Is the Xbox a 'classic' system yet?

[diskoboy]

Since the 360 is out and the Xbox will be pretty much done by the end of this year (I'm finding alot of games for dirt cheap now!), is it now okay to start posting Xbox stuff in the classics section or should we still keep posting in the current gen section?

I was just curious, as to the fact that the 360 could now be considered current-gen.

The same could be said with the rev and PS3 when they come out...

[keiblerfan69]

I don't classify a console as "classic" until its 2 generations behind. Like the N64 is just now becoming classic to me.

[CartCollector]

According to this forum's rules, no, it's not a classic system. So this topic should REALLY be in the "modern gaming" forum. But anyways, yeah, I agree with keiblerfan. 2 gen minimum.

[njiska]

I don't classify a console as "classic" until its 2 generations behind. Like the N64 is just now becoming classic to me.

I'd say that's pretty well the rule of thumb.

"Well, can't do much damage with that then, can we? Perhaps it should have been a rule of wrist?" - Connor MacManus

[esquire]

I don't see how it can be a classic sytem when there there are tons of mainstream commercial releases scheduled to be coming out for it. That would be like calling the GBA series a classic system.

[Flack]

The proverbial "line in the sand" has not changed -- it's still considered a "current gen" system here.

[CosmicMonkey]

As long as people keep using DivX/Xvid and mp3, people will keep using the greatness that is Xbox Media Centre. So, that'll be for a fair few years then....

[diskoboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

I guess I should change the name of the topic to "how long before you consider a system classic?" :D

I usually throw them in the classic catagory when the manufacturer of the system is no longer producing games for it, they come out with a new system, or even stop making the system altogether.

[njiska]

Thanks for the feedback.

I guess I should change the name of the topic to "how long before you consider a system classic?" :D

I usually throw them in the classic catagory when the manufacturer of the system is no longer producing games for it, they come out with a new system, or even stop making the system altogether.

Really one needs to define classic too. The Nes is classic, the Game.com is obsolete.

[swlovinist]

Definately not a classic, games are still being made for it! I would say give it three or four more years. It has only been out five years.

[diskoboy]

definitely not a classic, games are still being made for it! I would say give it three or four more years. It has only been out five years.

True, but most people would consider 5 years the full course of a consoles life cycle. I guess the reason I consider the Xbox a classic now is simply because the 360 is out. Microsoft has a new toy, and the old one gets thrown in the back of the closet (using as a figure of speech... I still play it of course!) Njiska is right, I guess a classic console is all in the eye of the beholder. But IMO, after BLACK comes out, the current Xbox has run its course.

I did the same with the Dreamcast.... The day Sega stopped manufacturing them, I threw it in with the 'classics' territory. But it rightfully deserved it, in my book. :)

[Ed Oscuro]

Just look at the forum section...Modern is "from PlayStation 2 to present." Anything that's still in stores, pretty much.

[keiblerfan69]

definitely not a classic, games are still being made for it! I would say give it three or four more years. It has only been out five years.

True, but most people would consider 5 years the full course of a consoles life cycle. I guess the reason I consider the Xbox a classic now is simply because the 360 is out. Microsoft has a new toy, and the old one gets thrown in the back of the closet (using as a figure of speech... I still play it of course!) Njiska is right, I guess a classic console is all in the eye of the beholder. But IMO, after BLACK comes out, the current Xbox has run its course.

I did the same with the Dreamcast.... The day Sega stopped manufacturing them, I threw it in with the 'classics' territory. But it rightfully deserved it, in my book. :)

I still don't see the DC as classic. They still make games for it and Sega is making new DCs this year in very limited amounts for Radilgy.

[christhegamer]

Easy answer: Heck No!!!

[Zap!]

There are people in here who STILL don't consider the NES a classic yet. These people don't consider ANYTHING released after the Golden Age, which ended in 1984/1984, classic. While I don't take that view, needless to say, no. The XBox is definatly NOT a classic. Give it another 10 years or so.

[gruzniak]

My rule of thumb is that if you can still get games for a system at Wal Mart, than it's not classic.

[keiblerfan69]

My rule of thumb is that if you can still get games for a system at Wal Mart, than it's not classic.

Wally World sucks. I don't shop there.

[Jumpman Jr.]

My rule of thumb is that if you can still get games for a system at Wal Mart, than it's not classic.

I can get sealed SNES games at Wal Mart.
It's definitely not classic though. It seems like it was only yesterday that it was released. Or maybe that was the 360.

[mills]

what sealed games at walmart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Eternal Champion]

Wally World sucks. I don't shop there.
LOL :cheers:

[Damion]

Man I just can't wait to be able to discuss the stuff you can do with an Xbox. I know some threads on soft modding have been tolerated. But I would love to get down and dirty with it.

Sucks I have to wait till the xbox 920 to do it :(

[Pantechnicon]

My rule of thumb is that if you can still get games for a system at Wal Mart, than it's not classic.

I was just thinking the same thing upon my last visit to Toys R Us, which is still stocking quite a few new sealed PSX titles. If major retailers are willing to keep new stock on hand, then interest obviously hasn't waned enough in a system for it to be solely in the hands of the hardcore.

IMHO, backward compatibility throws another whole wrench into the "When is it a classic?" question. I regard backward-compatibility as a long-overdue godsend to the game industry. But strictly from the retro standpoint it's hard to feel sentimental about a given library of games when the system du jour plays them all flawlessly and using the same controller.

Under this reasoning, plus the "2-generation" rule others have cited and with which I concur. X-Box is categorically not a classic system.

For that matter, there's one more thing I think makes a system "classic", and that's the individual gamer. Diskoboy, I'm just going to presume, without intending any offense, that you're under 25 years of age. Excellent. Everybody's got to be <25 sometime. But if I'm right, my suggestion is to finish school, get a full-time job, marry, have some kids, develop a social life with people you don't necessarily like and start fretting about getting the bills paid on time. Before you know it at least a decade will have passed by and, one day then as you pull your X-Box collection out from the Rubbermaid tub in the attic you'll have gained some real perspective on what "nostalgia" is supposed to feel like.

[LinkOracle]

I agree, If you can still buy the games at Wal-Mart, it ain't classic :)

My Wal-Mart still has a bunch of N64 games sealed, but they won't discount them enough to actually get rid of them.

[Anthony1]

There are people in here who STILL don't consider the NES a classic yet. These people don't consider ANYTHING released after the Golden Age, which ended in 1984/1984, classic. While I don't take that view, needless to say, no. The XBox is definatly NOT a classic. Give it another 10 years or so.



1. There are people in here who STILL don't consider the NES a classic yet.

- This is true, there are actually people here who think that systems like the NES and Master System are too recent to even be considered classic. Obviously, it's a misguided thought, but there are those that think it.


2. .....the Golden Age, which ended in 1984/1984, classic


- You know, speaking about a Golden Age of gaming, I think when people look back on video gaming about 20 more years from now, the Golden Age of gaming will be 1989 to 1997. Sure, you can say that a Golden Age is normally associated with the beginning of an industry, but I honestly think that the period of time from 1989 to 1997 is the most "Golden" period in Video Game history. I will go to the grave thinking this. I think the future will prove me correct.



3. the XBox is definitely NOT a classic. Give it another 10 years or so.


- Word Skippy. I agree with you on that one. Considering the Xbox 1 to be a classic system now, is actually quite laughable to be honest. No need to be rude to the original poster, but come on...






Myself personally, right now, I don't even consider the Playstation and Saturn to be classic. Both systems released in the United States in 1995, and I still don't think they belong in a "Classic" category. Especially the Playstation considering that some retail stores still sell Playstation systems, and you can find brand new Playstation games in many stores. The Saturn is much closer to being a classic, due to it having it's life prematurely ended. But it's still kinda hard for me to put the Saturn in the classic category. The 32X is kinda borderline to me, in terms of whether I consider it to be a classic system. It did release in November of 1994 and it had a relatively short life. I think the 32X is on the fence. I would definitely put the Atari Jaguar and Panasonic 3DO into "classic" status. Those are the most recently released systems that I can enthusiastically think of as being classic.


Next Gen

Xbox 360
Playstation 3
Nintendo Revolution


Current Gen

Xbox
Playstation 2
GameCube


Last Gen

Dreamcast
Playstation
N64

Not quite Classic yet

Saturn
Sega 32X


Classic

3DO
Atari Jaguar
Sega CD
Super Nintendo
Sega Genesis
TurboGrafx-16
Neo-Geo
Phillips CD-I
Sega Master System
Nintendo Entertainment System



Original Gangsta

Atari 2600
Intellivision
Colecovision
Magnovox Odyssey
etc.

[diskoboy]

My rule of thumb is that if you can still get games for a system at Wal Mart, than it's not classic.

I was just thinking the same thing upon my last visit to Toys R Us, which is still stocking quite a few new sealed PSX titles. If major retailers are willing to keep new stock on hand, then interest obviously hasn't waned enough in a system for it to be solely in the hands of the hardcore.

IMHO, backward compatibility throws another whole wrench into the "When is it a classic?" question. I regard backward-compatibility as a long-overdue godsend to the game industry. But strictly from the retro standpoint it's hard to feel sentimental about a given library of games when the system du jour plays them all flawlessly and using the same controller.

Under this reasoning, plus the "2-generation" rule others have cited and with which I concur. X-Box is categorically not a classic system.

For that matter, there's one more thing I think makes a system "classic", and that's the individual gamer. Diskoboy, I'm just going to presume, without intending any offense, that you're under 25 years of age. Excellent. Everybody's got to be <25 sometime. But if I'm right, my suggestion is to finish school, get a full-time job, marry, have some kids, develop a social life with people you don't necessarily like and start fretting about getting the bills paid on time. Before you know it at least a decade will have passed by and, one day then as you pull your X-Box collection out from the Rubbermaid tub in the attic you'll have gained some real perspective on what "nostalgia" is supposed to feel like.

No offense taken, but I'm actually 31. I got my first console (an Odyssey 2) for Xmas, 1978.

*sounding like a grandfather* In my days, technology moved slowly!! *ending grampa imitation* :)

I grew up with 8-bit systems for 3 generations (Atari VCS, Commodore 64, NES). To me technology has exploded in the last 5 years alone. IMO, the difference in generations has grown alot shorter, because the tech has improved by enormus bounds since even the Dreamcast or PS2.

This whole topic is just hypothetical, BTW! I really don't care either way... Just a little something to throw out there and discuss. :D

[Fuyukaze]

The when of it becoming clasic in DP would be whenever DP and the mods have decided it fits. That'll probly be when Microsoft announces no more new units will be produced and the last official Microsoft title for it is released on it. I'm not sure if third party games would count twords it staying alive, but I doubt it.

[Lothars]

I actually like how Anthony1 put it

It's basically my feelings on the topic as well.

[ahamilton0953]

I guess for me, classic is like SNES/Genesis and back. But, that is just my thoughts on it. It's like my wife saying a song from 6 yrs ago as being "old school". Its all a matter of how one views time. For me, hearing songs from the late 90s and on are not "old school" just like I don't see the N64 as a classic system.

[FlufflePuff]

I generally agree with the 2 consoles back rule, but as the currenty gen nears the end of its lifetime it becomes debateable whether or not the previous is now classic. For example, I consider the Saturn classic now, but we wouldn't have had two generations between it. Likewise, I consider the N64 classic, but we don't have the Revolution yet. Two years ago I wouldn't have considered the N64 classic, but in my mind it's time is long past so it falls in the classic bucket. So, to answer your question in the longest way possible, the Xbox would not be considered classic to me.

[Zap!]

You know, speaking about a Golden Age of gaming, I think when people look back on video gaming about 20 more years from now, the Golden Age of gaming will be 1989 to 1997. Sure, you can say that a Golden Age is normally associated with the beginning of an industry, but I honestly think that the period of time from 1989 to 1997 is the most "Golden" period in Video Game history. I will go to the grave thinking this. I think the future will prove me correct.

I dunno man. To me, 1987 and 1988 were fantastic years which can't be left out. By leaving them out, you're leaving out both Zeldas, SMB II, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, Castlevana, Ninja Gaiden, Blaster Master, Contra, Mega Man 1 and 2, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Phantasy Star, Zillion, etc., and that's just off the top of my head, without looking at any lists.

Also, I really don't like the period of 1995-1997 very much at all.