"Old-School Hard"

[Chip Potato]

Could someone tell me what this is? I'm kind of curious about it, as it's a fascinating concept to me.

[underFlo]

Games that are hard but fair, meaning that you feel responsible for all deaths.

[bossedit8]

Yeah, there are no unfair difficulty inside the game if it is "Old-School Hard".

[Imaynotbehere4long]

Also, the game has to send you all the way back to the beginning (or at least a few levels back) if you die too many times.

[JupiHornet]

Also, the game has to send you all the way back to the beginning (or at least a few levels back) if you die too many times.

I always hated how games did that. But with that said, the video below is a fantastic example of why we can't have old-school hard games anymore:

[FallingSnow]

Could someone tell me what this is? I'm kind of curious about it, as it's a fascinating concept to me.

If you saw this in a specific context, that would probably help in giving you an accurate definition in that given context.

If you mean in general, this is most likely referring to the difference in game difficulty between video games of the 20th and 21st centuries. Games of a lot of familiar franchises from the 20th century have been reduced in difficulty on average to accommodate a younger target audience of players. This is likely due to a greater knowledge of the market of games and what will be most profitable.
Over time, setups and designs of games have changed as well to better adapt to the psychology of a player. Many companies want their players to have fun playing their games. Fun today may be could be considered spending ten hours playing a game and making progress. Fun two decades ago could be related to beating a seemingly impossible stage in a game and finally progressing. They are drastically different emotions, and game designs are built very differently to create them. The logic behind these decisions is much more in-depth, and neither description is all-encompassing for the time periods, not applying to many games.

With "Old-School Hard," one is talking about games designed around the second type of fun I just mentioned, the emotion you get out of completing something difficult. As said here:

Games that are hard but fair, meaning that you feel responsible for all deaths.

Yeah, there are no unfair difficulty inside the game if it is "Old-School Hard".

Also, the game has to send you all the way back to the beginning (or at least a few levels back) if you die too many times.

These apply generally to these types of games, but aren't all mandatory. Nickname's and bossedit's quotes are strictly good game design. Imaynotbehere4long's is just a stereotypical description. Of course, none of these three are required for an "Old-School Hard" game.

I would also like to respond to:

the video below is a fantastic example of why we can't have old-school hard games anymore:

Firstly, this is a completely biased example. They took people who had never played the game before and did not know what to expect. You should not expect them to perform well. I'm sure their reactions were fairly typical to most people upon first playing megaman.
Second, see my brief explanation above. "Old-school hard" games still exist. Many just might not be produced by the same companies and franchises that used to make them.

I hope that helps. :)

[Danny]

The result of old-school hard was literally the tight controls of the NES back in the day. I can't really recall many non-NES, non-GB games that weren't difficult because of their tight controls.

Games like Shovel Knight and The Binding of Isaac somewhat relate to Old-School Hard. The Megaman games and Castlevania I and II are also great examples to what old-school hard is, and that's just scratching the surface. Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. 1, even Donkey Kong all had their fair share of old-school hard.

[JupiHornet]

I see your point FallingSnow, but there is a difference between being bad at a game and thinking that you can walk on spikes.

[Superiorstar]

Hmm... How could I describe old school hard..
Contra, Castlevania, Super Mario bros., Silver surfer, Sonic Spinball, Ghosts N' Goblins, Ninja Gaiden, Super punch out, Mega Man 2, and Gradius are all Classic examples of Old-School hard.