There seems to be an ever-lasting appeal that surrounds the term ‘retro’ in gaming. For a game to survive for decades in the memories of players to then be referred to as ‘retro’, usually means that the game was good enough to be worthy of fond remembrance.
Before the legions of video games now deemed to be thus, came into being, now-retro casino games were an ever-present from arcades to fully-fledged gambling halls. Both classic casino games, and the standing arcade games of the retro age, shared many of the same features, with a distinct style and set tunes that played as well as the overall gift of simplicity.
Both the video gaming and casino gaming scene have come a long way over the last four or five decades, evolving alongside the advances of technology. However, even with decades of increasingly impressive modern games arriving, retro games still boast a tremendous amount of appeal.
A deep and embedded love of past games
Casino gaming is one of the most storied forms of gaming entertainment, having been around for centuries. Despite the amount that the scene has changed, there’s still an endearing love among casino players for games with a retro touch or that embody the classic games of old.
While new-age online platforms like Casino Dome offer a diverse selection of the latest and most popular games, they also offer retro-themed titles, as well as classic table games in their original form. Through the innovations of live casino technology, the platform can offer classics like baccarat, roulette, and poker in their original form, with a live stream facilitating the in-person, real-feel sensation that people remember fondly.
The key to the popularity of these classics being available in their live form, as well as the power behind the similar space of remastered video games, is nostalgia. The mind tends to remember fond memories more strongly than bad memories, with the positive memories of exciting and enjoyable games alone being able to put you in a good mood. Recalling the experiences and their sense of social connectedness, per Psychology of Games, allows retro games to remain desired in the modern-day thanks to nostalgia.
A changing scene still draws from retro games
As shown above, classic and retro casino games are still being renovated and brought to the modern audience, with the appeal that they earned many years ago keeping them relevant in the minds of players. Anyone who has been involved in video gaming for at least ten years will recognise publishers’ desire to draw from the incredibly powerful sense of nostalgia in video games, as described by Kotaku, with the yearly waves of remasters and remakes. In fact, one of the major selling points of the next-gen Xbox is that it has a huge backwards compatible library of games.
To avoid it looking like a blatant cash-grab, developers need to offer a new reason to buy the games again – as the primary target audience is those who have paid to play the game before. In casino gaming, live streaming was used. In video gaming, graphics updates and sometimes online game modes are the primary methods of bringing back a retro game.
On the face of it, retro games shouldn’t hold as much appeal as they do in the modern-day, simply because gaming heavily emphasises newer and more powerful technology. So, the newest games and the biggest releases should make retro games seem obsolete.
However, because nostalgia gives people such fond ties to older titles, they’re much more willing to buy into what they know is good and simple entertainment, as opposed to risk more money on something that they do not recognise. Of course, newer aspects of the gaming scene which are unfavourable to some – such as all-online games, microtransactions, and the high cost of new titles – help to encourage a rekindling of the retro.
Retro games have earned the affections of long-serving gamers, be they classic table games, arcade originals, or early console titles, with the persuasion of nostalgia, only making them more appealing as the gaming sectors advance.
Images sourced from Pixabay.