There’s something interesting lurking in this common evaluation of retro game popularity as a nostalgia trip. The core idea seems to be that the value of the experience is not intrinsic (actually part of the game experience itself) because the real motivation is extrinsic (outside the game, and in the nostalgic memories stirred up by the game experience). Baked into this seems to be the assumption “Why would you go backward in a medium built on technology?”
We’re so trained into the idea that technology gets better, and old technology becomes obsolete. If tech is about power, speed, and the slickness of capabilities, then why would you want to head backward on that timeline... unless maybe you’re akin to Napoleon Dynamite’s Uncle Rico, and you want to recapture some sense of lost glory.
But this theory falls apart when you see kids getting lit up playing an old console. They are finding real, intrinsic enjoyment in the gaming experience itself. They have no nostalgia to fall back on. They just know that it’s fun.
Advancement shouldn’t only be measured by the powerful capabilities we can wield, but by the nature of the experiences we create. Essentially, how do we define a quality experience?
If we break the hypnosis of chasing after seamless simulation, we can see that games with all different levels of interface sophistication offer compelling enjoyment.
This whole point is made obvious when we consider that we still watch old movies as well as new. We do the same with music. Styles, and the sophistication with which they are done may be different, but put something like Raiders of the Lost Ark up against some bazillion-dollar VFX-laden yawnfest, and tell me - which is the more enjoyable movie? I’m with Indy. And so’s my 13-year-old daughter. Quality is to be found in the substance, and we need to look past the mere surface.
It’s important to be clear here - I’m not saying that new games are all snazzy-looking schlockfests. I’m simply demonstrating the point that slick interface is not required for a good time, and so stepping into the less-slick back catalog of gaming is a perfectly sensible way to find fun experiences.
And while we’re talking about advances in tech, keep in mind that we’ve been taught that newer is better because of speed, power, expanded capabilities, etc. But the way we form and use our tech is also an embodiment of the kinds of experiences we are choosing to have.
These choices aren’t neutral, but shape the character of what we do and how we do it.
retrogamestart.com
https://retrogamestart.com/answers/why-retro-video-gaming-so-popular-its-much-more-than-nostalgia