RetroGaming

I feel like I'm the only one here who actually likes it when games I loved when I was younger become old/retro. I see it as a badge of honour, like them getting to enter the hall of fame.

Super Mario World isn't a bad game just because it's old, it's just as great now as it was in the 90s. Same with Sunshine. And it makes me happy knowing I grew up with these games - no amount of aging or growing old could take that away from me.

I had the first NES system with the original inclusion of Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt. Actually it was the first console of the line but I don’t think the very first version because I think the very first version did not have Duck Hunt or the gun. Correct me if I’m mistaken. I was a little late to the NES and by then I think they added that element to it.

But also, I didn’t buy any console after that, because once I started gaming on PC I only ever gamed on PC. Although I regret not getting into Turbo Grafx 16 because years later I found troves of the games at a flea market and the guy dug up all of the ones he had and brought them over the following few weeks. By that time I was no longer really interested in them so I was just buying and reselling them on eBay. Massive score on that load. But I wish I had just collected the whole set and gotten a unit.

Why did I start rambling? Oh yeah cuz it’s Reddit. Anyway, consoles were a nice idea but to me, once I could upgrade a graphics card and always still be able to not only play the games that I had already, but continue to be able to get newer ones… I dunno, the console concept seemed to me a money pit, because first of all, the moment it hit the shelves in stores, there were already better graphics chips being sold for PC, and also, eventually as I had predicted, it would become a console war, combined with cutting off older units whenever they pleased, as well as all the rest of the shit they’ve pulled over the years with DRM, and online requirement so they could fucking cut you off when they pleased. I opted to not even bother stepping into that racket. PC gaming for me. Especially retro PC gaming.

Ok ramble over. Just wanted to share my experiences.

And that's not even the first 3D Mario.

Worse still, virtual reality headsets started around the 1960s with the sword of damocles and people still treat it like it's a novel technology...

Here's Mario at nearly 30 years ago (29 years):

Mario 64

This was Mario 40 years ago:

One of my University students asked me the other day if I was doing anything special for the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith.

I told him he needs to remember I control his grade.

The first time I played Super Mario on the N64 I can still recall how it made me slightly dizzy, which delighted me. That effect only lasted a short while, but it was a lot of fun to feel that disoriented by a video game, if but briefly.

Super Mario 64 is 29 years old.

Yes, the original is lines and crude unlike some of the other examples of "old 3D games", but this is (maybe) the first actual 3D space game, so it has to start somewhere.

Guess I should have been more specific on first home system 3D space game. Yes, there were arcade and mainframe things before. But their game world wasn't as big. :P

I think what's more interesting is Mario today doesn't even look much different than Mario 20 years ago. The Switch just never bothered, plus graphics in general are flattening out.

What you think 3D games looked like 20 years ago:

What 3D games actually looked like 20 years ago

You shut your mouth, the 90s were definitely like 10 years ago right?! :P

Crysis is roughly as old now as Super Mario Bros 3 was when Crysis first released.

It got worse after a closer look - realizing this is Sunshine, and not something earlier...

yeah... PS3 is "retro" now!

Hey... Shut up.

Halo 3, Modern Warfare, Mass Effect, GTA4, Super Mario Galaxy, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, and Portal all launched closer to the original Sonic the Hedgehog than today.

I remember in the early 3D days, 2 sequels with a 7 year gap would have looked vastly different. I just started KCD1 after finishing KCD2 and even though it is 7 years older, it looks identical.

To put into perspective: the gap between MGS1 and MGS2 was just 3 years.

This year the original SMB will be forty years old.