How old is too old?

[Technocrat]

I'm a quite keen on retro games - reliving bygone days of yore and pre-pentium machines. Sometimes, I dig out my NES and my 486 to have a go of Mario 3 and X-Wing, since there's no better reminder of my childhood for me.

Sometimes, I find an old game that I didn't play when I was younger, either because our computer wasn't quite up to spec enough at the time (never got a 3dfx card until 2000! :O ), or because we lived in Kuwait and games were a bit harder to come by, so I fire up DosBox, and give them a try.

I've tried quite a few, but some are just impenetrable to me. I think my absolutel threshold is around the beginning of the 1990s on the PC - I can play X-Wing, Doom and Ultima Underworld quite happily without the interface/graphics being an obstruction, but when I dig up my uncle's old Spectrum, it's just unplayable to me. Awkward controls, graphics like someone's eaten and regurgitated Christmas decorations, and incredibly user-unfriendly. I think the absolute limit of graphics/interface I've found I can put up with is something like Carrier Command - it's functional enough, and the graphics will *do*, but I cannot play something like Elite.

So, I'm quite aware that there are many people younger than me on here - what would you say is *your* playability limit as far as games of the past go? Are there people who'd refuse to touch anything pre-Quake?

Also, list some classics you'd recommend to people.

- Carrier Command

Spoiler

- X-Wing

Spoiler

- Floor 13

Spoiler

- Ultima VIII, and Ultima Underworld

Spoiler

- Take No Prisoners

Spoiler

- Zone 66

Spoiler

 

[Drakmeire]

I believe no game is too old as long as it's fun.
hell, I just bought an NES so I could play the old school games that I wasn't born in time to enjoy when they were new.

 

[JeanLuc761]

I think Doom is about my limit and that's simply because the game is (somehow) still addicting. Anything after that, I'm pretty much happy with.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

pong, I love all games no matter what the age. I recently bought an ol N64 ,i sold the other one when I was 11

 

[FalloutJack]

I have a working Atari 2600.

 

[Lyx]

Without rewriting all that i wrote in a similiar thread a few days ago:

If an older "classic" is enjoyable depends on:

- Was the game generally interesting and fun, or did its appeal depend on certain things not having been done before? Example: A new game comes out that does something new and interesting. People love it. Then 4 years later another game comes out that does it even better. Will they afterwards still enjoy the first game?

- Controls and Usability. Games have made leaps in that regard, and expectations about controls and UI are much higher nowadays. This affects some games more than others.

- How much priority does the player put on sound and graphics? Very old games (about 1985 and earlier) didn't do graphics and sound to look pretty - they simply used it as a way to communicate what is meant. Think of it a bit like those ASCII-graphics in roguelikes but with the important difference, that they actually tried to make the "symbols" recognizable back then (i.e., if the player-char was a human, then it would have a human shape, instead of being an @ )

- How much of the appeal simply comes from nostalgia?


P.S.
For those that would like to "get into" older graphics, but so far felt unable to do so:
Change your assumptions about what graphics are there for. As described above, early graphics weren't there to show you how something looks. They were there to tell you "here is a snake". Try to not look at such games like you look at a video. Think of them just telling you what to imagine - so, a bit like a book, except that you get shown "icons" instead of words.

 

[Veylon]

You mention X-Wing but not TIE Fighter? Blasphemy!

I'd also recommend Master of Magic for strategy fans, Betrayal at Krondor on how to do an RPG right, and Quest for Glory as the classic adventure game. Oh, and Dungeon Keeper for another neat RTS.

I can't really get into a game without some kind of graphics; those text adventures are simply beyond me. Dungeon crawlers, too, where you have to venture down 89 floors and deaths are permanent.

Nostalgia glasses firmly in place, I feel that gaming hit a golden age in the late 80's and 90's, epitomized by Nintendo. The goal was fun, the graphics had finally gotten decent (yet stayed colorful), and plots, when present, were more about exploration than exposition. There was Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, Marios 3 through 64, all our Sonics, classic Metroids and Final Fantasies, and numerous other titles.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Good games pass the test of time. If a game isn't good now it wasn't good back then either.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Good games pass the test of time. If a game isn't good now it wasn't good back then either.

Agreed.

A game can never be too old. A game can either sink or swim... forever...

 

[Snake Plissken]

Wow, if you think Ultima 8 is your threshold, you would hate the original Ultima. I was born and bred on that shit...

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I'll play any game that's fun, but I'm 30 so grew up in the 8-bit generation.

 

[The Madman]

Age is irrelevant if the game is good enough. Hell, one of the games I've been playing most lately is the original Dungeon Keeper from 1997, or rather an updated version of the original game. And you know what? Still damned fun! Another game which I'm playing right now which while not strictly 'old' is certainly of an outdated style is a MUD. Don't know what a MUD is? It's an entirely text-based mmo style game. You know, a game with commands like 'look painting' or 'walk north', though that's obviously simplifying things immensely.

Also why I'm such a big fan of GoodOldGames.com. I've been checking the site every day since I heard they were releasing Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. True, having come out in 2003 it's not a strictly an old game in the same sense as many others being listed here. But it *does* stand out as a good example of what in my opinion is a game which not only ages gracefully with its bright and vivid 2D art, but with a unique style of gameplay few if any other games have emulated. I can confidently say that another ten years from now I'll still probably be playing the game ever now and then right alongside Heroes of Might & Magic 3 and a few other beloved classics.

I'm also a big fan of Nethack. If you've never heard of it check it out, it's free and while deceptively simple, hides a lot of complexity behind that ansi-style interface.

 

[x0ny]

Treasure Island Dizzy and Fantasy Land Dizzy, both excellent platform games.
Shadow Warriors arcade edition on Amiga(Ninja Gaiden in the US), brutally difficult but fun nonetheless.
Gauntlet 2, mindless overhead hack and slash. Loved the voicing in that game, so primitve and so little clarity. "Warrior shot the food", classic.

 

[slipknot4]

I tend to live in the present so i don't care much about retro games and... I just don't find old games fun.

 

[Bellvedere]

Some older games are good some are bad. There's some really weird shit out there.

That being said accessibility and user interfaces have improved significantly over the years.

Also if you're playing using a DOS emulator on a flat screen monitor it can be a real eyesore. Trying hooking it up an old TV or even if you still have an old bulky monitor lying around. It improves the experience dramatically. I was playing something on one a while ago, one of those 3d but not real 3d ones and it made me nauseous. It wasn't with all DOS games or anything but I've never had a problem with motion sickness playing games or old games but it really did my head in. Then a friend explained why in a way that totally made sense but I can't recall.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Get thee to Oregon Trail!

I'll play any game that's fun, but I'm 30 so grew up in the 8-bit generation.

Ditto here almost. I'm 28. I miss the fact that games grew up with me. When I was a little kid games had two buttons and a d-pad. As my nervous system grew more complex I got more buttons. Kids now have to jump right into fifty-something buttons and multiple analog nubs. Where are the training wheels? Wii? DS?

 

[lucky_bob45]

im another of the "fun is more important than age" people. or if a game has some kind of sentimental meaning or memories attached to it, ive playes some aweful games that i still hold fond memories of. BTW check out gog.com for some good old games.

 

[SuperNashwan]

With any game, learning a new control scheme is something that takes time. I remember I used to play first person shooters with "invert mouse look" because of a childhood of playing flight sims where you pull the mouse back to move the nose up. One day I thought "I am going to force my body to leearn the other way". It felt bizarre at first, even gave me vertigo, but then suddenly it 'clicked'. Now I always play the 'normal' way.

Same can be said of learning a new genre, or even older games that for example use a keyboard only input, such as spectrum games. It is possible to train your body to work in a new way, but its whether you can really be bothers to sit down and do that. If its oly a game, then there may seem little point, though I find it an intersting exercise to sit back and observe how my mind and body can accomplish these things. Case in point - I have never played an XBox, PS3 or any console. I went to my aunts place and the kids were playing an XBox 360 game. They gave me a controller and I felt like bambi when he's first born - wobbling all over the place with not a clue how to control myself. At that time i didnt have the patience to persevere, and if Im honest it gave me something of a phobia of modern game controllers. But Im sure if I tried I could learn them, no matter how used to mouse and keyboard I am from using a PC for gaming.

So in that case, i dont think anything is too old really, its just whether the experience the game gives you is worth the investment in learning its controls.