Being a Gamer VS Being a Retro Gamer

[pook99]

Well, most people who play old games do stick to the good ones. Only the dedicated folks play the ones that are sub-par, in most cases. The reason we call that stuff “Classic” is because it is still notable despite being old. So it’s not as inaccurate as retro.

The reason I brought it up here is because retro would be the perfect term for a lot of modern indie titles, were it no so misused a term already. It leaves me wondering what else would work.

I typically use the phrase "retro inspired indies" or "old school style games" when describing what I like to play to people. I don't know if there is a more concise way to phrase it but that seems to work for me.

[marurun]

We could call them “old-like” or “old-esque”.

[Gunstar Green]

One day the kids will come up with a new term to describe old-styled games and we'll all hate it.

[Ack]

Well, most people who play old games do stick to the good ones. Only the dedicated folks play the ones that are sub-par, in most cases.

Well hello there. Have you heard the good word, friend? Shaq-Fu ain't that bad.

[marurun]

Oh gawd, another one of those door-to-door Shaq-Fu-vangelists. Go away! The sign says no soliciting!

[Ordinary Gamer]

Based on this post and your other post in the games beaten thread I think your gaming tastes are very similar to mine. Technically, I play tons of new games, but almost all of them are retro inspired. I do enjoy a new style game every so often, but retro inspired indies are what I spend most of my time on.

I just started katana zero yesterday, and will probably finish that today. On my switch I am getting ready to play mercenaries saga(old school grid based SRPG) Battle princess madelyn(heavily inspired by ghosts n goblins), and blaster master zero 2.

I think there are so many amazing indie gems out there that fly under the radar. Sure, you have stuff like celeste, the messenger, shovel knight, and others that receive a lot of attention, but there are so many really solid indie games that get absolutely no attention.

Do you play any fan games? I recently discovered the world of fan games and rom hacks, there is a lot of stuff out there, a lot of it is not that great and consists of either pallette swaps or games that are obscenely difficult, but if you look around there are some amazing "sequels" to classic games made by fans. Most prominent for me would be Mega Man Unlimited, but there are other good ones out there also.

I'm kind of bummed Kantaza ZERO isn't on PS4 as there are outlets that reported it would be released there. I have a Switch that I can play it on, but I generally prefer using my PS4 to play games.

Yeah, there are fun games like Rad Rodgers and Super Daryl Deluxe that I never hear people talk about. It's always odd how some indie games get a wave of support from gaming press, like The Messenger or Shovel Knight while others get completely overlooked. These days, it seems like anything published by Devolver Digital will likely get noticed. They're kind of big now. I'm not even sure if their published games can even still be considered indie now LOL

I haven't really played any fan games, but I've seen some in development that look interesting. There are some cool looking Mega Man X ones out there that I've noticed since Capcom seems to only care about reviving classic Mega Man at the moment

I feel like I'm in an odd place where I don't really play old games all that much, which would presumably not make me a retro gamer. However, most of the NEW games I play feel very old.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm playing this new game right now, it's called New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.

I think that's why Nintendo makes up most of the new games that I do play. New Nintendo games feel like old games. New SMB is obvious. Super Mario Odyssey very much feel like Super Mario 64.

I get super excited when I hear announcements for games like Katana Zero, a retro, 2d, sidescrolling platformer, or upcoming remakes/releases like The Ninja Warriors: Once Again.

Ah yea, Ninja Warriors. I forgot that was coming out. Thanks for reminding me!

But yeah, I totally get what you're saying. The only new games that I get excited for are games that feel old. Like Bloodstained, or Ninja Warriors.

Yeah, Bloodstained looks great. I played a little bit of Curse of the Moon and it was pretty cool. I only recently learned of Ninja Warriors Once Again. I sort of stumbled onto it by accident while looking for something else online. It doesn't seem like a lot of sites have talked about this remaster/remake of it coming out. I LOVE that some companies are going this far back in time to bring back stuff. Capcom recently announced a mini arcade thing they are putting out with some of their arcade, beat 'em ups on it. Space Channel 5 is getting a VR update. It blows my mind that even Neo Geo and Intellivision are coming back through SNK and Tommy Tallarico

At this point, I actually wouldn't be that shocked to see a new Dreamcast...though it's still highly unlikely. One can dream though...

[Forlorn Drifter]

I think it's a complicated question, although I also think it doesn't really matter.

I've pulled much more to modern stuff the last 4 or so years, which makes me wonder why I spend so much time looking at retro stuff. But then I remember that my past 3 consoles were Christmas presents and I really didn't feel the need to buy retro consoles. It's funny too, because the games I've really connected with have mostly had "retro" sentiments, or pulled from that weird Japanese niche market that's slowly fallen off since PS2 era-Dragon Crown, Catherine, Doom 2016, RE2Remake, RE7, Yakuza, etc. There's exceptions, but that generally has to do with the story genre, such as western or fantasy.

It's also strange because I'm really put off by much of modern gaming style- open worlds are becoming pointlessly large, I hate collectibles, graphics were fine after 2003, and games take themselves too seriously nowadays. God Hand doesn't care at all if it makes no sense, and I love that. Resident Evil never tried to be more than B level horror, and when it went away from that audiences felt betrayed. I think that's why I have such a high interest in the Switch- even the 3rd party games are just willing to be games instead of grand stories. If Capcom and Sega weren't pumping out good stuff lately, I'd probably stick to Nintendo and retro.

[Erik_Twice]

Well, most people who play old games do stick to the good ones. Only the dedicated folks play the ones that are sub-par, in most cases.

Well hello there. Have you heard the good word, friend? Shaq-Fu ain't that bad.

Go away! You are an offense to the real Retrogaming God: The 4th tier JRPG that didn't make it the United States. If you haven't played Sword World, you are not a real gamer, I say!

[Key-Glyph]

Well hello there. Have you heard the good word, friend? Shaq-Fu ain't that bad.

Oh gawd, another one of those door-to-door Shaq-Fu-vangelists. Go away! The sign says no soliciting!

I laughed out loud at this. Thanks guys. You too, Erik-Twice. Tell 'em like it is!

is hiding the fact she's a fake gamer™ as a result of never having played Shaq-Fu

[isiolia]

We could call them “old-like” or “old-esque”.

Dad rock games.

At some point though, most of them would simply belong to whatever genre they represent. IE, if you're making a platform game or a fighter, then opting to make it 2D is more a genre decision than a throwback. Those are game types that, while their popularity may have fluctuated, have never really gone away. To be fair, there are certainly games that are very deliberately retro in some way - Return of the Obra Dinn for example. However, far more often, it's just a matter of developers utilizing mechanics or aesthetics that fit their project (or taste), and those decisions are only naturally going to be informed by things that came before.