History Main / RetroGaming

The first perennial question for retro gaming is, "What counts as retro?". Diehard older retro gamers may insist that only pre-[[UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 crash]] games and systems count, while more liberal definitions have a moving point of retro as any system at least 10 years old (which itself is debated considering modern systems can last that long all on their own). Most people seem to pin their preferred retro gaming system to "[[NostalgiaFilter whatever I was playing when I was 12]]". For some, {{Retraux}} Gaming also counts.

For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card,[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of [=DOSBox=] who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]] not having the sound card emulated in UsefulNotes/DOSBox is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, games may not work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency;[[note]]The original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]] this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. The upshot however is convenience: this method is purely digital, you have a vast array of games available at your fingertips, they're free, and the games are so small that a new one is only an instant download away. They can also be used to make the games look better than they did, like render ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' in HD, widescreen and a higher colour depth than was possible on the original hardware.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16774405170.87164600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

Emulation is also a common way for publishers to re-release their older back-catalogue on modern platforms: take a shot every time VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 is re-released this way. While they can also run the risk of the same problems and inaccuracies as "homebrew" emulation, they are more accessible with no legal grey area, and run on systems you can plug into your HDTV with minimal worries. [[TakeAThirdOption A third option]] is FPGA consoles, which can exactly copy the way the original hardware worked for extremely accurate replication while running the original carts, while also allowing for digital ROMs and modern conveniences like HDMI output.

For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card,[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of [=DOSBox=] who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]] not having the sound card emulated in UsefulNotes/DOSBox is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, games may not work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency;[[note]]The original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]] this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. The upshot however is convenience: this method is purely digital, you have a vast array of games available at your fingertips, they're free, and the games are so small that a new one is only an instant download away. They can also be used to make the games look better than they did, like render VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon in HD, widescreen and a higher colour depth than was possible on the original hardware.

An interest in playing older video games. Retro games have had an upswing in interest in the last 10 years as the average gamer gets older, and computers have become sufficiently powerful to [[UsefulNotes/{{Emulation}} emulate]] earlier systems at full speed.

Retro gaming generally plays out in a 2-D game space, often offering gameplay with no determined conclusion other than loss of all lives, often using a simple numerical score as its game goal. Controls are likely to be simple and non-analog with only one or two fire buttons. For this reason retro gaming has recently become more prominent on mobile phones where these attributes are advantageous to the platform, a platform which encourages simple gaming experiences that are quick to learn, use simple controls and are easy to pick up and put down.

Retro gaming, being the infancy of video gaming, was the start of many many gaming tropes and genres. ShootEmUp, BeatEmUp, PlatformGame, PuzzleGame... virtually every genre started here, including 3D gaming.

The first perennial question for retro gaming is, "What counts as retro?". Diehard older retro gamers may insist that only pre-[[UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 crash]] games and systems count, while more liberal definitions have a moving point of retro as any system at least 10 years old. Most people seem to pin their preferred retro gaming system to "[[NostalgiaFilter whatever I was playing when I was 12]]". For some, {{Retraux}} Gaming also counts.

The second perennial question for retro gamers is "real hardware versus emulators", generally a question of authentic look and feel opposed to the convenience of having 10,000 games for a dozen systems available at your fingertips. Earlier systems relied on effects caused by the fuzziness inherent in their output to allow the illusion of more colours on screen and smoother transitions between colours than was strictly possible for the hardware, meaning that an emulator may not show a retro video game as the makers intended. Some very old systems are nearly impossible to emulate, as they were based on analog systems. Or may use hardware that may not be emulated at the moment. For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card,[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of [=DOSBox=] who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]] not having the sound card emulated in UsefulNotes/DOSBox is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, sometimes action games don't work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency;[[note]]The original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]] this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. On the flip side, plugging an old console (or a modern console, for that matter) into a modern TV can also add significant lag due to image processing, depending on the TV and its settings.

It is retro gaming that often supplies the sound effects in television and movies to denote that video games are being played, regardless of the fact that ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' [[PacManFever does not sound remotely like]] ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'' or ''VideoGame/PacMan''.

[[http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/ Home of the Underdogs]] is a 'digital museum' of underappreciated games, the vast majority of which are fifteen to twenty years old. (Its previous incarnation at http://www.underdogs.net/info became defunct a few years ago due to an apparent lack of funding.)

The [[http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3156908 Retronauts podcast]] at [=1up.com=] is dedicated to discussion of retro gaming.

There are now museums set up around the world dedicated to capturing the history and examples of the early years of videogaming. [[MissingEpisode/DoctorWho Much like early]] ''Series/DoctorWho'' tapes, videogame development was thought of as disposable, and little to no effort was made to conserve source code, original artwork and other associated products of the process, with games as recent as 2002's ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' having all its development resources lost. Further, early (and not so early) storage media are notoriously unreliable, and efforts are being made to transfer early digital artifacts into more stable form.

-->-- Ralph, ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''

-> ''"The gamers say we're 'retro,' which I think means 'old, but cool.'"''

-> ''"The gamers say we're "Retro" which I think means "Old, but cool""''

->''The games you get today''\\
''Well, they might be very flash''\\
''But they'll never beat the thrill''\\
''of getting through ''VideoGame/{{Jetpac}}''!''
-->--M.J Hibbett, ''[[http://www2.b3ta.com/heyhey16k/ Hey Hey 16K]]''

The second perennial question for retro gamers is "real hardware versus emulators", generally a question of authentic look and feel opposed to the convenience of having 10,000 games for a dozen systems available at your fingertips. Earlier systems relied on effects caused by the fuzziness inherent in their output to allow the illusion of more colours on screen and smoother transitions between colours than was strictly possible for the hardware, meaning that an emulator may not show a retro video game as the makers intended. Some very old systems are nearly impossible to emulate, as they were based on analog systems. Or may use hardware that may not be emulated at the moment. For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card,[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of [=UsefulNotes/DOSBox=] who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]] not having the sound card emulated in UsefulNotes/DOSBox is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, sometimes action games don't work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency;[[note]]The original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]] this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. On the flip side, plugging an old console (or a modern console, for that matter) into a modern TV can also add significant lag due to image processing, depending on the TV and its settings.

The second perennial question for retro gamers is "real hardware versus emulators", generally a question of authentic look and feel opposed to the convenience of having 10,000 games for a dozen systems available at your fingertips. Earlier systems relied on effects caused by the fuzziness inherent in their output to allow the illusion of more colours on screen and smoother transitions between colours than was strictly possible for the hardware, meaning that an emulator may not show a retro video game as the makers intended. Some very old systems are nearly impossible to emulate, as they were based on analog systems. Or may use hardware that may not be emulated at the moment. For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card,[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of UsefulNotes/DOSBox who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]] not having the sound card emulated in [=DOSBox=] is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, sometimes action games don't work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency;[[note]]The original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]] this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. On the flip side, plugging an old console (or a modern console, for that matter) into a modern TV can also add significant lag due to image processing, depending on the TV and its settings.

RetroGaming, being the infancy of videogaming, was the start of many many gaming tropes and genres. Shoot em ups, beat em ups, platform games, puzzle games... virtually every genre started here, including 3d gaming.

''of getting through Jetpac!''

It is retro gaming that often supplies the sound effects in television and movies to denote that video games are being played, regardless of the fact that [[PacManFever Halo does not sound remotely like Galaga or Pac-Man]].

There are now museums set up around the world dedicated to capturing the history and examples of the early years of videogaming. Much like early Series/DoctorWho tapes, videogame development was thought of as disposable, and little to no effort was made to conserve source code, original artwork and other associated products of the process, with games as recent as VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI having all its development resources lost. Further, early (and not so early) storage media are notoriously unreliable, and efforts are being made to transfer early digital artifacts into more stable form.

[[http://hotud.org Home of the Underdogs]] is a 'digital museum' of underappreciated games, the vast majority of which are fifteen to twenty years old. (Its previous incarnation at http://www.underdogs.net/info became defunct a few years ago due to an apparent lack of funding.)

The second perennial question for retro gamers is "real hardware versus emulators", generally a question of authentic look and feel opposed to the convenience of having 10,000 games for a dozen systems available at your fingertips. Earlier systems relied on effects caused by the fuzziness inherent in their output to allow the illusion of more colours on screen and smoother transitions between colours than was strictly possible for the hardware, meaning that an emulator may not show a retro video game as the makers intended. Some very old systems are nearly impossible to emulate, as they were based on analog systems. Or may use hardware that may not be emulated at the moment. For example, for someone who grew up with a computer with a particular sound card[[note]]Particularly, the [=SoundBlaster=] AWE series, which due to bias by the main programmers of UsefulNotes/DOSBox who thinks that the Gravis [=UltraSound=] is vastly superior, will probably not see emulation in official releases of the software[[/note]], not having the sound card emulated in [=DOSBox=] is a good enough reason to go and splash money on the hardware route for some because "the game will not sound like how I remembered it".[[note]]This is especially true with sound hardware, due to the numerous clones of the [=SoundBlaster=]- the most mainstream card in the market- back in the 90s, and how the chipsets of these clones have quirks and slight variances in sound quality compared to the real deal. Put simply, no two clones sound the same, or anything like the real deal for that matter. However it also applies to display cards to a certain extent. An [=SiS=] card will have video quirks that are otherwise not present in an S3 or a Cirrus Logic card, for example.[[/note]] Also, sometimes action games don't work as well in emulation, due to various factors that can contribute to input/output latency[[note]]the original Videogame/FZero, for instance, can be noticeably more difficult in emulation due to lag, and if played that way too much can actually retrain a formerly-skilled player [[DamnYouMuscleMemory to the point of driving into walls]] on the real thing[[/note]]; this is often made worse by attempts to sync the screen refresh to that of the monitor in order to avoid tearing and juddering. On the flip side, plugging an old console (or a modern console, for that matter) into a modern TV can also add significant lag due to image processing, depending on the TV and its settings.

The first perennial question for retro gaming is, "What counts as retro?". Diehard older retro gamers may insist that only pre-[[TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 crash]] games and systems count, while more liberal definitions have a moving point of retro as any system at least 10 years old. Most people seem to pin their preferred retro gaming system to "[[NostalgiaFilter whatever I was playing when I was 12]]". For some, {{Retraux}} Gaming also counts.