Pretty interesting read on nostalgia and videogames

Heinz

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There are a ton of games from these 'simpler times' that I still feel like I should actually go back to and finish. Many of them I wont but a few of them I have, just don't let that 'nostalgia' get you to the point where you can't get back to the present. Some games are best left in the past, finished or unfinished.
 

smokehouse

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As I began digesting my past and working through some inner issues, I found I became less interested in old games. I found that much of my collecting was simply nostalgic escapism. There's some that I still really enjoy playing to this day, but I'm done with collection and have been selling off a majority of the things I had.
 

NeoSneth

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what about epeens?
it's not all about nostalgia.
 

Setherial

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I prefer old school gaming or to say, an old school feeling. Dragon Quest Vll gives an old school feeling to me for example.
 

Lastblade

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Simpler times is kinda BS, but we definitely could have gotten away with more with no cameras everywhere and no social media.
 

theMot

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I enjoyed porn a lot more during the early internet to now.
 

ChuChu Flamingo

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Lol linking Kotaku

I guess it could be nostalgia but I feel like old games were cut from a different cloth than ones of new.

Most newer games lack challenge overall compared to games of yesteryear. That is not to say they were perfect, but in general they often respected the intelligence level of the player. Nowadays it is all dumbed down so even little jimmy can do shit with most games being glorified cinematic movies where story/the experience takes precedence over gameplay. You can see the same dumbing down extremely prevalent in fighting games.

Lots of older games imo seemed like they were made with love vs a lot today that seem like sticking to the status quo. Nothing gets me more hype than ports/hd remake or the new super mario bros ultra star platinum edition.

2D sprites also age much better imo than 3D.

In any case I feel like the modern industry is kinda stuck in perpetual sequelitis with very few unique ideas due to the risk/cost associated with them. There are still good games being made but the landscape has changed dramatically. You have to appeal to Joe Six Pack.

Simpler times is kinda BS, but we definitely could have gotten away with more with no cameras everywhere and no social media.

If you want a good example just look at Pokemon. Limitations created a lot of good designs. Look at current pokemon designs and be appalled that deviant art fakemon look better.
 
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RBjakeSpecial

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Nice read. Two immediate unrelated thoughts:

Always danger of catching the gotta catch 'em all bug with those old game series when buying old school nostalgic games. These days I just have a few and play some Rondo of Blood or KoF '95 every once in a while.

I have come up with a policy I've been following the last year of turning off a game immediately if I'm not having fun. I refrain from doing this if I'm playing with other people - but by myself it has made me play a lot less games and avoid that sad feeling of playing old school games wishing for better times.

I've completely gutted my old school collection and sold it all.
 

Lastblade

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Nothing wrong with wishing for better times. We are getting older and as our body and mind starting to break down, we wish for our youth back. Just part of life and normal.

Speaking of which, I just hauled another CRT into my house a couple of nights ago. My wife just gave me a funny look.
 

oliverclaude

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The real "ever-present time capsule that we can re-enter at will" is the internet, which reignites our memory of the past so immersive. As video games go, for me, they're a product of that past, similar to films or books. As such, they have an objective quality and that's the more decisive reason, why we're attached to it.

We don't read Victor Hugo's Les Misérables today, more than 150 years after its release, because of nostalgia. We do it, because it has qualities that allow us to understand ourselves, to confront past times and make connections to present ones. And yes, to be entertained, too. It's knowing our roots, it's knowing who we are.

A lot of games got the same careful treatment by their creators as top rated literature or motion pictures did. This huge and intensive amounts of time invested in their creation are the main reason for their longevity. Now we take trips down the digital memory lane of the world wide web and remember that timeless quality.
 
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