What makes a Video Game a classic?

Recently, I have been wondering this very question. Just what does make a Video Game a classic? Does it have to do with the graphics? The sound maybe? How about the story line? Or how old it is? The amount of remakes? Wait! It has to be the characters… right?

My name is Ben, and this is my first blog for Ready Up and I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, but none of my friends particularly care! So I thought that it would be fun to put my thoughts up here.

For a game to become a classic, does it necessarily  have anything to do with the age of the game? Can a game instantly become a classic when you play it?

For instance, look at the original “Final Fantasy”. It was originally made in 1987, the playable characters had (and still have!) no personality, the graphics and music were amazing for that time, considering what we have now, and let’s not forget to mention how many remakes it has had! Yet, just because it’s ‘old’ and had a few face-lifts in our time, does that make it a classic? Would it have still been a classic without the subsequent releases of the title? Would it be a classic, without the release of “Final Fantasy 7”?

If you look at “Prince of Persia” next, it was released in 1989 and it has also become a series. With an impressive eight main titles under it’s belt, not forgetting the blockbuster film as well, that’s pretty good going.  But lets face it, the games are pretty repetitive: jump over ditches, switch… switches, beat the bad guy, save the girl (except for Forgotten Sands).  The game itself is well loved, despite the repetitive gameplay. Yet, it is still a classic.

So should a game ever be deemed “a classic” by the media?

There seems to be many different categories of classics if you ask me;

The Golden Oldie classic like “Tetris.”

The Contemporary Classic like “The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time.”

The Modern Classic like “Red Dead Redemption.”

It seems silly to have so many categories of classics, but the category that is most important, is Your Classic.

I’m going to leave you with my classics. I can’t decide between “Tales of Symphonia” for the Gamecube, or “Tales of Vesperia” for the Xbox 360, they are my favourite games of all time, by Bandai Namco. When I played them, they became instant classics to me.

As soon as I turned the console on, I fell in love with both  games. I don’t know how many times I’ve actually replayed them.

The landscape is beautiful, the story line second to none, don’t get me started on the plot twists? Who could have seen those coming?

We can’t forget to mention the characters, their interactions with every character in the game was significant in some way. Whether it was Colette naming the dogs to get a title, or Zelos talking to EVERY woman in the game — he got free stuff from them. Everybody you met in the game, had something to say or something to give.

So what makes a great game a classic? Who knows?

I can tell you though, it’s your games,

your choice

and your classics.