I'm doing my part!

Emulated games are free, polished, complete
Modern games are $80+ steaming incomplete pile of shit
This mystery will never be solved.
- I assume they're referring to actual hardware. I'd imagine the percentage of gamers playing emulated games is much higher than 14%.
  Edit: Found the article
  It appears I am correct.
- Modern games: requires $300+ game console or a $300+ GPU to get 30 FPS
  Retro games: runs on your grandma's Dell Pavilion still running Windows XP that she refuses to stop using, gets 50/60 depending on region
- Almost all of my modern games are indies. Most cost between $5 and $30. I love retro too but if we're going to only include modern "AAA" titles in the comparison...

Does emulation count?
- It should! It's allowed me to play so many games that are hard to find or expensive these days.
- The survey question seems to make it seem like it's referring to original hardware, but I imagine a lot of respondents didn't limit it that way.
  With emulation being common even officially these days (NSO, emulated games on Steam, etc), I think it's fair to factor that in as well.
- I still own my real SNES from circa-1995, but I'd rather play on an emulator than put wear and tear on it, so yes.
- Yes, the survey summary below shows no exceptions for physical hardware vs emulation in the question
  https://article.images.consumerreports.org/image/upload/v1718112414/prod/content/dam/surveys/Consumer_Reports_AES_May_2024.pdf
  
  The percentage should be way, way higher, then, since lots of people use the emulators on Nintendo Switch Online.
- Only if you use an emulator released before the year 2000.

Given that nowhere in the article does it say that 14% of people exclusively play on pre-2000 hardware I don't find this that surprising.
I'm more shocked by the last statistic, 11% of American households still use fax. Fax? Fuckin' why? That's like saying people still listen to music on Edison cylinders.
- Signatures as a form of authorization I think held up the facsimile tech way past it's best by date
  
  I don't know about you, but here in Europe you just send everything in digitally now
- I live in an area with a large population of Amish, they fax everything.
- I give my fax number to anything that asks me for a phone number. It's a valid number that can't recieve calls, meaning when my number is inevitably leaked/purchased by telemarketers, scammers, etc. I don't even notice.
- Fax is commonly used at least in the US because it has regulatory recognition as a secure means of transferring information, it's highly interoperable, and it doesn't really have a successor that has caused the network effect to die out entirely.
  11% seems slightly higher than I'd expect, but not crazy. Contracts, medical records, interactions with the government are all good reasons to need to send or receive one occasionally. That about 1 in 10 households did last year? Makes some sense.
  
  Seems crazy to me. I can’t imagine that 1 in 10 household even have fax machines. All the stuff you mention is business and medical stuff. Nobody faxes in their medical requests from home.
- According to American Dad! widespread continued use would have gotten us the blorfer.

"Still" is really not the way to phrase it.
A good chunk of the people playing on retro systems never even owned half the systems back in the day which they have collected now. Or they might be new people getting into the hobby who perhaps weren't even born when those systems were current.
People can't "still" be doing something that they were NOT doing before!
It's such a strange way of looking at a hobby which is more popular now than it ever was.
- It's true and I love the newcomers. But my NES and N64 were both purchased at release and are still one-owner. And used regularly. I also have a 4070ti but I love those old systems.
- People can't "still" be doing something that they were NOT doing before!
  An individual cannot but a group of people can.
  “Children are still fascinated by sticks” is as true as always, even though the individual children have mostly grown up, grown old, and died.
  
  Of course. And that's because "still" has two meanings. One being "the same now as always" and the other being "in a continuing state, uninterrupted"
  Which one the reader will interpret is dependent on context.
  "75% of children still fascinated by sticks" is very likely to mean different groups of children surveyed years apart - the 'unchanged' meaning.
  "14% of adults over 50 still keep a pair of 80s flared jeans in their wardrobe" is very likely to mean it is the same adults who were wearing them back in the 80s - the 'uninterrupted' meaning.
  The problem is that for this article, neither of those valid meanings make sense - at least not to me.
  It is not 'uninterrupted' because we know that lots of people stopped playing old systems, while other people joined the hobby.
  It is also not 'unchanged', because the levels of people playing 90s consoles will have dipped to a low somewhere in the middle and then bounced back thanks to renewed interest and modern hobbyist technologies that make these things more accessible now than they were just 10 years ago.
  It's altogether a different situation now than it was then, and that's why I find "still" to be a poor choice of phrase regardless of the meaning intended.
- Being able to actually play neo Geo games would make young me so envious Also the full arcade version of games with a button for "insert coin".
  
  Yeah, the Neo Geo really is that console that was an outrageous luxury back in the day.
  There is an arcade near me which is flat fee for entry and every machine is on free-play. It's very satisfying to be able to keep pressing continue as much as you like.

I care more about the backups of my ROM collection than I do about my tax returns or resume or other "important" crap.
If I can't just decide to replay Mario 2 or Simon's Quest or Chrono Trigger or Symphony of the Night when I'm in my 70s, then what is all this fancy technology we've invented really good for?

I hate this >:( Let me exaplain myself. What I hate is that way that people see videogames, like, if you play something old you are stuck in the past, but hey! If you read a book that is 100yo or watch a movie that is 40yo it is okay! but if you play in atari, what are you? a caveman?
- That stigma seems to be getting slightly better, but it's always bothered me.
  "OMG you've been playing that game for hours! Why don't you go DO something! You're rotting your brain!!" -Someone who's about to sit in front of the TV until they fall asleep.
  
  I just openly laughed right at them when I was told that, especially because my dad was no longer able to keep up with my math homework by the seventh grade.
  These days I'm out on my own, with a house and a fiancée, still play video games as a primary hobby, and he's a Trump voter in a shitty apartment that doesn't talk about anything except crying about all the n[REDACTED]s and transes. One of us sure rotted his brain and I'm pretty confident saying it probably wasn't me.
  
  What I hate is that way that people see videogames, like, if you play something old you are stuck in the past
  I must not operate in those circles. I've never heard that before, but I'm also old and playing old games and fewer newer ones.
  
  I'm kind of mixed on that depending on the game. In general I say I'd rather the kids play a game than watch a show because it's interactive rather than just pushing mush into their face.
  The other side though is how so many games (most notoriously mobile ones) are so keyed into scratching those little itches to keep someone playing for way longer than should be healthy.

Just because a game is old doesn't mean it's not fun. How old are the board and card games again?
- Hell, chess is huge right now, and it's over 1500 years old.
  
  Don't forget Backgammon. World's oldest board game!

I wonder how many people "still" drive cars "released" before 2000?
- Game consoles are solid-state and tend to not wear out like cars.
  That said, my car is from 2003.

I’ve been playing Zombies Ate My Neighbors on original hardware today haha. On my old Apple color monitor.
I mostly game on old systems or my steam deck.
- Oh man such a great game. Great couch co-op.
  
  Yeah I tormented my poor daughter with it when she was younger. I did not have the patience to get her through it lol.
  Now that she’s older we do great.

I do. I don't want or need top notch graphics. My ps5 collects dust.
- Gameplay is always king.
  Graphics can contribute a lot - some games are fucking gorgeous, and I'll stop and appreciate good scenery in digital environment the same as IRL.
  But jaw-droppingly incredible graphics can never compensate for bad or even mediocre gameplay.
  And shit graphics will never kill a game with good gameplay. Done right, shit graphics can even be charming in a nostalgic kind of way.
- SNES, Genesis and TG16 do have top notch graphics for those who can't do without them.

Red Alert 2 on a 4090

The PS1, N64, Saturn, and the Dreamcast are pre 2000 systems.

That.. doesn't sound right. 14% is a ridiculous amount of people.
- Full survey data. That's far from the only stat that's hard to believe.

Source: https://www.timeextension.com/news/2025/02/14-percent-of-north-americans-still-play-gaming-systems-released-before-2000
References this site: https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics/media-formats/holding-on-to-physical-media-a3747629925/
Actual data here: https://article.images.consumerreports.org/image/upload/v1718112414/prod/content/dam/surveys/Consumer_Reports_AES_May_2024.pdf
Actual question references "Classic videogame systems that came out before 2000, like the NES or GameBoy" and "used at home in the past year" of which 14% responded yes out of a group of 2022 surveyed in North America (demographic details available in link).
- Does it in anyway phrase the question to reference real hardware or original versions?
  I feel like a lot of people emulate (including using Nintendo Switch Online) or play modernized remixes of titles like Super Mario 99
  
  Full text is 'Below are some types of visual media that some might consider old or outdated. Which, if any, have you used in the past year?' and that is an item on the list, it's not an incredibly detailed survey.
  I will say from the rest of the survey responses, the demographics they've selected seem to lean more technically competent and security focused than I'd expect.

Famicom owner checking in.

My wireless snes controllers just came in yesterday. Love em.

🫡

Without piracy and the industry wanting to move digital only we are doomed.
Keyword: "without".

Come on, Call of Duty is not that old! /s
The problem is people keep buying new versions of the same games released around 2000.

I really need to get around to buying a SNES. I have an NES as well but it’s dead. eBay the best spot to get either of these consoles?
- My brother and I have opposing views on this.
  He likes to collect hardware. He loves buying old systems and cartridges.
  I like to collect software. Very few games are worth much to me individually, but I love the ability to fire up any old game when it pops in my head.
  I ended up buying an SNES Mini on eBay that was jacked and loaded with ROMs from EVERY system it was capable of running. I understand wanting the original hardware, but for me, getting EVERYTHING preloaded for about $200 just made more sense for me.
  I have bought two of those hacked systems from the same seller. I can check if they still offer them, and share a link to the product, but only if someone asks for the info. I'm not trying to promote anyone, but I feel like this is a market that could be prone to fakes, and I personally would appreciate someone suggesting a trustworthy seller.
  
  Do that, but get a Raspberry Pi and put ROMs on it yourself instead of buying shady, possibly backdoored stuff.
- I'm still trying to find a place that can resurrect my Atari 7800.
  I have so many games for it.
  
  Same, but a 2600. A hand me down from one of my older cousins
- I look on local classifieds. But a lot of people inflate the price.
  I picked up an SNES junior for $50 at a garage sale a few years ago. Finds like that are rare but they do exist.
- It depends on what you want and where you are, honestly. I would recommend different things to people depending on whether they have a large pre-existing library of cartridges and a CRT or they just want to play some old stuff every now and then.
  How dead is that NES? There are a few frequent faults in some models that aren't terribly hard to repair and used old consoles are getting expensive in general.
  
  How dead is that NES?
  You try blowing in it?
- If you have the money for it and really want to go hardcore into the scene, you might look into an FPGA like the Super-nt. They typically aren't like all of those emulation boxes out there, compatible with real SNES cartridges and accessories but don't have to worry about the issues with aging hardware and works mostly native with modern TVs/etc. It's very expensive, but it's also definitely very cool.

And some people play poker, or even chess. What can you do, people like old stuff.

I mean you OWNED the games after purchase back then, now the publishers and game studios can revoke your "purchased" license anytime...
- The physical medium is a license as well. But that's semantics. We can all agree if you own physical, it cant be (realistically) taken away. You can still own physical. You can still take that power back (unless the game requires online). When I got a PS5, I was planing on finally ending my attachment to physical discs... but I just couldn't do it. To this day, I still buy PS5 discs, I haven't spent anything on PSN, but had PS+ for maybe two years and Im well aware those PS+ games were transactional. I cant do that anymore on PC so if steam dies, so does my library. At least my physical discs will be OK. Now on to my next fear... disc rot. Will I actually be able to boot up the Halo 3 DVD when im 80 and play it?
- No you didn't. They just had no way of deactivating your copy.
  Edit: All copyrighted material that you use is just licensed to you by the copyright owner. You could only actually own it if you yourself held the copyright. Downvotes don't change that.

I like old and new. I love my retro emulators (which I put a lot of effort into setting up just right; and I'd love some original hardware if I could afford it). I also love my PS5.

GBC almost exclusively these days, I just can't devote the time to things like Morrowind anymore as much as I want to. I do want to hack my OG Xbox and run Voodoo Vince, Psychonauts, and Gauntlet: Dark Legacy again, but then that only brings me up to like 2003.

Games don't exist beyond the 1980-1999 filter on Gog, tbh.

Playing retro games from my Steam Deck
- Playing FF7 on my Steam Deck with the old school PS1 loading screen chefs kiss

My 3080ti is mostly used for snes and n64 emulation.

Does software count?
I'm knee deep in Caesar II and Total Annihilation campaigns
- There’s not a lot of video games that don’t have software.
  You’d have to back to what, Pong? I see Monaco GP from 1979 listed as one of the last TTL-based games from Sega, but not sure about other companies.
  
  I should've just said PC, I don't know what I was thinking
  My brain must have just frozen when I was trying to think of a word in the absence of console

None of my game consoles are younger than 2000. I can't deal with PC gaming, I hate subscription models, and refuse to download "games" to my phone.