How much time passes before something is considered classic?

I know this can vary for different things. In your opinion, how much time passes before a movie is considered classic? Video games? Cars? Something else?

I can't really come up with an example. :P I mean, when did NES and SNES become classic video game systems? The early 2000s maybe?

What do you think?

Like you said, it varies. I would say for example (to name a few):

• GoldenEye (1997)
• GTA III (2001)
• Halo 1 (2001)

are already classics.

I would say 16 years but that would make me classic too.

10-15 years i would say

I don't think it's only a measure of time but more about how much impact it's had. Something like Call of Duty 4 that came out 7 years ago can already be considered a classic simply because of how it changed the industry.

I agree with Alijosa...it's more about the impact than the time, hence the existence of "instant classics".

At least 15 years

As others have pointed out already, time alone is an insufficient metric. I think its closely related to the progress of the domain to which the thing belongs. For example gaming has made leaps since the NES thus rendering the NES a classic; taking into account that the NES itself represents a milestone in the domain of gaming. The term classic is used loosely which is probably the reason why its hard to come up with a strict definition of the term. You will hear people refer to very recent things as classics of their respective domains for any number of reasons such as reshaping an industry or a discipline, possessing great value of some sort, having resulted in controversy or dispute of considerable scale across a specific sphere...etc. Actually on a second thought, the term classic should refer to something that constitutes a milestone of substantial importance to some specific activity, discipline, industry...etc only after a sufficient period of time relative to the age of the domain itself has already passed. Any other use of the term is imprecise and more loose than it ought to be.

I overall agree, I just don't like the idea of "instant classics". You've gotta give a little bit of time to find out the overall impact. After all, something could look really popular and influential, and then five years later it's like everyone collectively agreed that it's shit and they don't care about it any more. Something that looks like an "instant classic" might just be the the early stages of a brief and utterly forgettable fad.

@MrGeezer: Definitely. I also don't enjoy the term, I merely used it to support my opinion that something doesn't necessarily need decades in order to be considered a classic; it can just happen due to incredible popularity (and not necessarily the good kind)

The time frame is usually 25 years. And the popularity of the item in question must remain constant throughout that time (i.e. classic rock is still played as much today as it was back in it's time of creation, or a classic car (such as the '69 Mustang) is as popular today as it was back when it came out).

Lots of things were revolutionary at the time and shortly afterwords forgotten. I think classic implies some degree of timelessness, as in people will still being talking about it fifty or more years from now. Which is a long shot for any video game I think.

Moonlight Sonata is a classic, The Tale of Genji is a classic, Macbeth is a classic. Dune II or Wolfenstein on the other hand? Hardly anyone plays or cares about them and they even have nostalgia going for them.

Which is a long shot for any video game I think.

What about Tetris? I think that has a certain degree of timelessness to it, and could be called a classic.

The original Tetris is most definitely a classic, not even debatable

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(Examples: any given GTA, The Dark Knight, The Last of Us.)

I really doubt anyone is going to care about The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto 5 in ten years. They weren't even groundbreaking at release either.

And don't take that as insult against those games.

Sure I guess.

GTA: SA and Crash Bandicoot are both more than ten years old and people still care for them.

Last of Us sold out more than 6 million copies in few weeks on a single platform ,and GTA 5 sold out ....what ,30 million ? Not to mention their near-100 metascore. What's all this, if not groundbreaking ?

So, please, speak for yourself. And don't take that as an insult.

Edit: lol wtf ? This place ain't SW !

As much as I like receiving notifications about conversations that don't related to me in any way, can you guys please stop quoting me in all your replies when you're not talking to me? =P

What if it wasn't popular in its own time? Like a lot of classic stuff, particularly literature.

Initial popularity has nothing to do with it. Future generations are probably not going be all hot over One Direction or Lorde for example. Or look at the box office performance of the Transformers movies. Do actually think in 40 years people are going to view Age of Extinction like they do Casablanca or Seven Samurai or even Star Wars?

Not to mention lots of classic literature was obscure or even critically panned in it's time.

And I don't know why you think a high metascore means something is groundbreaking in it's medium.

Something doesn't have to be "groundbreaking" to be a classic.

Lots of stuff that's huge when it comes out can be shortly forgotten, and lots of stuff that was never recognized in it's time (HP Lovecraft's works for example, but you could make a vast list) can gain long term appeal and relevance to people.

That's what Wikipedia listed. I merely know it as something recognized as "timeless" after about 25 years.

1 second.

I dont think its necessarily a time thing, I think its more a quality/originality thing.

its 30 years for vintage

as for classic? thats is different becuz it depends if people like it in the past and in the current time.

when it comes to vintage, it dones matter if it was liked back then or liked now.

No. How else would we able to annoy you ?

@elkoldo: I hadn't realised that annoying me was on anyone's priority list =P

Definitely not an originality thing. For instance, Shakespeare's plays weren't necessarily original.

i think for music it's easy to judge whether something will be a classic based off of just how good it is. with something like a car it's a lot harder to tell what will have staying power and therefore could take years to judge accurately. at the end of the day however, it's all a matter of opinion.

@korvus: Well you should learn that now. It's my top mission.

@elkoldo: You're so getting anti-aging cream for Christmas...might be too late, though.

3 hours 16 minutes 48 seconds exactly.

@korvus: It's a creepy image, ain't it ? That's why I chose it :P

Generally, I'm going to say 10 years.

Pop culture is in and out of peoples minds rather quickly, people forget about things in a matter of weeks or months. The ability of a "classic" is for it to remain revered over time, it isn't simply a matter that a given time should pass.

It ain't matter of time ...."Classic" usually refers to sth which was groundbreaking at the time of its release ...