The Truth Behind Nostalgia and Games

[ALLxGHILLIEDxUP]

I've seen a lot here on the Escapist about people claiming (insert game here) on the (insert console here) was the best game ever even though it was 2-D and 18 bit. We need to realize 2 things. 1, if you had to choose between this 'best game ever' and a modern game to play for the rest of your life, anyone with a working brain would choose the modern game. 2, nostalgia makes everything better because your mind deletes the bad memories but exaggerates the good memories. Thereby making an ok game from 10 years ago brilliant in your nostalgia induced memories.
So dear Escapist, what do you think about my theory? Agree or disagree? Remember there are no wrong answers. Except for the ones that aren't right.

 

[grimsprice]

Thats basically it. But i don't directly compare games from different gens. Instead i compare them to the competition at the time. In other words, Jet Force Gemini might suck now, but back then it was way better than anything else. Same with Shadow of the colossus, C&C... etc.

 

[thiosk]

By saying its wrong to claim that games from older generations are automatically better than modern games, you turn around and say modern games are automatically better than older games.

I'm sorry, Super Metroid 3 is a nearly perfect game.
I'll take it over just about anything (except this Dragonsage I keep hearing about, i still want to try that out).

 

[A Weary Exile]

...Jet Force Gemini...

I can't believe someone else has actually played this game! T'was a strange game and somewhat enjoyable, those big bugs used to scare the Ba-Jesus out of me when I was a kid. O_O

OP: Yes nostalgia does cloud judgement of games sometimes, but some old games are just that good and deserve the praise they get (Zelda: OoT, Star Fox 64, etc.).

 

[RicoGrey]

I still play Psychonauts once a year, and each time I am instantly reminded of the poor camera controls. I also remember how terribly difficult the last level was, although it is pretty easier now a days.

There have been many great games over the years, but if you compare them to how many games are actually made, they comprise a small amount, probably less than 1%. Note that I am talking about "great" games and excluding ones that are simply "good". Whenever I get a great game I add it to my favorites list and play it everyone now and then along with the others.

btw, I recently replayed the original deus ex...and wow what a silly boring mess that is to me now. I understand why I liked it at the time, but now it is just terrible, controls are awful, sound is awful(graphics can be forgiven because of the date it came out), and the plot just seems silly to me, now that I am an adult.

 

[Abedeus]

I still love playing Diablo 2 or Neverwinter Nights. Of course, I don't remember all the time I died because of a lag... oh, wait, I do, when I concentrate more. Same with NwN - I remember I was crashing a lot because my CPU was too weak, or like my monitor crashed once on me, or my GPU and I couldn't start it.

I know there is a thing called "nostalgia", but for me, it's only a feeling of longing for a thing. That's why I always have Diablo 2 and NwN installed on my HDD. Same with every GBA game I had on my original console. But it doesn't mean I don't remember all the frustrating episodes I had with Battle.net and finding all the mods needed to play NwN servers.

I still think those are one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[A Weary Exile]

btw, I recently replayed the original deus ex...and wow what a silly boring mess that is to me now. I understand why I liked it at the time, but now it is just terrible, controls are awful, sound is awful(graphics can be forgiven because of the date it came out), and the plot just seems silly to me, now that I am an adult.

I think that this type of thing is what's wrong with the System Shock crowd, who are so eager to point out that their game is in everyway superior to BioShock near everytime that I mention it (And for totally idiotic reasons) nostalgia has likely clouded their vision. Although I do speak from a somewhat misinformed standpoint as I haven't played System Shock 2, I do not doubt that it is a good game but people seem to cling to their old favorites with a zealous fervor thinking that nothing will ever surpass it. There is notihng wrong with taking a good formula and improving upon it.

I think this type of behavior is classified as "Fanboyism".

 

[Flying-Emu]

Say that modern games are better.

I fucking dare you.

 

[Naheal]

Say that modern games are better.

I fucking dare you.

Loved that game so much. Sucks by today's standards, but I have an emulator and this game for a reason.

 

[Iron Mal]

Forget about trying to say when the best game ever made came about, just trying to name the best game ever is riddled with theoretical issues (namely, we're trying to objectively prove the superiority of something that one can only posess subjective views on).

If you were to look at it objectively then this would mean that the newsest and most advanced games are automatically the best games made to date since they obviously posess the best technology/graphics etc. (of course, this says nothing about how fun the game itself is or whether it's good or not from a gamer's point of view).

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I rarely talk up games that I haven't played at least for a few minutes in the last few years. Sometimes you feel that old games that you haven't played for ages were good because they really were good.

 

[badgersprite]

Great games from previous generations are still great, despite inferior graphics. Crap games from the current generation are still crap, despite improved technology.

End of story.

 

[digipinky75910]

You can't beat the classics, no matter how new, shiny, gimmicky, or even better grahpics. 8-bit Super Mario, Zelda, Ninja Gaiden, had great music and story. I'm replaying Link to the past as I type this. You remember all the fun challenges you had the first time around, and challenge yourself to remember all the secrets.

And yeah, in some cases, I'd say the originals are better than the new things they come out with now. They remake old games for a reason.

 

[technoted]

I've seen a lot here on the Escapist about people claiming (insert game here) on the (insert console here) was the best game ever even though it was 2-D and 18 bit. We need to realize 2 things. 1, if you had to choose between this 'best game ever' and a modern game to play for the rest of your life, anyone with a working brain would choose the modern game. 2, nostalgia makes everything better because your mind deletes the bad memories but exaggerates the good memories. Thereby making an ok game from 10 years ago brilliant in your nostalgia induced memories.
So dear Escapist, what do you think about my theory? Agree or disagree? Remember there are no wrong answers. Except for the ones that aren't right.

I still play my PS1 more than I play all my current gen consoles because a lot of the games really are a lot better since it wasn't all about money back then

 

[Axolotl]

I've seen a lot here on the Escapist about people claiming (insert game here) on the (insert console here) was the best game ever even though it was 2-D and 18 bit. We need to realize 2 things. 1, if you had to choose between this 'best game ever' and a modern game to play for the rest of your life, anyone with a working brain would choose the modern game. 2, nostalgia makes everything better because your mind deletes the bad memories but exaggerates the good memories. Thereby making an ok game from 10 years ago brilliant in your nostalgia induced memories.
So dear Escapist, what do you think about my theory? Agree or disagree? Remember there are no wrong answers. Except for the ones that aren't right.

OK, with point one you're just stating an opinion, or an incorrect fact. You need to back it up with logic for it to have any validity. With point 2 you've mistakenly assumed people play a game when it is released and never again. I play 10 year old games alongside modern games and many of them still hold up. I played Fallout 1+2 after I played 3 and found them vastly superior, in fact I found them better than almost all modern RPGs. Whilst some old games do fail to hold up due to outdated controls and poor graphics many games never relied on them in the first place and as such their loss is minimal. For example no amount of technological improvement will have any real impact on SMAC because the game doesn't sell itself on the factors that are improved with greater technology.

 

[Archetypal_Maniac]

Bitches don't know about Ludo.

 

[Hiphophippo]

Nostalgia warps our vision of the past, sure, but amazing games are still amazing games. I maintain that A Link to the Past and Final Fantasy Tactics are STILL two of the best games ever made. I'd place them next to any AAA title in recent memory.