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Retro gaming, also known asclassic gaming andold school gaming, is the playing and collection ofpersonal computers,consoles, andvideo games from earlier decades. Usually, retro gaming is based upon systems that are outmoded or discontinued, although ported retro gaming allows games to be played on modern hardware viaports,emulations or compilations. It is typically fornostalgia, preservation, or authenticity. A new game could be retro styled, such as anRPG with turn-based combat andpixel art inisometric camera perspective, as well aschip-tune styledmusic.
Retro gaming has existed since the early years of the video game industry, and was popularized with the Internet andemulation technology.[1] It is argued that the main reasons players are drawn to retro games are nostalgia for different eras,[2] the idea that older games are more innovative and original,[2] and the simplicity of the games.
Retro gaming andretrocomputing have been described aspreservation activity and as aspects of theremix culture.[3]
The distinction between retro and modern is heavily debated, but it usually coincides with either the shift from 2D to 3D games (making thefourth the last retro generation, and thefifth the first modern), the turn of the millennium and the increase in online gaming (making the fifth the last retro generation, and thesixth the first modern), or the switch from analog to digital for audiovisual output and from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio (making the sixth the last retro generation, and theseventh the first modern). They can be played on original hardware or in modernemulation.[citation needed] The retro game focusedtelevision programGameCenter CX determines that a console has to be 20 years or older to be included in the retro game challenges.[4]
In the early to mid-1990s, a fanbase for older video games grew through self-publishedfanzines such as Tim Duarte's2600 Connection, Joe Santulli'sDigital Press and Frank Polosky'sVideo Magic. In 1997, Ralph Barbagallo ofDigital Diner magazine stated that the contemporary interest of older video games grew with the emergence of the internet throughUsenet discussion groups like rec.games.video.classic and its own dedicatedIRC channel. Several regulars from these discussion groups began developing their ownpersonal web pages, such as popular sites like Greg Chance'sThe History of Home Video Games Homepage.[5]
Prior to the mid 1990s, older video games would occasionally be re-released for a few consoles with Barbagallos summarizing that "for a while it seemed the game industry had no memory of the years before 1985."[6] In 1995,Next Generation highlighted the revival of long dormant video game franchises. This includedActivision releasingReturn to Zork (1993) andPitfall: The Mayan Adventure (1994), Atari withTempest 2000 (1994), and Nintendo withDonkey Kong, withDonkey Kong Country (1994) andDonkey Kong (1994).[7]
Following the new interest of these games, companies began re-releasing their back catalog invideo game compilations commercially, such asMicrosoft Arcade (1993) for Windows, and the 1995 releases of the first games in theAtari 2600 Action Pack series for home computers and theNamco Museum series for thePlayStation.[8][9]
Fans also began developing releases independently, such asStella Gets a New Brain, a re-release oncompact disc ofcassette tape-based games for theAtari 2600. New games also began appearing for the Atari 2600, such as the 1995 release of Ed Federmeyer's rendition ofTetris titledEdTris 2600.[9] Barbagallo stated thatVideo game emulators became increasingly popular as personal computers were now fast enough to simulate hardware from consoles such as theColecoVision,Nintendo Entertainment System, and theGame Boy as well as computers such as theMSX andCommodore 64.[9]
With increasing nostalgia and success of retro compilations in the fifth, sixth, and seventh generations of consoles, retro gaming has become amotif in modern games. Modern retro games impose limitations on color palette, resolution, and memory well below the actual limits of the hardware, to mimic the look of old hardware. These may be based on a general concept of retro, as withCave Story, or an attempt to imitate a specific piece of hardware, as with theMSX color palette ofLa Mulana.
This concept, known as deliberate retro[10] and NosCon,[11] gained popularity due part to the independent gaming scene,[12] where the short development time was attractive and commercial viability was not a concern. Major publishers have embraced modern retro gaming with releases such asMega Man 9 which mimics NES hardware;Retro Game Challenge, a compilation of new games on faux-NES hardware; and Sega'sFantasy Zone II remake, which uses emulatedSystem 16 hardware running onPlayStation 2 to create a 16-bit reimagining of the 8-bit original (an actual arcade release of the game was also made in limited quantities as well).
Vintage retro gaming can involve collecting original cartridge and disc media[14] and arcade and console hardware, which can be expensive and rare.[15][16] Most are priced lower than their original retail prices.[17] The popularity of vintage retro gaming has led to counterfeit media, which generally lack collectible value.[17]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, prices for vintage hardware began to spike as themillennial generation pursued the hobby duringlockdowns due to boredom as well as nostalgia.[18]
Retro gaming may involve older game systems being emulated on modern hardware. It bypasses the need to collect older consoles and original games. Read-only memory (ROM) files are copied by third parties, directly from the original media. They are then typically put online through file sharing sites.[14] They are often sold as re-releases, typically in compilations containing multiple games running on emulation software.[19] The accessibility of emulation popularized and expanded on retro gaming.[1]
Ported retro gaming involves original games being converted to native on new systems, just as in emulation but without original ROM files.[14] Ported games are available through official collections, console-based downloads, andplug and play systems.[1] Ported retro gaming is comparatively rare, since emulation is a much easier and more accurate method.
Modern retro gaming may be more broadly applied to retro-style designs and reimaginings with more modern graphics. These enhancedremakes includePac-Man: Championship Edition,Space Invaders Extreme,Super Mega Worm, and3D Dot Game Heroes. Some are based directly upon the enhanced emulation of original games, as with Nintendo'sNES Remix.
When remakes are created by an individual or a group of enthusiasts without commercial motivation, such games sometimes are also calledfangames. These are often motivated by the phenomenon ofabandonware, which is the discontinuation of sales and support by the original producers. Examples offan-made remakes areKing's Quest I: Quest for the Crown,King's Quest II: Romancing the Stones, andFreeciv.
The nostalgia-based revival of past game styles has also been accompanied by the development of the modernchiptune genre of game music. Chiptunes are characterized by severe limitations of sound imposed by the author's self-restriction to using only the original sound chips from 8-bit or 16-bit games. These compositions are featured in many retro-style modern games and are popular in thedemoscene.
With the new possibility ofonline distribution in the mid-2000s, the commercial distribution of older games became feasible, as deployment and storage costs dropped significantly:
... we can put something up onSteam, deliver it to people all around the world, make changes. We can take more interesting risks ... Retail doesn't know how to deal with those games. On Steam there's no shelf-space restriction. It's great because they're a bunch of old, orphaned games.
A digital distributor specialized in bringing older games out of abandonware isGOG.com (formerly calledGood Old Games) who started in 2008 to search for copyright holders of older games to re-release them legally andDRM-free.[22] Other companies have also been established to rerelease retro games, includingLimited Run Games andiam8bit.[23]
Online platforms for older video game re-releases include Nintendo'sVirtual Console and Sony'sPlayStation Network.
Mobile application developers have been purchasing the rights and licensing to re-release older arcade games on iOS and Android operating systems. Some publishers are creating spinoffs to their older games, keeping the core gameplay while adding new features, levels, and styles of play.
Plug-and-play systems have been released or licensed by companies such asAtari,Sega, andNintendo. These systems include stand-alone game libraries and plug directly into the user's television.[14]
The retro gaming market is active with online and physical spaces where retro games are discussed, collected, and played.[1]
Several websites and online forums are devoted to retro gaming. The content on these online platforms typically includes reviews of older games, interviews with developers, fan-made content, game walkthroughs, and message boards for discussions.[1] Many gameplay videos posted online feature attempts at breakingspeedrun orhigh score records.
Some YouTube channels dedicated to retro gaming have gained a considerable following, such as theAngry Video Game Nerd[24] andGame Sack.[25]
The competitiveFighting game community comes from arcades, such asStreet Fighter andMortal Kombat.[26] Somefighting games have continued to receive arcade releases after the end of the arcade era.[27] Face-to-face competition ofSuper Street Fighter II Turbo has been featured in theEvolution Championship Series.[28]
Events typically include vendors, gameplay, tournaments, costumes, and live music. TheClassic Tetris World Championship has been streamed online to millions of views and recaps have been broadcast onESPN2.[29] TheInternational Festival of Comics and Games in Poland annually features a large retro gaming area open to all visitors.[30][31]
Retro gaming is recognized bymuseums worldwide. For example, theRetroGames arcade museum ofKarlsruhe,Germany was founded in 2002[32][33] and theComputerspielemuseum Berlin was founded in 1997. Some classical art museums bear a video gaming retrospective, as with 2012'sSmithsonian American Art Museum exhibition titledThe Art of Video Games[34] or as part of theMuseum of Modern Art "Applied Design" exhibition in 2013.[35] Starting in 2015,The Strong National Museum of Play adds games annually to theWorld Video Game Hall of Fame. In 2016, the first museum dedicated solely to the history of the videogame industry, TheNational Videogame Museum, was opened in Frisco, Texas.
An exemption in the United States'Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows consumers to modify video games they already own to make them playable.[36] However, the duration of copyright on creative works in most countries is far longer than the era of home computing, leading to criticism that software piracy is the only way to preserve some titles. In some cases, such asNo One Lives Forever, the rights remain ambiguous, preventing legal distribution.[37]
Emulators are typically created by third parties, and the software they run is often taken directly from the original games and put online for free download.[14] While it is completely legal for anyone to create an emulator for any hardware, unauthorized distribution of the code for a retro game is an infringement of the game's copyright.[38] Some companies have made public statements, such as Nintendo, stating that "the introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date in the intellectual property rights of video game developers".[39] However, video game developers and publishers typically ignore emulation.[14] One reason for this is that at any given time, most of the games illegally distributed for emulation are not presently being sold by the company which owns the game, and so the financial damages in a successful lawsuit would likely be negligible.[38]
Nintendo filed a lawsuit in 2024 against Tropic Haze, claimingYuzu, Tropic Haze's emulator, infringed copyright by reverse engineering Nintendo's hardware. The settlement that was reached included Tropic Haze paying $2.4 million and halting their emulator projects.[40][41][42]
Nintendo sued the owner of LoveROMs.com and LoveRETRO.co in 2018 for hosting copyrighted game files and facilitating piracy. The court awarded Nintendo $12,230,000 in damages, leading to the shutdown of the sites.[43][44][45]
In 1999, Sony sued Connectix, and the court issued a preliminary injunction against Connectix for copyright infringement on theirVirtual Game Station, an emulator enabling PC users to playPlayStation games, violating Sony's BIOS copyright.[46][47][48] The Ninth Circuit Court reversed the district court's decision both on the copyright infringement and the trademark tarnishing claims, lifting the injunction against Connectix. Video game emulation advocates have asserted thatSony vs. Connectix established the legality of emulators within the United States.[49]
Sega Enterprises sued Accolade in 1992 for reverse engineering Sega's technology to develop compatible games for theSega Genesis console. The court sided with Accolade, supporting certain reverse engineering efforts for compatibility.[46][50]
In 1992, Lewis Galoob Toys was sued by Nintendo over theGame Genie, a device allowing game modifications for personal use. The 9th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Lewis Galoob Toys, stating such modifications did not infringe copyright, permitting the continued sale of theGame Genie.[46][51]
This paper looks at the world of retrocomputing, a constellation of largely non-professional practices involving past computing technology. Retrocomputing includes many activities that can be seen as constituting 'preservation.' At the same time, it is often transformative, producing assemblages that 'remix' fragments from the past with newer elements or joining together historic components that were never combined before. While such 'remix' may seem to undermine preservation, it allows for fragments of computing history to be reintegrated into a living, ongoing practice, contributing to preservation in a broader sense. The seemingly unorganized nature of retrocomputing assemblages also provides space for alternative 'situated knowledges' and histories of computing, which can sometimes be quite sophisticated. Recognizing such alternative epistemologies paves the way for alternative approaches to preservation.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)The worst days [for game development] were the cartridge days for the NES. It was a huge risk – you had all this money tied up in silicon in a warehouse somewhere, and so you'd be conservative in the decisions you felt you could make, very conservative in the IPs you signed, your art direction would not change, and so on. Now it's the opposite extreme: we can put something up on Steam, deliver it to people all around the world, make changes. We can take more interesting risks.... Retail doesn't know how to deal with those games. On Steam [a digital distributor] there's no shelf-space restriction. It's great because they're a bunch of old, orphaned games.
... [Good Old Games] focuses on bringing old, time-tested games into the downloadable era with low prices and no DRM.