“Analyze this” is a series where I try to analyze different aspects of Video Games, the concepts behind them and the community around them.

Recently, the cast of Destructoid had a really insightful discussion about what in fact is “Retro” and how you could define it. I want to try and provide you with a possible definition of “Retro Games” going several logical steps. You don’t have to agree with me, and my definition is nothing that one could consider to be absolute.

Now, what is the first step to do, when we don’t know what a word means? We look it up, of course!

My Longman Dictionary of contemporary English states that retro is an adjective used to describe things that are “based on styles of fashion and design from the recent past”. Sounds like a good definition, but do we have other definitions?
Let’s take a look at what my German Duden has to say about the term Retro: means old-fashioned¨. Although this definition is rather short, it still is interesting, since the word fashion is mentioned in both articles. There also is a reference to the past (“recent past” and “old”).
And what does Wikipedia offer to us? “Retro is a term used to describe, denote or classify culturally outdated or aged trends, modes, or fashions, from the overall post-modern past, but have since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again.“
One source I also use to find out what words mean is the Online Etymology Dictionary. Here, we can find two possibilities: Retro as a “prefix meaning "backwards, behind," from L. retro (prep.) "backward, back, behind," probably originally the ablative form of *reteros, based on re- "back." Common in combinations in post-classical Latin.“
Or as a full word retro was used in “1974, from Fr. rétro (1973), short for rétrograde, supposedly first used of a revival c.1968 of Eva Peron-inspired fashions (see retrograde). There is an isolated use in Eng. from 1768.“
Since retrograde is mentioned in this article, let’s take a look at it: “1392, originally of the apparent motions of planets, from L. retrogradus "going backward," from retrogradi "move backward," from retro- "backward" + gradi "to go, step." General sense of "tending to revert" is recorded from c.1530.”

So, as far as I can see, those definitions have several things in common:

1. They refer to the past.
2. They try to reach (or imitate) the past.
3. They use certain fashions of trends from the past.

While factor one and two are of a more temporal nature, the third factor is a very interesting one, since it focuses on designs from the past. This means, something can be retro, without being old of age.
In our case, this could mean that games do not really have to be old in order to be retro. One good example would be Mega Man 9, which came out last year, but plays, looks and sounds like the old Mega Man games.
But this also means that a game can have up-to date graphics and sound but still be a Retro game, because certain design choices have been made. Let’s do a little comparison!
I don’t know a lot about fashion in the US, so it’s going to be kind of difficult for me to pick the right example. Big sunglasses were trendy in the 80’s and are now coming back with some small, modern changes.
These sunglasses are also called retro, because it still manages to hold the spirit of the originals, and thus becomes retro.
If this applies to fashion, it should also apply to Video Games: Updated Graphics and Sound are the modernisations that are applied to a certain core (Gameplay etc) of Video Games. So, a game that comes out today can already have the quality of Retro in it.

But that’s not enough for it to be considered retro! During this particular example we completely left out the age factor. There has to be some time passed in order to be completely retro. If we stick to the three factors mentioned above games can be “Retro” in three different ways:

Games can be “Retro” because they are old.
Games can be “Retro” because they look and feel old.
Games can be “Retro” because they use designs of (and thus refer to) old games.

Now, here comes another problem: what is considered old in terms of Video Games? Since it is a new medium (about 40 years of regular appearance) and technology advances really fast, “old” is a different term for Video Games than it is for other things. It is also a matter of perspective. Somebody who started his Video Game experiences on the first Playstation considers it to be old and to be retro. If we would try to use an absolute term of old, we would have to find out that there is not such an absolute term. “Old” is term that constantly shifts in meaning, it gets bigger and bigger, spans over more time, since time itself grows constantly. In the 80’s you might consider games of the 70s and 60s to be old and retro, now we consider games of the 90’s, 80’s, 70’s and 60’s to be old and retro.
In one year, we’ll write the year 2010. Will games from 2000 be retro by then?

In the end, being a retro game is not only a fact of design or age. A game is only then considered to be retro, if somebody has enough feelings and memories of it. Only then the idea pops up in that person to call that game a “retro” game.

Thanks for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and inspired you.

Sources:
Duden, 24th Edition
Longman, Dictionary of contemporary English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunglasses#Oversized_sunglasses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=retro-
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=retrograde
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=retro