OK, Mr. Classics decided to review the game list company by company [for those in business around the time of the transition] and try to remember when the “feel” changed. I knew it was in the mid-80’s, but I needed to refine it. There were numerous Solid State games that didn’t feel the same as what I now consider “Classics” machines. Here’s what I’ve got:
Bally: Spy Hunter [1984-10] is the first game that jumped out at me as “different” in terms of feel as a player. Kings of Steel and Black Pyramid just preceding it felt more like what had come before. Post-Spy Hunter games like Eight Ball Champ and Beat The Clock also have a non-Classic flavor.
Gottlieb: Jacks to Open [1984-02] still felt a lot like Jacks Open, but El Dorado City of Gold [1984-10] didn’t feel the same to me as Gold Strike, and certainly Touchdown and Ice Fever felt new. I never saw Alien Star when it originally came out, but I’d now place it in Classic rather than post-Classic.
Stern: all of the old Sterns [1977-1984] feel like Classic games to me.
Williams: Firepower II [1984-01] feels like the change point here. Laser Cue and Starlight likewise were new. Warlok still has that Classic feel. Williams didn’t do many titles in 1983, just Warlok and Joust.
So, the last “Classic” games by company IMHO are:
Bally – Black Pyramid [1984-07]
Gottlieb – Alien Star [1984-06]
Stern [original] – all
Williams – Warlok [1983-01]
Note to Funtorium that these cutoffs would exclude Space Shuttle and Sorcerer. Personally, I really like both of those machines, but they don’t feel like “Classic” games to me.
I don’t know how many would agree with any of these picks, but then “you had to be there.”
All this said, the Europeans were at least in the ballpark [cricket grounds?] in their pick of High Speed [1985-12] as the change point; I’d just go back a year and a half further having lived it.
As for having “rules” for what a lineup has to exclude to be considered a “Classics” event, I’d propose a maximum of one exception to the list, and that exception can’t be after, say, 1986. If you have too many late-SS games, then it’s an SS event, not a “Classics” event. As for whether or not to have any “Classic” machines in an “Open” lineup, I’d say that if you are having a separate Classics event, then Classic machines should be no more than 25% of the total Open lineup. If the Open event has no Classics side tournament, then everything is in play in any mixture desired.