what is your definition of "old school"?

[GamerL]

when exactly does a game cross the threshold in your mind from being "just a game" to officially an "old school game"?

for me the answer is easy, ten years, once a game becomes a decade or more old it is officially old school as far as I'm concerned, I can hear you scoffing but hear me out, go back and play a game from the early 2000's and tell me that compared to modern games it's not in any way old school, a lot changes in a decade in the world of gaming, just compare the games of 1994 to those of 2004 and tell me that a '94 game is not old school compared to a '04 one, so why should there be any difference in the games of 2014 versus 2004?

look, I know it hurts, no one likes to think of Half Life 2 being old school, let alone the fact that in a few years early Xbox 360 and PS3 games will fall under that banner by my definition, but that's life, time waits for no man 

I say this because there seems to be a bias when people talk about old school gaming that of course they're referring to the 2D era, basically Super Nintendo and below, that nothing 3D could ever be "truly" old school (like for example the Angry Video Game Nerd, who in his journey to "take you back to the past, to play the shitty games that suck ass" has only played a small handful of PS1 and N64 games), well I think that's bullshit, how are PS1 and N64 games NOT old school? especially PS1 games, just look at them!

what say you? have I gone off my rocker? am I just some young punk, talkin' about the PS2 being old school as if I know shit? 

[alphex]

Old school = mechanics or aesthetics have since evolved, and the game in question feels like it belongs to an earlier era. For example, Super Metroid or SOTN aren't too old school IMO, since the genre they're in hasn't evolved all that much ever since. Street Fighter 2, on the other hand, is noticeably simpler than Blaz Blue, and also looks different from most modern fighters. It is old school.

There's also "old school" as a design philosophy. Tetris isn't dated, but it adheres to the principle of games that can be played in short bursts, but that aren't casual in that they spoon feed the player. I'd say Canabalt has an old-school design philosophy in that it can be played very very casually, but still is tough. Maybe that's more arcade-y, but that's where action games where at for the 80s and 90s.

Halo might be old school in that it laid the blueprint for modern shooters, but didn't rely on scripted events as much. Thus, it feels rather bare-bones. COD, not so much.

[X-pert74]

I think the "cut-off" mark for what is old-school changes over time. Ten years I think is generally a good cut-off point, or perhaps two console generations; so, I would probably start considering PS2/Xbox/Gamecube games to be old-school soon. Eventually though, with so much of gaming history falling under that banner though, I think it's important to make further distinctions between different eras; perhaps noting things like "16-bit" games or "early 3D games" or the like.

[jorpho]

Simply put, in the past some things were done a certain way because they hadn't really been done before (possibly because the technology was new) and further experimentation and refinement has revealed that there are much better ways of doing things. For instance, when was the last time you played a game that limited the number of times you could save? (Maximo, maybe?) It could still be a useful and entertaining mechanic if the game is designed around it properly, but otherwise it would be a really unusual choice for a game designer to make.

Further into the future things that now seem to be a good way of doing things might be left by the wayside and thus become "old school" – in-game DLC purchases, perhaps.

[collinzo]

I watched king of arcades yesterday (Nice companion piece to king of kong).. They referred to early 80's games as the Golden age.. I kinda like the age idea over saying old school.. Old school will mean different things to different people, mainly down to age and first gaming memories. I remember space invaders in the arcades and had an Atari 2600 (for a week... my TV was too old to be able to play it!)
I think most people, even very very casual gamers would understand it if you said Golden age.. or 16 bit age etc...

[elektrolurch]

it is a very difficult question....... I'd say there is no one simple answer because it is a gradual thing without the possibility for absolute borders.think for instance about the first medal of honor games or half life I. Sure,graphically, a lot has changed, but they arent too far removed from modern FPSes in terms of gameplay, mechanics and general concepts. Off course a lot off stuff has been refined over time, but its way more recent and contemporary than say someting wolf 3D..........which is totally oldschool and feels weirdly disconnected from what we nowadays think of as fpses.
it is very different for each and every genre what can be considered old school and what not.
another stupid thought- in my mind, a lot of modern,retro styled indie games aren't "old school" at all

[moran]

My line of thought on this is similar to alphex's. Just because something is 10 years old, it doesn't make it old school. Its just old. Past games need to evolve to another design/gameplay level in order to differentiate New & Old school. FPS games are a good example like you said. But it could also be used as a broader example. Halo, released in 2001, helped usher in the New School style FPS by being built with consoles in mind and is still a very relevant title as well as the bane of PC player's excistence. The Halo games themselves haven't strayed too far from the original blueprint and have heavily influenced modern FPS games. Half-Life 2 on the other hand, released 3 years later in 2004, is a more old school title given that its still based on the Old School FPS gameplay style more like its predecessors(Half Life, Quake, Hexen, etc). It introduced some great physics elements, but still controlled and played very similar to the games before it. Half-Life 2, while still just as relevant as Halo, definitely fits the Old School FPS title more than Halo would.

[Exhuminator]

From a chronological perspective: Anything two generations old or older, an example would be the PS4 has made the PS2 officially old school.

From a game design perspective: Any game that refuses to hold your hand, and actually respects your intelligence, while letting you survive or fail based entirely on your own gaming skill.

Well, that's how I feel about it.

[ZenithianHero]

Pre-XBOX I think is the start of modern gaming because we gotten past growing pains of 3D development and started to include more online features in games as well as trends we see today like a more cinematic feel or accessibility.
However, when I think of old school I think of the 8 bit and early era of gaming a lot more.

[Deleted]

I think it's a pretty vapid and mutable term that comes down largely to personal preferences and viewpoints, but my own definition of "old-school" is everything before the Xbox and Gamecube. The PS2 had some early overlap with the Dreamcast, so it sorta counts for me.

[Vokkan]

Yeah "old school" and "old" are different things.

Old school game design is a simpler essence and/or lack of hand holding.

[masamvne]

Generally anything older than me. (I'm 18.)

[strizzuth]

NES

[muteKi]

EDIT: actually no, better standard than what I had here for "old school" -- does the game have display scrolling, or is action screen-by-screen

Old school:
Donkey Kong
Galaga
Monty on the Run

Not old school:
Contra
Super Mario Bros.
Xevious

[elektrolurch]

Sept 16, 2014 13:04:01 GMT -5 muteKi said:

EDIT: actually no, better standard than what I had here for "old school" -- does the game have display scrolling, or is action screen-by-screen

Old school:
Donkey Kong
Galaga
Monty on the Run

Not old school:
Contra
Super Mario Bros.
Xevious

wait.....so defender isnt oldschool?moon patrol? interesting.......