Marketing games as "retro" will turn away new players from great content that is modern in its own right. Can we please *NOT* call games done in 2D or old-fashioned style "retro fun" or other things referencing retro gaming, please? Thanks. #hottake
@ayachan @KyokiKafuka @Yuki_G_t9tK Seems reasonable to me. One game I'm playing now, Sundered, might have been possible on the PSX or even the SNES or Genesis/Megadrive (albeit on a smaller scale), but I don't call it retro. I assume it's all hand-drawn.
@starbreaker @KyokiKafuka @Yuki_G_t9tK That's just it: games can look like they came from ages ago, but the design and specs they require to run often mean that the game could never be played on old hardware.
My larger issue in all this is that we're driving away a new gamerbase that has no point of reference for old consoles. Is gaming going to just be for people who grew up in the 80s and 90s, or can new gamers play, too?
It would be a mistake to focus on older gamers all the time... -_-
@ayachan @KyokiKafuka @Yuki_G_t9tK No shit. Us older gamers might have the money, but we don't have the time.
@ayachan @starbreaker @Yuki_G_t9tK I think one unintentional yet dangerous consequence of this fragmentation is that it would encourage younger gamers to not delve into the more important (and influential) titles when studying game design. The knowledge of how systems and game mechanics evolve and every game has influenced one another in some form.
@KyokiKafuka @starbreaker @Yuki_G_t9tK Oh, this I completely agree with!! My larger issue in all of this has less to do with that and more to do with the fact that we're actively discouraging younger gamers from playing games because they are being marketed as "retro."
Just call it for what it is: a 2D game or game done in an older style. And at the same time, encourage younger players to look back at old equipment, espeically since there are stores that specialise in that thing. ^_^
@ayachan @starbreaker @Yuki_G_t9tK Oh of course! But I think it becomes much more toxic when this attitude gets carried over to studying game design. Video games have never existed in vacuum and that's true of every era. Otherwise, you get wannabe developers going "imma gonna make the next Call of Duty" and not improving upon what was already there.
@KyokiKafuka @starbreaker @Yuki_G_t9tK *nods* I worry about this as much as you do, which is why I feel it is essential to stop road-blocking the entrance younger gamers have into the realm of more classic titles by calling everything "retro."
We can all benefit from everyone playing games from all along the timeline of gaming. ^_^
@starbreaker @KyokiKafuka @Yuki_G_t9tK And beyond that, by focusing primarily on older gamers, the market for newer gamers gets summarily maligned and ignored.
This is wrong for so many reasons. If gamers want games to be taken seriously as an artform and a creative medium, they can't keep on living in the past.
I'm fine with producing games that look 2D or old-fashioned, but for crying out loud, stop pushing them as "retro;" your marketing is driving away your future and your legitimacy!!