this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
241 points (97.6% liked)

RetroGaming

27991 readers
108 users here now

Vintage gaming community.

Rules:

  1. Be kind.
  2. No spam, AI slop, or soliciting for money.
  3. No racism or other bigotry allowed.
  4. Obviously nothing illegal.

If you see these please report them.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Or do we need another decade before we can call IPod games retro?

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] DigDoug@lemmy.world 76 points 2 days ago (6 children)

I think 25 years is plenty long enough.

The Atari 2600 was newer when the first iPod was released than the first iPod is now.

[–] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 36 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Are deliberatly trying to make hurt me?

[–] DigDoug@lemmy.world 22 points 2 days ago

I was originally going to compare it to the NES, and then I realised that I needed to go back a lot further....

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Being a Millennial and older now is like what being a 500 year old immortal would have been back when it took that long to see meaningful technological change.

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Exactly.

Imagine a 13 year old kid now-gtav is the same age as them and they're still playing it.

Thats the crazy thing. Advancment peaked.

Imagine playing a 13 year old game in the ps1 era. WAY different.

[–] Redkey@programming.dev 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I remember the first time I really sat down and played (and finished) the original Legend of Zelda was in the late 90s, well into the PS1 era and 11-13 years after the game was released. Although admittedly, I was a bit older than 13.

Good games are always good games. Once someone is mature enough to see past the historical limitations, they don't seem to matter nearly as much. Last year I saw some tweens commenting about how PS3 games are "unplayable" now, and I laughed. Yeah, that's why no-one plays chess or poker any more. "You mean you have to use your hands? That's like a baby's game!"

Omg. I used that exact bttf quote a few weeks ago for something similar!!

Graphics have never mattered to me. They're a party trick.

[–] orbitz@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago

I had a similar thought, I sold those things so many years ago, it is retro. It was before the gameboy advanced (okay only by like 8 months if I saw the correct dates). I actually thought they came out further apart and advanced was later but apparently March and November dates. 2001 was a good year, Xbox year too.

[–] driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br 36 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

Like 15 years ago my wife had one of these and she was a teacher f0r 12-13 yo and one of them asked "what is that" and other answer "an iphone, the really old ones, was not even a phone yet". That interaction still haunts my wife.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 18 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I mean.....the student was technically wrong, buuuuuut, realistically, was he?

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

The first iPhone didn't have access to an app store, it was basically an iPod and a feature phone that got Tuvixed.

[–] hitmyspot@aussie.zone 2 points 2 days ago

Yes but with a decent web browser.

The app store came soon after and is what really kicked things off. It was popular as a phone before the app store. It was a phenomenon once there was an app store. Queues overnight on the street.to buy one.

[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

An iPhone without the phone??? When will Apple stop innovating!

[–] Nilz@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 days ago

Here at Apple we believe the iPhone doesn't need the functionality to make calls anymore. Introducing the all new i .

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 16 points 2 days ago

That's GBA/PS2 era, definitely retro.

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago

The black & white iPods are antiques at this point.

[–] BenchpressMuyDebil@szmer.info 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You can install Rockbox on those things yeah?

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

God, I read that 3 times as Roblox....

[–] Scubus@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

I didn't realize it wasn't until your comment

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It’s kinda sad how many current day mobile games are barely more advanced than this.

[–] HouseWolf@pawb.social 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

It's interesting to look at mobile games nowadays realizing that smartphones have been more powerful than 7th gen consoles for more than a decade now.

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago

Exactly, and all that power is used for candy crush 💀

[–] bridgeenjoyer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Just the other day I decided to try hooking a ps4 controller up via Bluetooth to my phone to play dreamcast on it. Worked flawlessly.

I was pretty amazed. I'll never do it again, but cool nonetheless.

[–] homes@piefed.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I had an eighty GB iPod gen 5 and that was the shit.

I could watch the Simpsons on it and plug it into any TV with RCA cables that plugged into the headphone jack.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Bro I can’t fucking read foreign language what do you think I am some type of genius?

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ha. I was playing with my old one just yesterday. It's the model with the touch sensitive wheel and 4 touch buttons.

The battery doesn't even last 1 song anymore.

Then I have a newer one that I installed rockbox on. That's kind of neat.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

My mother in law found this one and was going to donate it when I snatched it away. I didn’t have any 30 pin adapters but luckily a friend of mine is a cable hoarder and gave me three brand new ones. I’ve got iPod classic as well with a burned out hard drive that I plan on installing an SD drive and rockbox on.

[–] toynbee@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

"Cable hoarder"? You mean "reasonable person," right? Maybe "good decision maker"?

[–] djdarren@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

I modded my 4th gen, and replaced the battery while I was in there. The trouble with mine is that it won't charge with USB, so I had to spend out on a FireWire charger. Also, the HDD in 4G is IDE, where the 5G+ are SATA, so if you do decide to mod a newer one you'll need a new adapter.

It is pretty though. And very easy to mod.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Parachute was dope

Big Game & Watch energy

[–] BowtiesAreCool@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Reminds me of the couple games I had on an old Nokia. The bowling and parachute were surprisingly addictive and fun

[–] Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Played the fuck outta that

[–] Rubanski@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Korg Monologue! What a fun synthesizer

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I think that's a Minilogue. 4 voice poly instead of mono. Not bad, but a little generic sounding and very few modulation options.

[–] Lighttrails@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It is indeed a monologue. It’s my first synth as a guitar player. Just something to play around with

[–] sploosh@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

So it is! I thought the mono only came in black, but that was a silly assumption when talking about Korg, kings of the multicolored minikey synth.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

iPops are still new young people things.

For retro gaming on a portable music player, you need to play "If you hold down play and fast-forward it makes your music go squeaky" on a cassette Walkman.

[–] jambudz@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago

2001-2010 were the heyday of the iPods with the wheel, i.e. 16-25 years ago. That’s almost an adult right there.

[–] NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago

A mild hydrogen peroxide mix can help get rid of the yellowing, but it's best to use it with the front case removed (if you wanted to make that thing GLEAM)

[–] one_old_coder@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

You can add the video iPod that I used to watch movies in the subway. You could even find movies on TPB with the good resolution. Fun times.

Oh yeah Parachute!