Together Retro - June

[Sarge]

Yeah, I worry I might have gone overbroad in a few categories. Oh well, I'll work on that next time!

[MrPopo]

Don't worry, I'm planning on having some more esoteric categories for December.

[Xeogred]

I think I just want to see FPS's lose... yes ,one of my favorite genres... because I already have a lot of it covered.

[alienjesus]

I think I just want to see FPS's lose... yes ,one of my favorite genres... because I already have a lot of it covered.

I'm in the opposite boat - FPS is one of my least favourite genres, but I'm actually really up for it this time round.

On the other hand, beat-em-ups doesn't appeal mainy because I don't have any I'm particularly wanting to play right now.

ARPGs I have a whole bunch of options for, but I'd quite like something else to win for the sake of variety as we've already had a few RPG focused months.

My favourite option is definitely fan translation as it offers a thematic link that isn't just genre or era based - which lots of our TR months thus far, mine included, have been. I'm thinking that if I get to choose another set of themes next year I'd like to try and come up with ones that are genre agnostic

[Xeogred]

Well in that case, I do get excited to see some others playing some favorites of mine, like SD3 (which as Sarge said could maybe work for Translations or ARPG, heh) and yeah there's plenty of FPS gold to be played!

[Ack]

Don't worry, I'm planning on having some more esoteric categories for December.

Yeah, I have some interesting ideas for October too. I may change a few up depending on how the year has gone, but there are a few that will at the very least be interesting to throw at y'all.

[crazythink4]

Picking categories is a tough job, as I’m sure many know.

On the one hand, they should have a good selection of obvious essentials that people who have less coverage in that area/genre.

On the other hand, it should have some depth so that the veterans can dig around and find some obscure titles and gems.

It’s hard to please both camps if the categories are too narrow. But yes, having broader categories and open voting does mean that some of the more specialized and esoteric retro areas will often be passed over. And I’m honestly not sure what the best solution to that would be...

Anyway, I voted ARPGs</part_of_the_problem> and fan translations. That said, I’d be happy with any of the choices. One more “great selections” to Sarge!

[Exhuminator]

On the one hand, they should have a good selection of obvious essentials that people who have less coverage in that area/genre. On the other hand, it should have some depth so that the veterans can dig around and find some obscure titles and gems.

While I would love to see stuff as narrow as "original Game Boy RPGs" or "Super Famicom imports" or "pre-6th gen SRPGs", I understand that'd be too restrictive for most TR members. A lot of members are seeing this new TR format as a possible conduit to play games from their existing library, so they don't want to buy games just for TR. They'd rather vote for themes that fit their backlog library's current selection. But, I think a middle ground can be found. Genres with qualifiers like "Licensed Platformers" or "90s FMV" were good examples of that technique. That still left platform selection wide open, but limited the genre's scope down to having a distinguishable personality. Ultimately I just want to read about people having fun playing legitimately retro games. As long as that's going on, TR's a success in my book. That said, we should all strive to get out of our comfort zones from time to time. It makes one a more informed and experienced gamer.

[noiseredux]

I agree with Exhum. There's definitely a solid middle ground. But TR this year is a work in progress experiment and so far has been majorly successful. It's probably been the most active TR calendar from month to month in ages.

[crazythink4]

Agreed on both counts. I’m sure TR will continue to have positive refinement, and it’s been a pretty good success so far. I (and I’m sure many others) have been enjoying the new format