Topic: What is the thing you miss most about retro gaming & consoles?

I don't want to take anything away from the games of today, but I just feel like games felt like they were actually games in the retro days. A game being a game is something I miss from the retro days (even though there are still some out there now that fit the bill ).

I miss the concept of "easy to learn, hard to master" that older games use to have.

I miss the charming music (I'm looking at you Sonic games). None of this "generic rock" or whatever, but music that contributed to the experience (and was catchy to boot!)

While I do like being able to do more things with my game console, I miss being able to put in a game, wait about 5-6 seconds, and BAM...there's the game screen waiting for you to choose how many players are playing.

This along with the trial-and-error method mentioned earlier in the thread are just a few things I miss about retro gaming.

/me moonwalks off to play some Moonwalker

In a word, "simplicity." And that word covers so many facets of yesterday's consoles vs. today's. Increasingly difficult to just pick up a game and, you know, PLAY! To think that there are games that you yourself have purchased that you have to have an Internet connection and be online to play. Sometimes, I'd like to hop into the ole Delorean and return to a time without some of the annoying/ridiculous BS of today.

@Ryno
At 35 myself and rapidly approaching middle age, I remember the days when if a game held your hand, it was to slice it off with a katana blade (likely at the shoulder).

I don't remember Super Mario World having that as an option. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I miss sprites and polygons.
None of this point cloud data. - Message from myself, from the future.

I miss not having to pay to play with friends. (Xbox Live)

• Lack of annoying in-game tutorials
• Systems often came packed with TWO gamepads
• Cheat Codes
• Larger variety of genres (or so it seemed)
• SEGA

.best bootup screens
.no disks to scratch
.built like bricks
.people traded games like they did baseball cards

The hassle of buying SD/memory cards and hard drives. Cartridges are easier since everything is just saved to that. Though both discs and carts have their ups and downs.

I also miss the rivalries. When it was Nintendo vs. Sega it was fun. Nowadays it's " Xbox rules! PS3 sucks! Wii's for babies!". These are video games, don't take them seriously.

It's always been like that. I guess a lot of the Nintendo vs. Sega fanboys have grown up since then.
"My Game Boy is awesome!" "No way, Game Boy sucks because it's not in color!"

Another thing I enjoy about retro games versus today's games is the creativity that was put into the entertaining descriptions on the box and the manual. If you have CIB retro games then you know what I am talking about! Game packaging today has some cruddy generic quote(s) from some reviewer with a vague boring description of the game on the back along with a non-existent manual. But hey, you do get some download voucher with some bland instructions with modern games though!

Well that's a given as the industry matures for ebtter or worse. I do miss physical hake manuals. I realize the reason they are gone but I was thrown off when Mass Effect 3 didn't come with one at all.

Not having to pay £10 extra for the full game; not having to make sure the DLC code expiry date hasn't run out; not having to install updates when you play a game for the first time or in a while; not having go to a website without fanboys/trolls spamming the comments sections; and the wonderful, wonderful 30 page full colour manuals...

Connecting the Gameboy / Gameboy Color games to the Nintendo 64 and connecting the Gameboy Advance to the Gamecube. The fact I could bring my character from Mario Tenneis from the GBC version to the N64 was awesome. It is a shame Sonic Adventure 2 for the Xbox 360 won't support the Choa GBA Transfer. Damn you Microsoft!

I find it funny the Nintendo DS can connect to the Wii, but no games did anything cool like "Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles" or "Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (GC version)".

I miss the instruction manuals. They were works of art back in the day. I'm glad they're dying out as they're a waste of paper, but I'm glad I still have my collection.

[/div]

My words exactly. not only arcades, but cheap ones too. I have to pay $1.00 for every dang machine nowadays... back then it was 1 token for every machine.

I also miss the horror genre of the 90's. ZombiU has my full attention as a comeback. But back then I couldn't play Silent Hill without shaking.

Also miss when Capcom and Konami were the coolest, before DLC existed. I know there are like 20 versions of Street Fighter 2 on Snes and Genesis. But they didn't do that to any other game, like today. Konami is still cool though.

I do too see them as a work of art too along with the boxesand heck some complete copies of games nowadays are priced like art. The NES and SNES covered a period of what less than 10 years? Such a short time overall really but to me that is the special time for video games. It was like the industry was at the awkward teenage rebellious fun stage yet to settle down and matrure.

[/div]

Along with being works of art (and including incredible artwork/drawings), they provided backstory and information you wouldn't find in the games themselves, especially those text-limited. You got more than just "Bowser kidnaps Peach... AGAIN" from a SMB instruction booklet. With the bare-bones instructions we're sure to get with NSMB 2 (if you get a physical copy), we'll be lucky if it's even said "Bowser kidnaps Peach... AGAIN" anywhere, it'll just be assumed. Thing about settling down and maturing is it can make you boring and uninspiring. (kind of like me )

Right. As I recall, the Ocarina of Time 3D "manual" was little more than a poster describing the controls.
And the one part of the Steel Diver paper manual that wasn't covered in the tutorial level pretty much just said "go read the in-game manual".

Gaming with my friends in the same room, and not having a care in the world!