Will PS1/PS2 *ever* really be retro?

[InvisibleKid]

I keep eyeing up Famicoms and PC Engines mainly because of the retro purchase thread in this here forum (also I seem to have a weird, compulsive desire to purchase hardware) - and as a PlayStation collector (it just panned out that way) I find myself wondering, will PlayStation stuff ever be considered as desirable as PC Engine or Famicom I wonder?

Will the collectability of Famicom and PC Engine hardware die out now that there are genertations of kids growing up who have no idea what they are?

Is there any place in the new downloadable gaming generation for retro collecting, or appreciation of hardware?

I know it's sad - but these questions sometimes keep me up at night.

What do you guys think?

[J0e Musashi]

BC=no IMO.

[InvisibleKid]

BC=no IMO.

But surely the mere nature of BC, region locked, not entirely compat., means that it may well do?

Emulators are a better alternative to back compat. but the same argument there could be applied to PC Engine and Famicom.

In order to play Policenauts fan translation on hardware I had to buy a chipped PS1, because my PS2s (I have PAL, US and JPN PS2s) obviously couldn't play it.

OT: I also have a PS2 dev kit nowadays so that if/when leaked/unfinished games make it to the net - I'll be able to play ;-)

[nakamura]

Of course. Retro is retro no matter how the elitists see it. I see the PS1 largely as retro but the PSN is not helping its cause especially with so many PS1 games looking great on the small screen.

Retro games often command stupidly high prices which is no good for anyone IMO.

[honeymustard]

I see retro as one generation behind... and because we're about halfway through this generation, I'd consider early PS2 games retro, but later ones not retro :P

[J0e Musashi]

But surely the mere nature of BC, region locked, not entirely compat., means that it may well do?

I'm exclusively Sony nowadays. I'm not perhaps in the same boat as you as I only have JPN titles. My launch PS3 can play anything I throw at it. PS1/2 is retro, but the very nature of BC means I'm just as likely to buy a used PS1 title as I am a brand new PS3 title. I just consider it all PlayStation. The only thing I cannot run is PAL/NTSC U/C PS1/2, but I can deal with it.

I find it a great thing TBH as I now only have 1 hardware unit that can play all of my games. Plus I have my PSN D/L's as well as the PC Engine Archives. Coupled with my PSPs it pretty much suits me perfectly.

[speedlolita]

I only consider stuff that's 20+ years old to be retro.

I currently own a prototype PlayStation that boots everything, many PAL, a chipped PAL, an NTSC-J, an NTSC-J fat PS2, NTSC-J slim and a PAL of each of the two PS2 previous.

I've started buying lots of Japanese games recently, honestly the games are still very modern - it's not going down without a fight.

[Ouenben]

PS1 already is retro.

PS2 itself isnt really retro what with new releases still coming out and with FFXII, Shadow of the collosus, God of War 2 etc in its later years really pushing the system and still being impressive now but early PS2 games certainly look and feel retro. Half life PS2 anyone?

[samanosuke]

It's all a matter of opinion really; I've heard some on the RG board say that they only consider 8-bit consoles/computers to be retro, whereas others on this very board have said that even the likes of the GC/Xbox should be considered retro.

I fall somewhere in between as, to me, retro means 2D, and old sprite-based 2D at that, so I deem anything up to the 16-bit era and to some extent the Saturn era to be retro. The PSX has too big a 3D to 2D ratio of games for me to consider it exclusively retro, and it's unlikely that anyone would have a PSX library with more 2D games than 3D. This is all just my opinion though so feel free to disregard or lambast it if you so wish

[samanosuke]

By the way speedlolita, I've not seen you post here before? Are you new or just a change of avatar? If you're the former, bienvenido amigo

[BaudAttitude]

I think it's partially a hardware generation thing, partially a gameplay thing. When I started collecting stuff that people identified as "retro", it was in 1995 or so, early in the Saturn era, and NES games weren't considered "retro" yet, only pre-NES consoles and the 7800. Obviously the distinction has moved on a bit.

Even at the time, though, "retrogamers" were snapping up NES versions of classic arcade games, so there was the notion that "retro" didn't necessarily depend on the hardware used to play the titles.

So there you have the distinction that "retro" was based around a concept, that you were playing a game solely for the high score rather than reaching an ending. NES games mostly had an ending, pre-NES games mostly didn't, it was an easy distinction.

I think that both hardware platform and concept-based definitions of "retro" are moving targets; there were some PS1 games that were quite deep and compared well to modern titles in terms of gameplay elements, there are some modern titles that go for simplicity. It blurs quite a bit, really, and I think a lot of it comes down to "Did I play this when I was a kid? Well, it's retro to me, then, innit?"

[sadat]

What does retrogaming mean? Is it the fact that the game relies on an old mechanic, or aesthetic, as some of the previous posters have said above, or is it that it makes the person playing the game remind themselves of playing games in earlier times, as a nostalgic experience. 2D gaming seen from 2009 lumps together everything from the Atari 2600 to Super NES and to my mind that's three or four generations [Atari --> Spectrum --> NES / Master System / GameBoy --> Super NES / PC Engine was my path -- can you rightly lump all those eras together in one umbrella term?]. It's a continuum, and as time passes and new people get into games those boundaries are going to change.

The fact that it's great to play games from back in the day is both partly to do with that sense of reminiscence and also as a resurrection of olden-golden gameplay mechanics. Either way, I fully expect the PS2, Xbox 360 and DS to be part of this forum's retrogaming section ten years from now. What will change is the fact that retrogaming now is about getting the old equipment together, ahnd hunting down the games, sometimes from the other side of the world. Though XBLA / PSN / emulators have eased access to 1990s titles including PS1 stuff, and will in the future take away a big part of that whole treasure-hunting part of playing older games, I don't see why it's not time to call PS1 "retro".

[usman]

.....

[speedlolita]

I see what you're saying - probably the reason why I own 8 PlayStation. I don't have the need to leave my PlayStation setup with my PlayStation 2 like I do with my Saturn + Dreamcast.

Still my favourite console mind.

[Wools]

I don’t really agree with you in regards to the PSone having no worth as a retro machine although I agree it’s not been allowed to be forgotten.

Also one could argue what is retro? I would define the term with only one criteria, as being at least a generation behind the most recent generation. Any other meaning is placing personal feelings into the equation and making something more out of what is just meant to be a way to group something.

Of course I would class Sonic The Hedgehog on the Mega Drive as retro, but I would also class Superman 64 and Fifa ’98 as retro. Along with Crazy Taxi and Shenmue along with thousands of others! I think Retro once had a real meaning as you could only play a old game on an old piece of hardware, now with the arrival of emulation, downloads and re-releases, retro has for me just taken on the term of an old game. If I put on the Italian Job on my Blu Ray player, should I really think that it’s a retro film and try to break the term down? Not at all, I just watch all films with the same relish and enjoy newer films alongside the classics.

Back to the question then, will PS1 and PS2 ever be retro? If you’re classifying it as an age bracket then yes, it’s already retro. If you’re asking will it fully become collectable? Well I only ever class desirable games as collectable, not an entire system, so no the library itself won’t ever be collectable as it’s too vast and not all complete quality.

My head hurts!