What makes a game "Classic"?

[FakeSympathy]

I think it goes beyond being how old the game is.
Why do games like Legend of Zelda, Goldeneye 007, Morrowind, MGS, and Chrono Trigger make such a classic game?
Why do some games become forgotten and underrated, despite being around same age as the games mention above?

 

[DefunctTheory]

Because of their impact on the player and the industry.

I mean, its pretty easy. Its the same as movies or books. 'Did this game/movie/book have an impact in its genre, industry, or the user base that was positive?' Yes. 'Is it old?' Yes. 'Is it still enjoyable/important today?' Yes. 'Classic then.'

I don't know what else to say. You're pretty much just asking for the definition of what a classic is, but you seem to know that already.

 

[Halla Burrica]

My criteria for a "classic" video game is whether or not I can play it 10 years (or more) after it was made without wanting to send an angry email to the developers.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

Whatever makes games "classics" is what makes the preservation of them so important! Stupid DRM and authentication servers will kill them off otherwise once they go under. Except for MMO's, that can't be helped obviously.

OT: of course it can't just be old, otherwise the definition would go out the window. As long as it was good, memorable, had impact on games in general or otherwise laid some kind of milestone, that would do it. Then again, I'm just going through what some consider classic cars in my mind, and trying to apply that to games.

 

[renegade7]

I'd say that the Classical Period for gaming was roughly between the years of 1985 (release of the NES) and the mid-90's when video gaming legitimized itself as a relevant industry that was here to stay (personally, I'd arbitrarily pick 1996 in order to stay in line with console generation, but this could be very flexible). So anything from that period could reasonably be called "Classic", quality notwithstanding.

It's easy to take this for granted today, but compared to the rest of what was on the market the NES was a technological powerhouse. Prior to the NES the video game hardware that was available just wasn't up to the task of creating complicated experiences and personal computers really didn't have enough market penetration yet. After 1985 is where we really see most of the genres we now recognize being defined, and much of that was due to the new capabilities provided by the NES and, just as importantly, the idea that video games could be more than just high-tech toys created by wash-out programmers who couldn't get jobs in the "real" computer industry (which, with all due respect, was most of what the video game industry was like prior to the NES).

After the mid-90s however, the ground was mostly already broken and the big developments had more to do with legitimization and stabilization, and making use of new technologies to refine what was already there. So instead of the establishment of the longstanding design paradigms that occurred in the "Classical" period, here we had things like the Congressional hearings that resulted in the establishment of the ESRB, the first big gaming media outlets, popularization of the Internet, and increasingly accessible 3D hardware acceleration. This was also where we saw the idea of video gaming being part of an identity taking off.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Well seeings how Remember Me is considered an Old School Classic, my guess is literally nothing.
Actually I redact that...management and marketing makes a game a classic.

Willing to give me $30 for a Classic Five Nights at Freddy's?! or $295 for a un-patched mint in box Fallout 4? It'll be a few weeks before shipping but it's 2015's newest Classic!!!

Spoiler

....Exactly!

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

1) It has some sort of historical significance, 2) It's at least one generation old and 3) It has stood the test of time.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

1) It has some sort of historical significance, 2) It's at least one generation old and 3) It has stood the test of time.

Yeah pretty much this.

It's also a generalized honorarium that can be bestowed upon just about anything considered worthy by the person in question.

 

[pookie101]

basically it boils down to do they last the test of time.

if people are talking about game x after a decade with positive memories then its a classic

 

[Erttheking]

Everyone declaring it's a classic...that's about it really.

 

[CaitSeith]

To be a classic, a game has to stand the test of time. This means that people doesn't need nostalgia in order to enjoy the game, no matter how old it gets.

 

[Danbo Jambo]

Love. Pure and simple.

There's a certain care and hand crafted magic that can go into all things, be they art, music, carpentry, even making a good Sunday dinner. Classic games, films, albums etc. may have similar qualities and attributes, but what actually defines them and makes them a class above the rest is that you can virtually taste the goodness in them. You can feel and get immersed in the joy which their creators had creating them.

And that all usually comes from people who genuinely care greatly about what they are creating putting their heart and soul into it.

Trying to equate anything "classic" into a mathmatical type bracket misses what actually makes it a classic IMO.

 

[Gretha Unterberg]

To be a classic, a game has to stand the test of time. This means that people doesn't need nostalgia in order to enjoy the game, no matter how old it gets.

True , something that you ,and a significant amount of people , remember fondly gets labeld classic.
" Didn't you love X to? Everyone did, its a true classic! "

With everone being more conected and having an internet megaphone ; every amount appearing significant enough for it to look like:

Everyone declaring it's a classic...that's about it really.

 

[stormtrooper9091]

The simplest answer? If it's really that fucking good, you always come back to it:

Half Life
Metal Gear Solid
Chrono Trigger
Heroes of Might and Magic 3
MVP Baseball 2005

 

[sky pies]

I think what people have been saying about impact is on target. It takes a perfect storm to make a game a classic, this was even more true in the 90s and such when the internet couldn't supercharge their spread. Good visuals, good advertising, good box design (Baldur's Gate II and Morrowind are good examples of intriguing box design sticking games firmly in the popular imagination) good presence in written media - games magazines, etc~

I guess you also have to think about platforms. I think the MGS series had a lot of trouble getting widespread fame until it became accessible on non-Playstation platforms. Interestingly GTA3 didn't quite suffer this fate, but I think this was because there was sufficient exposure for the series in it's first two installments and PC versions to get the word out to a wide enough audience.

This is pretty disconnected~

I think an interesting thing to look at is Halo. In my mind Halo was a classic from the day it was released, but very few others seem to think that, and I think it is largely bungie's fault. Halo: Combat Evolved was the perfect FPS in all things but multiplayer, in my opinion, and it had everything it needed to be a classic - a wildly popular platform, really good advertising and industry presence, accessibility for many, excellent visuals to spread the word (amazing graphics on so many levels) and really well balanced yet memorable gameplay. But it just got drowned out by it's (in my mind eternally inferior) sequels, Halo 2 was crap and uncalled for (as were all the other games, Halo:CE ended nicely in my mind, in a 'man with no name' ride into the sunset kind of way), halo 3 completely unmemorable for me and all other games just non-events in my mind. Halo should be played as a stand-alone title. Still, the reason I bring it up here is it's interesting fall from classic-status to half forgotten, old-fashioned also-ran status.

Half Life 3 has been a classic for well over a decade already.

 

[sky pies]

Metal Gear Solid

I have noticed that MGS is getting a lot of attention these days.

This is interesting to me.

Metal Gear Solid. A few years ago I was on another forum and remember everyone thinking Fallout 3 was one of the best games ever, and Portal, then they thought the same about Skyrim, these days MGSV is taking the world by storm and everyone's acting like MGS has always been a classic series, but for ages it was the quirky, cutscene-heavy ugly duckling game relegated to the Playstations and passed over by xbox owners. I don't think MGS1 was ever considered a classic by as large a slice of the gaming population as it is today. Like literally today, at this moment, when MGSV is so prevalent in the media.

I'm not suggesting you are one of these people who are only flocking to it now, sorry for picking on your post to make this observation, I'm just saying I have noticed a general upwelling in the amount of people referencing the game as if it has always been some kind of top-5-lists work-of-art series.

While I'm on it, where's all the love for Ocarina of Time gone?

 

[hermes]

Because of their impact on the player and the industry.

I mean, its pretty easy. Its the same as movies or books. 'Did this game/movie/book have an impact in its genre, industry, or the user base that was positive?' Yes. 'Is it old?' Yes. 'Is it still enjoyable/important today?' Yes. 'Classic then.'

I don't know what else to say. You're pretty much just asking for the definition of what a classic is, but you seem to know that already.

That is a pretty good definition, I just want to make a little caveat: A game doesn't have to be "old" to be considered a classic. The same way important and influential books or movies are considered "instant classics" since their influence in the industry can't be overlooked, even in the short term.

Consider examples like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. They changed the landscape of the genre and industry so much that they became "instant classics" shortly after release, even when they are not even 30 years old. Because of this, I would consider games like Call of Duty 4 and Half Life 2 were classics since shortly after their release...

 

[FalloutJack]

Classic is kind of what the Nostalgia Critic is there to determine, mostly. If something is classic, it stands the test of time to become unforgettable in some way. One good starter to determine what may be classic is if it makes a Greatest Hits line-up. Final Fantasy 7, my first video game RPG, is so-much remembered and talked about that finally - almost 20 years after its release - they decided to remake it with the very best of gaming technology. Granted, that long is reasonable for alot of games, but if FF7 isn't The Most Popularly Demanded One of the series, it's in the top running, at least. Classic.