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Where to draw the "retro" line

mαrkαsscoρ

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This is like the 3rd time or something I made a thread about this topic but I can't help it, I hate it so much.

Do you guys think there should be a line drawn on what's retro and what's not? Or is it just purely a time thing for you guys? Does it make sense in 20 years time to call the PS5 and Xbox Series systems retro? Should there be a gen to cut off the "retro" label and everything after be something else?
It feels like it took a bit for people to get used to calling the 6th gen retro but now it's pretty much unanimous. But can this really happen again for the 7th gen? That's basically what I'm wondering, like if collectively people are going to keep calling every old system "retro" after a certain time.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

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Retro is a pretty subjective term based mostly on what you personally believe to be retro. Since I'm super old, retro for me would be the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, but I'd even call stuff like the OG Xbox and the Gamecube retro. However, it's dependent entirely on how old you are. It's a sliding time scale of what will be considered old. Heck, consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are seventeen years old now. There are gamers who weren't gaming age when those consoles were prevalent, and for whom they no doubt seem very retro.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

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Yeah I think at some point, with time, games from a gen will fall under "retro" games, since retro games doesn't really mean exclusively classic games so much anymore.

I think even creating a distinction of what is and isn't a "classic" game would also be a mistake. Classic games kind of fall into the same sliding time scale.
 

twilitfalchion

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I think it'll end up being an issue of time. Newer generations are gonna have increasingly more recent standards for what's considered retro.

It's kinda awkward to know that the Wii is already retro to some, when to me, retro stops with the 5th generation of consoles. But it is a personal thing at the end of the day though.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

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I think it'll end up being an issue of time. Newer generations are gonna have increasingly more recent standards for what's considered retro.

It's kinda awkward to know that the Wii is already retro to some, when to me, retro stops with the 5th generation of consoles. But it is a personal thing at the end of the day though.

With that 4:3 aspect ratio and that 480p resolution, the Wii was pretty retro the the day it released. :eyes:
 

mαrkαsscoρ

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the thing about it being subjective to each person is that it won't matter in the grand scheme of things, like I could say retro ends at dreamcast, but everyone else will keep calling 6th gen stuff retro, and I can't act like those are modern systems when it's collectively seen that they're not

so collectively, will there ever be a definitive line drawn? or will it continue to mean whenever a console reaches x age?
 

Jimmu

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Anyone saying that GameCube or Wii is retro is going to hurt my feelings.

As others have said I suppose it is fairly subjective and will change with time, I would personally consider the line to be between the N64 and the GCN with the N64 being retro and the GCN not quite yet.
 

Bowsette Plus-Ultra

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Anyone saying that GameCube or Wii is retro is going to hurt my feelings.

As others have said I suppose it is fairly subjective and will change with time, I would personally consider the line to be between the N64 and the GCN with the N64 being retro and the GCN not quite yet.

The Gamecube is retro. :cool:
 

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