2d game: 16 bit+
3d game: ten years if first playthrough
3d game: infinite if game played originally when current tech.

Not long ago there was a thread asking about the oldest game you still play regularly. My answer was [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(text_game)]Star Trek[/url]. My tolerance for archaic conventions is pretty high. I don't find it depends on genre either. I still also love Rogue, Telengard, Space Invaders, Montezuma's Revenge, Tetris, Missile Command, Adventure, Might & Magic, Ms. Pac-Man and Zork (to name a few.)

Damn! Space Invaders really was arcade crack wasn't it?!

FPS: Build Engine. I usually do Doom Engine games with mouse look and keyboard controls now though.

WRPG: Ultima Underworld 1 & 2. After those it jumps to Baldur's Gate. Most old WRPGS lacked a map of some kind which makes them impossible for me to play.

JRPG: Final Fantasy 4. Just finished that one last week actually, really cool game.

RTS: I can't stand them anymore period.

RTT: Rome: Total War.

Adventure: The Longest Journey.

Visuals rarely stop me from enjoying a game. What does it is things like no map, terrible design (in my opinion), or just the game feeling outdated compared to something more modern.

I can't play most CRPGs prior to the Infinity Engine (98?). They all just looked so ugly. Eye of the Beholder and the Wizardry series are notable exceptions. I can't take most games <VGA (which is funny because since I didn't have a good PC as a kid, I remember looking through bins for CGA shareware games).

Shooters without mouselook bother me now, too.

I didn't really get into CRPGs until 2001-2002 or so. NWN and Morrowind really got me hooked. Prior to that it was all console RPGs.

The (non-Lucasarts) adventure/puzzle games seem to date the best in terms of gameplay, IMO. The only old CRPG I'd picked up and gone "WOW" was NWN when I finally got around to playing HOTU when I picked up the Diamond edition. That was one of the best games I ever played, easily best expansion pack.

And RTSs. I could play Sim- games (back when it was still Maxis Sim- games), Age of Empires 2, Empire Earth or any of the Total War games and not notice the sun rising.

One of my favorite RPGs is still Final Fantasy Legend (SaGa) for Nintendo Gameboy. I still fire it up and play it once a year. It holds up decently for a turn based game with super-deformed characters, a virtually non-existent story, an overworld map and any number of other things now relegated to history.

IMO, the 2d stuff after the 8 bit era holds up a lot better too. Early 3d was just painful looking. Soulbringer was the first CRPG in 3d that didn't look abysmal. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was the first 3d action/platform game I actually enjoyed. I stopped playing them for a while after it was apparent 2d was dying.

Hmmm.. well, I still love "Zork" and all those text-based games, but I find it hard to play games along the lines of "Beneath a Steel Sky". The dated graphics coupled with horrible gameplay just isn't worth the effort. I want to enjoy games, not scratch my head every thirty seconds and say "What the H am I supposed to do now?"

And I wish I could have physical manuals for these games; I just don't get into the digital versions, especially if it's the type of game that doesn't let you minimize and you have to completely exit in order to look at the manual (and no, I don't want to waste expensive ink printing the manual).

I loved playing "Bard's Tale III" on my Apple IIe, but would I like it now? I don't know.

LOL same here. I used to buy a game and then read the manual ALL DAY, in bed, on the can, at school. Neverwinter Nights is the perfect example. The manual for that was spiral and well over a hundred pages and it came with a cloth map. All the old RPGs used to do stuff like that.

RPGs used to have these massive thick manuals and maps and whatnot. To their credit, Bethesda does this with the Elder Scrolls, but no one else really does.

Some of these games don't really hold up. I tried replaying KOTOR and FF7 a few months back. Yeah, the dialogue in both of them is awful. Morrowind, on the other hand - still as good as I remember, awful character designs and all. I found the original Persona, which I fondly remember from my HS years as having inspired my love for the ShHin Megami Tensei series, completely and utterly unplayable on PSP.

I remember playing this bootleg CGA tetris. Tons of fun.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/tetris/screenshots/gameShotId,26948/

Agree with some of the fellow GOGers above, I think the limit is 1989 or 1990. Unless we are talking about casual games, then Digger, Frogger, Tetris, etc. that came before 1990 are alright.

LOL, they weren't casual back then, they were the only arcade and console games. But yeah I know what you mean. Games with very original gameplay that are often "unwinnable" wind up being less dated for whatever reason. You don't need nextgen graphics to render 4 blocks, I guess.

Heh, apart from the timeless (arcade) gems like Asteroids and Space Invaders, my "golden age" of retrogaming are the years crossing the end of the Eighties and the beginning of the Nineties. I guess....

PC games in general: should have 256 VGA (or exceptionally good looking EGA) graphics and sound card support (forgiving that to some newer indie games and hack clones where e.g. ASCII "graphics" and no sounds was a design decision). For games beyond that, I'd rather look for Amiga, or even Commodore 64, versions of the same games.

Also, a game tutorial (missions) is much preferred for games with a steep learning curve, over having to learn the game from a manual. E.g. flight sims, mech games etc.

FPS: like someone else said, has to have mouselook. Doom and such is too oldskool for me nowadays, Duke3D like games like Blood 1, Shadow Warrior etc., I'm still willing to give a chance, even though their mouselook is rather wonky. I know original Doom also had some kind of mouse support, but IMHO it didn't work that well, and it wasn't actual mouselook anyway, just turning with the mouse.

CRPGs: as said already, need automap and quest log. Not much else, I consider ADOM a passable CRPG even today, even if it is a hack-clone with no story etc. For early 80s, I probably prefer even console JPRGs on NES (early Final Fantasies etc.) due to better playability.

Action games: no "three lives and you are out" type or coin-op ports anymore, it has to have some kind of savegame system.

Adventure games: anything with a point&click interface or newer... except that for some odd reason I've started to think about trying some old text-based adventures, e.g. from Magnetic Scrolls. Maybe my English is currently good enough level for them, and I don't have to stare at a dictionary all the time anymore. Back then it just felt I used most playing time trying to come up with the right verbs to be used in text adventures.

Strategy/RTS games: a bit harder to describe, but if the user interface is just too restricted to be enjoyed anymore, it's out. I did replay Warcraft 1 and Dune 2 recently, but frankly I disliked the UI now. Maybe as you said, from C&C, or Warcraft 2 BNE, onwards is fine with me.

I find it hard to play games from before I started with the genre. So...

Console classics from the NES on up, RPGs from the mid-90's and up, shooters from the beginning, point and click games from around King's Quest V on.

I find it hard to play older console games like Atari or Commodore, RPGs from before Baldur's Gate and the old point and clickers with the type interface.

Yeah, the early nineties is the limit for me (born in 1984). That's about the time when games were starting to leave the "you must read this very thick manual first and make tons of notes during gameplay or you don't stand a chance" period -- and I honestly don't have the patience for that anymore (and I'm not sure if I ever did).

But I would absolutely make an exception for those really early 3D games, those are mostly unplayable today for many reasons (usually controls). Otherwise, I'm willing to stomach quite a lot if the core gameplay is good.