Topic: Would the retro revolution be happening if it wasn't for the Switch?

Since the advent of the Switch we've see a lot of older games either reissued/collected/updated for the system like the Street Fighter 30th collection, Crystal Chronicles, L.A. Noire, and the Neo Geo reissues or franchises brought back to life like 2D Sonic, Bomberman, and Megaman in new games. When you look at these games they are all present on multiple systems other than the Switch (everything comes to PS4), but in reality would these games really be getting these games across all platforms if the Switch wasn't driving a need for them in the first place? And do these games really have an audience on the other systems as they do on the Switch?

Because all I know is I wouldn't be buying Bomberman or the rest if I had to be tied to a TV screen to play it. Or are people buying these games on the HD twins to get better graphics than they can on the Switch?

There's a huge audience for retro games, especially with the indie market, but it's hard to say if these games wouldn't of been made if it wasn't for the switch, more "gaming" games like bomberman just feel right on Nintendo hardware, but unfortunately I don't have insider info on what want into the decision of making them, so possibly.

@subpopz This. Really, the question you should be asking is, "Would the Retro Revolution be Happening if not for the Early Success of Xbox Live Arcade?" - that's a far more debateable topic, as I understand it...

Games like L.A. Noire are hardly "retro" though. A lot of these ports of games that are less than 10 years old seem like pure business decisions more so than anything else. AAA games cost more and more to make these days, and releasing these games on new platforms as they arrive helps publishers stretch their dollars further with minimal investment/risk.

@CanisWolfred
Pretty much. Although I'd also give a fair amount of credit to the Wii VC service also. Truth be told it may have been neither. It may have simply been a case of there suddenly being a way for publishers to easily distribute low budget games. Either way it was definitely something that started around that time.

As a side discussion I wouldn't discount the role of a few specific titles. New Super Mario Bros was the first time since the mid 90s anyone took 2D platformers seriously. Without it's success I doubt we would have seen the volume of 2D platformers we have today. The other game that made it clear there was room for "retro" was probably Geometry Wars

I can only speak for myself, but the Switch has definitely reignited my enthusiasm. I am loving that Nintendo has found their A game again after the Wii U debacle. I'm chuffed indies are flocking to the system. As for retro games, Nintendo are purposefully aquiring 'proven games'. To be honest they are doing great. I feel like the bloody stars have aligned.

Yes. Nintendo cashed in on the retro gaming trend in 2016 with the NES Classic Edition, before the Switch was released. Shovel Knight was also a Wii U-era game.

Yes, of course it would, saying otherwise is just silly. It's usually a time span of about 20 years from when something was popular that it gets re-released as nostalgic. If you saw or had something when you were 10-15, then you want it again when you're 30-35. The same has been true about everything from Harley Davidson motorcycles to vinyl records.

What the Switch did though was to give people a reason to buy slightly older games, like PS3-era because now you got them portable.

Wii, Xbox 360 and the emulators for PC have made far more for the retro craze than Switch, Switch is just following that as Xbox One and PS4 do.

Considering that the whole way back in the PS1/Saturn era, we were seeing multiple retro arcade collections (Namco Museum, Konami Classics, Capcom Generations, Midway/Williams "Arcade Greatest Hits") and stuff like the Konami MSX Antique collection, I'd say it predated the Switch almost 2 decades.