Retro Gaming isn’t Mario and Sonic anymore – It’s Your PS3

As a 40-year-old player of video games, I have seen a lot of consoles arrive, and very few go. Perhaps a collector? My wife would call me a hoarder. I have a lot of old gaming systems from the 1980s to the ’90s and the ’00s in our home. I also have modern, 4K-ready games, many of which I play regularly – not just for nostalgia. Retro gaming is more than just a history lesson about getting here. The past classics can be as engaging and enjoyable as today’s open worlds and multiplayer socialising. They are experiences that don’t require remakes or remasters. You already know this. Every gamer knows this. Retro, 2022 is a tricky question. Where do we draw the line?

The Xbox 360 will turn 17 years old this year, and the PlayStation 3 (and Nintendo Wii) will be celebrating its 16th anniversary. The Wii’s successor, the unfairly denigrated Wii U (it is a great console and I will fight with you over this), will turn 10 years old. Double digits for consoles that don’t feel old, at least to those who have had a few decades (this being relative, since I’m 18 now, the 360 will seem ancient). The 360 and PS3 both have HD-ready, online-enabled consoles closer to today’s than they were in the past. They also hosted several successful game series, including Assassin Creed and Gears of War.

There are also the massive games that were released during this period, such as Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V and Mario Kart 8. (which was first available on Wii U but became a huge success on Switch), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption. These aren’t retro games. These are not retro games.

“In Retro Gamerwe view retro as anything older that 15 years, which is what I personally believe to be a good yardstick,” states Darran James, editor for Future Publishing’s Retro Gamer magazine. This magazine is one of few that actively emphasizes the past over the present. This reasoning is common because it usually means that two generations of consoles have gone, which is another yardstick gamers use to define retro. It all comes down to each person – I have found that retro is “What I played as a child.”Thish may explain how some younger readers can see the 360 as a retro console,bute I’m struggling todeals with that. Turns ou, I’m not alone in feeling that way. “In my head, I know ‘retro’ is a moving target,” Bex Trist , aka TristaBytes on Twitch, YouTube and more, tells me. “However, in my heart, I guess I think of retro as more of a mixture of nostalgia, my denial that the ’90s are over, and a certain range of visual styles now. Gaming has reached a point where the difference between generations is so small compared to before.

The difference between a Spectrum and a Mega Drive game was phenomenal – much less so looking at the changes between say, the Xbox 360 to PlayStation 5, where the games feel more like constant smooth iterations rather than taking huge leaps.”

When I label the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 retro systems, the thing that really makes me stop is the fact that the games look, feel, and play the same way today as they did a decade ago. There are improvements, but there is also more tech that allows for the integration of many bells and whistles into the experience. Play a Call of Duty, a GTA on 360 and then the most recent entry on a Series X and you will get the same impression. While the Grand Theft Auto Vof 2013 may look very different from the Grand Theft Auto Vof 20,22, the core gameplay loops that make up these popular series have remained unchanged for many years. In some cases, even since the advent of the PlayStation 2.

Some can however confidently say that the 360 is retro, so let’s just deal with it. It’s completely retro,” declares Brandon Saltalamacchia. He is the creator of the Retro Dodo YouTube channel as well as the website. (And who is the absolute youngest person featured in this article). As the gaming industry evolves and newer hardware releases are released, retro consoles’ ‘age’ will increase. Next year, the PlayStation 4 will turn 10 years old. But is it truly’retro? It may be retro to some, but it is not retro to me, even with 10 years of experience. This is why I adhere to the “multiple generations” threshold.

This logic states that anything older than two generations is retro. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both count as retro. My publisher and I debated where to draw the line when I was writing a book about retro gaming in 2019. The GameCube, PlayStation 2 era, and the original Xbox era were our final choices. However, it felt like we could have pushed it further, closer, to where it is now. The fact that these consoles were able to play so many different games at the beginning and the end of their lives is one of the problems with calling them retro.

A game like The Last of Us, which was released on a PS3 in 2013, doesn’t look retro. However, the original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune of 2007, created by Naughty Dog, does seem dated. It’s rigid, its movements are unreal, and its visuals are closer to those of the previous console generation. However, it has been awkwardly upscaled into muddy high definition.

Darran states, “If you play a lot more of those early games on those systems you’ll find that they don’t feel as new games, even though they may look like them.” It is also confusing and blurring the lines that developers continue making games for older hardware. The demand for new software for old machines is greater than ever, which Bex believes is helping to keep old-school consoles relevant.

She explains that “people are creating amazing games for the Dreamcast and Mega Drive, Commodore 64, and other platforms to this day” (she adds). “So, I suppose’retro” has become an ethos and a style of gaming design to me now. Or, I’m just in denial. Let’s just say that I’m not ready to call the 360-era retro. “I have friends who are older than me.”

We’ve now loosely defined retro 2022 as anything that is either a few generations old or has an evocatively throwback look to it. I think that’s a good thing. I have another point to make with certain gamers of the present.

I find it very frustrating to hear that older games are not appealing to people who have grown up with modern experiences. If someone asks me about the ‘perfect game’, I will answer that it is Tetris and Pac-Man. Streets of Rage 2 and Streets of Rage 3 are my favorites. Not because they are different, but because they have mastered their MOs with very little padding. They still stand proudly today as iconic games in their respective genres. This is not to say that I don’t like newer games. The Legend of Zelda, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda, Breath of Wild set new standards for fantasy role-players. And the Forza Horizon series has brought arcade racers to a new realm of freedom and exploration. It’s absurd and a bit naive to say that “old games” have no appeal today.

“A good game is a good game,” says Bex. “My poor mother saved up for an entire year to buy one of my siblings a PlayStation when it first launched. It was incredible! The first true polygon 3D gaming we ever had. And then we found a £5 Pong machine at a second-hand shop. Pong is from before my time. It’s a few lines, a square and clunky paddle controllers. But the justified look of horror on my mother’s face after we played that Pong machine for hours and almost got into fights over the matches while the shiny PlayStation sat there for a few days tells you everything you need to know, really.”

She continues, “The 8- and 16bit eras were when games were limited to just one joystick or D-pad, up to six buttons, and they were much easier to play physically.” “The best games have great gameplay that is easy to understand and get into. As someone with dyspraxia, I can tell you that I wouldn’t have been able to become a long-term gamer if I had started with the complex dexterity-demanding controllers on modern consoles.

It’s easy to connect with your kids via video games because you only need a few buttons. It’s clear that most modern, local-multiplayer games like Overcooked and Mario Kart Deluxe aren’t particularly complicated in terms of controls. It can be fun to explore older games and make connections with series that continue to sell exceptionally well. Darran says: “I would argue that strong connections to most Nintendo video games are there because it’s one the few publishers that still continuously publishes games tied with their older consoles. However, I don’t believe you need to feel nostalgic about old games to enjoy them. Although the Beatles were not together when I was born in 1973, they are still one of my favorite bands. I can also say that I love a lot of movies from the 1950s through the 1970s.

Brandon, a younger Brandon, offers an alternative voice: “The 8 and 16-bit eras really don’t have much appeal to the 20 year old gamer in my view, as much it hurts me to admit that. Today’s gamers want something faster-paced and more immersive. Going back to retro-games doesn’t offer the same level of immersion as new games. There’s nothing quite like playing Ttris on the Game Boy DMG. He also says that remakes can help bring classic titles to younger gamers, as well as “remasters and movies, and even TV shows”, and cites a popular handheld series for this purpose.

“Pokemon is a huge franchise, and knowing the origins of this franchise is a reason to get into it is enough.” Pokemon has seen a slew of remakes. The new versions of its Diamond and Pearl entries were originally released on the DS, and will be available for Switch in late 2021.

Each of the interviewees I interviewed for this piece still plays old games regularly and, most importantly, loves them. These games are essential to their careers but they remain a passion point. They all have their collections, but they also know that sometimes the enjoyment of collecting can get lost in the shuffle. Darran says that there is a fine line between hoarding and collecting and that it can happen in any hobby, not just video gaming. He does however buy older games with the intention of one day playing them. Brandon says that he is playing on the Game Boy every single week. However, not owning games in itself is not a major deal. He adds, “If I don’t use them or have to play them less than every six to twelve months, I sell them.” Bex, however, keeps her focus on her collecting.

“I have mostly my original games, which I thankfully hoarded and never lost or sold. Slowly I am able to get the things I wanted when I was a child but couldn’t afford. It might seem like I’m not collecting it, since it takes up quite a bit of space. But I don’t want to get everything or complete every version. I only play the games that I can’t afford as a kid.

It’s this last point, on affordability, which I feel has led to a lot of people choosing to emulate older games rather than seek out original copies. Collecting physical games can be incredibly expensive, with some of the so-called essentials for any console often selling on second-hand markets for eye-watering prices. (I picked up a reproduction of Konami’s Snatcher on Mega CD the other year, as the cost of the actual 1994 PAL release is staggering .) What’s the harm, you might think, in downloading a ROM or two – especially if those games aren’t actively available anymore, for modern systems? And, mostly, the harm is negligible if not non-existent, but nevertheless it’s illegal, it’s stealing. And it’s an issue that all three of my interviewees have thoughts on.

Retro game prices have skyrocketed beyond affordable due to collectors hoarding hundreds and investors snapping them up to grade them and then sell them for mass profit,” Brandon says. His Retro Dodo channel covers emulation handhelds such as Anbernic or Powkiddy. “If a consumer wishes to play Pokemon Red they should be able to purchase it from Nintendo via ROM format, or on current-generation consoles through any means .

Unfortunately, developers are greedy, and older games and consoles are too costly for the average consumer. Emulation is growing rapidly and handheld emulators have become the preferred way for gamers to play old games. Nintendo and other companies have a lot of market to tap into. However, they prefer that you subscribe to their remasters or purchase them online. You won’t be allowed to play the games when they close or make them unavailable in stores.

Bex says, “I believe we should preserve all we can.” “Lost media is an irreplaceable piece of our history. We see some games that are worth thousands simply because there’s no other way to play them. The digital files of retro games, especially older titles are smaller than digital files. I believe game publishers and developers should be encouraged to keep them and make them available to everyone who wishes to. Subscription-service-only models (like the current Switch Online method of accessing NES, SNES and N64 games) are the best and worst in equal forms.

These models allow us to play, preserve, and access everything without spending thousands of dollars. However, they also ensure that we have nothing physical to protect us if the service is discontinued. A download-to-keep option would be great. Anyone who wishes to play or watch offline could pay a single fee. We would get the best of both.

And for Darran, it’s partly a question of who is losing out when the player emulates rather than buys a game. “Video game companies are pretty poor at making their back catalogues easily available, so it’s unsurprising that many gamers resort to piracy in order to play games. Emulation has become far more prevalent recently, particularly as the prices of retro games rise. If you’ve got a choice between emulating a game or buying the same game for £200-plus from a private buyer, where the original developer doesn’t benefit from that sale, some will suggest that piracy in that instance is okay. But it’s certainly a thorny issue.

I’m not personally a fan of Nintendo’s (subscription-only) approach as you’ve no idea how long a game will be around, but at least they’re adding extras to justify the price charged. People like Frank Cifaldi and everyone else at the Video Game History Foundation are all doing a terrific job of preserving old games, and it’s a shame publishers and developers can’t follow suit.”

It’s obvious that the focus shifts to what is “retro” gaming. Publishers should make their archives easier accessible, and classics will not go out of fashion. Personally, I cannot wait to see which games this generation will be as well-respected as Tetris and Pac-Man in the next 30-40 years. Assuming that this supposed metaverse hasn’t swallowed us all and made us creepy, ageless avatars without any ties to a world we’ve left in ruin, obviously.

Retro Gaming isn’t Mario and Sonic anymore – It’s Your PS3