Fedora.

I only play Retro games because those are the only good games ever made.

Now to wait till PS3 is considered retro so I can play that too.

ZIIIIIIIIING!


In all seriousness for me Retro means everything from the beginning up to the Genesis/Snes/32X era.
after that stuff started to be more about 3D, which to me feels like a very different era.

Could that be considered Neo Retro? I dunno.

Do I only play retro games? hell no, you'd lose out on so many great games!
I loooooved playing Fallout 3 and New Vegas, I had a blast playing Mortal Kombat 9.
and GTA5 was epic, so much freedom to do whatever you wanted, fly a plane? jump out with a parachute?
land on a boat and go out to sea and get eaten by a shark? you could do it!

I might miss the excitement games gave me back in the day, but there's great games in this era too.

I could never be a pure "retro"/classic gamer.

I played games then for the same reason I do now. Because they are fun, and I love the sense of "awesome"

Plenty of those exist now. But they won't be the same style and tastes as they were "back in the day" in most cases.

I mostly play retro games but it's not a self imposed restriction or anything, indie games are good to go too.

Modern AAA games though I mostly avoid. They require too much time invested to become fun. Even disregarding cutscene fests and long loading times, either:
- The source of fun is the story progression, with gameplay mostly on autopilot.
- They have a strong multiplayer focus and therefore are only fun if you're good or have friends to play with.

Not interested in either case. There are plenty of exceptions of course but still.

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Originally Posted by KitsuneNight

they are pushing 14 years old by now
isnt that old enough to be called retro ?

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No. Retro is an overused term, that's the first problem. The second problem is people don't know if retro refers go something simply old and dated, or a tangible paradigm shift in the substance and style of the game.
Simply being old shouldn't mean something is "retro"

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Originally Posted by Kamahl

- They have a strong multiplayer focus and therefore are only fun if you're good or have friends to play with.

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This is actually one of my only gripes about modern games.
I don't mind if it has a multiplayer section. Hell, I will probably pop on once or twice to check it out and see if I enjoy it.

But I hate when games are multiplayer for no particular reason but to be multiplayer. I just want to chill out and do things at my own pace most of the time.

Well, if we're really digging in here...

I'd kept up until about '09 or so, bit a resurgence in '11 for about a month, and then that was it.

Mid 6th generation I started to feel something off about what video games had become. Like for the first time I was just noticing how FMV dependent they had become. Things like ninja action games starting to focus as much, if not more, on the story, as much as the ninja action. Requiring as much time to complete as a small RPG, no less.

Then there were the unlock fest games. Mortal Kombat with it's krypt's. That wasn't all that fun. The games themselves were more enjoyable once that was finally behind me. That and their story modes. Which used to be the fighting tournaments, but had now become adventures, almost like mini-Zelda games. If I wanted that, why wouldn't I just pick up a Zelda game, instead of a Mortal Kombat? The mini game modes, like the racing and chess games were pretty cool diversions though. Wouldn't have minded seeing more of that, and less adventure/unlocking. Then comes stuff like Dynasty Warriors. I had an issue with data storage once, and just wasn't going to go through all that unlocking again. The core gameplay is fun, but it becomes a chore when you're playing to get 30 more characters, random items, best weapons, etc.

Then there's what happens when one of these games gets a scratch, or the laser eye starts to go. Discs, and their drives, are such a piss weak medium.

Early on in the 7th generation, I'd just had enough. Another thing I had noticed during the 6th, was that I had amassed a fairly massive amount of video games, and I was lucky if I wanted to play 5 of them again, after I was done with them.

At the same time, this is where I started to lose interest in RPG's. It seems like it was a general length thing, and as if for the first time I was starting to notice how boring they actually are. I was able to liken playing them to what it was like playing modern games. You play something for so long, because the game requires that much time, not because you actually want to, and you never really feel like playing it again, once you have completed it. Only in this case, 95% of the time, the gameplay itself wasn't all that engaging.

So, I guess I kind of retreated, for lack of a better term, back to the classics. For a while there, I actually appreciated the VCS(2600) more than anything, for it's quick arcade styled games, that didn't appear to have more of a goal than to see how long you can last. Like you played for how long you wanted to, instead of how long developers had expected you to.

That resurgence of interest in 2011 was a Wii. Wii sports felt like a VCS, or even NES game in 3D. No real goal, but to play the game. NSMB felt a classic SMB, and I really got into the console for that whole month that I did, picking up new games whenever I could. Then the modern aspects starting shining though more than the classic. NSMB still was long enough to require saving(I think this is why SMB2 was always my favorite). Mario spinoffs were unlock fests. Even the other games that seemed like they should be more arcade-like had modern aspects I just didn't care for.

The biggest one to me though, was Punch-Out!. It keeps a permanent record, and it forces you to focus on the 1 character at a time. Part of what made the original so great to me, was going back through the old boxers, and getting better at beating them, to get to the one you were currently stuck on. Hell, even the SNES version, which saves, had you go through 4 at a time, so if the champion was still beating you, you'd have to get better at facing the 3 guys before him, until you finally did beat him. With the Wii game, once you were past someone, you were done with ever fighting them again. Until that last retirement mode, anyhow. At which point you're likely to lose fairly early on, because you've forgotten how to fight most of them, because you've been focused solely on the last guy. It just didn't feel right to me.

So I hadn't been interested in modern gaming since. It may be what I had been used to before games made the changes they did when they went 3D, I don't think it's nostalgia at all, but I haven't felt like playing anything beyond the 4th generation because of it. I even hate discs so much, that when I emulate, I'd still rather not deal with ISO's. Partly because a large collection of some of the best games of all time could fit within the information 1 ISO soaks up.

I couldn't think of more off the top of my head here, but the more time went by, the more I could think of reasons to appreciate the classics/retro/whatever, and the less I can appreciate the modern(or modern-ish). I can admit that modern games can be fun, but when all the elements that make them what they are combine, they're just not for me.

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Originally Posted by Zz Badnusty

No. Retro is an overused term, that's the first problem. The second problem is people don't know if retro refers go something simply old and dated, or a tangible paradigm shift in the substance and style of the game.
Simply being old shouldn't mean something is "retro"

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but like it or not that shift has already happend
video games today are very different from 14 years ago

games today have a strong focus on multiplayer even if said multiplayer is absolutley uneccasary and tacked on
they have also shifted to online only
multiplayer only
micro transactions
and dlc crap

not only that but games these days play differently
with regenerating health
an overly cinematic approach with dozens of cut scenes which are usually unskippable
automatic checkpoints
automatic saves
unskippable overly long tutorials
and a vauge desire to be hollywood instead of vidoe games

so even by those defintions the ps2 is already retro because all of that was the exception back then not the norm
( metal gear solid 2 zone of the enders the bouncer and oni certaily fit the bill )

My most current system is a Wii. But for the most part I'm still gaming on older systems. In fact, I'd say I'm becoming less of a retro gamer than I was because my sentiments have somewhat faded since I no longer look at many things through rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. That, and my concerns involve many of the older consoles becoming slowly obsolete with video displays looking like shit on new TVs, cartridge batteries needing to be replaced (though I've only ever had it happen once) and in some cases, hardware that is barely feasible anymore like the toaster NES, or Game Gear with its washed out screen. Add all the costs of modifying them just to be slightly more modern and it's a very inconvenient hobby, one that I do not care to invest in any longer. All this said, I could just remedy my problem by buying the new Retron. So I'll consider it, if I feel gravitated towards retro stuff again. But right now I'm mostly stuck on the sixth gen consoles.

There's a quick way to fix that, get a good SD CRT and learn how to use a soldering iron. Replacing batteries is one of the easiest things to do with soldering.

If all you're concerned with is the games and you don't like the hardware anymore, you could just set yourself up with some emulators and USB controllers. If playing on a PC doesn't sound too good, I highly recommend using a soft modded Wii. It's really easy to mod and there's lots of emulators available.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

There's a quick way to fix that, get a good SD CRT and learn how to use a soldering iron. Replacing batteries is one of the easiest things to do with soldering.

If all you're concerned with is the games and you don't like the hardware anymore, you could just set yourself up with some emulators and USB controllers. If playing on a PC doesn't sound too good, I highly recommend using a soft modded Wii. It's really easy to mod and there's lots of emulators available.

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I'm already using my OUYA for this, but thanks anyway.

I only play Genesis and SCD games. I have a WII, XBOX, and XBOX 360 but they get used sparingly. The 360 is used as DVD player, the original Xbox is used for arcade games which I thought I would play but I haven't and the Wii sits in its box in the closet. I just play the Genesis and SCD and that makes me happy :)

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Originally Posted by Kamahl

Modern AAA games though I mostly avoid. They require too much time invested to become fun. Even disregarding cutscene fests and long loading times, either:
- The source of fun is the story progression, with gameplay mostly on autopilot.
- They have a strong multiplayer focus and therefore are only fun if you're good or have friends to play with.

Not interested in either case. There are plenty of exceptions of course but still.

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There's more good single-player experiences on the current-gen (PS3/360) than you'd think by looking at a popularity poll.

Some of my favorites include Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, PAC-Man CE, REZ HD. Afterburner Climax, The Pinball Arcade, Skyrim, Culdcept Sage (2-player online was cool), 3D Dot Heroes, The Dirt series, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Deadly Premonition, Bioshock, Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age, Xbox Arcade, Raiden Fighters, Radiant Silvergun and many other titles I can't think of at the moment.

I haven't owned a console when it was current since the PSX. I never felt much of a need to keep up with the times. I get more than enough enjoyment out of my old stuff and like Kamahl said, current gen games are more experiences than games.

A lot of today's games hold no interest for me. In particular, I don't play first person shooters, or anything with a first person perspective for that matter. Neither am I interested in most modern third-person action games. I'm not a "retro-only gamer," though. I like to play new independent games, and Nintendo still makes games that I enjoy.