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[supergamerprincess]

Just curious why does everyone think that most
people think simple 8bit games are better than
new realistic 3d games?

Today it seems hundreds of small 8bit games arising,
while there are only a few cutting-edge (HD) titles
emerging.

With the mobile market maybe it's because 8bit
games take less time to develop and take less resources than 3d?

I wonder... is it because the mean age group for gamers (teens - adults)
grew up with 8bit and it subconsciously triggers happy memories?

Just curious on everyone else's opinion.

Thanks
<3 SuperGamingPrincess <3

[InfiniteStateMachine]

A little bit of both your reasons I suspect.

[supergamerprincess]

I stumbled upon Aurora (http://www.indiegameconsole.com/requests.php)and it seems Cave Story, Cube World, Minecraft and Super Crate Box have the most votes and all are Retro/8-bit.
(My votes went to Ether One,Kerbal Space Program and Lifeless Planet. Guess I like games that let you wonder.. hehe)

...odd.
<3SuperGamingPrincess<3

EDIT:
Actually it seems most of the list is 8-bit. What a shame to have a GTX 680 and to be running 8bit.

[Muz]

Heh, Aurora is obviously going to attract the middle aged retro crowd. (damn, am i middle aged already?)

Also a lot of those games are suited to all console hardware, and the realistic 3D games lag a lot. I'm not a fan of pixel art, but I'd rather have consistent graphics and framerates over the ultrarealistic laggy type where I have to disable shadows.

[salade]

With the mobile market maybe it's because 8bit
games take less time to develop and take less resources than 3d?

Yeah that has to be the primary reason on why there are more of them. They are cheap, and aren't the dev messes that the cutting edge "AAA" industry titles are. However, why some people seem to really like them a lot more is an interesting question.

I wonder... is it because the mean age group for gamers (teens - adults)
grew up with 8bit and it subconsciously triggers happy memories?

It could be easy to marginalize this to nostalgia, or to just being part of the Indie crowd, however I think that there are more reason's. 8/16-bit is now an aesthetic, in the same way that noir or western is in film (I also recognized that those are also genre's). The establishment of chiptune and pixel artistry is the same in my mind as the noir inspired cinematography and the use of light and shadow in films. Beyond this retro aesthetic was completely established though the video game medium - arguably the only aesthetic that has been established from this medium, so it is a natural fit for it to work well with video games. I like to consider newer games that stick to retro even though they aren't bounded by hardware as trying to achieve to a neo-retro feel, the same way that neo-noir films exist. I also think it's cool to see this aesthetic spread to other mediums, in stuff like chipsounds popping up in music (Crystal Castles?), or in Scott Pilgrim and Adventure Time.

[supergamerprincess]

"(damn, am i middle aged already?)"
I'm not close to middle age... yet hehe

"Also a lot of those games are suited to all console hardware, and the realistic 3D games lag a lot."
According to the site "4.0 Ghz core allows you to run not only 2d simplistic games but demanding 3d games in 1080p High Definition."
Maybe their not targeting mostly Retro just people are voting for them.  <-- idk what that face means lol.

"I'd rather have consistent graphics and framerates over the ultrarealistic laggy "
Good point I cant stand laggy, if it's not 60 FPS it's not worth playing.
Sonic Generations was vibrant, colorful and nice looking in my opinion.

Worse case is when a game limits to 30 FPS 

[supergamerprincess]

"I also recognized that those are also genre's"
I hadn't really thought of retro as a genre, but I guess that does make sense.

"However, why some people seem to really like them a lot more is an interesting question"
After re-reading your post and thinking about it, I wonder if people like them more
or chose to play them because they are coming more and more available.
Just like the Metro style that seems to be catching on.

[phubans]

Gimmy Tilbert alt?

[Netsu]

You could ask just as well "Why is cutting-edge more popular than 8-bit?". Pixel art is a different form of art, just because it's much older and cheaper to produce doesn't mean it's somehow inferior and should be replaced.
It also goes well with more abstract, retro gameplay. First person shooters, modern RPGs or realistic racing games, they look best with realistic, cutting-edge 3D graphics. But games with unrealisticly (is that a word?) tight controls, flat gameplay and abstract settings are better fitted with pixel art. How silly would Super Crate Box look with super realistic graphics?

[Leon Fook]

because it's an...art style? And people like...this art style? It's the same way with low poly 3D. Think traditional art like cubism and surrealism.

[Schoq]

I still haven't decided if I should point out when people are misusing "8-bit" (almost always) or if I should just give up and accept that it now means "resembling or reminiscent of old video games"

[ham and brie]

I think 8-bit must now just mean "blocky" if even Cube World apparently qualifies.

It would be interesting to know whether a new game that looked a typical 3D PSX game (with affine texture mapping, bad depth sorting, low vert counts, short draw distances, etc.) would be described as "8-bit" or "32-bit".

[Dragonmaw]

what an awful thread

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

8 bit is not more popular than cutting edge; just look at game sales. just because you notice a lot of them are being made doesn't mean they're more popular. statistics matter more than anecdotes

also i think you are mistaken about what 8-bit means if you classify minecraft as 8-bit. there's a difference between using a retro style and actually being retro. minecraft could not have run on any 8-bit console (such as NES). neither could cave story, for that matter; a game like cave story could *maybe* be made for the SNES, but all the sprites on screen at once and particle effects would be pushing it, they'd have to be toned down and limited a lot for it to get a SNES port

so basically the full power of a computer is still being used for many 2D games, it's just that it's being used in ways that you might not necessarily notice. number of objects on the screen at once, the amount of particle effects and other special effects, etc., can tax the computer every bit as much as high-resolution 3d models do

for instance, braid, when it first came out for the PC, had slowdown, even though it's competently coded and a 2d game, simply because there's so much going on in the background with all the particles and hazy background effects; braid was limited by the fill rate of video cards, and even many relatively modern (at that time) videocards couldn't keep up with braid's 2d requirements

it's relatively easy to make a 2d game that stresses the computer; just make a game with one million "8-bit" sprites on the screen at once, and you'll be lucky if you get more than 3 frames per second, even though it's 2d and uses simple graphics

[s0]

i don't think minecraft's graphics are even particularly "retro" because they don't imitate anything old. early 3d games like doom or starfox 1 or w/e didn't look anything like minecraft. the whole "3d with lofi pixel art textures" style is a modern invention.

[gimymblert]

There is a lot of confusion in this title.

8/16 bits is indeed an aesthetics but also a production and talent choice. Ie it's more costly to do hi level 3D stuf than hi level pixel stuff. It's also even more costly to do hi level 2D stuff (think tomb raider 2013 quality by hand). Depending on the scope, 2D pixel art might be just enough.

There is also an aspect of emulation, first there need to be an affective link to the aesthetics, then an aspect of "I can do this too". You start to see more game with blocky character in the style of minecraft precisely because of that effect, and there is a lot of good stuff that transcend the aesthetics already. Emulation say to derivative creator that is safe to do something similar and help them explore and expand on that basis.


I was a huge advocate of 3D as a cost saving solution for mid scale project, which a lot of person confused for AAA style camera and rendering, but the advent of minecraft and unity3D has rendered this pretty much useless now, 3d is born again.
But what does cutting edge mean? Minecraft is pretty cutting edge, it's the first time a world so interactive has been made in full 3D, it's only entirely possible because of the aesthetics.

And there is many way to do Cutting edge 3D, I mean using the right restriction and aesthetics, I hope you don't define it as the expensive AAA style of 3D. It's beyond the budget and technical talent of many people. Most character in AAA take one month to be created and involve many specialist (3D sculpt, low poly, texture, shader, rigger, animator). Let's say you have the talent, you still have to program thing like head planting and various procedural and blended animation in code. Also gameplay might be impact, because with such cutting edge graphics, immersion would be broken if the character instantly change direction, you need a transition and it takes times. That mean that gameplay is not the same, less things are possible, so sometimes retro graphics allow all those abrupt change that fit gameplay more since there is less expectation.

[Superb Joe]

i dont know, super game princess. i just dont know...

[J-Snake]

I already disliked the look of nes-games from the early days. But I like the look of snes-games for the rest of my days.

[supergamerprincess]

"8 bit is not more popular than cutting edge; just look at game sales. just because you notice a lot of them are being made doesn't mean they're more popular. statistics matter more than anecdotes"

Very true, I am basing this on the amount I see on Steam, IOS, Android, etc which does not in fact mean they are out selling the others.

Can you link to any statistics, I would be interested in seeing them.

Still the question remains, I wonder why most people on Aurora are only up-voting retro style games...  

Someone please up-vote some non retro style games lol

Thanks everyone for all the information on this subject thus far, I'm really enjoying hearing all sides of this  

SuperGamerPrincess <3

(Also this site should add a heart emoticon lol )

EDIT:

In case you missed it, Aurora is the Indie Game Console some group of people are making:
http://www.indiegameconsole.com/

[nikki]

It's like when you buy new shoes.

you suddenly look at all the shoes people are wearing and notice them.

that's you and '8bit gaem' atm