Retro Gaming. How far Back is your cut off point.

[Analog]

I mainly buy and play stuff from the era and generation I remember, a lot of my retro gaming is nostalgia based. for me 8bit is generally the furthest where I go back to, but saying that I will pick up those compilations that collect up older games so I can experience those, and I wouldn't pass up playing older games on an arcade cabinet if I fancied having a go on the game.

[RetroMartin]

I will try almost anything but id never buy any computer style games pre-pc (mostly as i dont own/have room for big machines.

Ill grab most things console based but i tend to stick to sega and Sony for retro and just grab the odd other things i really want.

[outdated_gamer]

No borders for me but at the same time I can't say I'm too hooked on the very early games like Pong and the likes and some early consoles and computers are also more interesting to look at and read about rather than play or mess with.

[gman72]

Sunday nights playlist was - Vanguard on the 2600 , Mr Do! on the snes followed by Doom on Xb1 ( dont hate me ! )

Why would we hate you?

[RetroCastAway]

No cutoff here.
70s is fine by me...combat (the planes) on the Atari 2600 or the TV game that had the massive light sensitive gun on a wire for shooting white squares on the telly. Bring it on.

[crusto]

For me I stop at the Mastersystem, NES, PC engine.

Anything before that I don't tend to bother with. I will play them on compilation discs such as Rare replay but thats just because they are part of a larger collection.

In terms of collecting and actually taking the time to play them I have no interest anymore in the 8bit home computers and the IMO far too simplistic 2600. which I regret as I grew up with them and some of my best gaming memories are from the 2600, speccy, and amstrad. As much as I get nostalgiac thinking about them and seeing the old artwork on the boxes of the games I find it hard to actually enjoy playing them now.

So how far back does your actual collection start from.

This, pretty much.

[Megamixer]

Probably 16bit for me. I didn't ever play 8bit or home computers at the time (too young!) so I have no connection with those games. I'm happy to give them a go whenever the oppurtunity arises but I would never intentionally seek them out or buy a whole new 8bit system for example.

[davyK]

No limits for me. I quite like a bunch of the better 2600 games. They have a simplistic beauty to them. There are plenty of censored 2600 games but I avoid those just as I have done any other gen.

[MikeFishcake]

I hadn't really thought about it before, but it's probably Master System and NES era. While I did have a Spectrum +3, I don't tend to play anything like the Spectrum or C64 games and earlier.

[The Hardest of All Freds]

2011

[Rayne]

I'll give anything a go but anything to do with home computers (Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amiga, etc) is beyond me. Can't stand them at all.

[davyK]

I'll give anything a go but anything to do with home computers (Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amiga, etc) is beyond me. Can't stand them at all.

That's a good point. The 8bit micro era for me was a temporary slump that almost put me off gaming. Tape loading, poor design dragging down good ideas, and ambition beyond hardware capabilities sum it up for me.

I actually felt that playing 8 bit micro era games was in some ways a step back from the better 2600 games with their instant loading and craftsmanship which made up for their simplicity.

Jet Set Willy , Chuckie Egg and Thrust are the only games from that era I would play now.

Would still like to get my hands on an Atari 800 though. Cartridge slot and Atari games.

[slacey1070]

No limits.... its about the games.

If the games good, I'll take a look.

[Big Shoes]

My first computer was a Spectrum 48k, and had an Ingersoll TV games thing with 4 games. Pong type games

[JamesC]

If you enjoy games then a 'cut off point' doesn't make sense to me. A good game is a good game and while some don't age terribly well, I'd say most systems have some titles that stand the test of time. The thing is those games aren't necessarily the 'big hits' of the system.
Off the top of my head I'd recommend Missile Command on the 2600, Dizzy, Brian Bloodaxe or the Magic Knight games on the Spectrum, Solar Jetman on the NES or Wonder Boy 2 on the Master System to people who think old games aren't worth their time.