I think the whole "nothing after the crash is 'classic'" argument only exists because gamers that are old enough that they were children/teenagers prior to the crash are highly nostalgic about the games they grew up with, so they look at everything that came later with some level of disdain. And the easiest way to reflect that is by denying everything else the term "classic", as if they're a lesser form of gaming.

Really, I think it's all silly. If this was still the 80s or even possibly the 90s, there might be some argument there, but when we're talking games that are all 25+ years old, is a difference of maybe 5 years at the most really night and day? Is a 1982 launch Colecovision game that different from a 1983 launch Famicom game? One is "classic" and the other isn't?

It's like looking at two elderly men, one 75 and the other 70, and saying "Man, that guy is old!" about the 75-year-old and "He's practically a baby!" about the 70-year-old.