Do you think the "classic/retro gaming craze" has died down recently?

[Steven]

I remember back in 2006 how popular NES, Genesis and SNES were. Boards were booming, topics of nostalgia and "Wow, remember 10-15 years ago" threads.

Now it's 2011 and I don't know, it seems the craze has died down quite a bit. Perhaps most of us have already purchased and played all those old childhood games we reminisced about back in 2006?

What are your thoughts on this topic?

In general, I feel most '80s/early-mid '90s nostalgia has died in recent years with technology becoming all the rage (i.e. iPhones, Angry Birds, etc.). I remember in 2005 bootlegs of old childhood cartoons were all the rage, too. Has the "nostalgia period" ended?

[goatdan]

I remember back in 2006 how popular NES, Genesis and SNES were. Boards were booming, topics of nostalgia and "Wow, remember 10-15 years ago" threads.

Now it's 2011 and I don't know, it seems the craze has died down quite a bit. Perhaps most of us have already purchased and played all those old childhood games we reminisced about back in 2006?

From the perspective of the GOAT Store, we sell more today than we did in 2006, and I have less time to worry about it. We haven't added any new consoles since like 2003ish either, so it isn't that. The 'hot items' have changed a bit (2600 gets a lot less sales today) but we've only seen sales go up.

From the perspective of the Midwest Gaming Classic, we drew over 3700 people to this show this previous year, we drew about half that in 2006.

So no, I don't really think it has died off. It changes always, but I don't think it will ever completely die.

[MarioMania]

It will never die...

[Compute]

I think the novelty of it has died down. Instead of people freaking out because you can still buy 2600 games, now they just go buy them and play them. Also the options for playing are way more expansive now. Digital download re-releases impact sales of old carts, for sure. Maybe you and I still want that copy of Gumshoe in cart form, but Noobly Dorkelson doesn't care if they have the cart. More people than ever are building MAME cabinets, even if the arcade collecting prices aren't ridiculous anymore. Maybe classic gaming won't get any goofy weekend magazine articles, but the audience is still there.

[boatofcar]

I remember back in 2006 how popular NES, Genesis and SNES were. Boards were booming, topics of nostalgia and "Wow, remember 10-15 years ago" threads.

Now it's 2011 and I don't know, it seems the craze has died down quite a bit. Perhaps most of us have already purchased and played all those old childhood games we reminisced about back in 2006?

What are your thoughts on this topic?

In general, I feel most '80s/early-mid '90s nostalgia has died in recent years with technology becoming all the rage (i.e. iPhones, Angry Birds, etc.). I remember in 2005 bootlegs of old childhood cartoons were all the rage, too. Has the "nostalgia period" ended?

I think it all has to do with how into it you are. I remember when I stopped playing Magic, I assumed everyone else did too, because I stopped reading about it on the internet. Then a few months ago, I was reading some random blog about MTG and it's apparently bigger than ever, but had just slipped off my personal radar.

[Graham Mitchell]

It's not so much that I'm not into it anymore, but at this point I've acquired a lot of what I wanted to get, so I've moved on to imports. PC-Engine, JP Saturn and Famicom Disk System are my primary foci at this point.

[Casati]

Discussing classic/retro gaming on message boards has died down recently, and in the summer. I haven't purchased everything I want, rather given up on doing so because many of them have become expensive. In 2006, you could still get a lot of CIB games at reasonable prices on Ebay.

[Aussie2B]

If you look at one specific time period, yeah, it's going to die down, but the popularity of playing retro video games hasn't changed. It's usually roughly a difference of 15 years. Add 15 years to the age at which people were playing their childhood games, and they've hit a point in adulthood in which they have some disposable income and a desire to recapture their childhood. The serious collectors and players will always be buying and talking about every era of games, but in terms of the "craze", that's where your answer lies. These newcomers to retrogaming either stick with what they grew up with or lose interest in collecting after awhile.

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

People on message boards are probably exhausted of discussing "Sega versus Nintendo", "favorite system" "worst game", etc. That may not mean that collecting is down, just the discussion of it.

Maybe one of this site's administrators can tell us if site traffic is down from a few years ago.

I also agree with what boatofcar said. I also quit playing Magic, and by doing that it makes it seem like everyone else quit as well. It probably works that way with gaming too. If you hit a lull in your interest, you may be "seeing" that happen around you as well. It's just something our brain does.

Also, I imagine the release of downloadable classics on the three major systems (and the 3DS) have satisfied the appetite of a large number of people who would normally be collecting the physical media.

[8bitgamer]

At the shows I've done recently, interest in the Atari 2600-era is down a bit from the craze of a few years ago, but NES, Genesis, SNES, N64, and PS1 titles are selling really well. Any non-common complete game will fly off the table if priced reasonably. Cart-only (but not disc-only in the case of the PS1) of hard to find, semi-hard to find, and otherwise desirable titles are also doing very well.

[xelement5x]

I'd also throw in that with the economy still being in somewhat of a down state, people are also less likely so spend money on a hobby like retro games. I think I've gotten some pehenomenal deals locally, just because people need the cash and can't afford to keep around retro systems they only play occasionally.

[portnoyd]

Retrogaming has blended into the general consciousness of gamers and pop culture. It's still there but doesn't seem as booming because it's part of the norm now. See also: Compute's post.

[Glitch695]

Honestly, I see it growing, and agree that it has folded into popular culture. Local store chains like CD Max, Mega Media Exchange, Half Price Books, etc, didn't even sell cart based games in 2006 (Could be location specific, but I can't recall seeing them other than the occasional stray NES cart). Now, all these resale stores not only sell large amounts of these games, but they sell them at ebay prices and with heavy movement, according to the people I know that work at these stores.
Five years ago, I remember boxed DKC 1,2, and 3 sitting at $1.99 each in a local CD Max for months. Now, they fly through $20 cart only DKCs in days. It has not dropped off.

[Kellhus]

It was definitely going through a weird growth period in like 2009-2010, but it's starting to simmer down.

[StoneAgeGamer]

I see it growing as well, but this time of years sales are down for a lot of this type of stuff since us people in the north finally get to go outside.

[Glitch695]

I see it growing as well, but this time of years sales are down for a lot of this type of stuff since us people in the north finally get to go outside.

Yeah, that started about 3 days ago. What a terrible summer thus far. Nicer weather, however, does usually equal more people having yard/garage/rummage sales...

[8bitgamer]

I remember boxed DKC 1,2, and 3 sitting at $1.99 each in a local CD Max for months. Now, they fly through $20 cart only DKCs in days. It has not dropped off.

It might be smart to start grabbing up all the cheap PS1, PS2, and Xbox titles you can get now (at least the better games).

[Lerxstnj]

Na, retro is still hot. It's just that E3 got a lot of gamers thinking towards the future and the newer systems.

[Atarileaf]

These things are cyclic. Right now the N64 seems to be the popular system to collect. Its about 15 years old and kids who owned one now have jobs and disposable income. On kijiji in my area its definitely the most bought and sold system in the retro gaming section of the site.

I've been finding a lot of Atari games so much cheaper in the last couple of years compared to 10 years ago. Prices have come down, with some exceptions of course. Less interest in Atari? Perhaps, but I'm sure it'll go up again. NES still seems to be the most collected for and interest in by the general collecting public right now but that may wane in time.

I don't think the interest will ever die all together. The current gaming climate, in my mind, is making classic and retro systems more appealing than ever.

[Baloo]

These things are cyclic. Right now the N64 seems to be the popular system to collect. Its about 15 years old and kids who owned one now have jobs and disposable income. On kijiji in my area its definitely the most bought and sold system in the retro gaming section of the site.

I've been finding a lot of Atari games so much cheaper in the last couple of years compared to 10 years ago. Prices have come down, with some exceptions of course. Less interest in Atari? Perhaps, but I'm sure it'll go up again. NES still seems to be the most collected for and interest in by the general collecting public right now but that may wane in time.

I don't think the interest will ever die all together. The current gaming climate, in my mind, is making classic and retro systems more appealing than ever.

I agree that it is very cyclic. If you track prices of different games over different systems in the past few years, you'll see that they fluctuate. Some games/systems go up (SNES is on the rise, as well as NES and N64) with others go down (Genesis, Atari). All depends on supply and demand. Even certain games, look at say for example Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Prices before the AVGN reviewed it were low, then they rose to maybe $35-40 CIB. Then Michael Jackson died and they were $50-80. Now two years later you can get the game for $30 CIB.

[Badhornet]

I think its still strong. In 2006 we had 2 retro gaming stores in my area, now we have 5 from mom and pops to chain stores. I agree with the other posts that maybe the Atari 2600 platform has declined some, but the rest are still strong.

[Atarileaf]

Even certain games, look at say for example Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Prices before the AVGN reviewed it were low, then they rose to maybe $35-40 CIB. Then Michael Jackson died and they were $50-80. Now two years later you can get the game for $30 CIB.

Very true, I had to chuckle about that. When he died ebay and my local Kijiji were littered with ads trying to sell the game for $100+

[Zing]

I remember back in 2006 how popular NES, Genesis and SNES were. Boards were booming, topics of nostalgia and "Wow, remember 10-15 years ago" threads.

Come visit the nintendoage.com forums and tell me that the boards are not booming. It feels like new people are signing up and becoming regular posters there every day.

SNES in particular is heating up.

I can't speak for the Genesis. I only enjoyed maybe four games for that system. :D

[retro junkie]

Hmmm....... it looks like all my gaming is retro. I have just purchased 18 Sega Genesis games within the last two weeks. I even invested in a RetroN 3 out of curosity. Love it, hate the controllers.

I have become more and more embedded in the past when it comes to gaming. I like the simple gameplay better than todays games. Retro is hotter than ever with me.

:)

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

I feel that it has died down some - interest in the pre-1985 games is way down. (I started collecting in early 2006) It seems that what is considered "classic" now starts with the NES.

[Haoie]

As time passes, everything gets to being retro!

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Yup I would say so - all the people that would reminisce about the 2600, Intellivision, etc are getting older and leaving video games behind more. And the sixth generation (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) are beginning to turn to retro. They don't even sell Xbox games at GameStop anymore. There are a very few GC games. There are still plenty of PS2 games, but few are new.

[GarrettCRW]

I remember in 2005 bootlegs of old childhood cartoons were all the rage, too. Has the "nostalgia period" ended?

Most '80s and '90s cartoons are on DVD now, and the general populace is too ignorant to know when they're being fed edited and/or altered releases, which would be the only reason why someone would purchase bootlegs at this point, unless their show of choice has avoided DVD release (or has an out-of-print one).

[Zing]

I feel that it has died down some - interest in the pre-1985 games is way down. (I started collecting in early 2006) It seems that what is considered "classic" now starts with the NES.

That is definitely the truth for me. I grew up on the 2600 and Coleco Vision and I have no interest in the pre-NES days. I am by no means a graphics whore, and I don't even enjoy anything newer than the PlayStation these days, but 2600 is just too basic.

Don't get me wrong, I could still enjoy the occasional Missile Command or Yars' Revenge. Maybe even some Air-Sea Battle!

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

That is definitely the truth for me. I grew up on the 2600 and Coleco Vision and I have no interest in the pre-NES days. I am by no means a graphics whore, and I don't even enjoy anything newer than the PlayStation these days, but 2600 is just too basic.

Don't get me wrong, I could still enjoy the occasional Missile Command or Yars' Revenge. Maybe even some Air-Sea Battle!

Some of the games from this era do have near NES-quality graphics (Zaxxon from Colecovision being one example) but I see what you mean. Personally, I grew up on Playstation and Nintendo 64 (started out with a Genesis though), and I've noticed that anything pre-Genesis is a little too basic, but NES and Master System are passable if the game had decent graphics in its day, and can be quite fun. Heck if I'm in a certain mood 2600 can still be nice. That's why most classic gaming interest is from 10-25 years ago. In 2006, that was 1981-1996, which included much of the 2600 era. Now it's 1986-2001, i.e. NES-era to Dreamcast-era.

[jammajup]

I grew up with Atari 2600 and Zx Speccy and consider all systems up to the Dreamcast around (yr 2000) to be retro and i do not seem to find a shortage of threads on discussion boards to chat about such systems so there is still a lot of interest,but i am a member of 20+ arcade and classic gaming forums and have to admit i have noticed things becoming just a little quiet over the last year or so,there are enough new collectors and enthusiasts joining forums but some are young (first system N64!) so it might just be progress iguess,but surely with classic retro games now availible for download on the new next gen consoles with vitual console,etc surely there should more interest than ever before not less?

[JSoup]

It's died down a bit for me simply because I've just about worked my way through all of my retro games. Being that I've got a decent backlog of modern games to work though yet, I doubt I'll be able to spend time with anything retro for a while. But the interest is still there. I've been meaning to do like a few of my friends and see if I could find a 2600 for a few dollars at a yard sale.

[BetaWolf47]

The retro craze will never die. What is defined as "retro" will change with time, however. In 5 years, people will be asked, "Hey, did you get any good retro finds lately?" And they will reply, "Yes, I just found a bag of 10 PS2 games, and a decently rare GameCube game."

People who played NES and SNES are getting into their thirties now. People who played N64 will be enjoying the retro craze soon. In a few years, it'll be time for the Generation 6 gamers.

[Mobius]

I know I've been a little less interested in classic games lately because the current gen (particularly the Wii) is reaching that stage a little later in its lifecycle where games are both plentiful and cheap. I got a brand new copy of RE4 for Wii for $9! So, I've been taking it as an opportunity to try out games that looked interesting, but weren't necessarily worth $50-60.

[savageone]

I don't think it's died down, sales are a good indication that things are going strong. Some prices I've seen lately are just ridiculous.

I can see where there would be less general discussion though. There are lots of resources that can be easily accessed now. Want to know a ton of info about a game? Google it, wiki it, find a video review. It's all there. Still want to discuss it? There is probably something on Facebook or a Youtube video to post comments on. Need a question answered? It'll probably be answered a faster and easier on something like Yahoo Answers. Etc..

In the 90s and early 00s if you wanted to get some info you'd be lucky to find a fan site, and it likely would only be a good fan site if it was a popular game/series. The information wasn't all over the place yet, a lot of it needed to be shared through newsgroups and forums. I believe around 2000 was when forums were truly popular. Compared to ~00/01 even the retro scene of 05/06 seemed like it had died down to me. Of course it hadn't, information was far more available and being shared in new ways.

So basic point: The new blood is out there keeping everything going but the need for forums is less and less. We're all out dated maybe? heh

My theory any ways. :)

[Greg2600]

I don't think it has. We continue to see clone systems, merchandise, apparel, virtual arcade releases, prototype releases, flash carts, You Tube video creations, and continuation of old series (Mega Man, Bionic Commando, etc.). That said, I think the prospective audience for that stuff are people who either grew up with, or are willing to try and enjoin the simpler, classic games. I think they will. It's the same segment of the population who grew up with the old stuff and still play them. Obviously not everyone who had an NES 25 years ago, or a 2600 30 years ago, stills gives a hoot about either of them. Many are still gamers, but they're playing only the newest games. That was always the case with the majority of the population.

[Cobra Commander]

Sure hasn't died down at my house!

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

The way to prove whether or not there's less talk about retro gaming is by looking at the number of people visiting sites like this (mainly the message boards). Is traffic decreasing? Does anyone have the numbers for this site?

It would be cool to compare the numbers for Classic Gaming versus Modern Gaming.

[Zing]

Well, these boards are definitely less busy than they were a few years ago. It could just be my perception, but the long server downtime and persistent server errors may have drove off quite a few people. I know I basically ignored the site for about a year due to this.

[Rickstilwell1]

I think some people may have moved to Atariage mostly for good when this site first went down. I started participating actively on there since January in the weekly gameplay tracker thread. It's pretty awesome for 1 guy to bedicated enough to do this for everybody. It almost feels like a fun competition when its not. "See who can play a single game for the most minutes each week." I get top spot when I have time to and am playing a long enough game like an RPG. Otherwise I usually get beat out by this guy who seems like he plays nothing but Kaboom on Atari 2600 all his life, but he's a major pro at the game.

I am passing on my knowledge of video games to my girlfriend who had only played a tiny bit of Pac-Man arcade and NES Super Mario Bros. 2 as a kid and no other video games. I'm having so much fun teaching her about them and letting her try them all out. So far the only thing she didn't want to touch was RCA Studio II, and I don't blame her at all. Hahaha. Dodge it for Channel F made her laugh at its randomness, but when I brought out the Atari 2600 we had lots of fun. She said she noticed how much the Bally Professional Arcade was advanced over the Atari 2600 and when I told her about how Atari had over 400 unique titles and Bally had less than 50 she said that makes sense why Atari was more popular. Starting with the oldest and letting games evolve on her will teach her how to have fun with games regardless of graphics. I'll let her play Ms. Pac-Man for Sega Genesis one day and I bet she'll still go back for some Atari 2600 Mouse Trap.

And then after doing this with her, I'll know almost exactly how to teach video games to my kid should I have one someday - just hand them my old handheld Entex Space Invader I started with and see what they can do with it.

Other people who used to collect and decided to sell it off for other hobbies also exist. One name that rings a bell there is Kamino. Whole sites have become virtually inactive. I was a longtime member of Crazyerics which was a classic game repository, but I only see maybe one new thread a month and hardly any user input anymore. Many people moved away from emulation though and that site had a lot of gamers who used that method to play the classics. Even the Angry Video Game Nerd who boosted classic gaming popularity started getting fans saying they liked his old videos the best. There are still people on youtube like me who post gaming videos but I haven't had time to post many videos for over a year due to living where I live. I hope when I move out with my girlfriend I can get back into making more videos regularly. It helps. My 84 subscribers are probably missing me.

[retrocollectorguy]

The 2005-2008 retro "craze" has definitely cooled off in the last few years. During that time was when casual people started wearing pac-man or Mario shirts in public because they were "in" and when reminiscing on nostalgia was at an all time high for NES and SNES gamers of yesteryear. Prices for the most part have remained steady, some items have even gone up but overall interest has surely waned, As many have mentioned forums in particular becoming more barren. I think it has a lot to do with the economy as well as gears changing towards current gen games instead of throwbacks.