20 year olds that are into 16-bit gaming.... Why ?

[WCP]

Ok, this might come off as a bit of an asshole post. I mean, why should I give a fuh about what 20 somethings are into these days ? Still, this is more just a curiosity on my part rather than trying to talk smack or anything like that...


So, I sell some various retro items on my local craigslist. Extra SNES or Genesis carts that I have, etc, etc. 90 percent of the time, the people buying the stuff from me are aged between like 20 and 29 years old. Many of them are like 22, 23 or 24 years old it seems. It just makes me scratch my head a bit, when people that young are buying these 16-bit items from me.

These people were born after these systems had mostly died and been buried. Why would they care about something they never experienced first hand ? How do you have nostalgia for something you never originally experienced ?


Now, I know that with some of these people, maybe when they were 6 or 7 years old, their mom or dad saw a Super Nintendo at a Garage sale, and decided to get them one, instead of getting them a PS2 or GameCube or something. So, I can understand that. But still, I seriously doubt that every single one of them had a situation like that.


It just seems kinda weird to me. For example, I was born in 1970, and I don't really know jack squat about the Beatles or Elvis Presley. So, imagine a 20 year old me in 1990, being really into the Beatles or Elvis Pressley, when I really didn't experience either in my lifetime, and they were both before my time. I don't know, it just seems kinda weird to me. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess...

[sfchakan]

I'm waiting for Baloo's response...

[PreZZ]

I guess it's even better for them, playing amazing games for the first time like super metroid, sonic 2, link to the past, jrpgs etc. I still love these games but finished them many times for the past 20 years, first time is the best experience!

[Satoshi_Matrix]

OP, have you ever imported a Japanese system and experienced it retroactively? If so, then it's the same deal with younger generations who are interested in older tech. to them, getting an SNES and a copy of Super Mario World is as exotic as getting an MSX2 and Metal Gear Solid Snake for someone like us.

[Niku-Sama]

Being in their 20s it's possible they are getting games for the console the had in their childhood.

I mean it's within the realm of possibility that these systems were out new when they were kids. Snes is 23 years old now and was available as a new unit for 8 years

[sfchakan]

It's also possible those systems were just "around" when they were growing up. Pitfall came out the year I was born, but I'll be damned if it wasn't in every third house during my childhood.

[Tupin]

Or maybe it's just because the games are good.

[Rickstilwell1]

This one is easy for me to answer as I have a 20 year old cousin. Family couldn't afford to buy a $250-$400 Nintendo 64/Playstation/Saturn when it was new. Family kept the Super Nintendo as Nintendo Power even encouraged people to keep the old systems all the time in articles. Family kept buying used games for SNES and Genesis cheap at FuncoLand, Game Crazy, EB Games and Gamestop till they were gone. People that age were still playing Super Nintendo and Genesis with their older siblings and parents.

Your question is like asking me why I like the NES when I'm 27. Because games were used, cheap, and I got a shit ton of them when I was a kid because of yard sales. They were much more frequent gifts than the 16 bit games of the time.

I like Atari 2600 because when I was in 5th grade my half sister's dad gave me a whole box containing 43 carts and Jr. system that he once picked up at a yard sale for $10 and just kept unused in a closet at his parents' house. That gave me something to learn and be excited about all summer and into the future.

It's something you might not understand if you come from a more wealthy family of upper middle class or higher, but if you came from the center of the middle class or under used games were all the rage for us kids.

I recently paid a ton of money to get an RCA woodgrain console TV from 1984 shipped to Seattle from Chicago. Because it was nearly the exact same model I had growing up with my grandparents. Just a different shaped wood cut (a little less wide) but same color and same electronics. With all the nostalgia this similar TV gives me, I believe as crappy as not having RCA jacks on the TV itself is, the VCR's do a good job of brightening up the picture and allowing VHS playback/recording.

[WCP]

OP, have you ever imported a Japanese system and experienced it retroactively? If so, then it's the same deal with younger generations who are interested in older tech. to them, getting an SNES and a copy of Super Mario World is as exotic as getting an MSX2 and Metal Gear Solid Snake for someone like us.


Well, I bought a Sega Master System a number of years back, and I was pretty excited to try it out, even though I never owned or played a Master System originally. However, after playing a few games here and there, I just didn't really have any real connection to any of it, and I sold off the Master System and games to somebody else. I just couldn't really get into it, having never experienced it before.

Sure, I totally understand that good games are good games. Super Mario World is an absolute classic, that anybody should experience.


I'm not really trying to talk smack about these 20 somethings...


I think it's great that they are trying some of these classics, I'm just curious about the motivation.


Like I did say in my original post, I totally understand that some of these 23 year olds, could have received a Super Nintendo at the age of 7, via a Garage sale or flea market purchase or something. Or maybe their Dad had a Genesis in the closet for 18 years, and brought it out for their 5 year old to have a starter system to work with.

I totally understand that.

[Rickstilwell1]

Yeah I think it comes down to there just being more thrifty people out there than imagined. Super Smash Bros. was also a game that interested people in learning the history of their new favorite Nintendo characters. Oh also the Game Boy & Game Boy Color still being out in the late 90s would make it so those generation are prone to tolerate even 8-bit. They would play Pokémon then try NES and go oh this is basically like my Game Boy except on the TV. Oh and the SNES and Genesis looks better than that?

The Master System is a harder system to like at first too and takes a lot of game play to get into and appreciate it when you didn't have one. I wasn't really hooked on it till I beat 5 RPGs/Action Adventures on it. A Neo Geo is much easier to like whether you had one or not in contrast to that due to the quality of the games being so high and polished looking.

[Flojomojo]

I think others have explained it well. I have a big affinity for classic era stuff because I was a crash-era teenager, able to pick up a lot of good stuff for next to nothing. It's the same way for these kids and the 16-bit stuff. There's also a lot of lore around these games. They've grown up around these and have seen years of "top 100 games ever" lists. It's natural that they go try out some of them. Outlets like GOG giving away old-but-still-fun DOS games, Virtual Console releases, and the general availability of emulation and reproductions help as well.

I think it's weird for young people to prefer cartridges to ROM files, but that's their prerogative and is certainly not harming anyone.

When I discovered my grandparents' old record collection, it was pretty awesome. Some of that might be going on with parental collections, too. I know my 7yo daughter is a big fan of Sonic the Hedgehog.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

When I was young (I was born in the late 80's) people questioned why I was so interested in Atari. I grew up with SNES, NES, Genesis and N64 so they thought it would be too outdated. Eventually I got one and the games were still enjoyed. I also like stuff that was way before my time or I have no nostalgic connection to like Commodore, MSX, but recall enough of the things I grew up with to merit my favor. So, nostalgia is not much of a factor in this case. Like it was said, notice how a lot of younger kids enjoy classic rock or some retro clothing these days.

[goldenband]

It just seems kinda weird to me. For example, I was born in 1970, and I don't really know jack squat about the Beatles or Elvis Presley. So, imagine a 20 year old me in 1990, being really into the Beatles or Elvis Pressley, when I really didn't experience either in my lifetime, and they were both before my time. I don't know, it just seems kinda weird to me. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess...

I know tons of younger people who are really into bands that stopped recording before they were born! Hell, more than half of my favorite music fits the bill. And plenty of people are fascinated by history, as Civil War re-enactment and Renaissance fairs demonstrate (to an extreme).

It's strange to me to define an interest in the past as nostalgia. Admittedly, we think of video games as a form of entertainment that's "progressed", but I don't think that's any more true than it is of music. Musical techniques and resources have increased enormously since the Beatles and Elvis, let alone Bach and Beethoven, but people still listen to that music even though Beethoven et al. were before everyone's time. And I know a lot of younger kids (12-18) who think current music is mostly crap, and who find a breath of fresh air in the music of the past.

So why should video games be any different? The best games of the 16-bit era are still fun as hell.

[genesisguy]

It just seems kinda weird to me. For example, I was born in 1970, and I don't really know jack squat about the Beatles or Elvis Presley. So, imagine a 20 year old me in 1990, being really into the Beatles or Elvis Pressley, when I really didn't experience either in my lifetime, and they were both before my time. I don't know, it just seems kinda weird to me. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess...

Sometimes people are just old souls. I was born in 1982 and grew up listening to Elvis and the Beatles. I play guitar and collect instruments from the 1960s. I'll be playing with a band tomorrow night of guys my age into the same type of music at a crowded bar in the suburbs of Chicago. God am I glad I didn't grow up listening to music of my generation.

Vinyl records were all but a dead format when I was growing up and have more records than video games combined.

But I think the music analogy is BS. People today are listening to classical music that's hundreds of years old. So that kind of throws that analogy out the window.

As far as games go? I dunno I'm not interested in anything much before the NES, but things were VERY different then. Someone today could stumble across 2d retro inspired games and be inspired to pick up the games or console that influenced that.

[Tanooki]

Well I think there's a lot of motivations to it, but it just depends. One is the whole 'hipster' factor the last couple years where it has been very trendy to be into 8 and 16bit art, games and style and it has bled out from the indie games and random stuff into clothes, art, mugs, etc. Another if you're not in a blood sucking crook area is the money factor. You can buy some modern eye candy art piece for $60 in most cases, and almost all of them these days are a one shot affair and designed really as such so you're sinking big bucks into a one shit return. Or, you can take that $60 and get maybe 3 games or 6 games out of it for a system or more that's like 10-25 years old. Those games couldn't live off eye and ear candy whoring, they had limited space, teams and budgets and had to work in some small confinements so key to those games was play and definitely replay value. You'll find infinitely more 2D games from the 80s through the GBA period in the 00s you can beat the hell out of repeatedly and not tire of, can't say that so much even for some of the finest works today like a Mario Galaxy or an Uncharted game as they just are what they are...one and done for years until you may come back to it.

I'm thinking these teens and 20 year olds are on a budget around allowances or part time jobs with school or what not, and $60 is a bitch, but if you can find a used NES or a GBA for like say $20 or so, and then a stack of games for a few bucks a pop occasionally splurging on a $10-20+ game you can get more value for your time and effort. I did it just that way around 1995-2002 between ending HS through college and working at Midway for a couple years. I bought far more classic games as I could pick off many things for like $5 a piece versus $50 at retail(or $30-35 for handheld) and I'd play that stuff for more hours than the new things. It's all about money, accessibility, and also the gamer culture hipster fad thing going on with it right now too as it keeps drawing more people in.

[Tanooki]

Sometimes people are just old souls. I was born in 1982 and grew up listening to Elvis and the Beatles. I play guitar and collect instruments from the 1960s. I'll be playing with a band tomorrow night of guys my age into the same type of music at a crowded bar in the suburbs of Chicago. God am I glad I didn't grow up listening to music of my generation.

Double post, I fall into this. I don't own many CDs, but the stuff I do all of them more or less were in their prime before my time. I like the 60-80s rock stations. I've got Beatles, Journey, Queen, Johnny Cash, Weird Al, Brian Setzer(swing), Steve Miller Band, Nirvana, Michael Jackson and stuff like that. I find most the stuff out now is not really awful, but I don't find much I like in it either worth my time.

[buzz_n64]

Retro gaming is not to be enjoyed solely for those who have nostalgia over it. I was born in '83 but the first systems I played on were a Pong clone system from the 70's and an Atari 5200 released in 1982, a year before I was born. The 5200 remains one of my childhood favorites, and I still own and play on that system to this day. My favorite era of music is 80's although I have almost no memory of it except for some late 80's stuff. I think someone is most likely to be into something if they grew up with it or enjoyed it in their youth, but there are always exceptions.

[RARusk]

I think another reason may be that some are getting tired of the current trends of modern gaming and are looking back to find gems that either passed them by when they were very young or made before they were born.

[Daria]

I enjoy movies from the 40's and I'm certainly not that old. So yeah...

Edit: Also someone in their early to mid 20s could have had older siblings now in their early 30s who would have grown up with 16 bit systems. So nostalgia could easily be a factor.

[Leo_A]

1939-1949 or so is the best era for movies. American and British studios were at the top of their game back then.

I could see how someone younger could appreciate classic gaming. They're definitely not representative of the norm, but it doesn't puzzle me in the least.

Where tv, movies, and music is concerned, my entertainment taste almost completely predates me.

[Greg2600]

Or maybe it's just because the games are good.

Nah too simple.

[Gentlegamer]

But if 20 year olds are cheap and poor, they can play for free via emulation.

That's what I did when I was 20. Emulation was new. I played NESticle and Genecyst (my collection was boxed up in the attic) in DOS on my 386 while I hunted for ROM dumps on the information superhighway over a 56k modem (NeoGeo ROMs took all night to download) instead of collecting.

Collecting is a whole other thing than just appreciating and want to play the games.

Pictured below: emuception

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d173/Gentlegamer/Emuception_zps0289e4ea.jpg

[YoshiM]

I think a lot of people hit it on the head several times. Gaming today has become a "culture" with none of the negativity some of us might have encountered back in the day. So the subject gets explored at the speed of the Internet and these 20-somethings with some disposable cash want to experience these games first hand. Conventions like Midwest Gaming Classic seem to have more patrons in that age range than old fogeys. Indie developers are taking cues from the past and are trying to bring back the game play of yesteryear.

Even young kids today are showing interest. My friend's kids found some NES titles their dad left behind after he moved out and asked if I had a machine to play them on. I brought my Retron 5 over along with some extra classic magazines and the Nintendo Guide and they just fell in love with it. Well, except for the difficulty....the younger twin girls are 6 and thought Q-Bert would be cute. Heh heh. So that curiosity was able to get explored and now they want to try more.

I'm glad those of the younger generations are showing interest in old games. Maybe it'll make for future game developers that will straddle the line between modern aesthetics and classic game play to create truly brilliant software.

[ZeroCool]

Well most of what my thoughts are on the games pretty much everyone has stated.
For the music analogy the Beatles are my favourite band. I started listening to them when I was 17 when I was already into Alternative Rock of the 90s. I just listened to them an hour every Sunday when my dad was teaching me to drive as he had the radio on the Oldies station, after that I got hooked and bought all their albums and read tons of books on them

I got into 80s Alternative (New Wave, Post Punk, Synthpop etc) when I heard it on the radio on Sundays night as the station played it every Sunday. After hearing it so many times I searched up all the bands and I listen to that type of music now more so from what was in my generation of music. It pretty much mirrors the gaming aspect. There is always a situation or event that gets someone to a certain hobby whether its of their generation/timeframe or not.

[Rickstilwell1]

My re-discovery of the Beatles (enjoying their old stuff instead of hearing it in passing) came from hearing their later solo albums and really liking those. Ringo still rocks to this day and he is the only one I think sounds better every time instead of his voice declining like Paul's. My favorite Paul McCartney album was from 1982, my favorite George Harrison album was from 1987 and my favorite John Lennon album was from 1974. Ringo's worst albums were the early 70's ones so it took him longer to be taken as seriously by Beatles fans. By 1983 he started to really modernize his sound and in 1992 he had music that sounded great next to some Tom Petty stuff. Already liking Tom Petty & George made me discover Traveling Wilburys which was awesome which then led me to ELO who also had a few great albums. All that band networking just from the Beatles had quite an impact on broadening my musical horizons as a teen. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favorite Beatles album probably due to being the one my grandpa had on vinyl and being the first one I heard. There were so many good songs on it though it could also be because I found it more memorable. I mean nobody hears Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and forgets a thing like that. lol

[Tanooki]

Perhaps reading too much into it, and it could be as simple as the simpler games are easier to just pick up and play. You can fire it up and in 5min play a game for almost all those 5 min, or you can turn on a modern system and maybe hit the title screen and little beyond that in the same time. Many people are just inherently lazy and you throw in the instant gratification group we have these days it's a nice fit. Cheap, easy to get, easy to pick up with less buttons, and you flip it on and it works right away and you're immersed.

[Gameguy]

Being in their 20s it's possible they are getting games for the console the had in their childhood.
Yes, mostly this. For someone to question why some people in their 20's would be buying systems like the SNES which was discontinued in 1999(15 years ago) and somehow think that these consoles were before their time....I just don't get that type of thinking. Of course these came out during their childhood. Maybe OP is bad at math?

I'm 26 and I got a Genesis in 1991, it was still the first model. These were later redesigned and were available for years after that, it was discontinued in 1997. For someone buying a new Genesis during that year, at the same age I was when I got mine, they would still be 20 years old today. At the very least people in their 20's would have seen these consoles and games everywhere, even if they didn't actually own them at the time. Time to buy things they wanted as kids but couldn't have.


I'm thinking these teens and 20 year olds are on a budget around allowances or part time jobs with school or what not, and $60 is a bitch, but if you can find a used NES or a GBA for like say $20 or so, and then a stack of games for a few bucks a pop occasionally splurging on a $10-20+ game you can get more value for your time and effort.
People aren't buying 16-bit games just because of budget restrictions, maybe 10 years ago but not today. It's way cheaper and easier to start buying Xbox and PS2 consoles and games now than finding those old games from the 90's, most of those games are priced around $2-$3 or less and they're everywhere. Why choose an SNES or Genesis game for $20 over a $3 Xbox title if saving money is the main goal? People are after the old games because they like them better.


Really, video games peaked during the 90's. This is the real height of video games, while several excellent titles are still being produced today most are easily forgettable and will be discarded to bargain bins in the future(the same way people pass on Xbox and PS2 commons today). If current consoles could still impress people with new releases the same way the older ones did, people would already be moving away from the older consoles to focus on the new ones.

[ProjectCamaro]

I was born in 1983 but love classic muscle cars. I obviously wasn't around when they were coming out but I can still appreciate the art, speed, and significance these vehicles had. I don't think that's strange and I don't think it's strange that someone can enjoy a video game from before their time. Just like me who owns an Atari 2600.

[WCP]

One thing I forgot to mention, is that I've been selling 16-bit stuff on Craigslist for like the last 6 or 7 years, off and on. Yet, I've only noticed this 20 year old people thing in the last year or so. Five years ago when I was selling this stuff, my average buyer was like 35 years old, or maybe even early 40's. But in the last 18 months or so, all youngins...


So, what's happened in the last two years ?



Streaming of classic games on the internet ? Maybe that is causing the youngsters to get into 16-bit in a huge way.

[Rickstilwell1]

Maybe it's also because the economy got better than it was a few years ago and the younger ones are finally able to get those jobs. Another idea - ebay prices are going up most of the time. Maybe they have realized that and have turned to Craigslist to look for a better deal.

[Tanooki]

Probably the streaming, the ease of android based emulators with free ROMS all over the web, and then you have Nintendo with their 2006-present virtual console making many people very aware of some stuff and when some is known, people want to know more and learn more digging.

I still stick to the fact that the stuff from back then was just better made from a gameplay and replay value. Games today maybe in story, visuals and audio grossly superior, but these 3D monsters have little to no replay value except maybe once every few years because once the plot is explored you almost have to forget the fine points before bothering again as the tension is shot. The old games could only go so far on audio/visual stuff, they really had for for your $40-50 back then make something that was very approachable, very fun to handle and play, and it needed replay value too as much of the things outside of long platformers and RPGs were just a few hours if that short.

[kupomogli]

I'm 30 right now and my parents bought an NES before the release of the SNES. Someone that's 24 and up could have had access to playing a SNES as a four or five year old before the release of the PSX and N64. If their parents kept the console after the release of the PSX and N64 they still would have had access to it. Anyone younger than that I don't think many would have grew up with the SNES.

When it comes to platformers though, the NES, SNES, and Genesis have the best games. Indie games now days don't have platformers that compare in quality to the games back then, not even close. Retail games do, but they're few and far between. So even if those younger people didn't grow up with the consoles, maybe they're a fan of those games and the quality is far better for those genres than what is offered now.

[JoshDragon]

Ok, this might come off as a bit of an asshole post. I mean, why should I give a fuh about what 20 somethings are into these days ? Still, this is more just a curiosity on my part rather than trying to talk smack or anything like that...


So, I sell some various retro items on my local craigslist. Extra SNES or Genesis carts that I have, etc, etc. 90 percent of the time, the people buying the stuff from me are aged between like 20 and 29 years old. Many of them are like 22, 23 or 24 years old it seems. It just makes me scratch my head a bit, when people that young are buying these 16-bit items from me.

These people were born after these systems had mostly died and been buried. Why would they care about something they never experienced first hand ? How do you have nostalgia for something you never originally experienced ?


Now, I know that with some of these people, maybe when they were 6 or 7 years old, their mom or dad saw a Super Nintendo at a Garage sale, and decided to get them one, instead of getting them a PS2 or GameCube or something. So, I can understand that. But still, I seriously doubt that every single one of them had a situation like that.


It just seems kinda weird to me. For example, I was born in 1970, and I don't really know jack squat about the Beatles or Elvis Presley. So, imagine a 20 year old me in 1990, being really into the Beatles or Elvis Pressley, when I really didn't experience either in my lifetime, and they were both before my time. I don't know, it just seems kinda weird to me. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess...

Lol, this is the thread for me.

I'm 24 years old (born in 1990) and I started playing video games when I was four years old. Just to give a few reference points:

In 1994:

The NES was dead. Nobody played it. In fact some of my friends didn't know what it was.:| (I love the NES and have owned two of them.)

The Snes/Genesis were FAST approaching the end of their life-spans. (I got a Super Nintendo for Christmas that year and still play the occasional old school game. I'm actually doing an LP for Yoshi's Island right now: http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?172381-Let-s-play-Super-Mario-2-Yoshi-s-Island-(classic-gaming-memories) .)

The Playstation 1 was released that year (the beginning of 3D games.)

I can't really say why I prefer the older games. Most of my friends, played the 16 bit systems a little bit and then quickly forgot about them as soon as Mario 64 came out. I stayed with the older systems until I was 10 and then I upgraded to the N64/Playstation 2.

It's a bit ridiculous when I think about it from your perspective. I'm planning to do a Super Castlevania LP run for Halloween, yet I can't even remember the year it was released in (1991.) LOL

[JoshDragon]

I'm 30 right now and my parents bought an NES before the release of the SNES. Someone that's 24 and up could have had access to playing a SNES as a four or five year old before the release of the PSX and N64. If their parents kept the console after the release of the PSX and N64 they still would have had access to it. Anyone younger than that I don't think many would have grew up with the SNES.

When it comes to platformers though, the NES, SNES, and Genesis have the best games. Indie games now days don't have platformers that compare in quality to the games back then, not even close. Retail games do, but they're few and far between. So even if those younger people didn't grow up with the consoles, maybe they're a fan of those games and the quality is far better for those genres than what is offered now.

Nice post! This pretty much sums up my experience. I'm on the extreme young end for being able to remember the Super Nintendo when it was still sold in stores.

[Aussie2B]

Why not? Is it really that surprising? Do you not like anything that was before your time or something that you didn't experience when new? Considering this is a forum of collectors, most of us have bought and played systems and games that we never experienced when new. I'm sure most of us like movies, TV shows, and music from before our birth too. And don't underestimate the ability for younger gamers to have nostalgia for these games. Not every family dumps an old system in the trash the second it's no longer current gen, and even if you can't remember it as well as kids who were older at the time, people can have nostalgia for games they played when they were 3, 4, 5, whatever years old. It's very possible for someone in their early 20s to be nostalgic about 16-bit games they played when they were very young at the tail end of the generation or slightly past that.

[Crystalian]

If you can't do it with 16 bits, you don't need to do it!!!

[wiggyx]

Ok, this might come off as a bit of an asshole post. I mean, why should I give a fuh about what 20 somethings are into these days ? Still, this is more just a curiosity on my part rather than trying to talk smack or anything like that...


So, I sell some various retro items on my local craigslist. Extra SNES or Genesis carts that I have, etc, etc. 90 percent of the time, the people buying the stuff from me are aged between like 20 and 29 years old. Many of them are like 22, 23 or 24 years old it seems. It just makes me scratch my head a bit, when people that young are buying these 16-bit items from me.

These people were born after these systems had mostly died and been buried. Why would they care about something they never experienced first hand ? How do you have nostalgia for something you never originally experienced ?


Now, I know that with some of these people, maybe when they were 6 or 7 years old, their mom or dad saw a Super Nintendo at a Garage sale, and decided to get them one, instead of getting them a PS2 or GameCube or something. So, I can understand that. But still, I seriously doubt that every single one of them had a situation like that.


It just seems kinda weird to me. For example, I was born in 1970, and I don't really know jack squat about the Beatles or Elvis Presley. So, imagine a 20 year old me in 1990, being really into the Beatles or Elvis Pressley, when I really didn't experience either in my lifetime, and they were both before my time. I don't know, it just seems kinda weird to me. But hey, whatever floats your boat I guess...

Because it's not nostalgia. Many of the games are just damned good, and the web has introduced many of these younger players to them. If anything, I feel that my own personal nostalgia is validated by all of these sub-30 year-old players getting into the scene.

[Gunstar Hero]

Or maybe it's just because the games are good.

This. I'm 17 and I find that older games happen to be more fun in my opinion. I do like other things from the 80s in particular but I won't give the whole "born in the wrong generation" speech because honestly I just like a lot of things from that particular time.

For me, it isn't about nostalgia. It's about kick-ass games that I was lucky enough to hear about and interested enough to look into. Here I am about 4 years after "discovering" that these old games existed and I have spent countless hours collecting and playing games that I find way more fun than current-gen games.

Give the younger crowd a chance. I'm not sure how many others like me there are that took the time to find out about all the systems and bought 6 of them and countless games as well, but there is certainly still an interest that could very well preserve the legacy of these consoles by living on through the next generation.

EDIT: Love the music analogies too. Just because it was made before your time doesn't mean you can't get into it!

[Tanooki]

Here I am about 4 years after "discovering" that these old games existed and I have spent countless hours collecting and playing games that I find way more fun than current-gen games.

Was I right with what I've said before in the past on this stuff? There's a difference between printed media games now, and those of the 80s/90s, a big difference. The pre-'solid' 2nd gen (ps2/gc) era 3D to modern stuff and the games of the 20th century. The older stuff had very limited hardware to create an environment in, so while it could to a level make things look and sound nice, with the limited room chips and hardware gave the emphasis really came down to game play value, gameplay control, gameplay design, and replayability. Most games of the era would never stand up to most peoples beliefs on what things should look or sound like, and they also definitely are not (RPGs aside mainly) not long winded stories and narratives that drag out for 20+ hours. The old games didn't take 5min to just get to the title screen, nor another few to get into the action or longer. You slide it in, press the on button, and you're in game within a few seconds or maybe up to a minute tops. They're fairly short, maybe 30min, maybe 3-4 hours, things you can just keep going over and over again because the design compels you to do so because they had to sell that stuff for $40-50 then and you couldn't doll it up so well with the 8 and 16bit visuals and audio, there had to be much more. The new stuff covers up being very weak being a short game, a preachy long winded game, an eye/ear candy whore fest, stories you just can't play more than once due to designs, and so on. Very little what hits a disc now has similar qualities of what made those old games so endearing then and now for teenagers/kids today.

[Gunstar Hero]

I completely agree with Tanooki. The focus seems to have shifted away from gameplay in a lot of cases with current gen games. I find that older games are overall just more enjoyable to boot up and play with some friends for 30 minutes. As Tanooki said, gameplay and replay value really was much higher overall.

[otaku]

perhaps they are die hard gamers? I grew up playing N64 and a bit of the SNES before that so I had an interest in the NES so I could play the stuff that came before make sense? Now as for the other more obscure stuff well because I enjoy the way old school games play and I enjoy history and many of these games can be had quite cheap. How is this any different than people liking old cars they didn't grow up with? I'd love several different classic cars I've never experienced. Also who cares if they have cash :) I'm 26 by the way and first started really buying and playing the classics at 19

[o.pwuaioc]

But I think the music analogy is BS. People today are listening to classical music that's hundreds of years old. So that kind of throws that analogy out the window.

People still play chess and checkers, too.


The old games didn't take 5min to just get to the title screen, nor another few to get into the action or longer. You slide it in, press the on button, and you're in game within a few seconds or maybe up to a minute tops.

I take it you never played on a Commodore 64, huh?

[Gentlegamer]

I take it you never played on a Commodore 64, huh?
Console gaming FTW

[wizardofwor1975]

I take it you never played on a Commodore 64, huh?

LOL

Maybe the 20 somethings are retrogamming for the same reason people collect classic cars, watch old movies, or listen to classic rock e.g., the Eagles or the Stones. Anyway, I think I'll keep listening to the Stones when I'm driving my '71 Mustang Mach 1 home to play my C64.

http://www.amazon.com/Mustang-Diamond-Forever-Hot-Wheels/dp/B00JSKOOUA

[Tanooki]

I've never had nor had an interest in the C64, and I'm not in my 20s. I imagine the same argument could be said for any form of a computer, and I just got my first PC Christmas of 1990 and before that was just the NES and Gameboy. I know you have the whole boot time on any computer, then the typing to get you to the file(exe) then having to type that to start it which clearly isn't as fast as throwing a cart in and pressing power.

[Gentlegamer]

Load "*",8,1

[homerhomer]

I was recently at the Portland Retro Gaming Convention and I was totally the minority being in my 30's. Most of the people I noticed were in there 20's and younger. I really wasn't paying that much attention to everyone's age but it was hard not to notice while I was waiting in line. BTW - the Atari people are in there 50's, LOL.

I'm sure there's many reasons that 20 somethings are into games. I personally think that it's because new games are too serious and not varied enough. If you look at the biggest games of the years 1987 and 2013 you'll noticed that games in 2013 are not marketed towards kids anymore. I acknowledge that IMDB is not a good ranking for games. But I think it says a lot on how gaming has changed. If you look at the first link you'll notice, Zelda II, Punch out, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear and Double Dragon. I wish they'd show some games from other systems, but the point is all these games are different styles and kid friendly. Now check out the second link. GTA IV, Last of us, Bioshock and Tomb Raider. All these games are pretty violent and not kid friendly and mostly FPS games. I do agree that if you look, they're always the exception out there but I'm just looking at the block busters of the year.

Oh and it just me but are games from Japan usually better?

Yep I'm out of the loop and opinionated.

Thanks

1987
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&sort=num_votes&title_type=game&year=1987,1987

2013
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&sort=num_votes&title_type=game&year=2013

[wizardofwor1975]

Load "*",8,1

Good times...

7691

o.pwuaioc, I like the chess and checkers analogy for why 20 somethings are into 16 bit gaming.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

First off, don't even get me started on liking the beatles if ur born after the 60s. How can a person not love the Beatles??

Yea 20 somethngs did grow up this stuff, too. I'm 28 and I was born in '86. The first system I played was the NES, and not too much later the Genesis. I was pretty young, but these early systems were available for the first 10 years of my life. We didn't get a Playstation and N64 till I was 12.

Also, theres nothng wrong with liking things before ur time. It doesn't make a person a poseur or whatever. I have an Atari 2600, and I really like playing it. I NEVER played one as a kid. It was just before my time, when I was of 4 or 5 and first introduced to video games the Atari was history. So what? Its the same deal with the Beatles. What sense does it make to not play Atari and have fun, just cuz ur not an old fogey?

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

I was recently at the Portland Retro Gaming Convention and I was totally the minority being in my 30's. Most of the people I noticed were in there 20's and younger. I really wasn't paying that much attention to everyone's age but it was hard not to notice while I was waiting in line. BTW - the Atari people are in there 50's, LOL.

I'm sure there's many reasons that 20 somethings are into games. I personally think that it's because new games are too serious and not varied enough. If you look at the biggest games of the years 1987 and 2013 you'll noticed that games in 2013 are not marketed towards kids anymore. I acknowledge that IMDB is not a good ranking for games. But I think it says a lot on how gaming has changed. If you look at the first link you'll notice, Zelda II, Punch out, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear and Double Dragon. I wish they'd show some games from other systems, but the point is all these games are different styles and kid friendly. Now check out the second link. GTA IV, Last of us, Bioshock and Tomb Raider. All these games are pretty violent and not kid friendly and mostly FPS games. I do agree that if you look, they're always the exception out there but I'm just looking at the block busters of the year.

Oh and it just me but are games from Japan usually better?

Yep I'm out of the loop and opinionated.

Thanks

1987
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&sort=num_votes&title_type=game&year=1987,1987

2013
http://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&sort=num_votes&title_type=game&year=2013

I respect ur opinion, but I think variety in video games today really isn't a problem. I think there's tonsa variety, especially when u get into the massive amounts of indie games. I just tried Guacamele at Best Buy, I will be purchasing it when I get around to it, cuz its amazing. What I noticed of games today, theres more variety in graphic styles. Sure the blockbusters are all play-it-safe games, but thats always been the case. When 3D gaming really started with the PS1 and N64, from my perspective that was the birth of "modern gaming." And thats still debatable, Ik, but graphics for games looked more or less the same. Lotsa polygons, some hand-drawn graphics were around, but not too much variety. Now u have the regular 3D graphics, cell-shading, hand drawn games r still strong, sprites that have a real retro look, the crazy graphic style of Rayman Legends which I think looks amazing, theres tons more variety today. Platformers are still alive, in fact 2D platformers r bigger then 3D today.


Final Fantasy is still booming, too, by the way. Altho they're not as fun as the older ones, imo. And Nintendo is still doing wat they do best. And u can download about any older game for free that u would want. I'm still a purist, I buy the real systems with the real controllers and real cart's, but today really is an amazing age of gaming.

[Tanooki]

Old music really isn't all that old depending on the lyrics and style just old by the year it was released. It doesn't exactly show the age an old video game can. Hell I just got back from a used shop and picked up CCR Chronicle, Lynyrd Skynyrds Greatest Hits, and The Doors Greatest Hits on CDs.

NOw indie games, they're overrated, let's step away from those well informed on forums like this and assume the role of the average store walking dolt for a moment. Most may likely never bother buying a game online or researching to even know what an indie game is, they know what's on the shelf when they go to Gamestop or whatever. If you look at it from a physical level, there's a real lack of variety.

[Gentlegamer]

First off, don't even get me started on liking the beatles if ur born after the 60s. How can a person not love the Beatles??

A difference is you can love the Beatles and collect their music without having to hunt down old LPs and a hi-fi to play them on.

There are certainly vintage vinyl collectors, but those who love music from older eras aren't necessarily into collecting the vintage vinyl.

There's something more than just appreciation for the art when someone seeks out collecting the original media.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

A difference is you can love the Beatles and collect their music without having to hunt down old LPs and a hi-fi to play them on.

There are certainly vintage vinyl collectors, but those who love music from older eras aren't necessarily into collecting the vintage vinyl.

There's something more than just appreciation for the art when someone seeks out collecting the original media.

I agree. I just don't see why thats a bad thing. I have hundreds of cd's that I bought, and most of them are bands from before I was born. Listening to bands from before ur time is nothing new tho, Kids in '98 were listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd all the time.

What annoys me is when kids who are like 17 adopt the common stigmas towards retro games that aren't necessarily true, like that Shaq Fu is the worst game ever, any game from the 5th gen is crap cuz the cameras aren't perfect, Zelda 2 is the illegitimate Zelda game, all that. Idc really tho.

[Zap!]

You know what I don't like? Listening to YouTubers who have classic gaming channels that are under 40. The AVGN comes to mind. He was such a basic gamer in 1990. He probably never even heard of a TurboGrafx or Neo-Geo until years later. Pat the NES Punk is another kid who sometimes irks me.

[Tupin]

You know what I don't like? A bunch of old men telling me to get off their lawns just because they think I don't know my stuff. I could list off all the stuff I know about/have despite my first real system being a PS1, but I don't need to. The hobby isn't some sort of pissing contest.

[bb_hood]

You know what I dont like? Mushrooms on pizza. gross.

[wizardofwor1975]

You know what I don't like? A bunch of old men telling me to get off their lawns just because they think I don't know my stuff. I could list off all the stuff I know about/have despite my first real system being a PS1, but I don't need to. The hobby isn't some sort of pissing contest.

Your welcome on my lawn anytime. We'll split a 12 pack.


You know what I dont like? Mushrooms on pizza. gross.

LOL

[Zap!]

You know what I don't like? A bunch of old men telling me to get off their lawns just because they think I don't know my stuff. I could list off all the stuff I know about/have despite my first real system being a PS1, but I don't need to. The hobby isn't some sort of pissing contest.

No one is old (65+) in this thread as far I know, but if they are, I welcome their opinions. Those are the types of people I like to learn from. I'm not saying you don't know your history, but I would rather listen to someone who experienced it the first time around. I mean no offense to you, although I feel there is no way nice way to say this.

Yes, there is no one alive who was around when Mozart was alive. Mozart enthusiasts however have no choice but to listen to those who weren't around when he was. There will come a time when there is no one alive born in the 70's or 80's. Until that time comes, however, there are other options.

[Gameguy]

No one is old (65+) in this thread as far I know, but if they are, I welcome their opinions.
Over 40 is old. No offense to the old people in this thread or anything.

Most people who experienced it the first time around aren't still interested in playing with their old toys, that's for younger people like their kids or grandkids who were given the old consoles out of storage. Unless you're talking about hearing from the people who originally made the games, but this is more about who they are than their age. There really aren't a lot of old people making videos on old video games, they're mostly younger folks.

[JSoup]

The hobby isn't some sort of pissing contest.

You clearly don't have a feel for the gaming community.
Everything related to this hobby is a pissing contest about every other little thing and the only real way to avoid it is to either not collect or distance yourself from the whole mess.

[Zap!]

Over 40 is old. No offense to the old people in this thread or anything.

Most people who experienced it the first time around aren't still interested in playing with their old toys, that's for younger people like their kids or grandkids who were given the old consoles out of storage. Unless you're talking about hearing from the people who originally made the games, but this is more about who they are than their age. There really aren't a lot of old people making videos on old video games, they're mostly younger folks.

It's not close to old, because a 40 year old can live twice that age or more easily. It's middle aged. Even 65 you really can't call old, because they can live another 15 years. 75 is old. 90+ is ancient.

That's if you consider video games toys. I don't. The vast majority of classic gamers are older, not young kids.

There are plenty of 40+ers making videos on YouTube. Crazyclimber80, MaximimRD, and HappyConsoleGamer are among my favorites. Not sure on some other's ages, but MetalJesusRocks has to be older than me. Gamester81 is apparently only 34, but he looks 42 haha. Then there is Digital Press' founder and one of my mentors, Joe Santulli. Doesn't really make videos, but him and many others were my inspiration in 1991 in founding Zap!

Don't get me wrong though, I do enjoy videos from younger ages too. I like the AVGN because I find him hysterical. GamingHistorySource, which compares games to various versions, is also amazing. No idea on his/her age, and I don't care. Getting back to the original OP however, I would be happy if a 20 year old buys a classic game. I like someone who can appreciate the past, and isn't a mindless COD "hardcore 3lit3 player." :)

[megasdkirby]

I'm close to 34 and I was raised with the Atari 2600 since I was 3 years old or so. BEST moments in gaming, spending hours in Towering Inferno, Kaboom!, Keystone Kapers, Fantastic Voyage, Superman, ET (yes, I loved it even back then), etc. Years later I was introduced to the SMS, which is why both the 2600 and the SMS are both my favorite consoles.

Why am I stating this? Because I feel that if one is raised with classic games and not exposed to the newer games, they will learn to appreciate the past, the present, and the future. Most kids/teens/young adults today only focus on graphics, killer "apps" (Call of Shitty comes to mind), and scoff at the older consoles. What is sad is that there are people that are pissing off the Playstation 3 (!!!) because the graphics "suxs ass" compared to the Playstation 4. Seriously? Sometimes I wish I could kick they asses so hard, their grandchildren will feel it.

I remember one customer requesting games past the year 2012 because anything earlier than that "sucks balls" and are "shitty games". I just stared at him with a "are you a fucking idiot?" face.

So it doesn't matter if you are young, not over an age limit, and what not. If you were raised with classic gaming and loved them, you are entitled to enjoy and play them. I would never sell off my 2600 and SMS collection. For me, those games defined my gaming life.

[Tanooki]

You clearly don't have a feel for the gaming community.
Everything related to this hobby is a pissing contest about every other little thing and the only real way to avoid it is to either not collect or distance yourself from the whole mess.

Sometimes the shortest and simple answer is the best with that first sentence. It's why after enduring online what I have the last few years I've just said screw this hot mess it's a waste of money, stressful, and it sucked the fun out of most of it so I've been selling junk off and getting things I will enjoy far more. It's all about distance but not being driven off either at this rate.

[Gameguy]

It's not close to old, because a 40 year old can live twice that age or more easily. It's middle aged. Even 65 you really can't call old, because they can live another 15 years. 75 is old. 90+ is ancient.
Middle aged is pretty much old. It's certainly not considered young, and if you're just going by young or old it would be old.


That's if you consider video games toys. I don't. The vast majority of classic gamers are older, not young kids.
I'll agree that most people into the real classic consoles pre-Nintendo are older, though for the most part the prices on these games are much lower than newer consoles because so few people are interested in collecting them. I'm seeing more and more game collectors selling off their collections of Atari, Coleco, and Intellivision collections while keeping the newer consoles NES and newer.


There are plenty of 40+ers making videos on YouTube. Crazyclimber80, MaximimRD, and HappyConsoleGamer are among my favorites. Not sure on some other's ages, but MetalJesusRocks has to be older than me. Gamester81 is apparently only 34, but he looks 42 haha. Then there is Digital Press' founder and one of my mentors, Joe Santulli. Doesn't really make videos, but him and many others were my inspiration in 1991 in founding Zap!
I was surprised to hear that HappyConsoleGamer is 40 but apparently he is, he looks and acts way younger. MetalJesusRocks is pretty good and is over 40, though he used to work for Sierra so he's kind of in the industry. There are several older guys making videos, but most are much younger. If you're watching videos they're mostly going to be by younger guys. I'm not familiar with the other people you've mentioned.

Besides, if you look at the videos HappyConsoleGamer and MetalJesusRocks have, most are for newer consoles NES and newer right through current generation. Your main argument was to watch videos from older guys to hear from people who experienced games when they first came out, but for newer consoles that won't be a problem with most of the younger crowd. In the video where HappyConsoleGamer mentions he turned 40, he actually talks about playing Atari games when he was a kid and didn't think much of the console, he didn't get into games until the NES.

[JSoup]

Isn't Lord Karnage (Classic Game Room) in his mid-30s?

[Aussie2B]

It's kinda silly to argue over what's "old" (in terms of people's ages). It's all relative. If had a nickel for every time I've heard someone in their early/mid 20s bemoan that they're "old" now, well, I'd have a lot of nickels. Hell, I've even heard that from people 18/19. To teenagers, pretty much anyone over 30 is ancient as dirt. To 20-somethings, it's the 40+ crowd. But for people who are in their 40s, they see their aging parents, and that's old to them, not 40. Really, unless we're talking about the truly elderly, like 80+, where almost no one would disagree with the sentiment that they're "old", I wish people would stop throwing around that term. There's enough ageism in society as it is; I expect better from a board all about appreciating retro stuff. Even if it's not intended as a put down, it basically amounts to such; few people appreciate being called "old", especially when they don't see themselves as such.

[Steve W]

Going back to the original question, why are 20 year olds into classic gaming? My cynical mind says that they've learned through the internet that old games are worth money, and they're out to make quick cash by buying stuff up and flipping it. And that explains why the Finds thread can't even fill a page by the end of the month anymore, too many flippers and not enough collectors. There's not anything to find.

[Aussie2B]

I'm skeptical that there are all that many 20-year-olds who would prefer digging through scuzzy flea markets and thrift stores over making money through other means. I would venture to guess that most flippers are collectors themselves, keeping some things for themselves here and there and flipping everything else they know they can make a buck on. And then the rest are probably middle-aged folk who are into flipping in general and added video games to their repertoire after getting the misguided idea that they're a gold mine or something.

And either way, we can't really say somebody is "into classic games" if they do nothing with games but flip them.

[Gameguy]

It's kinda silly to argue over what's "old" (in terms of people's ages). It's all relative. If had a nickel for every time I've heard someone in their early/mid 20s bemoan that they're "old" now, well, I'd have a lot of nickels. Hell, I've even heard that from people 18/19. To teenagers, pretty much anyone over 30 is ancient as dirt. To 20-somethings, it's the 40+ crowd. But for people who are in their 40s, they see their aging parents, and that's old to them, not 40. Really, unless we're talking about the truly elderly, like 80+, where almost no one would disagree with the sentiment that they're "old", I wish people would stop throwing around that term. There's enough ageism in society as it is; I expect better from a board all about appreciating retro stuff. Even if it's not intended as a put down, it basically amounts to such; few people appreciate being called "old", especially when they don't see themselves as such.
I was mostly joking with that, knowing that it irks some people to be called old for whatever reason :p. Personally I wouldn't care. You yourself mentioned that plenty of early 20-somethings call themselves old, yet you later say they don't see themselves like that and calling others old is somehow offensive, that's not exactly consistent. I mostly said it because of something Zap! said.

You know what I don't like? Listening to YouTubers who have classic gaming channels that are under 40. The AVGN comes to mind. He was such a basic gamer in 1990. He probably never even heard of a TurboGrafx or Neo-Geo until years later. Pat the NES Punk is another kid who sometimes irks me.
Apparently grown men in their mid 20's to late 30's are still kids, not just Pat as he's just "another" kid. I'm pretty sure only old guys consider 20-somethings or 30-somethings to still be kids, they're now old enough to vote or fight in a war or have a family of their own, but apparently not old enough to be an adult. I don't really like Pat either but it's not because he's too young.



Going back to the original question, why are 20 year olds into classic gaming? My cynical mind says that they've learned through the internet that old games are worth money, and they're out to make quick cash by buying stuff up and flipping it. And that explains why the Finds thread can't even fill a page by the end of the month anymore, too many flippers and not enough collectors. There's not anything to find.
People tend to sell what they know, people usually know more about what they like. Those guys played games while still teens so they still kept up with the hobby, even if they stopped playing games they still know about them and their value so that's what they know to pick up.

The finds thread here is something different, people stopped posting here because the forum is kind of dead. It's missing a lot of posts from Kitsune Sniper and I doubt it's because he hasn't been able to find stuff anymore. His finds were usually odd enough that I would keep an eye out for them.


I'm skeptical that there are all that many 20-year-olds who would prefer digging through scuzzy flea markets and thrift stores over making money through other means. I would venture to guess that most flippers are collectors themselves, keeping some things for themselves here and there and flipping everything else they know they can make a buck on. And then the rest are probably middle-aged folk who are into flipping in general and added video games to their repertoire after getting the misguided idea that they're a gold mine or something.

And either way, we can't really say somebody is "into classic games" if they do nothing with games but flip them.
Making money through other means how? Dealing drugs? People try to supplement their incomes any way they can, ever since the economy collapsed and still hasn't recovered it's harder for younger folks to find work and the work they find pays less than the same jobs would have years earlier. A couple years ago I heard of people working at Air Canada, these are union jobs btw, working part time shifts rather than full time to avoid benefits, and the pay is $10.80 an hour which is just slightly above minimum wage. I don't know if that's changed recently, but it's still close enough to when people started pouring over these resale shops for items to flip. The shows about flipping stuff for profit is another reason too.

They still may play games, but more with emulators than the actual hardware anymore. They still know and like games so they'll seek them out, they just won't bother keeping actual copies anymore. Collections take up space as well, not everyone can afford a house so there's less room to store things.

[Aussie2B]

I was mostly joking with that, knowing that it irks some people to be called old for whatever reason :p. Personally I wouldn't care. You yourself mentioned that plenty of early 20-somethings call themselves old, yet you later say they don't see themselves like that and calling others old is somehow offensive, that's not exactly consistent. I mostly said it because of something Zap! said.

I've never seen a 20-something happily call themselves "old". It's always to bemoan the fact that they're no longer a teenager or in high school or whatever so they feel "old" (and usually in time, when they hit 30 or whatever, they realize how silly it was to think of 20-somethings as old). People who feel down about their ages and feel old certainly don't want someone popping in and reinforcing their insecurities with "yeah you're old lol". And if you're fortunate enough to feel good about your age and feel young, even if you're 40 or 50 or beyond, the last thing you need is some jerk to come along and take the wind out of your sails by calling you old. It's just plain rude, and I don't think it's a hard thing to understand. And saying "I wouldn't care" doesn't give anybody a free pass to be inconsiderate.


Making money through other means how? Dealing drugs? People try to supplement their incomes any way they can, ever since the economy collapsed and still hasn't recovered it's harder for younger folks to find work and the work they find pays less than the same jobs would have years earlier. A couple years ago I heard of people working at Air Canada, these are union jobs btw, working part time shifts rather than full time to avoid benefits, and the pay is $10.80 an hour which is just slightly above minimum wage. I don't know if that's changed recently, but it's still close enough to when people started pouring over these resale shops for items to flip. The shows about flipping stuff for profit is another reason too.

They still may play games, but more with emulators than the actual hardware anymore. They still know and like games so they'll seek them out, they just won't bother keeping actual copies anymore. Collections take up space as well, not everyone can afford a house so there's less room to store things.

So the only way for a 20-year-old to make money is to flip video games or deal drugs? Flipping games is not a very profitable endeavor. Games in general aren't particularly good investments. Everybody thinks they're gonna find the next copy of Stadium Events but they're not. I consider it a rare lucky occasion to find a game that's worth $20+ more than what I can buy it at. In most cases, if you can make a profit at all, you're probably finding games that you can only make a buck or two on (and is that before or after fees eat into your profits?). Between the effort of finding stuff to flip, hopefully testing things to confirm that they work (and probably needing to clean them to do so), making the listings to sell them, and packing and shipping things out, you could probably make more money in the same amount of time working a minimum wage job. Of course, yeah, the job market is bad, so a young adult may struggle to land even that. But if you want to look into creative ways to make money, like flipping, there are about a million ways that'd probably be more profitable than flipping games and also more appealing to the average young adult. To teenagers, places like thrift stores, yard sales, pawn shops, and flea markets are about some of the least cool places you could spend your time at. They have a stigma of being where poor people shop, they attract a lot of oddballs, and they often involve digging around through messy piles of dirty gross stuff. Diehard hobbyists can put up with the negative aspects for the sake of the thrill of the hunt, and as you get older, you usually care less about looking "cool". Teenagers and early 20-somethings who have no personal investment in retro products, not so much.

[Captain_N77]

Looks like everyone has covered the folly of the "they didn't play it back in the day so why do they like it" idea. It's already been said, but when he said he wasn't into the Beatles or Elvis because he was born in 1970, my immediate thought was "I was born in 77 and have an Elvis tattoo".

It's just so odd to me that people take a negative approach to others being interested in the hobby. Of course if nostalgia is the only reason you mess with these old games(and you somehow think that's why everyone else would want to play them), then I guess I could see the confusion, but not the negativity.

[Gameguy]

So the only way for a 20-year-old to make money is to flip video games or deal drugs? Flipping games is not a very profitable endeavor. Games in general aren't particularly good investments. Everybody thinks they're gonna find the next copy of Stadium Events but they're not. I consider it a rare lucky occasion to find a game that's worth $20+ more than what I can buy it at. In most cases, if you can make a profit at all, you're probably finding games that you can only make a buck or two on (and is that before or after fees eat into your profits?).
If you find a game for $5 that's worth around $20, that's 400% the initial investment. How many banks would pay that high interest for any type of investment? Sure it's not that much money but unless you have enough in the bank to earn something substantial with 1-5% interest it's still better than doing nothing.

Most things in a thrift store are worthless or just difficult to sell if you don't own a store. Video games are among the few things at thrifts that aren't completely worthless. Even the worst NES or SNES games would sell for $2-$3, compare that with VHS, audio cassettes, or DVDs where plenty aren't even worth $0.25. There are plenty of collectors buying the games too, but plenty of flippers would buy cheap games just to bundle with consoles as filler.


Between the effort of finding stuff to flip, hopefully testing things to confirm that they work (and probably needing to clean them to do so), making the listings to sell them, and packing and shipping things out, you could probably make more money in the same amount of time working a minimum wage job.
Not everyone is out of work, but if their one full time or two part time jobs are minimum wage it's hard to afford paying for anything after paying the bills. Plenty of people will stop by thrift stores on their way home or go to garage sales on the weekend, if they come across anything worth flipping they'll buy it. Unless they check everything with a phone or just know what's valuable, they'll probably stick with things they know a lot about(from hobbies). It could be video games along with board games, toys, or DVDs. In a week if you find a few things to make $15-$30 each, you can afford to go to the movies or out to dinner with friends. Most people doing this aren't expecting to get rich. It's getting rare to find games at thrifts or flea markets at all, I look a lot and I hardly find any. The only reason I find anything now is because I go so often.

Personally I would be happy if I just found cheap stuff to add to my personal collection, but when I go to the thrifts I'll pick up whatever is well priced so I don't feel like I waste my time looking. Plus I feel that if anything good is bought quick, several of the other flippers would give up and stop coming as often. At least for the ones who buy video games.


Of course, yeah, the job market is bad, so a young adult may struggle to land even that. But if you want to look into creative ways to make money, like flipping, there are about a million ways that'd probably be more profitable than flipping games and also more appealing to the average young adult. To teenagers, places like thrift stores, yard sales, pawn shops, and flea markets are about some of the least cool places you could spend your time at. They have a stigma of being where poor people shop, they attract a lot of oddballs, and they often involve digging around through messy piles of dirty gross stuff. Diehard hobbyists can put up with the negative aspects for the sake of the thrill of the hunt, and as you get older, you usually care less about looking "cool". Teenagers and early 20-somethings who have no personal investment in retro products, not so much.
I see plenty of teenagers and 20-somethings shopping at thrift stores, looking through records, toys, DVDs, and for video games. Some others just shop for cheap clothes or books rather than dated nostalgia items. Most young people aren't wealthy, and hipster old crap is currently in style so it works out for them to shop there. I see plenty of teens at yard sales when I go as well, more than seniors anyway.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

Pat the NES punk seems to know a ton about games. He's also been collecting NES games since '98 or '99 or something. James Rolfe seems to have procured his collection primarily thru donations and stuff. At least a chunk of it. But at heart, he seems to be a hardcore film buff more then a hardcore gamer. If u hear him talk as himself during gaming videos, he makes a ton of movie references.

Also if you've seen Pat play games with James, he seems to be much more into the games and know much more about lesser known games.

I just don't care at all if some bozo doesn't like me being into old video games. I played NES and Genesis as a kid, I'm 28 and I was prolly a regular average gamer, got much more into gaming when the PS1 and N64 came out, and never looked back. But apparently only bald dudes can play Sega Genesis nowadays, tho, and everyone else has to be stuck playing the latest Call Of Duty. Who cares? Why do people care if young ppl play classic games?

It's like the punk rockers who love underground music, but as soon as it get popular, its bad, conveniently. These are people who rant and rave how popular music sucks and how ppl should listen to underground punk, cuz its better, but as soon as people do, they're still not happy.

[Arkanoid_Katamari]

There's definately a lot of people out there, including ppl on here, who know a lot more about gaming, have much more experience collecting and playing retro games then me, I've been gaming my whole life but only started "collecting" 2 years ago, altho I had held on to most of the games I played growing up. I don't claim to be mr. game guru, or anything, tho. I think the thing is, I make enough money that I can play the games I could never afford as a kid. I was ur average kid, I had 19 NES games to play, so I didn't grow up with a long list of "pick-ups" or "hidden gems" or any of that crap. I think it's like anything else, why should u apologize for not knowing things? Why bs people and pretend to have knowledge about stuff when u don't? I have a friend like that, and it's just embarrassing sometimes.

[Zap!]

I was mostly joking with that, knowing that it irks some people to be called old for whatever reason :p. Personally I wouldn't care. You yourself mentioned that plenty of early 20-somethings call themselves old, yet you later say they don't see themselves like that and calling others old is somehow offensive, that's not exactly consistent. I mostly said it because of something Zap! said.

Apparently grown men in their mid 20's to late 30's are still kids, not just Pat as he's just "another" kid. I'm pretty sure only old guys consider 20-somethings or 30-somethings to still be kids, they're now old enough to vote or fight in a war or have a family of their own, but apparently not old enough to be an adult. I don't really like Pat either but it's not because he's too young.


Why would you want to irk an 11 year member for having a different opinion? So I prefer watching YouTube videos from gamers my age. Get over it. Hell, I prefer watching videos from 50 year olds, because those are the guys I will really learn from. Even 40 year olds were infants or unborn during some of the first generation of gaming. But the key word is prefer. I subscribe to over 30 Channels. Age range is probably early 20's to 55.

For some reason, I thought Pat was younger. I didn't realize he was over 30. I didn't say he wasn't an adult, kid is just a figure of speech. I know some who take it as an insult. Almost all who do are 18-30 though. On the occasion that it happens to us from 90 year olds, we smile.

And with all this age talk, how about posting your own age? I always thought you were over 30 all these years.