How old does a console have to be to become "Vintage?"

[NavesRegge]

The question was aroused by something on the local game store's site that said they were experts in vintage games such as Atari, NES, Genesis, and N64. The N64 really isn't that old, is it? I don't know if one could call it "vintage" or "retro" just yet. So, about how many years old can a console be (or maybe how many years after it "dies') before it's retro?

If there is already a thread about this, which I have a feeling there is, feel free to delete this thread.

[Lastcallhall]

Personally, retro only applies to anything before the 32/64 bit revolution in my eyes. It was in that time that there was a huge paradigm shift in what was expected out of what used to be a simple video game. Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and Microsoft all came out swinging with their next-gen consoles, pushing each and every new game as an experience first, and a game second. Not to say that this was a bad thing, but it's hard to have that almost kitsch-like experience with Syphon Filter or Gran Turismo as you do with Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, et al.

Just my 0.02

[JRedmond3]

I was looking around Ebay and one seller called the PS2 retro. So yeah, people are going a little overboard with what they consider vintage or retro nowadays.

[Waterfaller]

Personally, retro only applies to anything before the 32/64 bit revolution in my eyes. It was in that time that there was a huge paradigm shift in what was expected out of what used to be a simple video game. Sony, Sega, Nintendo, and Microsoft all came out swinging with their next-gen consoles, pushing each and every new game as an experience first, and a game second. Not to say that this was a bad thing, but it's hard to have that almost kitsch-like experience with Syphon Filter or Gran Turismo as you do with Super Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, et al.

Just my 0.02

I concur. Retro would be anything from 8-bit to 16-bit. I feel "vintage" would probably be best applied to the pre-8-bit systems, like the Ataris, Colecovision, Intellivision, Vectrex, etc.

[Zoltor]

Well antiques need to be atleast 25 years old(early NES gagame, any older system), I'm pretty sure vintage/classic has to be atleast 15 years old).

However I find it hard to call anything past the 16bit consoles, Retro.

[Phantar]

I only consider the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision to be truly Vintage. No, not the Colecovision.

Why, you ask?





Friggin' wood paneling! That's just class!

[Jibbajaba]

I think of anything that is no longer commercially available or supported to be a "classic" console. On my Website, I review games up through the PSX generation, which will include N64 games once I write some reviews. I guess it's because those games have disappeared from the marketplace and are therefore harder to find. I guess I draw the line at obsolescence.

It's hard to find words to differentiate them all, because the NES is certainly more retro than an N64 is, and an Atari is more retro than a NES, so no one wants to lump them all into the same category.

Chris

[Markss]

how long before a console becomes retro

[the.importer]

Well since this is a personal opinion and that no one can show any facts regarding this, I'd say a system becomes retro 2 generations after the one it lived in. PS2, XBOX, GameCube, Dreamcast, I wouldn't call them retro, I would call them last Gen. Everything during the 5th generation and before would be Retro.

[zetastrike]

I've always considered everything before the 3D shift to be retro. Modern games are pretty much all 3D now, sad as it is.

[QuickSciFi]

To me, the rule for "retro" has to be at least two (2) console generations ago. The Dreamcast, Xbox, Gamecube or, even, PS2, would not count right now. In this case: Sega Saturn, PS1, N64 and anything before that.

"Vintage," on the other hand, would be at least 1.5 to two human generations ago. That means at least 30 years (Atari 2600, original Sega's own Duck Hunt 'O Matic, etc...).

[Breetai]

I think of anything that is no longer commercially available or supported to be a "classic" console. On my Website, I review games up through the PSX generation, which will include N64 games once I write some reviews. I guess it's because those games have disappeared from the marketplace and are therefore harder to find. I guess I draw the line at obsolescence.

It's hard to find words to differentiate them all, because the NES is certainly more retro than an N64 is, and an Atari is more retro than a NES, so no one wants to lump them all into the same category.

Chris

I agree with this. I suppose this would make the CD the most "retro" system. I guess technically the X-Box would fall under this definition, but that just doesn't feel right.

[Rusty Venture]

Vintage = Anything before the NES/MS
Classic = 8/16-bit years
Nostalgic = 32bit to DC
Modern = PS2 to today.

[Tears of Ash]

I hate the word 'retro'. Not sure if I like vintage either.

Classic on the other hand implies that it is old, but still loved. I run into people who claim they are 'trv retro gamers' because they own a NES/SNES/n64/PSone and such. That's why I don't lke that term.

So with that in mind, in regards to the OP, I feel that a console's age isn't too relevant. How old to be 'vintage'. Well, I guess one or two generations of people. (not generations of consoles. A lot of us grew up during different eras, so I guess it's different for everyone. Although I feel it would suffice to give one or two generation gaps before I'd call something vintage. 15-25 years feels about right.

For instance, I consider laserdiscs old, but not necessarily vintage. They were created withing fifteen years of my birth, so in an attempt to make myself not feel old, clearly things from that era can't be vintage. Reel-to-reels on the other hand, I'd definitely say so.

Personally, I'd consider most 70s and early 80s gaming to be vintage. Gaming has changed so much since then, that regular duration doesn't seem to fit. Mid-80s to mid-90s can be classic. (not to say that the vintage systems aren't classic either).

Gah. Every time there's a thread asking to define words or something, I always make a mess out of my thoughts.

[GohanX]

This thread makes me feel really old.