Video game hardware sales are in serious trouble.
Year-on-year, sales for the PlayStation 5 (38%), Xbox Series X/S (50%), and the Nintendo Switch (53%) have been declining.
So, why is this?
Well, there are many reasons why console sales have plummeted, including:
- Aging console line-ups
- A major lack of new game releases
- The market shift to mobile gaming
- A bad economy where people are less willing to spend money on luxuries
- No special price cuts or holiday deals
We could go a little deeper on this, too, but those are the fundamental reasons why console sales have struggled so much over the past several years.
Despite all this going on, retro gaming has been thriving. Simply put, there’s been a “nostalgia boom”. Sure, console sales are down, but interest levels in games from the past have skyrocketed.
People from all generations — we’re talking Gen Z, Millennials, and even Gen X — have jumped on the retro gaming wave. You can’t blame them, either, especially when you look at how easily accessible retro games have become.
The Growth of Retro Gaming
It’s an exciting time to be a fan of retro gaming.
✔ YouTube recently reported that its retro gaming uploads have gone up by x1000
✔ 1 in 4 Gen Z Brits now own a retro gaming console
✔ And 14% of North Americans still use consoles released before the year 2000
Not to mention, there’s been a serious increase in remakes and remasters of old games because of consumer demand. For example, just last month we saw the release of ‘Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection’ on Nintendo Switch and PC, which is an expansive collection of classic Yu-Gi-Oh games from decades ago.
What’s obvious to see is that there’s been a huge shift towards retro gaming over ever since the COVID-19 pandemic. People aren’t satisfied with modern gaming — from the lack of new releases to almost all of today’s games pushing microtransactions and DLC onto their players — so they’ve decided to go back in time.
But why has retro gaming suddenly become so popular? Is it as simple as the fact that people love old games and aren’t satisfied with modern releases? Or is there something else going on? Let’s take a closer look to find out.
Why Retro Gaming Is Bigger (and Better) Than Ever
1. Retro Games Are Easy to Access
The great thing about retro games is that they’re super easy to access, even though many of these games date back to the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early 2000s. If you want to play an old game from the past, there’s a very good chance you can play it for free using an online emulator. Alternatively, you can probably hop on eBay or visit a local retro gaming store and pick up the retro game you’re looking for at a cheap price. Plus, let’s not forget that companies like Nintendo and Sony have decided to release mini retro consoles over the past few years (e.g. NES Classic, PlayStation Classic) to make their fan-favourite games accessible for modern audiences. With the PlayStation Classic specifically, it has 20 built-in classics from years gone by — including Final Fantasy VII and Grand Theft Auto — saving you the hassle of having to go out and buy these games individually. Unsurprisingly, this led to the PlayStation Classic selling over 120,000 units in Japan during its first week, showing just how high the demand levels are for old games.
2. Affordability
It’s no secret that new games are expensive. According to Statista, the average price for a new video game released in the US is currently $69.99, which is huge. Naturally, people are getting tired of paying these prices in the current economy, leading to many of them revisiting games from the past. One of the major perks here is that a large bulk of retro games are incredibly affordable and sometimes even free-to-play, such as when you use an emulator. Effectively, you’re saving money while (arguably) getting to play higher-quality games, making it a no-brainer from the player’s perspective.
3. The Fun of Owning a Physical Collection
The past decade has seen a major shift from physical media to digital media in the gaming world. It’s understandable, too. After all, this is cost-effective for developers and makes purchasing games much easier for modern players. The trade-off, though, is that digital media just isn’t as fun. This is why millions of gamers have started collecting physical retro games, as it gives them that ‘feeling’ of the good ol’ days. Plus, many physical games from previous decades — such as Generation III Pokémon games on the Game Boy Advance — are extremely rare and worth a lot of money, making the collecting side of things even more fun. For example, an original boxed version of Pokémon FireRed can resell for as high as $500, so you can see the appeal of wanting to get your hands on these types of retro classics.
4. A Rise in the Number of People Playing ‘Retro’ Slots
Back during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a huge explosion in the number of people playing online casino games. While this was happening, a lot of players became obsessed with retro slots (the 3-reel ones that you used to find in classic Las Vegas casinos and bars). It’s now reached a point where online casinos like BetMGM are more popular than ever thanks in-part to the retro slots. Some of the most popular options at the moment include Fire Joker and Retro Sweets, many of which you can play at the newer social casinos.
5. A Growing Sense of Nostalgia
Nostalgia is another key factor behind the booming retro market. You see it everywhere, too, not just in gaming. People are feeling a strong sense of nostalgia for old movies, music, culture, and pretty much everything else in between, so it’s understandable why a lot of today’s gamers have started firing up old Nintendo and PlayStation classics, especially ones from the ‘90s and early 2000s. Make no doubt about it, nostalgia sells — and lots of today’s companies are starting to realize this.
6. Old Games Are Simply Better
“Old games are better.” This is something you hear constantly, whether you’re browsing gaming forums or scrolling through social media. It’s hard to disagree with the sentiment, either, as old games are superior in almost every way. The characters were full of life, storylines had been beautifully crafted, and there was a certain charm that you just don’t get in newer releases. And it’s obvious why: modern gaming has become too profit-focused. Sure, graphics are better now and there’s the opportunity to play online and cross-platform with most games, but it doesn’t make up for the fact there’s a huge blackhole when it comes to overall quality.
7. The ‘Unplayable’ Games of Today
Today’s games are expensive and bloated. It’s rare to find any that aren’t overrun with excessive microtransactions, DLC packages, and over-monetization, which is starting to make gamers feel fatigued. Originally, gaming was supposed to be fun, but the ‘fun’ element has been stripped back by the extreme focus that developers now have on profit. Essentially, what they’ve started to do is push gamers away, leading to many of them picking up retro games from the past where they feel safe and unexploited. With this issue in particular, the only way it can be fixed is if modern games become cheaper and stop allowing microtransactions to ruin the gaming experience, although this is extremely unlikely to happen.
How to Get Into Retro Gaming
If the buzz surrounding retro gaming has got you interested, the next step is to actually start playing retro games. There are several ways you can go about doing this, so we recommend you:
- Download an emulator on your mobile or PC: This will allow you to play old games from the past without the original hardware.
- Buy old classics from eBay or local gaming stores: Whether you’re a fan of old Pokémon games or PlayStation 2 classics, there are tons of them you can buy online or in-person at affordable prices.
- Try modern remakes and remasters: Resident Evil 4 (2023) and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 (2020) are just a couple of examples of recent remasters available on modern platforms that people loved.
- Join an online casino: Many of today’s online casinos offer hundreds — sometimes even thousands — of classic casino games like slots and blackjack.
- Go through your old belongings: If you’ve been gaming all of your life then there’s a strong chance you have old games and hardware stored away in your house that still work today.
Pretty quickly, you’ll be able to become a full-blown retro gaming fan and can even start to build a collection of old games if that’s what you’re into. And if you really want to, there’s even the chance to collect old games, preserve them in good condition, and then sell them again in the future for a profit, as most retro games go up in value (not down) as time passes.
Final Thoughts
The next decade for gaming looks like it’s going to be heavily retro-based. Remasters and re-releases will keep hitting the market, gamers will keep digging out old games from the past, and the continued slump of console sales will probably continue. If you’re a fan of retro games, this is great news — and you can look forward to spending the coming years adding to your collection.