When does a game become a "classic"?

[propertyofcobra]

I think that if the industry has moved on to a new generation of technology, I mean made the full transition, not just introduced the hot new thing, and people still roll back to the old technology to play a game, that makes it a classic. It can't be mere eyecandy at that point, because the new eyecandy is sweeter. For example, The Longest Journey really shows it's age in terms of graphics and interface but people still love it and play it. Why? Because it's a classic.

Excellent definition. I couldn't have said it better myself, I really couldn't have.
Then again, that's what I've come to expect of this forum, and this old girl in particular (no offense, mshcherbatskaya). Incredibly well-formulated and intelligent posts.

 

[DravenX23]

Classic is when something is loved by many and looked back upon happily.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

Final Fantasy VII IS a classic. I don't enjoy the game but that doesn't mean that it's not a classic. Not only does it have a steady following, which has not really diminished over the years, but at the time of it's release it pushed the boundaries beyond the generic. That, in my opinion, defines a classic.

Not to start a flame-war or anything, but how did it push the boundaries beyond the generic? It did nothing that WoW hasn't done, simply refined what was already there to a form that was palatable by the masses. There is nothing that is not generic about the game, simply more people had access to it.

No risk there, I don't even like FF7 that much. However, (and I find WoW an invalid comparison being that FF7 is almost a decade older), it did introduce a wide variety of Western audiences to the epic style of Japanese RPGs. The massive orchestral score and pre-rendered backgrounds and cutscenes (which are commonplace now) were rarely seen in a lot of mass marketed games around that time.
I'm not really interested in how 'Game X' was the first to use blah blah blah because I'm sure FF7 borrows heavily off something, but to give the devil his dues, this game really brought the things listed above into prominence. That and its persistant popularity make me think that it deserves classic status.

 

[Saskwach]

A game is a classic when I say so and not a moment before dammit.

But to be less serious, a game is a classic when a large portion of gamers think of it as such after a few years of separation. mschernaosidgadoigndasuog's is a nice practical definition, though.

 

[Lucane]

Mshcherbatskaya has the best example by far.

Personally i think that there are multiple standards for whats "Classic" if it's the start of a Series or a stand alone game and considered good/great by a considerable amount of people after it's removed from the general market for a while then it's allowed to be considered a classic at that point, ... but if it's a sequal then the rules change slightly to either just a cult classic, classic , or same game +1.

 

[WingedFortress]

Well, to me there are three kinds of classic.

Theres your regular, slow moving classics. Those are the games you know are good, and have sold well. They are also easily refferable to the general public as "classics" without fear of scrutiny. Mario, Half Life and Halo serve as pretty good examples in this category

Then there cult classics. These games are hugely popular with certain types of people, for seemingly no reason for anyone outside of a select circle. Games like this tend to be underrated, or ignored by most people and arent likely to be a staple in everyones home. But never the less, their fan base holds strong, and they wouldnt stray from using the word classic to describe their game experience, so neither will I. Next.

Finally is the instant classic. These games totally grab you from the start, and dont let go. They're the ones you talk about to your non-gamer friends, and fill up more hours than you could have ever anticipated. I think Portal is good example here.

 

[Lord_Jaroh]

Why is Halo a classic? What makes it better than nearly every other FPS on the computer before it? Wolfenstine = classic. Doom = classic. Hell, even Duke Nukem I would consider a classic before Halo and/or Half Life for that matter.

 

[nightfish]

Final Fantasy VII IS a classic.

I enjoyed this immensely and still do but I would never say its a classic. It never did anything for the RPG genre. If anything all it did was introduce a bigger western audience to JRPGs.

 

[The_Toe_Bighter98]

The mightyness of the Balders Gate series is a definate classic. It shows just how much real time turn based combat can be fun, and even today I consider its graphics to be beautiful. Truly, Balders Gate Shadows of Amn is Biowares best accomplishment for a game and it could only be possibly beaten by Planetscape Torment, which I have not yet had the privalage of playing.

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I feel it necessary to bring forward Monkey Island and Grim Fandango as classics for the adventure game era, purely because no-one has already. XD

 

[Mr.Expendable]

I think the statement that a game becomes a classic when that genre has stoped inovating rings true. There are many classic point-and-click adventure games but no classic 3D point-and-click ones. Broken Sword 1&2, Monkey Island 1-3 and the Kings Quest games are all classics, but nobody is going to try to tell me that Broken Sword 3-4 and Monkey Island 4 are classics...

 

[nightfish]

how about System Shock (because of a really good villain - who has never ever been beaten on a badness scale) or Deus Ex for simply offering the player so much choice its like a table full of food.

 

[Maxpayne5th]

Well to me a classic is a game that even 10-15 years down the track I still want to play. And I mean REALLY want to play. Zelda: OoT, Perfect Dark, Goldeneye, Duke Nukem 3D, Wolfenstein, Half-Life, FFVII. I dont care if some of these didn't bring anything new to the table. What I care most is "Did I enjoy it? And Will I still enjoy it when Im older?"

I mean, I think that the first Metal Gear Solid game is a classic. I would buy a PS1 just for that.

 

[Jiminy]

For my two cents I think a game can become a classic straight away, as long as that is decided by the gaming community at large and not the wannabe marketers pushing something down our throats. I think C&C (original) is a good example of this, it was well made and pushed RTS into the spotlight as a workable genre. Being the oldest iteration of RTS (that I can name anyway), it doesn't age well but that doesn't stop it being a classic.
I think shared experience is the key to most games we consider classics. Another good indicator is if the games popularity lasts past its sequel(s). I'm thinking of the Battlefield series but I'm sure there are plenty of examples out there.

 

[raankh]

When it has ten years on its neck and I (yes, Me, and Only ME) pick it up and enjoy it.

No more seriously, I think ten years is a good measure of classic. I might use the word in a figurative sense "ah, classic game" as a sort of superlative.

I agree with maxpayne above, but mshcherbatskaya and Mr.Expendable's comments strike a chord with me as well so to sum it up for me:

Old, still enjoyable and in particular if that kind of game isn't in vogue anymore. That makes a classic.

I think the three ultimate classics for me are: Minestorm (built-in Asteroids on the Vectrex), Frontier (Elite II) and Flashback.

On the issue of tech (mentioned by someone); Frontier is still, imo, the most impressive technical feat ever to grace the world of gaming. Hardcore assembly programming, procedurally generated universe with full size planets that you can land on (and friggin billions of them) all on one 880k diskette! Quite different from the grossly bloated and pathetically inefficient likes of Oblivion.

 

[VRaptorX]

Basically...I just use a simple rule: Does the gamne still play well compared to today's games? then you have a classic.

Super Metroid....still plays well. megaman....still does. Mario 64...still does. Spyro......nope. Even though it was good it didn't age well.



And it doesn't matter if the game was popular or not. Rocket Knight Adventure, Out of this World, NiGHTS, etc are still consideed classics despite noone actually owning them.

 

[Anarchemitis]

Contrary to popular (and by that I mean Yahtzee Croshaw's) belief, Super Mario World for the SNES is the best game ever made.
And it shall remain so until the end of the days where we still use TV screens that project 2D images.

 

[Alphavillain]

Contrary to popular (and by that I mean Yahtzee Croshaw's) belief, Super Mario World for the SNES is the best game ever made.
And it shall remain so until the end of the days where we still use TV screens that project 2D images.

a kindred spirit! I don't think games have really got beyond SMW in terms of addictiveness and sheer gameplay. Perhaps the exception to that in console games is "Oblivion".

 

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I think the statement that a game becomes a classic when that genre has stoped inovating rings true. There are many classic point-and-click adventure games but no classic 3D point-and-click ones. Broken Sword 1&2, Monkey Island 1-3 and the Kings Quest games are all classics, but nobody is going to try to tell me that Broken Sword 3-4 and Monkey Island 4 are classics...

I almost cried when i played Monkey Island 4
The disappointment =(