From another thread - a quote with Hyperagathon quoting me: I had a feeling that my use of the word irony would spur some protest. But unsurprisingly, I firmly believe I'm right - the irony label fits!

One of the definititions on wikipedia: "any definition of irony—though hundreds might be given, and very few of them would be accepted—must include this, that the surface meaning and the underlying meaning of what is said are not the same."

Games which are purposefully-retro are depending on that the player recognizes their underlying meaning: This game is about being a wizard, but is also about paying homeage to dated RPG's.

One of the most uncompromising of retro games, you have to win the game, let you see a an old-school monitor on your screen, on which you play a retro platformer in CGA. How can this be anything but irony?

Nobody uses irony anymore, it's all about the steelony nowadays .

Man I forgot about Primordia. Re-Install

Wikipedia is not the best source to rely on when it comes to definitions. Just because something has two meanings or can be understood in different ways does not make it ironic. If I say: "It sure is cold in here" and I really mean "Could you please shut the window?", that's not irony. In your quote, they probably meant to say that surface meaning and the underlying meaning of what is said are contradictory. But I'm not even sure that would be a valid definition of irony.

Doing games in a retro style (for reasons other than lacking resources or talent) is in my book an homage and I fail to see irony in that. And to be honest I don't even really see how the definition you quoted leads to your conclusion.

How is that irony? How is that different from you playing a character that tries to accomplish any other task?

If a game's stated purpose is homage or a paean to a lost genre or a style that's not utilized in the "mainstream" anymore, I tend to take it at face value, unless I have reason to believe the creator is simply in it due to nostalgia cash in or popularity. Even then, I wouldn't call it irony, I'd simply call it a jaded grab for a market.

Yeah, entendre isn't always an intent of a creator. Not everything is a metaphor and sometimes people do things that they like, because they like them.

Funny enough, I just googled "are homages ironic", since I considered if homages as such were dependent on irony to work.

The most primitive example of irony consists of just repeating a statement you disagree with. Like if I said this: 'Right. Retro games are not ironic at all. Case closed!'

Retro games are constructed the same way as that sentence. They repeat the mechanics of outdated games, with the player being in on the joke that they are not playing an outdated game, but instead are playing a game which cleverly acts like it is an outdated game.

But this is a subtle version of irony. For this reason, it is a bit harder to recognize than the more obvious ironic aspects of Scream or Jazzpunk.

Isn't that sarcasm, not irony?

Thats not ironic.

That would be a parody or a spoof. Not irony - and even then, it doesn't always apply that a retro game is a parody or a spoof.
That is ironic! ;D

"Sarcasm: the use of irony to mock or convey contempt."

I think someone borrowed their dictionary from Alanis Morissette. O_______o~

Sarcasm is "a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter gibe or taunt."[1][2] Sarcasm may employ ambivalence,[3] although sarcasm is not necessarily ironic.[4] "The distinctive quality of sarcasm is present in the spoken word and manifested chiefly by vocal inflections".[5] The sarcastic content of a statement will be dependent upon the context in which it appears.[6]

While sarcasm and irony are close, they are not the same. Similar to genius and madness. One can be both, either one, or neither.