Classic gaming-is it pure nostalgia,yearning for youth or much more?

[gooner73]

As i reach my 40th birthday, i am wondering if vintage gaming is pure nostalgia and a desire to return to childhood/youth , or is it more than that?

 

 

I think that my generation particularly in England were very lucky, we were on the brink of the computing/gaming horizon with so many formats to choose from, exciting developments and actually seeing the progress of technology and programming first hand.

 

we could see Atari computers and consoles, bbc micro,acorn electron, spectrum 48/128k, amstrad cpc,oric, dragon,phillips,msx,intellivision,colecovision,tandy,commodore.

The list seemed endless! we really had options then!

The future of gaming was ahead of us and we were there at it's inception.So i do not think it just nostalgia, it was a special time and the games and consoles/computers we still play from that time are a testament to the golden era of gaming!

 

I have always embraced the new consoles and technology but at the same time always love the oldies, with regards to the new gen consoles , were they not what we all dreamed of?

when i hear people saying they are not as good etc, i like to remind them of the fact that had it been available in our youth , we would have had multiple orgasms!

 

Those were the days of arcade conversions, when it really meant something to be able to play gauntlet etc on a 64k machine, when the ideas for games were flowing from everywhere, so i do feel nostalgic but also have a real love of the efforts and time that went into the old games. Not that there were not plenty of bad ones, just like today!

 

 

just wanted to see how others feel about this touching and often sentimental (to me) subject.

 

 

If i were to sum it up, it was and still is a joy to play classic games and machines, and i am not just going through a midlife crisis, although my 14 year old son thinks differently! I have however got my youngest into miner 2049er on the 800xl!

There is hope yet to bring the good old days to the youth of today.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2012 by gooner73

[Rex Dart]

1/3 nostalgia, 1/3 yearning for youth, and 1/3 simple appreciation for whatever it is that's being appreciated.

 

I know that I enjoy VCS games, and I never owned one as a child (first console was NES), so it's not entirely nostalgia. There's an appreciation for the simpler games there.

[Vaughan]

Yearning for youth plays no part in my enjoyment of Retro Gaming. None whatsoever. Nostalgia, yes. But most for me....... I had a PS3. It was great, the games, streaming movies, Internet browsing blah blah blah. But, I realized - with one exception - none of the games were more enjoyable to me than those I played on the Atari 2600 and 800. I'm talking about my own pleasure at playing them. They looked better, they certainly sounded better, but I couldn't say they gave me more pleasure.

 

So I played some old games, and found that what I enjoy isn't the graphics, it's the game. There's simply never been an adventure game I've enjoyed more than Adventure on the 2600. No aliens I've ever wanted to kill more than Space Invaders. No cities I've wanted to defend more than Missile Command.

 

Retro Gaming is good because of its minimalism. The heart of the game is up on the screen, without all the fancy dressing up - the dressing up that in the end adds nothing but a new lick of paint.

 

But it's nothing to do with a yearning for youth.

[BassGuitari]

For some people it probably is.

 

Probably not so much for me, since the stuff I'm into was old even before I was born, so by definition, it CAN'T be nostalgia for me.

 

But in a way, some of it is. When I was in junior high a friend had an Odyssey 2 that we played the bejeezus out of at his house after school before I traded him some Playstation games for it (I was trying to get an old system then, and what I really wanted was an Atari 2600, but this was "like" Atari, so I had to have it). And once in a while, I do get a little nostalgic about those particular care-free days, when retrogaming was still new and exciting to me, when I fire it up. So I guess you could say that particular Odyssey system (still have it!) went through two different rounds of nostalgia, first with the original owners, and then with me.

 

But in general, and even with stuff I grew up with (NES, Genesis, SNES), I don't play those games to relive my youth. I just want to play the games. I don't even want to relive my youth. My youth was like this big 20-year stretch of pure awkwardness and weirdness. I'm pushing 30 now and I'm not looking back. I never boot up Super Mario Bros. thinking "I want to relive that one time when I was seven that I only remember in abstract." I boot up Super Mario Bros. because I want to experience the flavor of audio/visual satisfaction that it offers. Same with any game, really, from any era. Even my beloved Odyssey 2, which has SOME nostalgic sentiment, I play for its own merits. UFO, Pick-Axe Pete, Freedom Fighters, and KC's Krazy Chase are just kick-ass games. I don't play it to relive good times with my buddy from 8th grade.

 

I play, collect, and enjoy classic games because they're fun. A good game is a good game, whenever it was made. Nostalgia is for the birds.

Edited June 30, 2012 by BassGuitari

[+thegoldenband]

There's a strong general component of nostalgia in my gaming habits, in that I prefer the aesthetics of games from 1975-2000 (really 1975-1995) to most anything that came afterward. (That's mostly the case with movies and music too, to be honest; I lost interest in most new movies and music around the turn of the millennium.) I just don't enjoy most modern games very much; their style of play, their priorities, and their gameplay dynamics don't appeal to me.

 

But as for specific nostalgia for specific games, and reliving the titles of my childhood -- well, most of the games I play now are games I didn't have BITD, on systems I didn't have then either. I have no specific nostalgia for the Intellivision, for instance, unless you count 2-3 childhood encounters with a friend's system, and yet it's one of my favorites now. Same with the Genesis. OTOH, I practically don't play the NES anymore, and that was the system that dominated my teen years.

 

I mean, sure: I'll play Circus Atari with my family, or finally beat that SNES game I could never figure out, and that gives me a pleasant feeling of nostalgia and remembrance. But if the game weren't fun and compelling in and of itself, I wouldn't play it.

[jaybird3rd]

Maybe I'm unusual, but nostalgia plays a surprisingly small role in classic gaming for me. The systems I spend the most time with these days (the Intellivision, the Aquarius, etc) are ones that I never saw until I was in my early thirties.

 

There are several things about classic computing and gaming which appeal to me, beyond the nostalgia factor. First, classic consoles and computers are relatively inexpensive compared to their modern counterparts. For less than the cost of a new modern console with a single game, you can pick up a professionally refurbished Atari system from a vendor like Best Electronics or B&C ComputerVisions, along with a handful of game cartridges or a multi-cart. For any of the popular classic systems, there are enough titles to choose from to keep you busy for years.

 

Another benefit of classic systems is that, if you take good care of them, they'll probably last you for the rest of your life. Modern consoles survive only a few years before they either break down or are discontinued. Many modern games also include online activation, DLC, and other "external dependencies", so when first-party support goes, the games will probably go with it. In the social networking space, the games are changing all the time and aren't intended to last, as Rob Fulop pointed out in his recent post about Zynga. Classic systems are completely standalone, and the hardware is pretty rugged and reliable, so once you buy into them, there's nothing to prevent you from enjoying them in perpetuity.

 

Classic consoles and computers are also a great vehicle for exploring the technology of computers. To me, a good hobby is one that can contribute to one's own growth and development, and classic games and computers can do this in several ways. If you want to learn more about programming, for example, you can easily obtain development tools and documentation for most of the classic systems and create your own games. Or, if you want to learn more about electronics, you can open up the hardware, and it's usually simple enough that you can identify the major components and begin designing your own upgrades and add-ons if you wish.

 

I also enjoy the study of game design, and it's interesting to see the ingenious ways in which game designers were able to use the limited resources of these classic systems to produce something fun. It just goes to show how little technology it takes to produce a compelling game, and how superfluous the special effects of modern games really are.

[StoneAgeGamer]

There are plenty of younger people who are into classic gaming as well, so it can't be nostalgia for them. I think it more starts of as curiosity and can then grow into an actual hobby.

 

For me its partly nostalgia, but mainly its an appreciation for the art. Yes games today can be beautiful and original, no doubt. However sometimes I love playing games and appreciate how limited the hardware truly was and what they were able to do with it. Being a programmer myself this kind of stuff really intrigues me.

[Pixelboy]

I have to say mostly the same thing as the previous posters above. Having an interest in retrogaming means recognizing the inherent qualities of those old games. In the end, nostalgia plays only a small part in the equation, if it plays any part at all.

 

There are many people of our age group who played the same games we did when they were kids, but they couldn't be bothered to play with those same games today (or even modern games) as they feel those childhood memories are best left behind.

 

Adults. Bah, humbug!

[BydoEmpire]

There's an aspect of nostalgia and reliving youth, but at the same time, I genuinely enjoy playing classic games because they're fun.

[retrorussell]

Nostalgia and simplicity for me. Just being able to pick a game right up and play without having to read up on it is always my cup of tea.

[DesertJets]

I would say with my Atari items there is a strong nostalgia factor involved in my collecting. But I now have more games than I did as a kid and I have types of games for the 2600 that I never had then either. For me a large part of the collecting is discovering stuff I never knew existed, in my most recent purchase I got both Video Olympics and California Games, with 9 years between their release you'd never know they were made for the same system.

 

Now with my XEGS I do have to admit I got it because I wanted one when it came out and never had it. As for the Dreamcast I got it because it is awesome and I do enjoy playing more modern games from time to time.

[fiddlepaddle]

For me, any nostalgia is generally about recreating that sense of anticipation and wonder I have when experiencing a good game for the first time. I prefer games without lots of training and complex things to learn before I can play, so the old games I haven't played yet tend to do that for me. Even when I play a dud, it allows me to also knowingly be cynical with all of you when that title comes up. It's also great to have a growing list of games I can get "lost" in without a significant time investment just to buy-in.

[SlowCoder]

Some nostalgia and memories from youth. Some new adventure of things I didn't have or didn't even know about so many years ago. And some appreciation for the tech and styles of they days back then.

[genesisguy]

I think I've always just liked NES games. I remember when Funcoland was blowing out NES games for 25 cents to a dollar and I picked a stack of em up. This was probably when I was a freshman in high school and the biggest thing going gaming wise was the N64 and PS1. For some odd reason at that point in time I still wanted to own those games. It certainly wasn't nostalgia at that point. I just knew they were good games. I put consoles down from the year 2001-2008. Around the time the retro craze caught up with my generation when retro inspired games were big on the Wii. I dug all my old consoles out and started playing again. Maybe there's a hint of nostalgia in there. But there's really nothing else like the NES out there.

[+Gemintronic]

Nostalgia depends on the persons experience. Actually, more specifically, if they chose to leave it behind and come back to it. I played Odyssey², 2600, Coleco, Intellivion and others as a kid and play them now. Never stopped.

 

Classic Gaming is the same as Classic Rock: To some people it's just "Rock"

[HatefulGravey]

For me it is 50% pure joy of playing these games, 25% loving the history of gaming and being able to touch it in my own house, and 25% the joy or collecting. I very much like looking for these game in the wild. It is like people that enjoy metal detecting, you never know what you might find, more often then not it is nothing, but the feeling of actually finding something is very nice. Add to the feeling of finding something at all the feeling of adding one more piece of "history" to a safe place that will make sure it is around in the future and I'm loving this hobby. I often buy games I have just to trade them to someone that will keep them safe and enjoy them, but cause that back of that guys van at the flea market looks like a bad place for that copy of Kaboom!.

[chuckwalla]

Classic gaming (8-bit consoles + computers) = (mostly) simple games, fun to play, nostalgic, best game art, basis for future gaming.

Nostalgia for those who grew up in the 70's and 80's just before or at the start of the home computing era when the only video games were located in arcades, convenience or department stores and to be able to play video games at home was like a dream come true.

I can tell you which games I played with whom (friends, family) and which games were swapped and with whom, etc.

My favorite games by far are the classic 8-bitters to this day - Atari consoles and computers, Commodore VIC-20 and 64, and ColecoVision games - can never get enough of them. Some Sega Genesis and a tiny bit of SNES here and there but nothing after that era.

[TheGameCollector]

To me it's this simple. Older games are just pure fun.

[AtariTexas]

There's only one big fire button on the joystick

 

enuff said

[+atari2600land]

I wasn't born/ in diapers and unable to play this stuff, so it really can't be nostalgia for me either. I play a video game, whether it's an Atari 2600 one or a Nintendo 64 one because it's fun. If it isn't fun, I don't play it (as much).

[Cynicaster]

Admittedly, nostalgia had a big role in bringing me back to classic gaming on a whim 2 or so years ago, but it was the games that kept me here. The nostalgia comes and goes, kind of like that feeling you get watching old VHS home movies of family vacations, but it’s a fleeting sensation at best for me. Like many others have said, most of the games I play today I never played in my youth (many, I’d never even heard of). So, I’m hard-pressed to apply the concepts of “reliving youth” and nostalgia as factors even worth mentioning in my gaming choices, much less major ones.

 

It’s not hard for me to identify why I’m partial to classic games. Quite simply, they are characterized by everything I find desirable in this hobby: walk-up-and-play simplicity rather than 30-minute-tutorial boredom; strong emphasis on pure skill rather than perfunctory interaction; meaningful merit systems like score rather than ridiculous drivel like “achievements”; short and self-contained “rounds” of play rather than weeks of dedication to “finish” a game; a design philosophy of creativity rather than one of realism.

 

That last point is huge for me. So many of history’s finest games, in my opinion, are classics that make no fucking sense at all—they’re just the result of talented programmers dreaming up concepts that are, first and foremost, fun. After all, we’re talking videogames. You are presented with a goal or objective, and you do your best to get there—it need not make real-world sense, and I truly feel the medium suffers under the constraint of being bound to do so.

 

Anyway, I’m glad to see most people saying nostalgia is a small factor. Honestly, I find it a bit pathetic—almost creepy, sometimes—how badly some people in their 30’s and 40’s just want to be kids again. If you enjoy playing Atari, then that’s great—but please actually play it rather than just talking about it all time. If you’ve got a high score to brag about, I’d love to hear about it, but I don’t really care to hear story after story about how you played such and such a game “back in the day” when you were 8, or how you got Smurf for Christmas in 1983.

[+Gemintronic]

Honestly, I find it a bit pathetic—almost creepy, sometimes—how badly some people in their 30’s and 40’s just want to be kids again.

 

Actually, I'm a bit pathetic and creepy because I never grew up in the first place!

[Shephda]

I'm 50 and for me it's never stopped. Been gaming since a kid back in the days of board games and the start of book and paper based D&D.

Always have had games in various forms. Still play tons of different card and board games, and rock out on the consoles.

 

My estate sale is going to kick ass!

[Shephda]

Honestly, I find it a bit pathetic—almost creepy, sometimes—how badly some people in their 30’s and 40’s just want to be kids again. If you enjoy playing Atari, then that’s great—but please actually play it rather than just talking about it all time. If you’ve got a high score to brag about, I’d love to hear about it, but I don’t really care to hear story after story about how you played such and such a game “back in the day” when you were 8, or how you got Smurf for Christmas in 1983.

 

Say that when you are 30 or 40, it won't be no where as creepy pup.

[Cynicaster]

Honestly, I find it a bit pathetic—almost creepy, sometimes—how badly some people in their 30’s and 40’s just want to be kids again. If you enjoy playing Atari, then that’s great—but please actually play it rather than just talking about it all time. If you’ve got a high score to brag about, I’d love to hear about it, but I don’t really care to hear story after story about how you played such and such a game “back in the day” when you were 8, or how you got Smurf for Christmas in 1983.

 

Say that when you are 30 or 40, it won't be no where as creepy pup.

 

???

 

Dude, I'm 35. And it's still creepy.