Psychology of retro-gaming

[ennio]

Do you ever find that you retro-game, not necessarily because of the game itself, but because it brings you back to a certain time in your life?

I wouldn't play some old, lousy game just for purposes of nostalgia, but I find that even the great Amiga games I still play always remind me of a more carefree age.

[TCD]

Well sometimes I play to bring back the memory of the old days, when everything was simple and fun. But that's just about 5% of the time I play retro. I like the short, fast paced feel of those games. Today's games are so bloated with things (which I like sometimes) that you can't sit down for half an hour and just play. That's when retro-gaming comes into my mind and with the ability to save states it's not so time consuming (or boring to play the start level over and over agian) than in the good old days .

[Ironclaw]

I don't play Amiga games because they make me feel nostalgic or anything. I simply play them because I was grown up with them and still, to this day, find them awesome.

[matthew]

Yeah, I suppose remembering the past is a part of retrogaming.

But I also like playing the games because they're a lot simpler than the games being produced nowadays.

[MazinKaesar]

I play old games because I miss most of them in the past... or sometimes I re-play old games for nostalgia.

[gimbal]

I'm a nostalgia sucker, I play them for that exact reason. Plus they are simply great games, far more enjoyable than anything released today. But the nostalgia factor is the most important reason I play these games, and games of any other computer or console I played in my youth. I have been known to curse at Atari 2600 games now and then

[Graham Humphrey]

No nostalgia for me - after all I've grown up with the Amiga and been playing some of these games for years so there can't be, really. And I've tried out plenty of games I was never aware of when I was a kid so obviously there can't be any nostalgia there either.

I play games (any format, any age) because I enjoy them, I don't play them through rose-tinted specs; if there is a game I loved when I was little but turns out to be tosh now I'll probably switch it off within five minutes and never play it again.

[Zetr0]

for me its about the community,

The amount of fun i have playing old, retr0 games with my friends today, its all about sharing the experience.

I know that you can with new games and in truth i do that to.... but there something about sharing classic games with friends and family.

truth be said i am still waiting for a modern game to match the fun and awesomeness of 4 player WormsDC with a 4 mates and curry.... nowt much better than that.

Science found out (this entry tells you - I write the truth - so don't debate with me )that the time when you had the most testosterone and hormone coctail, as a male was 14-18 or something like that. (for me it was 21-27 as a late bloomer anyhow back to science...) We always knew that but these hormones play a important role when it comes to remembering history, it makes a very strong connection.

btw: recently neurology found out that you have more brain-cells-like connections in your stomach than in your head, and the stomach plays an bigger role for thinking than we thought 20 years ago. (rumor has it that male stomach when it is growing and there is no place in the head so when men get old the part around the waist is used for increase/growth. ... but back to science)

So when you see a game you did not see for 10 years - you are getting thrilled because you remember the "Activity Level" that you had back in those days. (and this might be true if you talk to older people - they say - they once had more energy - and this is because of the hormone change - but they get in touch with children they say "I feel young again" ... but back to games....) Even games that you felt - they were OK - the feeling is now GREAT seeing them again. I think (not science) this nostalgic -WOW effect - is only the first few times because then emotion is overwritten over time with the level of hormone you have these days and the effect wears off (plus you might be used to a different level of visual stimulus these days). However there are good reason to keep playing the game, for example some of them are good. (at least I think so - and it seems I am not alone). Plus I think getting in touch with and "old" part of you - and having positive emotions, was important for humans to hold together the community (clan, horde, pack, family what ever). So this might also play into this.

The same nostalgic - wow - effect - happens in connection to music. People hear music when they are young and they always feel that this is "their" music. True for our parents and for us - and if you cant stand the music of this generation it seems that will go on.....

[Andec]

It is a bit different for me. It is nostalgic but I also play alot of the older games with my 4 yr old son (Amiga, C64, MAME etc).

It is interestng that he has a C64 and a PS2 sitting side by side and he spends more time playing with the C64.

[blade002]

I play them for part nostalgia, part pick up and play ( like some of the other guys ) and for their artistic nature. Another thing i find bring me back to Amiga games, again and again is the sonics of the games.

Games today sound sonics wise like movie productions and have lost that unique sound that only chip music can bring which seems to have so many variations in style and the samples used. And although i welcomed the era of Texture Mapped 3D to the Amiga in the 90's and the improved chipset of AGA, i didn't quite realise at the time that i did not want my games to feel real years later!

What i realise now is that the sheer imagination and beauty of pixel art in a fantasy kind of world whether it be an Adventure Game, Shoot-em up, Platformer, Strategy..etc.. is what had me captivated, but not today where i step into a game trying to be so real that misses the escapist point of why i played games to begin with. The real world looks and feels stressful enough as it is, why would i want it to look so real in a game!?.. For Graphics!?!?.... Part of the reason why i got or upgraded to any system was for Graphics, but all the above mentioned was why i really played!

[blade002]

Originally Posted by Andec

It is interestng that he has a C64 and a PS2 sitting side by side and he spends more time playing with the C64.

Seriously !?!? Isn't that great!

[Andec]

Yeah, he likes the graphics of the PS2 better, but for actually playing games, the C64 wins every time.

Maybe next year I'll introduce him to the A500

[alkis21]

It's hard for me to feel nostalgia while playing Amiga games, for the simple reason that I never stopped playing them.

[Merlin]

Flashy graphics doth not a good game make... I've lost count of the games that are purely eye candy with sod all underneath that.

Take Elite for example, the original was wireframe with no colour, but the game itself rocked!

Also, what about Jet Set Willy, Asteroids, Chuckie Egg, and Arkanoid?

It's not nostalgia in a lot of cases, it's because they were landmark games, there's no new ground being broken these days in the games market.

[oneshotdead]

Arkanoid has not been surpassed, no. Revenge of Doh was nonsense.
Asteroids? Super Stardust AGA owns it: just look at those rotating rocks and trance-tunnels!
Jet Set Willy? Played that on Amstrad CPC 464, as a kid. Playing that these days would be an exercise in masochism.
Elite? I prefer Frontier. I'm flat-shaded/texture generation, not wireframe.

I agree with your general sentiment, however (landmarks). Populous for Amiga.

I prefer some oldskool games, not so much for nostalgic reasons, but because of elegant playability.

Many Amiga games play so smoothly/silkily, this is what I like. And their responsiveness, and amazing music/sounds.

Something about those custom chips, methinks... artistic and very creative use of them.
Hyperrealism in modern games is overrated.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by oneshotdead

...Hyperrealism in modern games is overrated.

I completly second that. The possiblity the make realistic graphics and physics doesn't mean game developers should copy reality. Even if it's hard to invent a new genre or type of game these days, it doesn't mean you have to make all your games based on real life than on creativity and fantasy.
There are some games that try, but most are just remakes and/or combinations of old games. Oh I forgot to mention with better graphics/music/physics of course

[plasmatron]

Originally Posted by neverlast

Science found out (this entry tells you - I write the truth - so don't debate with me )that the time when you had the most testosterone and hormone coctail, as a male was 14-18 or something like that. (for me it was 21-27 as a late bloomer anyhow back to science...) We always knew that but these hormones play a important role when it comes to remembering history, it makes a very strong connection.

btw: recently neurology found out that you have more brain-cells-like connections in your stomach than in your head, and the stomach plays an bigger role for thinking than we thought 20 years ago. (rumor has it that male stomach when it is growing and there is no place in the head so when men get old the part around the waist is used for increase/growth. ... but back to science)

So when you see a game you did not see for 10 years - you are getting thrilled because you remember the "Activity Level" that you had back in those days. (and this might be true if you talk to older people - they say - they once had more energy - and this is because of the hormone change - but they get in touch with children they say "I feel young again" ... but back to games....) Even games that you felt - they were OK - the feeling is now GREAT seeing them again. I think (not science) this nostalgic -WOW effect - is only the first few times because then emotion is overwritten over time with the level of hormone you have these days and the effect wears off (plus you might be used to a different level of visual stimulus these days). However there are good reason to keep playing the game, for example some of them are good. (at least I think so - and it seems I am not alone). Plus I think getting in touch with and "old" part of you - and having positive emotions, was important for humans to hold together the community (clan, horde, pack, family what ever). So this might also play into this.

The same nostalgic - wow - effect - happens in connection to music. People hear music when they are young and they always feel that this is "their" music. True for our parents and for us - and if you cant stand the music of this generation it seems that will go on.....

Very interesting read, and I completly second that.

[pbareges]

once again i agree that it has to do with nostalgia but it does not explain all...see as said earlier in the post, focus was in innovative gameplay, multiplayer fun back then....true that at the time amiga blow me away due to its advanced graphics and sounds but more than that it was at a crossroad : best rendering / gameplay-fun mix in my opinon...

but as i said in a previous post the wii experience is a very noticable modern effort to focus again on gameplay and multiplayers fun experiences again. and its success is the evidence that more and more players got fed up with the so called "hard core" players clones....

what enhanced plateforms (ps1 to 3, xbox, nintendo 64 /gamecube) missed also was the fact that recreating an universe, simulating an experience, aiming at virtual reality is far from gaming in my sense...a real game is a kind of puzzle to be solved and one of its key elements is :LINEARITY!! if you want to share a gaming experience there must be a main road for every player to follow (even if we can imagine a few contorsions / hidden paths along the road to make the experience different from time to time/ player to player)..

modern games emphasized way too much on the degree of FREEDOM given to the player...so that they became closer to universes to explore than REAL GAMES. i don't hate virtual reality but it has nothing to do with gaming...it's like when you read a book or watch a movie, there has to be a good storyLINE to keep your interest alive!!

[Sensi]

Originally Posted by ennio

Do you ever find that you retro-game, not necessarily because of the game itself, but because it brings you back to a certain time in your life?

Yes and no.
When I want myself brings back to certain time in my life (we are talking about gaming now) I read old magazines.
I play old games because I like them. Its like watching old Disney movies, they are still popular for some reason, they are ancient when you compare them to modern animated movies but they are different, they have something you cant find somewhere else. Same for old games. I am not interested in games which are releasing now but how many classic 2D arcades or beatem ups were released in last few years? None, one, two?
What about classic dungeon games? Adventures? Some genres are dead.
I remember I played only few games on coinup machines as a kid, I play them a lot now because they are great. They cant bring me back anywhere because I played them around 2003 or 2004 for the first time.