24 Percent Of Gen Z Brits Own A Classic Gaming System, While 74 Percent Say Retro Is "More Relaxing"

Yeah, I can get down with that.

Games have done a lot of things since the days of early consoles, but the old classics retain all the pleasure they had back when they were new. Sure, many old games need to be understood with some context, some knowledge of what hadn’t yet been done at the time they were made. But for the amount of experimentation that was being done in those days, it’s amazing how much is still the best example of what a well made game should feel like, and the fundamentals that it should have.

Pringles had a retro repair clinic? That's got to be the randomnest thing I've heard in a while. I know those Pringles tubes can be pretty useful for things but are they good for console repairs too? 😉

Still it's true- once you pop [a game into a retro console] you can't stop.

for me some games are now the equiviliant of a warm pair of slippers and a cosy jumper. Sometimes ill just fire up E1M1 for a bit of comfort.

Retro games are more relaxing? Most retro games I've gone back to - especially action games - are usually hard as nails, probably due to my middle-aged reaction times not being what they used to be. Maybe GenZ'ers haven't quite slowed as much?

@dmcc0 - Maybe it’s that the goals and interface are less complex, regardless of the difficulty?
Animal Crossing on GameCube is super chill, has some holidays, but the daily life is peaceful. AC:NH feels like a grind! So many things to do, so many festivals and items to collect. And there’s several currencies, all with different purposes!

Pikmin 1 & 2, while stressful sometimes, is gentle and simple in its gameplay and presentation. In Pikmin 4, I am bombarded with messages from multiple crew members telling me to do things. It’s a great game, but there’s so much to do and so much going on that it can be overwhelming. It’s not an escape from the noise of the Internet, it just adds more noise.

@HoyeBoye I guess it doesn't actually say what games they are playing, or what their definition of 'retro' is - one of the comments on the Metro article says PS4 is retro for example and someone responds that it isn't, but PS3 is. A lot of folk don't consider even the GameCube to be retro.

I keep hearing people say that modern games are too easy with the likes of auto-save, no perma-death and hold the users hand too much etc, so just a bit surprised to hear younger gamers going back to them for relaxation.

@dmcc0 It could be a muscle memory thing. I don't have much trouble with Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts these days so oddly it is kind of relaxing to play! 😅

I tend to find playing something new where I've got to work out the controls, where to go, what to do, etc, can be a lot more challenging that just picking up something I'm very familiar with.

It could also be down to the complexity of modern graphics or the "readability" of the environment. The old 2D and 3D stuff was more basic so it was easy to discern what's an enemy, a platform, a power-up, etc. When I tried the RE4 Remake I thought they'd taken destructible barrels out because there were barrels as background details that you couldn't destroy. I think that explains why they had to put yellow paint on the ones you could destroy!

@dmcc0 For me, relaxing means being to pick up a game and play with no added hassles. With modern gaming being so dependent on microtransactions I often get stressed that I might miss the latest drop or lose my stats because I didn't play multiple days in a row.

More relaxing? What were they playing? 😆

Although the difficulty is often higher in retro games, there’s way less clutter and junk going on.

@BulkSlash Yeah, it's definitely different when you go back to something you've already played when you were younger. I doubt many of the GenZ'ers that were surveyed are relaxing by playing Super Ghouls n Ghost for the first time 😂 I suspect most of them were playing stuff from their childhood like N64 or early PlayStation or something as they did mention nostalgia played a big part in what they were playing. Likely stuff that many on here don't even consider 'retro'

@PKDuckman Depends what you are playing. There are plenty of modern games that don't have microtransactions, and even if they do, can be ignored quite easily. I can't think of a single game that I've played that I felt like they were really pushing microtransactions to the point where it spoiled the game - maybe it's just that I've tuned them out, or I'm not playing those types of games.

Considering the ignorance towards gaming in America towards anything non-Nintendo I think America need more embracing of retro gaming more than any other region, yikes. 😆

Is that 24% of all people in this age group in the UK, or just 24% of gamers in that age group? Because there’s a big difference, and without any absolute numbers of either, a % figure is meaningless.

Also, what’s classed as retro? To these whippersnappers, the Wii U might be deemed retro. Does it include the whole gamut of someone played a game of PAC-Man on an Android emulator for 10 mins, right up to those who buy and play on real hardware?

I don’t believe any of these recent stats about how popular retro gaming is to be honest. Not without any specific details provided (in the articles I read anyway, maybe they dumb it down for internet audiences).

On a side note, I hate all this calling different age groups by stupid internet names. I would have had no idea what Gen Z was, without this article providing the age range. Why can’t people just write a few extra words and say “people born between these years” or “people aged between x and y”. I literally have to Google every time these silly terms are used. I suppose it helps the internet folk with limited attention spans.

Less scummy mobile gaming tactics in classics there's no lights and alarm bells going off congratulating the player for getting a kill in a match with constant interruptions to tell them they are great. These things have been tested to trigger maximum dopamine release it's players are more lab rats than willing participants programmed to spend all their time and money within that game.

Classic games like Castlevania and ninja gaiden are more likely reward patience and memory with a game over screen than a congrats you're amazing screen like today's games until your perfect so I think relaxing isn't the right term.

But in some cases just having the game be a single player or couch co op experience and not going online reduces the stress around forced socialisation that in my opinion is sometimes off-putting talking to strangers through a microphone instead of in personal still drains you after a while or at least it does me. Friends are different but in person socialising is far more important than playing online which seems to be primarily how younger gamers play.

And I don't mean all modern games are like this Astro bot was a perfect game that doesn't employ scummy modern gaming tactics to keep a player hooked it's just a great game but more often than not if a game has to stop me every few minutes of gameplay to reward me with something it's trying to get its hooks in to sell me something down the line

Damien, are you part of the 24%

There's a difference between "relaxing" and "easy", I think. I get a theraputic sort of "zen" relaxation from balls-hard rhythm games, games that are objectively not easy to play. I'm really damn good at the Tony Hawk and SSX games and I find going through a simple run of career mode in something like THPS 1+2 is very relaxing - it takes only around an hour for me to complete every Goal in each stage per character.

I think relaxing essentially means you're able to just sit back and enjoy something with minimal frustration - even if the game itself is hard or you're pushing your skills. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was my first ever Final Fantasy game, I intentionally played it on an easy difficulty, and I've never felt so relaxed and just happy to be playing a video game in a long time - combat that felt theraputic to hit things in, and a world that genuinely feels like it's come to life. So many different experiences can be "relaxing", it's a much more subjective thing than actual easy-to-hard - I think we can all agree that Ninja Gaiden 1 on NES is ridiculously hard, but some people probably find it very relaxing.

And that first figure wouldn't include those people who play retro games through other means (e.g. emulation / retro re-releases and paid services such as NSO) but don't own an actual console. Retro is truly thriving right now - obviously driven mostly by the older crowd but it's a heartwarming story to think that it's not only us.

I've been meaning to ask for a while, especially in this site. What does retro really mean?

The DS and Wii are retro for me, but some people say they aren't despite the fact the former is already 20 years old and the latter will be next year.
In my mind, the Wii U and 3DS are also retro by virtue that they're already 10 years old, don't get active support from Nintendo and their online services have ceased.

Perhaps we should say "legacy" instead of retro.

Fair. But to me it's not nostalgia it's game design quality. I played 30 PS2/Wii/PS3/360 games and 1 Switch game to story completion. All not bought/heard of before or researched prior.

Did I buy Switch/PS4 new or pre-owned in 2024 yes. But I was more committed to older consoles for their game design.

Not MTX, not live services, not online requirement, not anything other then better singleplayer modes and design, movesets of characters, better modes/missions/events/worlds in any platformers, shooters, open worlds, racing games, other genres (1-2 modes nowadays and too much simulation of the tires/motorsports focus and boring progression, GT7 as eh as it is is more compelling of events but it's progression sucks, others suck at both progression/event types or Indie nostalgia garbage, platformers same thing boring Indie platformers underbaked and uncreative).

Bland platformers by Indies, yes I'm that harsh they aren't doing more then the bare minimum I want their take on things not copy paste/minor spin so pathetic I would rather play Glover on modern consoles when it releases then an Indie. Yes I'm serious. Let alone nay other B grade platformers of 5-6th gen. Indies push worlds/ok ideas but the mechanics/movesets and level design or even sandbox tasks are boring, done to death or so lazy.

I'd rather play better C to AA/AAA game design of the past or the odd modern games that's AA or not nostalgia trash Indies. But 99% of the time it's old games I pick up that are gems or hits or terrible and still find something in them mechanically.

Their past trends were more compelling, because the settings, tone, mechanics and more still had enough to differ in shooters of PS3/360, racing of 5-6th gen, platformers of 5-6th gen.

I wouldn't buy any PS3/360/Wii shooters if I didn't think their mechanics 3rd person cover based or FPS didn't have more to them and many do. That's why. Why annual racing games were better in the past of management, challenges, career modes or more. Not teams, the gameplay aspects are why I buy them. Tracks can differ sure but I don't care about them I'm not into the sports I'm into racing gameplay.

WRC 3 PS3/360 is as fun as PGR is for me. Or going between Forza Motorsport bowling/other event types. That's what modern racing games lack. Wreckfest sure racing/derbies but a sofa/lawn mower and more doesn't change event types lacking does it.

Hack n slashes of any era to nowadays vary of quality and less of them as more soulslikes.

Tactics games being more fair I find of gameplay ideas but Diofield was pitiful and Valkyria Chronicles 4 had more task variety/situations.

it's not nostalgia for me. It's game design priorities are different now and I don't like that. Des too focused on lore/writing and eh graphics then a non empty world.

I don't want alive NPC routes I want hive mind enemies gaining, losing or stringing their own moves the devs have presets arrays of individuals ones to string along randomly.

I want fiction to embrace it's potential not recreate boring pop culture or boring real life locations/history. I don't want elves/dwarves repeated with tweaks I want original creatures in a fantasy world.

Cars on planets. Making things that don't make sense happen. But human beings are too simple for that extra step creativity they won't do it.

(question: the identity of the "Pringles" mentioned in this article)