Is There A "Too Old" Cut-Off Point on Games For You?

[disorderlyvision]

16-bit is pretty much my cut off. I grew up on the NES so there are a handful of games (Contra, Mario's, etc) that I will play now and then, but not near as much as 16 bit and later.

As for handhelds, I have a hard time getting into many gb/gbc games. And there are a handful of games on the Game Gear that I still play on occasion, but currently GBA and PSP games are pretty much the only handhelds I play.

I sort of have a cutoff going in the other direction too. with the exceptions of the NES, PS1 and PS2 I have never owned a system when it was current gen. I have enough games to keep me occupied, so I tend to wait until a system has run it's course and all the "hidden gems" are unearthed. The systems are usually cheap, 80% of the game library is cheap. All the fun at a fraction of the cost

[8bit]

My first console was an nes at 5 years old so I cannot enjoy most games before that period and do not own one game or system pre nes. The best I do for pre-nes is owning Atari collections for the ps1, ps2, etc and that works just fine for me.

[Menegrothx]

I draw the line in pong and "dot on the screen" games (Odyssey 1). I will play and collect stuff like Atari 2600, Channel F and Odyssey 2. Antyhing that is an actual cartridge based console and not just plug in and play type of thing. I dont really feel like buying a computer older than the Commodore 64 though.

80s PC games are typically very ugly (what's with color schemes that use nothing but shade of blue and purple?)

In games such as...? Name one game on the NES or SMS that looks as good as Shadow of the Beast or King's Quest IV. The first model of Amiga was released in 1985 (the same year NES was released in the US) and Amiga 500 was released in 1987 (the same year NES was released in some European countries and Australia)

hard to get running

Not really, you just need to know what to write (like LOAD"*",8,1). Just like modern computers dont work if you dont know how to use them. But that doesnt mean that learning how to use one would be extraordinarily hard.
Or you can just use an emulator.

and frequently user-unfriendly.

Sure they use more than two buttons and often times came with a manual (even NES/SMS games required the player to use manual at times), I dont see why that is a problem if you find 2600 games too simple. The platformers, sports games and games like that arent any different than on NES/SMS. Of course there is a learning curve if you play something like a simulator or a RPG.

[Forlorn Drifter]

Any home console before NES is a no go for me. (I'm not sure when the Vectrex came out, that's good for me too.)

Not much of a PC gamer, but I'd say nothing much earlier than Wolfenstein 3D.

Any and all arcade machines are good for me, but some, like asteroids, I personally can't play for too long. (Space Invaders, on the other hand, never gets old.)

[flojocabron]

I can handle 2600 games.

This was my first system. My family couldnt afford nes gaming back then. So we had to do with atari. My brother and I played lots of hours of Ms. pacman, galaxian, phoenix, pitfall, pole position and Especially River Raid.

I guess it all depends on what you grew up on really! The older gamers here know what its like in its early days. For some of you here You cant go to early 8 bit days since you grew up on 16 bit machines.

I'm sure that the little kids that are gaming right now on this current gen system, cant handle or dont care for the N64/playstation era. They may call it too simplistic or boring graphics. They'll never know what it means to blow on a cartrige!

One type of gaming that I never got a hold on was early PC/DoS gaming. I never owned a computer till I was 17 and it was an old slow windows 98 PC. I never learned any dos commands and the only PC knowlege I had was typing class in highschool. Even today, I am still not a hardcore PC gamer. I have never bought a full retail price PC game. Even now, I ignore pc games at the fleamarket.

I think this vid can summarize our predicament.....

http://youtu.be/KMy1zO8m8sM

[BoneSnapDeez]

No. I love the 2600 and old arcade games. I would absolutely love to have an Odyssey and Vectrex in my collection, but they're a bit too expensive.

On a similar note, if the industry keeps heading in the direction it's going I think I'm going to hit a "too new" cut-off point.

[TheyCallMeTheSwede]

I remember having an Atari for Christmas back in early 2000s, I was stoke to have it, after awhile the novelty of having it kind of overstayed its welcome and all it does is just take up space and collect dust, so I did the merciful thing is just sell it. I appreciate the history or what has it done to define gaming, its just not my kind of gaming, once in a blue moon, I like to play Pitfall, Kaboom, or River Raid...but I just prefer the NES and beyond.

For PC games, I like some Commodore 64 games and I would like to get into it more. Early DOS games...I kind of hate games with a very limited color palette (blue, purple, white, and black) and I hate this ear rape you call PC speaker sounds. I would say Prince of Persia (89) and beyond is my preference. BTW, I can't stand Sierra adventure games.

[Erik_Twice]

No, I don't think so and I have no problem playing old boardgames either. But there's a catch: I'm extremely demaning of my games lately and many old games are written off simply because I would rather play something cleaner in design.

There aren't many interesting videogames older than Galaxian or Pac Man and with MAME there's little reason to play the inferior 2600 or Colecovision ports so I play with the arcade originals. I do think Scramble or Missile Command are pretty ugly, though.

Concerning PC games, it seems most of the interesting stuff evolved and I haven't found any reasons to play something older than Wasteland (1988) so far. The old Sierra games have remakes and also had their peak later. The first Ultimas aren't as good as the later and I see lttle reason to play IV before I play VII. There's only one or two C64 games I would play but they are not top tier material.

So it's not so mucha bout age as quality, so as to speak.

[Luke]

nope

[darth_blunted]

Yes, anything before video games I can not play. Life, Stratego, Scabble, Clue, Sorry, Chutes and Ladders, Battleship, Risk, Jax, Slinky, Rubix cube, Pick up Stix (lol), Othello, oh hell you get the Idea.