Best classic arcade games never released on home systems

[DreamTR]

Now we got the crash in quotes, ehh?

The industry was in such poor shape that Nintendo had to release the NES with A ROBOT so people would not notice it was a video game console.

You're not talking dates. But we got two posts of "THE NES CAME OUT IN 83 IN JAPAN!"

And Guns n Roses, etc, okay, okay, okay.

I still think the argument for the NES as a classic is reasonable. Just not reasonable in the manner that YOU are presenting it.

It's not like that Robot was not released in Japan earlier. Console crash did not take as much of an effect on the arcade stuff since those were still plentiful everywhere. I'm just trying to get the date thing through. People at the CGE for years would never consider the NES a "classic", and it bothered me to no end.

[Kid Ice]

People at the CGE for years would never consider the NES a "classic", and it bothered me to no end.

Probably just as many times I've heard that gaming didn't "really" start until the NES, and those old primitive systems aren't even worthy of consideration as really being video games.

[Sanriostar]

Probably just as many times I've heard that gaming didn't "really" start until the NES, and those old primitive systems aren't even worthy of consideration as really being video games.

Things I still hear from time to time, and still fly me into a murderous rage.

[FrakAttack]

What about games like Victory Road, which had a console release on NES that was more of a "re-imagining" than a port. Bomb Jack comes to mind, too.

[Aussie2B]

Historically, I agree that it's worthwhile to use various qualities to divide things up, whether it be pre-crash versus post-crash, US-dominated versus Japan-dominated, score-based versus completion-based, or hardware generations (second versus third in this discussion). The NES is different from the 2600 or even the Colecovision in all of those areas, and it's worth pointing out. Obviously, the NES was a much more powerful piece of hardware, and its games were generally developed with a completely different mindset.

However, what intrigues me is the psychology behind why precisely the word "classic" is used and how it is used. Granted, maybe I should be questioning the older hobbies that use the same term, since video game collectors and historians probably just took inspiration from them, but there is still something about it that doesn't sit right with me. I've been around video game collectors for a long time, maybe not as long as some, but long enough to come to a conclusion that the use the term "classic" is virtually always tied to childhood nostalgia. No matter how many times someone may say that they find later games enjoyable, there is still that deep down desire to deny something from all post-crash gaming. I mean, just the very fact that they'd see fit to lump all gaming from the NES to the present in one group is very telling, or that systems like the Dreamcast would be brought up as if that's a suitable comparison to the NES. Of course the Dreamcast isn't classic; it's basically just one generation removed from modern gaming.

And for all the pre-crash collectors that grew up in that era and play more modern games, consider how many that don't. I've never seen a more closed in, stubborn group of gamers. Talk about taking nostalgia to the absolute extreme. It seems as if all of their playing and collecting is focus purely on bringing back childhood memories. They appear to value games in the same way one might keep an old G.I. Joe collection around or a Teddy Ruxpin. The only group I can think of that even comes close would be diehard NES collectors that grew up with the system, but even they generally branch out to other hardware generations and appreciate gaming just as gaming, not as something that necessitates nostalgia.

I'm not as deeply involved in any other "retro" hobby to know if fans of other collectibles are the same. Since "classic" rock has been brought up, I'm going to assume that it's generally defined as rock from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, so imagine if a radio station playing such music, which would frequently play tracks from 79, slipped in a song from 1980. Would they get an onslaught of complaints? I don't really think so, but perhaps I'm wrong. Look at how wide that era is too. I bet those that grew up with 50s rock must really get peeved that 70s rock is considered "classic". Maybe that's why there are terms like "oldies" to break it down further, but in that case it feels more like the era is being insulted rather than praised, haha.

The whole argument with the Famicom versus Colecovision isn't about saying it should be considered a second generation console or pre-crash or anything of the sort. It's like my theoretical song from 1980. If it's that extremely close and nearly just as old, why does it get denied the same treatment? If a song that first aired December 31, 1979 is considered undoubtedly "classic", isn't it silly to say a song from January 1, 1980 is undoubtedly NOT classic? And the whole "But I didn't play it as a kid back then, so it doesn't count!" argument is kinda pathetic. I mean, we're talking about history here, not personal experiences. What, should there be different standards in every country? As long as I'm in the US, the NES isn't "classic", but as soon as I step foot on Japan, it is? Saying the 1983 release of the Famicom doesn't matter is just as ignorant as a Japanese gamer saying that all the systems prior to the Famicom don't matter because none of them caught on over there. I'm sure any video game historian in Japan worth his salt would recognize the importance of the US-developed pre-crash (or pre-Famicom to them) consoles, regardless of how they did over there.

[DreamTR]

Probably just as many times I've heard that gaming didn't "really" start until the NES, and those old primitive systems aren't even worthy of consideration as really being video games.

That's funny. I've never heard that before (no one has ever referred to that situation to me), but everyone else has already confirmed the NES should be a part of this whole conversation because of the date. Just way ahead of its time.....