/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1801148]

How old are all you retro gamers and have you always played games from previous generations or did you start playing them later on. I'm 31 and I started playing retro games about two years ago when I decided to do a run through of FFVII. It made me realize old games were still fun and there were a ton I missed playing when I was a kid.

[Anonymous No.1801154]

21.

i'm from the 16/32 bit era but I can play previous generations just fine. Not much interest in Atari games other than casually playing it a few times but I play a lot of 8-bit games

[Anonymous No.1801167]

>>1801148
I'm 23. got a nes when i was only a few years old and had been to an arcade before that. also played on my pops old powerbook.

I've pretty much always played retro games because there are far more older games than newer ones, and they are free.

[Anonymous No.1801179]

31. I never much liked the 32/64-bit era and most of what followed it can fuck right off.
I don't like all dem fancy polygons and shit. Gimme some good, old fashioned pixels and sprite work and I'm a happy camper.

[Anonymous No.1801181]

36, started with the Atari VCS. After a shitty childhood, I now have an absurd game system collection, and a decent gun collection.

[Anonymous No.1801192]

>>1801148
25, always thought those guys who had walls of games was the coolest shit ever. Mostly collect ps1-ps3 atm. Might move onto NES/SNES if prices ever die down

[Anonymous No.1801196]

26 Here, started playing retro games consciously when I was around 15-16. I got into Metal Slug at the time and started to have a thing for pixle graphics since I easily noted how they seemed to age so much better. Around they time I kinda got bored of my PS2 and through emulators went back and started discovering all sorts of gen/nes/SNES and Neogeo games. I've been playing retro ever since.

[Anonymous No.1801210]

32. I would've kept up with older systems if there wasn't such a steady flow of new, good games for so many years. The PS3/360 generation was the tipping point for me when I said fuck it, I'll go back and play the games I missed.

[Anonymous No.1801212]

22.

Was always a retro gamer of sorts. My first gaming system was a Gameboy Color and I stuck with handhelds for nearly a decade after that just because. When I finally decided I did want a console, I stuck mostly with PSX-era stuff simply because I didn't find any familiarity with current gen stuff.

[Anonymous No.1801225]

24

Growing up I was always at least one generation behind current releases. I got a Genesis when the N64 was new, and N64 when the GameCube and PS2 were new, and so on. I never minded, because all my friends had a ton of games for those older systems, so we could swap back and forth, exposing me to a lot of really great titles I probably wouldn't have played otherwise.

[Anonymous No.1801235]

>>1801148
I'm 30, been playing games consistently since 1988 (except one summer when I "quit") and if I like a game, I'd keep it around and keep replaying it.

So I've been playing NES games since 1988, Genesis games since 1991, SNES games since 1996 (yeah, I was late to the party...), PS1 games since 1998, N64 games since 1998, Dreamcast games since 2000 and so on.

This whole "retro" thing annoys me, because there's this huge audience of gamers out there who never even heard of some of the greatest games ever made because of their age. And now only play them because it's an acceptable fad to do so.

And that's why videogames will never be considered "art". Movies have always had audiences and even total plebs have seen things like Gone with the wind or the Wizard of Oz. Music is timeless, and kids today still listen to the Beatles or Metallica because they were the greats of their times. And people still read books written two hundred years ago. Even Comic books have a situation like this.

Once a videogame is 1-5 years old, it's effectively dead and people forget that it existed to begin with. There's no real "classics" and most people who throw that word around are referring specifically to games they played as a kid and generally not universally recognized classics. And there's no consensus either.

Some would call Halo 1 a classic, but then others would call it "baby's first FPS". Likewise, Doom is often cited as classic, but many people find it clunky and dated.

And then there's the standardization that has taken over everything. People worrying about specs over the content of the game and constant console war faggotry.

Videogames are a toy. Period. And "retro" gaming is a fad started by hipsters who are too poor to pay $60 for new games that was ironically ruined by collectorfags who regularly pay $100+ for games that were never worth it and hoard them.

It's all a sad fucking joke ruining a fun past time IMO.

[Anonymous No.1801239]

28, I started playing on the Coleco Vision, now that I think of it, I never really tried going further back in game generations than the 2nd gen, never played a Magnavox Odyssey or other older consoles.

I never really stopped playing old games, in fact, I gave up modern gaming around 2003, and came back to it in 2009, but only marginally, only with certain games, I don't like the kind of games that are most popular and successful now.
My first "retro" moment was when I was 11 or 12, I already had the PS1 and N64, but suddenly I felt the urge to play older games on the NES (or Family Game, in my country the famiclone was more popular), I had sold mine or my mom gave it to charity or something, so I re-bought a Family Game with some games, the guys at the video store (which I knew, I went there almost every weekend to buy a new N64 or PS1 game) gave me a weird look, like "you're going to play these shitty old games when you have 3D systems?"... but yeah, I enjoyed the fuck out of being able to play these classics all over again, and discover some new games I missed before.

[Anonymous No.1801240]

>>1801235
>I'm 30
I see that you've endured your midlife crisis.

[Anonymous No.1801283]

>>1801148
29
Been playing games since I was a little child. Since my parents first got me an Atari, you could say I was always a retro gamer of sorts, but I did stop during the 16-bit and 32-bit eras. Nowadays, you could say I've given up on modern gaming entirely, except for handhelds.

[Anonymous No.1801294]

I'm 21 (almost 22 now). Started playing NES at 6 months old. My uncle loved video games after buying a NES when he was stationed in Japan, so he brought it back to the states, and we'd play a lot of games together. When I was 3, he bought me a Super Nintendo. My mom and I (from ages 3 to 6) beat Zelda ALTTP, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, D-Force, U.N. Squadron, PilotWings, Shadowrun, Blackthorne, Brainlord, Final Fantasy 2(4) and Mystic Quest, and a bunch of other games together. Games from the 16 and 32 bit (mainly sprite based PSX rpgs) have stuck with me, and are still my favorites to this day.

[Anonymous No.1801309]

26
Grew up on NES, SNES and Genesis as a kid and played a lot on my N64 in my teens since I didn't have much for my PS1 and Dreamcast.
I never thought much about what was retro or not I would just jump from console back and forth depending on whether I got something new or just replaying an old favorite, games were just games to me.

[Anonymous No.1801368]

I'm 32.

Started playing on an Atari 2600, then NES, SNES, Genesis, and a 386.

Won a PS1 from a local Baskin Robbins drawing by entering the names of everyone in my family. Came with a copy of Running Wild, a memory card, and some racing games. Nevertheless, I ended up enjoying the system, but I couldn't adapt to 3D very well.

I never stopped playing older games, especially after newer games continued to prioritize a kind of gaming that didn't include me in the target audience. I had pretty much given up on modern gaming until I tried Demon's Souls at a friend's house. I still pick up a few new titles now and then, but I get much more excited about older games.

I have always had fun playing older games, but didn't really prioritize collecting them, since my ex would borrow games and never give them back.

I started picking up random stuff at thrift stores and underpriced titles I could find at dedicated game stores years ago. There's a kind of high you get when you find a gem for three bucks that's insanely addictive. Many stores are selling games for way more now, so you have to shop around, but it's still fun.

For the last two years I've been bringing almost my entire collection (barring a few very special titles) to sell at a local con's swap meet. I get a little depressed when my favorite titles get picked up, but the trade-off is that I get to meet all kinds of interesting people and witness their passion and I love it. The con also has a 24-hour gaming room with consoles you can rent for free, where I've spent entire nights playing old games and meeting strangers.

I think that playing old games with other people is the best way to do it. I have a friend with a pretty nice gaming room and a Trinitron and we hang out every once in awhile and try whatever old games we've pick up recently. Another friend started a retro game night a few years back and we have a small group that shows up every week and gets messed up and tries to beat old games.

[Anonymous No.1801409]

I'm 18, the earliest games I played were on the Game Boy, then I went straight to PS2 then Gamecube. Now my favorite console is the 2600, but I collect for almost everything. My dad made sure I always got to go to arcades as a kid, as well.

[Anonymous No.1801432]

27
Been playing games damn near my whole life, since my oldest brothers where gamers themselves. So yeah I play lots of games from different eras.

[Anonymous No.1801434]

21, always played like two gens behind because my dad had no money due to marrying a lady with six other kids. First console I had was the Genesis and started collecting stuff for it since I was like 14.

[Name No.1801454]

26

I just really grew up poor as fuck. Single mom couldn't afford much vidya. I got an SNES when the PS1 came out. Really just always been a little behind the times.
Couple this with the fact that most modern games fucking blow, and here we are.

I also just have a hard on for old electronics in general.

[Anonymous No.1801461]

>19
Earliest memories are with the Gameboy, N64, and PS1. But Got a GBA in 2002 with SMW (which I still have) and played whatever I saw at stores or my PC (mostly P-N-Cs and Sega compilations) my dad used to take me and my siblings to the arcade where i found out about Simpsons beat em up, Galaga, Pac Man, and Marvel vs Capcom. My mall also had some famicom clones displayed and played Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Contra, Ice Climbers, and Arabian Jack. Then when I finally got internets back in 05, I found out about emulation and got an NES emulator and Free gametap account where i found out about metal slug, Megaman 2, KOF, and Street Fighter Alpha. Before I graduated High School in '13 i had a track team mate sell me an SNES with SMW, DKC2 and NBA Jam and then spent money for the past 6 months on Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, NES, PS1-3, and Xbox 360. I never had a lot of vidya as kid other than GBA and N64 so now that I had the money i decided to catch up on the past and see what I missed out on and vidya history wanted to be a history major at one point but nah. sorry about the tl;dr

[Anonymous No.1801539]

>>1801432
There are 1,2,3,4,5,6 pairs of things I like about that picture.

[Anonymous No.1801549]

>>1801294
>Started playing NES at 6 months old

No you didn't.

>My mom and I (from ages 3 to 6) beat Zelda ALTTP, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, D-Force, U.N. Squadron, PilotWings, Shadowrun, Blackthorne, Brainlord, Final Fantasy 2(4) and Mystic Quest, and a bunch of other games together.

You mean your mom beat those games while you watched. 3 year olds don't beat video games. 3 year olds can barely locate their own dicks.

[Anonymous No.1801550]

I'm 21 and my first console was the SNES, followed by GBC, PS1, PSP and Gamecube.

Over the years I always had some interest in the old console but never had the balls to actually buy them. I wasn't interested in consoles after the Gamecube at all.

I started collecting about three years ago; I was fed up with my computer because I had trouble running some game again. I asked myself what is the oldest piece of playable videogames, researched on the internet and got myself an Atari 2600. Now I am one of the few people on this board that really love the console.

After I got the ball rolling I bought a SNES, NES, N64, PS2, GBA SP, Mega Drive and got my Gamecube back. I also own a WiiU and a 3DS XL. Also bought a PS3 yesterday because I needed a Blu-Ray player lol seriously

[Anonymous No.1801565]

I'm 23 and from South America (where we always have been a step back compared to USA in console market). I didn't take video games too serious as a hobby until I got my first ps1 in the early '00. Previous to that I had a NES and a Genesis with a fuckton of pirated carts but usually I'd end playing the games an hour and get bored (some games were the exceptions). Also I always liked the arcade scene more and usually the ports weren't the best compared to the originals. A couple of years ago after I bought a new pc I started to download a lot of roms of games that I really liked when I was growing up or other recommended games. However, to this day I keep doing the same... I usually play a little each game and never look back. I've beaten a few games, but at least I know I did beat those because I really liked them.

And to be clear, it's not that I don't dig the majority of retro games. I can play them just fine, but I'm selective as fuck so I find it hard to stick to certain games.

[Anonymous No.1801569]

>>1801148
21.

I've been playing since SNES and Gameboy from when I was 5. I'm basically trying to catch up and play all the games I never got to back in the day. I'm slowly branching out to things before my time, but I haven't really started on any old consoles, just old DOS/Amiga games. If I could read moon, there's a lot of PC-88 shit I'd like to play.

[Anonymous No.1801570]

>>1801432
>Lina's boobs are the same size as Amelia's

Fail.

[Anonymous No.1801582]

I am 30, south american too.
I never stopped playing old games.
My favorite games are PC strategy games, platformers and fighting games, and those 3 genres were doing better before the year 2000.

[Anonymous No.1801592]

>>1801148
twenty years old. There were tons of arcade machines, and arcades around my town. I would spend hours playing in them, consuming time. Aside from that my dad had a NES and a Sega Genesis in the house. I would rent games that this one movie store carried for cheap and play them all thr way through every weekend. I've finished anything you can imagine. I only missed out on Metroid, and Megaman.

[Anonymous No.1801594]

29. I started playing when I was 5 when I got a NES. I only had Nintendo systems until I got a Playstation in 1997 when Final Fantasy 7 came out. I've always been into RPGs, and I'll still boot up an old one every now and then.

[Anonymous No.1801634]

31, grew up on most of this, played everything. I have dismissed most of the 8 bit era as having too terrible graphics and gameplay to be worth playing, with a few exceptions.

I was always bigger into PCs anyway, my first gaming was on a C64, not an NES. My first console was a SMS, got NES a few years later after we got banned from the only rental place in town for the SMS.

I'd always do retro shit. Used to just go back and play games I missed, sometimes I'd go and look for something new.

Fucking starcontrol 2. I used to play it once a year, now it's looking like once every five years, or once a decade.

[Anonymous No.1801635]

19

My first console was a Sega Genesis. I grew up with that, the N64, PS1, Dreamcast, and Saturn. I pretty much played all of those until 2001 when I got a Gamecube for my birthday. Afterward I pretty much became an idort when it came to all of the big consoles of each generation. I still loved the hell out of my old consoles though.

As of today, I'm trying to build up a good sized collection and buy/play all of the games I missed out on over the years. I'm also starting to buy and collect for the obscure consoles I never owned like the Neo Geo Pocket Color, Sega CD, TG-16, and etc.

[Anonymous No.1801637]

i'm 24 years old, i always felt to young to be on this board until i saw this thread. i've been playing video games since i was 5, and amassed quite a collection of Sega Genesis games before getting an n64 in '99. i've always felt more drawn to older games, i always loved 16-bit graphics especially. it wasn't until i was about 16 that i learned emulators existed and have been playing retro games for any system since. i got a 360 back in 2008 but it hasn't even been plugged in for years, there is just something about old games that keeps me coming back

[Anonymous No.1801642]

I'm 25. I never had a NES or SNES growing up so I missed a huge collection of great games, which I've been catching up on for the last 8 or 9 years. I stuck with Sega until the PSX, at which point I got an N64 (my first Nintendo home console; I had a GB though).

I was brought up on the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum and with a Windows 3.1 PC so I saw a decent amount of all the major game channels back then.

[Anonymous No.1801653]

>>1801148
i kinda feel bad for anyone just getting into retro games. there are so many good games that you get vastly overwhelmed. i'm really glad I held onto most of my shit and played what I did on those glorious weekends to the video store.

my little cousin thinks i'm crazy about video stores existing. he goes "if they are real anon, why haven't I seen any?", he also lives in NYC.
It really is sad too, the rise and fall of store based game rental was in the near 30 years of my gaming life.

[Anonymous No.1801680]

20. Grew up playing what my mom owned. Which was only a 2600 and a Genesis. Never really moved on.

[Anonymous No.1801694]

>>1801148
>I'm 31 and I started playing retro games about two years ago
Nigga where have you been all these years?

I'm 28 and was born into a house that already had an Atari 2600. River Raid was a beautiful game. From there I I got a NES, SNES, Gameboy OG, Genesis, N64, PS2 and PS3. First time I got a PC capable of playing games was probably around '96-'97. Had a rich life of vidya growing up in the golden age.

[Princess Sevenleaf !AnVbXjgZco No.1801708]

>>1801694
Is that the guy from Blood?

[Anonymous No.1801713]

>>1801708
Yes, that's Caleb. I remember it from a "draw the last character you played" threads some months ago.

[Anonymous No.1801721]

30.

Started from Atari 2600 when my dad set it up and he needed an opponent to beat up on Space War.
Been playing various games since: NES, Genesis, SNES, PSX. But my main interest is in PC, played almost everything 90's DOS had to offer (missed most of the 80's sadly, too young to PC) to Win95 and all the way till now. In fact, I actually played most of any "modern" PC games I can have my hands on.

I don't know why the hatred of modern games here, though, tbh. I still play modern games, even MMOs and all the stuff. Sure it had some "differences" between the retros I played decades ago, but if it's fun I don't see why I shouldn't play it. I like trying new stuff.

[Anonymous No.1801729]

Never stopped.

Played DOS, 8 and 16 bit stuff as it was coming out. Emulators started coming into their own as those systems were going away, so I kept on playing these games, going back and sinking time into whatever was interesting. I have alot of wonderful emulation memories, like when UltraHLE first dropped (infuckingcredible at the time), or CPS2 encryption got broken, or the huge angry shitstorm over dumping KOF99 and 2000. Was blown away by the audacity of Bleem, and watched snes9x grow up from beta to what it is now.

I can't really say that most retro games feel "old" to me, since they have been a pretty constant part of my life since starting to game as a small child up till now.

I've noticed that there is a "hump" to get past for most games, where you need to learn the systems and find your way around, but after you get past that point, something like Xcom or King's Field is just as immersive as any modern game. Many of my favorite games have been retro games that I have played via the amazing preservation efforts of the internet.

[Anonymous No.1801753]

I'm 29. I was born in 1985, the year the NES came out. I've had every Nintendo console since then, except I kinda burned out on these last two generations. Got a playstation and PS2 well after the fact. My parents weren't rich, so I'd play the non-nintendo consoles at my friends' houses.

>>1801235
>This whole "retro" thing annoys me, because there's this huge audience of gamers out there who never even heard of some of the greatest games ever made because of their age. And now only play them because it's an acceptable fad to do so.
So which is it, are you upset people aren't playing good games, or are you upset people are playing them in an "insincere" "fadlike" manner? Do you want old videogames to be popular, or not? Are you just upset that it's "trendy" to like games now when we were called nerds for it back in the day?

>Huge paragraph about how nobody plays old games anymore but "plebs" and "kids" still watch old movies and listen to old songs and read old books
This is utter horseshit. Most people on average probably have not bothered to go watch Gone with the Wind, and most young people nowadays probably do not go out of their way to sit down and listen to The Beatles. There are some people who do this...just like there's some people who play old games like Super Mario Bros. 3.

I should have just ignored your post, but I can't let ideas like this sit around and poison other people. This is some bitter, toxic, defeatist shit. We are living in a golden age of videogames. Forget what the industry is doing, I can right now with a twitch of my fingers look up information on pretty much any videogame that ever existed, and then download them and play them. In SECONDS. I can find entire communities devoted to videogames, and even specifically old games, like this VERY BOARD. Don't buy into the whole "I'm one of the good fans, not like those other jerks that are enjoying my hobby the wrong way" thing. Play some fucking videogames, enjoy yourself, and stop hating.

[Anonymous No.1801764]

>>1801148
23. Grew up on SNES and SEGA Genesis, emulated both throughout the years, briefly got into the collecting scene (barely) in 2010-2011, now I emulate them again, but I rarely play new games anymore now.

[Anonymous No.1801780]

31 yrs oldfag here

I was homeless as a kid and missed out on a lot. Mining the past has been an amazing experience, and I just smile to myself when someone plays the "nostalgia goggles" card on me.

[Anonymous No.1801785]

34
I've always just played games as they've come out, but I guess that's partly because I'm old enough to actually have been able to do that. I mean I'll go back sometimes and play stuff that I couldn't afford at the time or just stuff that I've missed out on, but genre-wise my taste has mostly not changed that much and if I wasn't interested in it as a kid, I'm generally not interested in it now.

Sometimes I'll get the urge to replay some old NES game or an older FF/RE game again, but that's very rare and I would say the only "older game" I still play with any regularity is Quakelive. It's mostly the same as Q3 which is a game I played every single day for a good 5-6 years. Honestly I'm pretty good at that game and now that I have a wife/career/house, etc., it's the only competitive game I can play vs the kids today (and sometimes with my old clanmates if they're around) and actually have an advantage without having to spend massive amounts of time learning something new and getting good at it because I already put the time in.

Other than that though, I play pretty much 0 older games (I mostly just play newer single player stuff in addition to QL), and this whole "retro gaming" thing is very weird to me. Hear me out though because I'm not necessarily judging anyone or slamming this board or anything. I think it's kind of a hard thing being early 20s or younger and wanting to play retro games because some people might think you're a douche or something. I admit that very thought crosses my mind when I see some 18 year old talking about the "golden era" or praising some games that came out before they were even born and my eyes just want to roll into the back of my head. On the other hand though, it's hard to begrudge anyone that no matter how young because there really were some great games back then and genuine hipster douches give a bad name to people who just want to play the good stuff.

[Anonymous No.1801802]

I'll be 27 next month. Been playing video games since I got my Sega Master System when I was 4 and never stopped. I have an Atari 2600, 7200 and a Vectrex all of which I love so yeah I can play games from before my time just fine. Good games are good forever.

[Anonymous No.1801815]

>>1801753
wise words

[Mangrove Jack No.1801825]

I'm an old fart from Down Under, hitting nearly 50.
First game, was Pong...kicked arse on the then family black and white TV.
When I was in my teens, spent most of my coin (10 cents a game) at the local fish and chip shop, mastering Space Invaders and then later, it was the first edition of Galactica.
Most games for me, were played at the time they were introduced.
When I left home, "Down Town" was THE arcade place for me. Having grown up in a one horse town of a few hundred people, arriving at the big smoke was a hug eye opener...never would have thought that Arcade halls ever existed.
Got into Dungeons and Dragons and created major carnage with "1942".
Pacman was a pain in the arse, always never got past level two.
First ever experience with online games, was Red Faction. Now that was THE game and I found a renewed interest in games.
Later on in time, it was Enemy Territory (Wolfenstein) and those knide fights :D
Today, I have a PC that is hooked up to my family TV set and use emulators to play the old arcade classics. Refusing to buy into this current idea from game producers today, where I have to PAY for subscriptions/game play. Also refuse to buy into X-box, Sony Play station and all that shit that restricts your freedom to play where you want when you want. I mean, who the fuck are these companies telling us that we need to buy their company sponsored hardware to play a game???
Now you have the arseholes telling us that we need to be connected to the internet to play their games....soon these anal retentive wankers will be forcing out kitchen toasters to be connected to the internet so that we can adjust how brown we want our toast "for a better experience".
So that's me, simply an old gamer still into the "scene", albeit through the emulators on my home PC.

[Anonymous No.1801828]

>>1801753
>Forget what the industry is doing, I can right now with a twitch of my fingers look up information on pretty much any videogame that ever existed, and then download them and play them. In SECONDS. I can find entire communities devoted to videogames, and even specifically old games, like this VERY BOARD. Don't buy into the whole "I'm one of the good fans, not like those other jerks that are enjoying my hobby the wrong way" thing. Play some fucking videogames, enjoy yourself, and stop hating.

Preach. All these Henny Penny doomsdayers are overreacting. Video games have never been in a better place than they are now.

[Anonymous No.1801837]

22.

Grew up with a cousin's hand-me-down NES once they moved on to a SNES. Loved the thing, and my older sister would often join in for some games like Contra and SMB3. She was so much better than me, but eventually decided video games weren't her thing.
Got to play some SNES at a friend's place.
Another cousin of my age had a Genesis, and later a PlayStation/N64 and I would stay over almost every weekend. He's handicapped and doesn't get out much, so I was basically one of 4 people he interacted with outside of immediate family. We built up a pretty tight bond.

As the gaming industry moved on, I generally felt a lot more disconnected from the worlds and characters depicted. My sister's boyfriend introduced me to emulation (showing me a Super KKK Bros hack of all things) and I've been playing a lot more of the classics than anything else since, mostly things I missed out on.

[Anonymous No.1801860]

>>1801828
>Video games have never been in a better place than they are now.
I wouldn't say that.
Classic games are maybe in a better place, considering the communities and fans who play them, but the industry as it is right now is shitting itself.
Two of the reasons I come to /vr/.

[Anonymous No.1801867]

20.

Pretty much grew up with Sonic and Mega Man. I've always played on emulators though. Back in the day, the only console I had was the PS1.

[Anonymous No.1801893]

>>1801860

I don't know. There's always been industry problems, just not necessarily the same ones we have now. I'd say the ratio of good games to bad ones is about the same. Personally, I'm here because /v/ is shit, not the modern games industry.

[Anonymous No.1801926]

19, but my brother installed emulators on the computer at a young age, so as I was playing the ps2 and all the games that were all the rage at the time, I was playing neo geo, snes, and megadrive at the same time.

[Anonymous No.1801936]

>>1801828
>Video games have never been in a better place than they are now.
ahahahaha

[Anonymous No.1801945]

I was born in the year of our lord, 1977 same as the Personal Computer, the Atari VCS and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

When I was little we were poor enough that we only had used things so my first console was a RCA Studio II that was older than I was. I didn't get a VCS until I was like 8.

My family didn't get affluent enough to get current video game systems until the Genesis era. I even got a SNES during release week, I guess I was lucky that my mom got a fat commission that coincided with it.

Still, my Grandma lived through the depression and she never failed to pass down her values of "waste not, want not" so I never got rid of.. well, anything that I ever cared about. As a result I have an extremely respectable retro video game collection that cost me very little...

...and a pole barn full of worthless shit nobody but me gives a fuck about.

[Anonymous No.1801953]

>>1801936

Well? When were they?

[Anonymous No.1801956]

>>1801953
In the before times.

[Anonymous No.1801957]

>>1801729
can I get some more backstory about the cps2 encryption ? sounds pretty cool I'm definitely giving it a google. The KOF stuff too.
I remember my brother telling me about how long it took people to emulate third strike.

[Anonymous No.1801959]

>>1801956

Ah, you mean that mythical "golden era" all these NES obsessed hipsters keep talking about.

[hahahahahahahaha No.1801968]

>>1801959
>all these NES obsessed hipsters
>on /vr/

Hahahahahahaha

[Anonymous No.1801969]

>>1801957
Make sure you read about how the board would kill itself if you looked at it funny.
http://cps2shock.emu-france.info/techinfo.html

CPS3 cracking was thoroughly documented by the Mame Team blogs.

[Anonymous No.1801973]

>>1801968

Do you only have two keys on your keyboard?

[Anonymous No.1801975]

>>1801969
That sounds horrible.
I guess fragility is one method of copy protection...

[Anonymous No.1801980]

18, my earliest gaming memory is playing SMB 1 and Duck Hunt with my mom when I was around 4 or so. Never had a SNES, but we got an N64 and played Banjo Kazooie, Smash Bros etc. I would consider Gamecube my "prime" system, I was old enough to fully comprehend the games in a more meaningful way but I wasn't jaded in any way. I eventually got a 360, then PS3 but something just felt missing. I used them for a few years, but then there was a solid year where I basically took a break from gaming. However, retro games got me re-interested. I think the lack of challenge and over focus on story drove me away from modern games. Getting into literature in high school made me realize the "deep and meaningful" narrative in a lot of games are actually pretty shitty, don't provoke thought, and designed as pure escapism devoid any real challenge in a way similar to the "feelies" in A Brave New World. Focus on pure game play makes retro games far more attractive.

[Anonymous No.1801981]

>>1801973
Yes, and they happen to be "H" and "A".
Luckily, your post was able to be summed up using no other keys, so I have to thank you for that.

[Anonymous No.1801982]

>>1801969
The interesting parts:
http://cps2shock.emu-france.info/encript.html
http://cps2shock.emu-france.info/suicide.html

[Anonymous No.1801983]

>>1801981

Or you just don't have a genuine rebuttal.

[Anonymous No.1801989]

>>1801983
There's no such thing as a genuine rebuttal to an in-genuine statement.

[Anonymous No.1802004]

>>1801969
>http://cps2shock.emu-france.info/techinfo.html
thanks a lot m8, any on the KOF?

[Anonymous No.1802017]

>>1801989

I think you're misunderstanding me. When I say "NES obsessed hipsters" I'm not shittalking the NES. I'm shittalking people that only play old games because they're old. It's superficial.

As for gaming being better "back then", that's nostalgia influenced bullshit. There were just as many shit releases then as there are now but people don't remember them because they were shit. Nowadays you can have any of thousands of games on your PC in seconds. How is that worse than it used to be?

[Anonymous No.1802032]

I'm 23. I started out with an NES and a pile of games my mom bought from my cousin when I was around 3 or 4. Got his SNES and games the same way around 5 or 6. A lot of retro games I played just growing up, but I missed out on almost everything on PC. I didn't get a PC until around 2000 or so, and it was a piece of shit even then. I mostly played Majesty and Rollercoaster Tycoon on it and little else.

[Anonymous No.1802036]

>>1802017
The state of the video game industry as it is today is not a result of bad games. It's a result of the company heads nickel and diming fans for every bit of content they release, often splitting releases into multiple transactions.
I'm sure there are a lot of developers that would have done the same back then if they were able, but they didn't.

So yes, the ratio for shit games to good games was about the same. However the business practices were much more genuine and fan-friendly.

[Anonymous No.1802052]

>>1801837
is your sister hawt?

[Anonymous No.1802057]

>>1802052
Sure, why not?

[Anonymous No.1802062]

>>1802057
pics

[Anonymous No.1802084]

>>1802036

Gamers have always been subjected to shady business practices, but as much as gaming has changed with the advent of online gaming and DLC becoming expected gamers have also changed. The only reason this shit goes on is because there's idiots out there supporting it with their money. If you ignore the early access, pay2win, DLC after DLC crap there's still plenty of good gaming to be had. In a capitalist society consumers have all the power. Vote with your wallet.

[Anonymous No.1802089]

>>1802084
So you agree that the industry has changed for the worse, is what I've gathered.

[Anonymous No.1802093]

>>1802084
Really though, there's zero risks from implementing DLC, the only company that seemed to get any kind of backlash for doing it was capcom with SFxTekken.
It's here to stay whether if you bitch or moan.

[Anonymous No.1802124]

>>1802089

Nope. Like I said here >>1801893 there's always been problems. We just have different ones today. DLC isn't in and of itself a bad thing anyway. It's when content that should have been in the game to begin with is released as DLC that it's a problem. DLC that just adds to the already complete game is fine by me. That's been around for ages anyway. We used to call them "expansions".

[Mangrove Jack No.1802159]

>>1802124
Could not have said it any more succinct than this

[Anonymous No.1802164]

>>1802004
>thanks a lot m8, any on the KOF?

Well, my memory of it is a little bit hazy but here goes...

Basically, neogeo was getting emulated quite decently around 1999-2000. Neorage X was fast and played everything.

Around this time, a few things were happening. First, SNK was still releasing games for the goddamn neo-geo hardware, despite it being ancient at this point. Second, they were introducing an encryption system onto the boards to reduce mainland asian piracy of their games. Third was an active emulation community trying to get everything dumped and uploaded to sites with names like emujuegos.br or whatever.

The whole situation basically turned into a fight between people who were working on decrypting the roms for emulation purposes, and others who believed that it was unethical to dump roms that were of new games being sold to arcade operators.

Much of this was happening around the finalburn/kawaks/nebula days of emulation, so it was an all-around clusterfuck. Unencrypted boards eventually got released and it was one of the many nails that went on to seal SNK's coffin.

If anyone has any corrections or anything to add, I would be grateful.

[Anonymous No.1802169]

>>1802124
Except with DLC they charge you more for less than a full expansion.

[Anonymous No.1802176]

>>1802169

Well that really depends, doesn't it? Some DLC is a bad deal, some is fair and some (an admittedly small amount) is really good. What constitutes a "full expansion" anyway?

[Anonymous No.1802180]

29 and when I was playing the games they were current gen. Just recently got an emulator though so I could play some of my old favourites from the NES and SNES like Zelda, Mega Man (classic and X series), and Secret of Mana 1 and 2. Finally getting around to beating the original Zelda since I sucked at it so bad when I was 4yo. Link to the Past was my favorite, but now I think the original might take it's place.

[Anonymous No.1802206]

33 here, started playing games on the atari 5200 with the adapter for 2600 games

[Anonymous No.1802413]

27. Played "retro" games my whole life and never stopped.

My first game system was the Game Boy and I owned every Nintendo system since then (besides the Virtual Boy) up to the GameCube. Also have good memories of playing my friends' and relatives' Sega systems (Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast).

I mean, I do play some new games which can be pretty fun, but old games are kind of comforting. Those games also tended to be purer experiences for lack of a better term – less fluff, more stuff. But this is all subjective.

[Anonymous No.1802475]

>>1802180
Oh, and I never owned a Game Boy as a kid so I'm finally getting play some of those games that I never got to like the Zelda games that came out for it. I might even try the original Pokemon games just for the hell of it.

>>1802413
GameCube was the last nintendo console I owned as well. Never had any interest in the Wii with its waggle stick gimmick.

[Anonymous No.1802569]

31 here been playing videogames, or just admiring them bec not much moneys most of my life

[Anonymous No.1802584]

>>1802569
between shovelware, emulation, and piracy you should have been able to play mostly everything

[Anonymous No.1802591]

18, gaming is my main hobby I guess, my interest doesn't just stop there though, the whole medium and industry surrounding it is something I'm always looking into and talking about.
I want to play games because they're 'fun' and offer new experiences and emotions and to try and to take a look at someone's vision. This leaves me with a huge backlog of pretty much wanting to play 'every' game and complete any I think is 'OK'.
I pity the future generations who are going to have more and more generations of games to try and get though.

I started on the PlayStation, my Dad said he was playing Resident Evil when I was still a fetus.

>>1801167
>free

[Anonymous No.1802595]

26

Started with GB and SNES.

Stopped at PS2 and GC.

[Anonymous No.1803529]

I'm 22. I started with the gameboy at five, only got a console for the first time in the early 20's. Two actually, the Atari 2600 and the N64, and couldn't really afford getting any of the big consoles that gen. So at 13? I got a PS about when the 360 came out, and the NES shortly after that. I never really minded that much,. The games were fun and are still.

[Anonymous No.1803532]

>>1803529
*early 2000's

[ApartmentRaptor No.1803575]

23, my dad was one of those people who believed that video games were the devil incarnate, so I never got to play games except occasionally at a friends house growing up. My brothers and I did get a computer however, a Win 3.1 machine my grandmother was tossing when she upgraded, and I started playing old games on there. Eventually I got hold of a better computer, and my brother brought home a disk some friend of his at school had given him with Nesticle and about 100 roms on it, which I played for days. Later we finally got a Gamecube shortly after release, but I still played those emulators. I still play modern games, but what got me back into retro gaming was years later. I was older, and had my own money, and at a yard sale I found an enormous box of NES games that I was compelled to buy. Initially I planned to resell them, but instead I got an NES off ebay, started playing some of the games, and knew I couldn't get rid of them. Long story short, 5 or 6 years later I have almost 1000 games, 19 consoles including handhelds, and a hobby that will hopefully last me a lifetime.

[Anonymous No.1803580]

I'm 30 and I've almost always lagged behind. My first systems were hand downs from my siblings and even when I had a contemporary one I still bought cheap older titles instead of expensive new ones.

[Anonymous No.1803635]

I'm 21.

Started out at the age of 3 (1996) with an Atari 7800 and 486 PC. My family always had older shit, I guess, but I didn't really notice or care.

Got an SNES in '98, an N64 in 2000, and a Dreamcast in 2002.

Always enjoyed the games of previous generations, and always took advantage of the fact that I could get 5 retro games for the price of 1 new game.

I started seriously building my retro collection a few years ago, when I got into retrocomputing.

[Anonymous No.1803945]

I'm 21 and started with a SNES and NES, which were my dad's. I also got my PS1 from him. He got me into Resident Evil and Metal Gear, so I didn't have any restrictions on what I could play.
I essentially grew up on these games and gradually saw gaming getting worse as I grew up.
I'm getting back into retro games now for that reason and I'm on /vr/ because it's not possible to discuss games in general on /v/.

[Anonymous No.1804089]

31 and I've played NES, SNES and Genesis games at friends' places when I was a kid but never finished anything. Plus, I suck at 3D shoot-em-ups (yes, that's still how I call FPS). So I'll play the old stuff I remember and like.

[Anonymous No.1804145]

I'm 34. Started with the Commodore 64 of my brother, then nothing else during the 80s since we were poor. I was more an arcade kid, and people offered me a match on SF2 since I was the best at that game in the town arcade. Then I startaed with a little job during the high school years so I could afford a Pentium100 (the price of it, 4 months of salaries) and later a Playstation. I loved Dos games, and I still do.
That's it, I quitted games totally during uni, then later I started again because my girlfriend is a huge Nintendoboo so she introduced in the world of SuperMario, Zelda and such, and I actually enjoyed it.
This could surprises someone but I never played any Supermario game (except the original Mario Bros on C64 and Donkey Kong) before that.

[Anonymous No.1804159]

24
I was a Genesis kid, so I never really got to play a lot of SNES games until later on.

I always really stuck to anything within the retro period of the sight though; even when I had a DS I was mostly buying ports.

[Anonymous No.1804163]

>>1804159
>sight
*sticky, fuck you autocorrect

[Anonymous No.1804168]

>>1801148
28
Pc jr and nes
I feel pretty lucky

[Anonymous No.1804170]

30
started with NES and PC
came from a techy family so I've always been surrounded by retro and current tech my whole life.

[Anonymous No.1804179]

24

I started playing on a SNES and did a lot of catching up in the last 5 years.

[Anonymous No.1804849]

>>1801148
28, and I started with the NES about 5/6. Growing up I played nes/master system/mega drive/gameboy/game gear/lynx/commodore/spectrum/amiga and a bunch of other shit, like jaguar and virtual boy. Never owned an awful lot, but I'm making up for it now!

I guess it makes sense now that I'm heavy into /vr/ I lost the urge to play new games as much but still do [skyrim/mass effect/borderlands etc sometimes] but I totally go for the old school stuff, it just has more appeal, and I love the sprites and music of older games.

[Anonymous No.1804860]

>>1804849
>nes/master system/mega drive/gameboy/game gear/lynx/commodore/spectrum/amiga and a bunch of other shit, like jaguar and virtual boy.
that's a disgusting vidya path m8

[Anonymous No.1804890]

so I'm 20 right now.

>have NES when I was 5/6
>have Genesis when I'm 7/8
>when I was 13, my dad brings home a sega dreamcast, my favorite console
>he pirates me a ton of games for it
>one of them was a super nintendo emulator
>that's how I got into a ton of snes games

so yeah, a more or less summary of my retro gaming gaming life

[Anonymous No.1804930]

29
started around 6 with famiclones, got a snes, then psx, ps2 and stopped there.
all the way with mostly pirated games (3rd world country, poor family baw)
i still enjoy playing snes/psx/n64 and similar games, not interested at all in ps3 and later..

[Anonymous No.1804967]

>>1801148
29. I bought a 2600 with my own money, at a flea market during the NES era. I didn't care that it was out of date. It was neat. It was different. There isn't much older than that, and the age of games has never stopped me from playing or enjoying them, at any point.

The source doesn't matter either. I emulate, buy old games on Wii/PSN, I'm on abandonia.org every other month. I've got a mint Jaguar, but I wouldn't call myself a collector by any means. My gaming time is evenly split across devices. Sometimes you feel like being comfy in front of a TV, and sometimes in bed with a GBA and a flashcart.

Never got jaded. There's tons of good games out. Played all three Souls games backward and forward, loved Dragon's Dogma, Catherine, and a bunch of others. Really looking forward to the new Gauntlet (made by the guys who did Magicka) and the Shadowgate remake. The NES version of Gauntlet was one of my first games, and me and my mom used to play it together. I'm hoping to get her hooked on this new one.

[Anonymous No.1804975]

I'm 22 and started off with the NES, but also had a SNES, Genesis, N64, PC, and a few Game Boy games. I still remember renting SNES games, young as I was at the time. Later on, I ended up getting a Gamecube and Game Boy Advance.

I always gravitated more toward PC games most of all, though, especially WarCraft and Command & Conquer.

Even as a kid, I generally preferred 8 and 16 bit games to the newer stuff. There are very few coming out now that even interest me.

[Anonymous No.1804976]

30
I didn't realize until I was an adult that my parents were gamers in their day, and I was fortunate to grow up playing Atari, NES, DOS-games, etc.

[Anonymous No.1804978]

22 started from the snes now i'm here. always loved beat em ups

[Anonymous No.1805012]

27.

I rarely venture before my first system (SNES) but I've stayed relatively consistent since then.

[Anonymous No.1805014]

>>1804930
I bought a ps3 and enjoyed it for a while, honestly. Games just got worse and I find myself playing nothing but HD rereleases, metal gear and ps1 games on it anymore.

[Anonymous No.1805078]

>>1801181
You must be the oldest person on 4chan.

[Anonymous No.1805109]

>>1805078

Look at >>1801825
And I don't even think he is the oldest

[Anonymous No.1805119]

>>1805078
Eh. You know we're all gonna be here when we're 36, too right?

[Anonymous No.1805142]

>>1805078
Far from it. There are people 60 years and older posting on 4chan.

[Anonymous No.1805145]

>>1801825
lol holy shit m8

how often do you get into internet arguments?

[Anonymous No.1805148]

>>1805142
they say this on /tv/ a lot

I hope it's a meme and that there really aren't all these creepy 60 year pedos there with foot fetish

eh

[Anonymous No.1805153]

>>1805145
>Down Under
All the time, probably

[Anonymous No.1805171]

>>1805078
nope... I am 37. I have been coming here since 2008, so I am not an "oldfag" in the sense that I was around for the Habbo Hotel raids. i jumped on board around Project Chanology.

yes... I need more friends...

I got started playing games on my mother's friend's Atari system. We played that game with the tanks... forgot the name... My dad was in the Army, back when it paid pretty well, so we always had toys and video games.

I never stopped playing retro games. I kept all my systems and most of my games. old games are usually cheaper than the new systems, so I am consistently a generation behind. Just got a PS3 last year!

[Anonymous No.1805186]

>>1801837
I feel you, bro. the more realistic a game looks, the less likely I am to play it. Even my recent favorites: Enslaved and Remember Me, are set in fantastic sci-fi environments with crazy abstract art design. I know people are pissing themselves over Assassin's Creed and Watchdogs, but I can't be bothered. I am too busy pumping cash into the Apple Appstore

[Anonymous No.1805206]

>>1805148
Funny, a little while back a 61 year old dude posted saying he browsed "/b/, /pol/, /sp/, /lit/, /tv/, /d/, /gif/" and others.

http://archive.foolz.us/q/thread/762240/#765602 (Warning: huge page since it's a moot Q&A live thread)

[Anonymous No.1805220]

>>1805142
>>1805148
There used to be a couple of tripfriends on /r9k/ who were in their sixties ("Old" and "pops").

The latter used even posted a time stamp in one of his threads. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

[Anonymous No.1805238]

23 I started with Megaman X on the PC. Actually I remember playing lots of different NES and SNES games on an emulator since my dad was too cheap to buy an actual console. My first actual console was the Nintendo 64.

[Anonymous No.1805267]

18
I started playing as a kid maybe 7 years old
We didn't have alot of money so i didn't have consoles nor computers but my uncle had a neogeo arcade emulator in his computer, windows 98

[Anonymous No.1805292]

I'm 30. I've been play video games almost my entire life. When i was a kid my dad had an atari that i played with all the time, and when I was 5 or 6 we got an NES with TMNT and super mario 2.

My lest favorite gen is 16bit. It wasnt about the console wars. For me, when I look back. I cant think of any real games that I share a connection with like i can with other systems. whenever i look for inspiration on what to play its always the same bullshit rpgs and I just want a game I can pop in and play. I will say I like genesis over snes. I have more memories with it than the snes.

My overall favorite system is the PlayStation. It just has a little bit of everything. I always think of it as the NES of it's time. And I have so many memories playing it. I admit I am a bit of a fanboy of the brand, but I also own every nintendo counterpart too. I just don't love it as much.

Mostly my retro thing is from game hunting. There's nothing more fun than going to a goodwill or some rank thirft store never knowing what you are going to find. And I dont mean some ultra rare game. I get just as much fun out of finding a loaded as I am finding a chrono trigger

[Anonymous No.1805295]

>>1801148
20, started on retro because of my poorer background. First console was a hand me down Mega Drive.

[Mangrove Jack No.1805541]

>>1805109
Would agree with you on that, regards age.
Know a few in my little world older than myself who are into arcade (MAME and variants) and also know a few that are into COD online.
We are still kids when we hit the big 50 or more :)

[Anonymous No.1805569]

28. Always been a "retro gamer". My early childhood was with NES and Genesis, but my memory was foggy. So after the 16 bit console wars and I became a high school student I started buying older games.

Back then they were surprisingly cheap since no one wanted outdated software. I remember picking up all the mega man NES games for $5 a game (they are still in my collection) for example.

Now I live in Japan and am now building up a Japanese retro collection.

[Anonymous No.1805571]

>>1802164
thanks for taking the time to write that out !, i appreciate it anon, have some shitty vaporwave art.

[Anonymous No.1806076]

32. Wasn't exactly poor as a kid but we definitely didn't have enough money to blow on the latest vidya so between discovering emulation (and even with the major compatibility and accuracy problems early emulators had, it was amazing) and PC games my interest in newer console games quickly fell off. The newest console I have is a PS2 that hasn't been touched in years.

[Anonymous No.1806465]

I'm 26. Had an SNES, Gameboy, Game Gear, PS1, and N64 as far as retro consoles go back in the day. Started emulating stuff around 10 years ago long after all those consoles disappeared to god knows where. I only really started doing the collector's retrogaming thing in the past couple of months (buying old consoles, original cartridges, learning how to solder things, fancy crts, etc).

[Anonymous No.1806492]

I'm 25, been playing video games since I was 3.

Discovered emulation after an Epiphany that if I could download music, why not games?

I may be misremembering but this was around 99 or 98.

Though I had always been Nintendo do kid, I knew lots of people who had the other systems so I don't feel like I missed out on much.

[Anonymous No.1808274]

18.
First console was an N64. Second was an NES my grandma got me from a garage sale. As a kid, I never really registered that one was older than the other; I just knew that Mario 3 was fun as shit. Same deal with things like Sega Smash Pack and Namco Museum and a buttload of ports on GBA. Then the internet happened. I found out that a lot of the games I loved were actually ports from old consoles and I discovered I could play all those and more for free. God I love the internet.
Lots of things have happened. I've had a fascination with arcades since the first grade thanks to Namco Museum, but I've hardly ever been able to see a proper one; back then it was really just the Lunar Patrol machine at Cici's, which was a godsend. A guy from Dad's work let me borrow his NES collection one summer, which is a memory I hold dearly. Seems like a starry eyed twelve year old holding an NES controller wins over a lot of adults. I started collecting proper in middle school and I've only sped up since then, though I'm worried about the impact college will have on that. And that's where I am today.

[Anonymous No.1808464]

>>1801148
34. I've always played old games along with new ones.

[Anonymous No.1808572]

>>1801148
I'm 24. I used to go to my uncles place with my family when I was a kid and he would let me go into his game room where he had all kinds of older game systems. I would spend most of the time that I was there playing on those systems so I acquired a taste for retro.