Two feelings I miss from childhood (in case anyone's working on designer drugs out there): 1. The feeling of being so excited Christmas eve that you can't sleep. 2. The feeling of being totally immersed in a crude 8-bit game world, even something as simple as a text adventure.
Imagination is key here. Think back... what had you seen up to the 8-bit games? 2600 games. Forget the rest, be blown away with 48K and 64K games compared to those measely 4K games.