PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii U consoles are officially ‘retro’ says retailer

Recognise these? You’re old, apparently (Metro)

A US retailer GameStop has issued a declaration that those who grew up with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are officially dusty artefacts, whether they like to admit it or not.

It’s always an uncomfortable realisation when something you grew up with becomes an antiquated relic, like the iPod, Habbo Hotel, and thinking lava lamps are cool. But now we can file a new console generation under the ancient bracket.

US retailer GameStop has released an ‘official declaration’ stating that Sony’s PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, and, more oddly, the Wii U are now retro consoles.

‘The ruling was reached following careful analysis of multiple indicators, including: the presence of component cables, the lack of Fortnite, and the realisation that they launched when George W. Bush was still president,’ the tongue-in-cheek post reads.

‘Under GameStop’s Retro Classification Standard, the aforementioned systems will now join the ranks of other beloved legacy hardware in the retro category, such as the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo DS.’

There is an important disclaimer, however, which perhaps gives away the age of who exactly penned this statement. ‘GameStop would also like to remind the public that while these systems are now officially classified as retro, they are still very cool, and anyone who owned one at launch is absolutely not old.’

While we might argue the Wii U was the antithesis of ‘cool’ – even with Nintendo Land – it’s not inaccurate to call them ‘retro’ by today’s standards. The PlayStation 3 is 20 years old this year, having launched originally in Japan on November 11, 2006. The Xbox 360, meanwhile, is even older, having come out in November 2005 in the US.

There is no official way of asserting with a console is retro or not but the rule of thumb we’ve always used is if it’s two generations or more old – which the Xbox 360 era is.

The Wii U is a strange one to throw into the mix, especially since GameStop don’t mention the original Wii, because it is technically part of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 generation, having launched in 2012. However, considering it was massive flop for Nintendo, its lack of cultural imprint has perhaps made it age faster.

Saying that, many Wii U games have been re-released on the Nintendo Switch over the years, including Mario Kart 8, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Pikmin 3, so maybe Wii U babies aren’t quite over the hill just yet.

As for why GameStop is making this declaration now, it’s designed to promote a Retro Trade-In Bonus offer, whereby customers in the US can get an additional 10% in trade credit on Wii U, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 games, consoles, and accessories.

By strange coincidence, the PlayStation 3 recently received a system update to version 4.93, about a year after the last update. There are no specifics on what it does, but according to Sony, it ‘improves system performance’. Better late than never.

Respect your Nintendo Land elders (Nintendo)

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