Nostalgia is one of those offhand comments people make when they don't like an old game, and other people try to defend it, but I've seen it's becoming less "socially acceptable" to embrace or even acknowledge it any more. Why is this? Have you ever picked up a game you played and loved as a child, and become that child again? I don't understand how anybody who's experienced this can look down on nostalgia at all, no of course you can't judge a game purely based on "Because I liked it when I was young", but there's got to be something for "Because I was young when I liked it"
I'm sure somebody could put this in more psychological terms [the words attachment and impressionability are resurfacing from my A levels] but should we burn those ties we have with our past because we "don't believe the game has aged well" or "can't see it as holding up any more", my question to that is so? It's not about ageing will, it's about going back to your Super Mario, and absorbing every minor detail, and getting that feeling back that you are young again and everything is so much better.
Do I think Pokemon Red is the best game ever? No, but no game will ever capture the spirit of
what gaming was for me when I was a kid better, the music, mass of pixellated monsters, dodgy sound quality and the like, all put me back in the shoes of a 10 year old who's having the time of his life playing. No modern games will give me that feeling, does that make them inferior? Of course not, Pokemon White is better than Red in almost every way [except for the Pokemon themselves, but that's for another thread and I'll need a lot more venom, strangely sanguine now], and maybe in 10 or so years I can come back to Pokemon White and maybe feel like I do now, but it's just not the same as feeling like an excited 10 year old with a whole new world to explore.
People can use nostalgia for evil, claiming older games to be the best ever made, sometimes using words like "revolutionary" or "innovation" to back them up, but that's bull, you like it and think it deserves that praise because you get back those feelings I get, that we all get when we play the games that defined our childhood, yes some people can get sucked into the trap of believing us when we praise these games, and then be disappointed or even outraged that such games exist, let alone are so highly regarded, but that's ok too, they won't understand. I can't imagine I'd like Megaman if I played it, and I don't like the old sonics now that I have, but I can see that other people who did play them when they were about can love them, because they were there when they were in a much happier frame of mind.
Gone on a bit too long with this and I've probably dug myself quite a few holes, but I leave you with this, nostalgia may not be useful for determining the best game ever, and you should take anybody who does so with a few heaps of salt, but that doesn't mean it's not your best game.
I can play Pokemon Red, OoT and Super Mario Bros 3, and not judge how the games have aged, but how I've aged. and nothing else will give me the feeling that I haven't at all, and that I'm just an excited little boy playing videogames.
So excuse me while I put on my rose tinted glasses, and go off to catch the 151 Pokemon that actually exist. But what do you guys think?
I'm sure somebody could put this in more psychological terms [the words attachment and impressionability are resurfacing from my A levels] but should we burn those ties we have with our past because we "don't believe the game has aged well" or "can't see it as holding up any more", my question to that is so? It's not about ageing will, it's about going back to your Super Mario, and absorbing every minor detail, and getting that feeling back that you are young again and everything is so much better.
Do I think Pokemon Red is the best game ever? No, but no game will ever capture the spirit of
what gaming was for me when I was a kid better, the music, mass of pixellated monsters, dodgy sound quality and the like, all put me back in the shoes of a 10 year old who's having the time of his life playing. No modern games will give me that feeling, does that make them inferior? Of course not, Pokemon White is better than Red in almost every way [except for the Pokemon themselves, but that's for another thread and I'll need a lot more venom, strangely sanguine now], and maybe in 10 or so years I can come back to Pokemon White and maybe feel like I do now, but it's just not the same as feeling like an excited 10 year old with a whole new world to explore.
People can use nostalgia for evil, claiming older games to be the best ever made, sometimes using words like "revolutionary" or "innovation" to back them up, but that's bull, you like it and think it deserves that praise because you get back those feelings I get, that we all get when we play the games that defined our childhood, yes some people can get sucked into the trap of believing us when we praise these games, and then be disappointed or even outraged that such games exist, let alone are so highly regarded, but that's ok too, they won't understand. I can't imagine I'd like Megaman if I played it, and I don't like the old sonics now that I have, but I can see that other people who did play them when they were about can love them, because they were there when they were in a much happier frame of mind.
Gone on a bit too long with this and I've probably dug myself quite a few holes, but I leave you with this, nostalgia may not be useful for determining the best game ever, and you should take anybody who does so with a few heaps of salt, but that doesn't mean it's not your best game.
I can play Pokemon Red, OoT and Super Mario Bros 3, and not judge how the games have aged, but how I've aged. and nothing else will give me the feeling that I haven't at all, and that I'm just an excited little boy playing videogames.
So excuse me while I put on my rose tinted glasses, and go off to catch the 151 Pokemon that actually exist. But what do you guys think?
