When is a console retro?

[Ozito]

Nah, we're just getting fucking old mate.

That is the truth, retro af.

 

[AncientBoi]

The "official" definitions are the following:

- retro: 15-19 years old
- vintage: 20-99 years old
- antique: 100 years or older

Things get more loose around the edges there,
and some products might fall into more than one category thanks to longer production cycles, but it's a pretty decent and universal scale for all sorts of objects.

Edit: Personally for consoles and similar the year it was stopped being produced is the year the classification starts. So for example the DS won't be retro to me until new year (production stopped in '09).

[considers changing my name to AntiqueBoi] Nah

 

[Sphaa]

When I hear the word "Retro" I don't necessarily think of age, but more on experience.
I think for something to be retro it have to give me a different experience then I'm getting today, so when it comes to consoles I think PS1 are where I draw the line.
Take GTA for example, I never feel like I'm playing "old school / retro" GTA when I'm re-visiting GTA VS/SA , but I DO feel like I'm playing "old school" when I'm playing GTA 1.

 

[RedColoredStars]

I suppose I could call the 6th gen retro once the 10th gen is here.
Idk, ~20-25 years orso.

What was the reason for your laughing at my comment that said "20 years", when the very next post was your own that says "20-25 years"? Or is random uncontrollable laughter just what you do?

 

[Marc_LFD]

Up to the PS1/Saturn/N64 era because afterwards it still feels relatively new to call it "retro."

There was a guy on here who called the PS3 retro and that just made me chuckle, but he's entitled to his opinion, obviously.

Post automatically merged: Dec 10, 2023

"PSP is going up in price now that people consider it retro."

Good thing I don't care about that and instead prefer to have roms, pick one, and play it.

Yesterday I tried the PSP emulator on Android (PPSPP?) and it played smoothly, but the touchscreen controls are just god damn trash and made it unplayable for me. I just got to buy a controller for it, like the Backbone One.

 

[mightymuffy]

Yeah I'm gonna agree with many and say up to PS2/GC/OG Xbox... and I'll clod the Wii in there too. It'll be interesting to see when I deem the PS3/360 retro....(not yet, in my opinion)

Handheld? Similar-ish timescale really - PSP & DS = retro, Vita & 3DS not yet...

 

[Marc_LFD]

It'll be interesting to see when I deem the PS3/360 retro....(not yet, in my opinion)

Graphically, the PS3/360 are just too modern to even be considered retro, although I'll agree the previous gen can fit the bill.

PSP & DS = retro

A bit strange calling the PSP "retro" but okay.

 

[AkikoKumagara]

Graphically, the PS3/360 are just too modern to even be considered retro, although I'll agree the previous gen can fit the bill.

A bit strange calling the PSP "retro" but okay.

"Retro" is a measure of age, not fidelity.

 

[Marc_LFD]

"Retro" is a measure of age, not fidelity.

True, but if games look as good and as modern as that, it's just odd to call them retro.

 

[Anxiety_timmy]

Even though i'm fairly young, I still find it hard to consider anything post dreamcast retro. Alot of that is biases since I grew up with these older systems even when the 8th gen got its start, but calling something like the DS or PSP retro just feels wrong. I think I agree with some of the other responses here though, that being about 20 years of age is when they should start being considered retro. Although there's always going to be people that grew up with these systems and just don't want to consider them retro for one reason or another.

 

[Deleted member 681657]

The Wii emulates retro hardware and now the Wii itself is arguably retro.

 

[Xdqwerty]

15 years after being released

 

[CoolMe]

Simple, NES was ~20yo in 2005 when the PSP came out, now it's almost ~19 years since that, makes sense to call it "retro". However, as others have said, we might need a new name to easily separate between the two, old "retro" (~20 years) and really old "retro" (+30 years).

 

[Marc_LFD]

The Wii emulates retro hardware and now the Wii itself is arguably retro.

Eh, the Wii is essentially a GameCube Slim and in terms of good Wii games it's not a whole lot, IMO.

 

[Hanafuda]

This is easy. When your kid brings their friend over to your house, and when the friend sees the console in question, if they say any of the following:

"Whoa!"
"Is that what I think it is?!?"
"I've never actually seen one of those like, for real. Just pictures ya know."

... then it's retro.

 

[rcpd]

A console becomes retro to me when the following happen:

1. Several years (7-10) have passed
2. It’s no longer developed or sold by the creator
3. A new console by them has been released
3. You cannot buy games online or in a store

PSP is great. It is retro, but that doesn’t affect it. I still buy games locally from people and play it more often than my Nintendo Switch. Super Nintendo/Nintendo 64/Gamecube? All retro.

All I’m doing is giving my opinion. You may not believe in it and that’s fine.

 

[TomSwitch]

Switch is more retro than PSP, much more retro games on Switch than PSP ever had. Switch is the real retro king.

PSP was the visual novel king, I think still is, Switch may one day catch up but perhaps not there yet.

 

[RedColoredStars]

Eh, the Wii is essentially a GameCube Slim and in terms of good Wii games it's not a whole lot, IMO.

Imo there were TONS of great Wii games & that it was the Wii U that lacked.

 

[NewGBAXL]

3+ generations ago
I can't call the Wii retro yet

 

[marchrius]

Modern games just last longer and they don't feel old even when they are. In 2000 if you played a game like Super Mario World (1990) it felt ancient. Today if you play Super Mario 3D World (2013) it feels still good and fresh. That's why today I feel pretty comfortable playing the current generation but also one or two generations behind at the same time.