My game collection somewhat of a time machine?

[Armonigann]

So me and my gf are talking about my collection amongst other things and for some reason or another we were talking about time travel and old video games.

 

my collection is 97% retro and I said to my gf sometimes when I play my games its like going back to '84 all over again sittng on the porch with my buddies playin' combat on the b&w, or when I play Double Dragon for the nes It always reminds me of a huge hurricane the hit the east coast in '88 (Hugo) and I was so lucky to have electricity when more than half of the city was without.

 

I mean, I know when I get on the sticks and start playing f-zero I know im not actually going back to that christmas morning in '92 but I get that feeling of "damn, I remember this like this was just yesterday!". I almost have some memory of just about every game I got which is quit alot and sometimes it does seem that when I do play its like going back in time.

 

To me, my games are somewhat of a time machine that you simply insert a memory and turn on.

 

I swear im not crazy..even though my gf thinks so.

[tz101]

It's nice how they take you back. I think one of the better things I have seen on some retro compilation sets is the insertion of great 80's music to play by. I think both Atari Anthology and Activision compilation do this. I also have a Namco (museum?) set for PS2 that has awesome 80's tunes to play by. Man, that brings back the 80's arcade and home gaming experience for sure.

 

I only wish that I could somehow recompile the ROM files on some of my game carts to include good 80's tunes for in-game music. Now that would be really sweet.

[Armonigann]

I only wish that I could somehow recompile the ROM files on some of my game carts to include good 80's tunes for in-game music. Now that would be really sweet.

 

HaHa, hell yeah it would

[MagitekAngel]

For me, the Super Nintendo is what takes me back. Before I was really old enough to know how to play, I watched my dad play: Super Mario World and Zelda. Before that, I have faint recollections of the NES, and before even that, the Colecovision. Those systems above all others are the conduits to my childhood.

[BydoEmpire]

Whenever I play Vanguard on the 2600 I'm instantly transported to the house we lived in at the time (I must have been 10 or 12?). I had a black and white TV in my bedroom, and my newly acquired 2600 and TV set up in one of those old-fashioned writing desks. I had a bunch of other games, but I remember playing Vanguard so clearly that I'm instantly transported back there whenever I play it now. I don't know why that sticks out more than others, but it does.

[TheLunarFox]

I feel the same. My SNES also has some of the strongest memories for me because that was probably my game playing prime (middle school to high school). When ever it rains here, I get an urge to play Link to the Past. We must have gotten it for Christmas. And around Christmas, especially Christmas morning, there's nothing I like better than starting up Final Fantasy "3".

 

I cart my gaming collection around with me from apartment to apartment-- usually those boxes being the first things taken out of the old apartments and the first things placed in the new apartments.

[IntellivisionDude]

At least 4 systems i own give that feeling of going back in time. All the way back with my Intellivision and even more recent with my PS1 and N64.

 

I can almost visualize playing Burgertime back in 83 in the living room of our old house. And all the times me and my friend would be playing either Intellivision or Nes in my bedroom.

 

I remember going over another friends house and we played Atari 2600 in his basement. That was until he got mad and broke his joysticks. lol

 

It seems like yesterday when i bought my Sega Genesis. It was the first system i bought with my own money from my first job. The store that was selling it was going out of business and everything in the store was on sale. It was 30 or 40% off i think. It came with Sonic 2, and i was so mesmerized by the graphics for weeks. We lived out in the country so the nearest city that sold games was like 30 miles away. And when i got home, opened the box, Sonic 2 was missing. I was so mad. I got back in the car right away and drove back. Even though they were going out of business they were nice enough to let me exchange it for another.

 

I remember when i got my PS1 in 96. I was so out of touch with technology i was thinking i was gonna have to hook up via Coaxial in the back on the TV or VCR. There was no Coaxial cables in the box and thought i was screwed and was gonna have to go back to the store and buy it separately lol. But then it dawned on my to hook up the AV cable. Once again i was mesmerized by the graphics of my new gen system. (on a side not, right now is the only time in my life where i have showed no interest in new gen systems. When the Nes came out i wanted it, same with the Genesis, PS1, PS2, etc. The new systems now don't interest me. Now i'm all about retro. I have been wowed by new graphics enough over the years that the current systems don't do nothing for me.)

 

My old Roommate was a huge wrestling fan like i was. I have vivid memories of us playing all the wrestling games. It started with the PS1 ones, War Zone and Attitude. Then i got my 64 and it was Revenge, Wrestlemania 2000, and No Mercy. My roommate had a Saturn (which we never played) but he was tempted to import Fire Pro Wrestling D for it. But he never did.

 

As much fun and great memories i have gaming as a kid, i think the late 90's/early 2000's were some of my happiest gaming memories i have. It really does feel like it was just yesterday.

 

I'd give anything to go back in time.

 

 

 

[jeremysart]

Great topic Armonigann!

 

Its neat to read others memories and experiences with games.

 

Video game (as well as music) are definitely mental time machines. I think thats why when games are remade, they can almsot never live up to the original, because they cannot replace the memories or nostaliga associated with the original.

 

It all started with the Atari 2600 for me. To this day, when I pop in an old cartridge, I feel like I am 4 again, sitting with my sister in the dining room on the leather bench, my dad playing Boston or Pink Floyd on LP. We love to play Combat, Mario Bros, Space Invaders, Frogs and Flys, as well as Fishing Derby together. I would watch my dad play Megamania for an hour straight to see his high score, or watch him and my mother duke it out in Asteroids.

 

We ended up with a CV and INTV around the same time. I remember the INTV II was broken, but it was me, a 5 year old at the time, that opened it up and discovered that the part the ac adapter plugs into needed re soldered. Because I had only previously seen the 2600, I was blown away when I popped Bump n' Jump into the system. So much color, that nice tune, and no flickering!

 

Then not long after, my parents came home with this strange little grey box that you put cartridges into like a vcr.

Playing Super Mario Bros 3 ALWAYS takes me back to 1990, sitting on the bench passing the controller back and forth. Thinking that world 5 was the last world because you start off only seeing 3 levels and a strange new castle. Getting the Tanooki suit for the first time. Yes, this game was IT, the first of its kind, SMB3 was huge, it was like going on a long adventure!

 

Yoshi's Island and DK Country hold the same type of nostalgia for me.

 

I think some of the strongest feeling though, come from the N64.

 

Ahh, playing the N64 brings me back. Sitting in my friends basement, going head to head in Goldeneye 007 on the big rear projecting tv. Countless hours passing the controller off collecting stars in Suoer Mario 64, or dog fighting in Starfox 64. I will never forget the first time playing through Turok with the big cheat.

 

Countless hours playing Twisted Metal 2, and Need for Speed II: Hot Pursuit with my cousin in their basement during our proclaimed "happy hour" of gaming after his mom was asleep

 

But the top game that holds nostalgia and memory for me, Mario Kart 64

..or wait, was it Doom? Yeah, it was probably Doom. Who could forget the first time they played THAT game?

 

 

Oh.. I am too nostalgic.

[MagitekAngel]

When ever it rains here, I get an urge to play Link to the Past.

 

Whenever it rains here, I have the compulsion to grab a lantern and rescue a princess. No joke.

[atarilovesyou]

So me and my gf are talking about my collection amongst other things and for some reason or another we were talking about time travel and old video games.

 

my collection is 97% retro and I said to my gf sometimes when I play my games its like going back to '84 all over again sittng on the porch with my buddies playin' combat on the b&w, or when I play Double Dragon for the nes It always reminds me of a huge hurricane the hit the east coast in '88 (Hugo) and I was so lucky to have electricity when more than half of the city was without.

 

I mean, I know when I get on the sticks and start playing f-zero I know im not actually going back to that christmas morning in '92 but I get that feeling of "damn, I remember this like this was just yesterday!". I almost have some memory of just about every game I got which is quit alot and sometimes it does seem that when I do play its like going back in time.

 

To me, my games are somewhat of a time machine that you simply insert a memory and turn on.

 

I swear im not crazy..even though my gf thinks so.

 

 

...dude, this is exactly how it goes with me too. And I'm already gettin' antsy for selling my PS1 a few years back; playing Resident Evil for the first time, staying up literally all night (couldn't find the save ribbons!) and beating it was just as good as any retro moment I've had. Did I mention it was a Friday night?!?...that's how much I was drawn into that game; wish it would happen more often!

[Koopa64]

Recently I bought an original gray Game Boy at a yard sale. I haven't owned one of these in over a decade. It really took me back to much younger days. That particular shade of gray is pretty nostalgic to me.

 

Amazingly, the screen was in great shape. It must not had been used very much. hardly any scratches and no lines were missing in the display.

[Rik]

On a serious note, anything that you see, hold, say, remember, that triggers vivid memories IS a time machine. I'm sure a scientist would agree that we are onto something here that's far from being a crazy notion, real enough for me.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Rik