Where will the Nostalgia lie for the next Generation?

[Daniel C 'Magistrex']

There's a certain nostalgia factor when you look back through your old collection of video games. You get to pick up and feel the cartridges, plug the clunky thing into your old console, and laugh and remember those special times, whether it be choosing between Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle in Pokemon, or even just collecting Jiggies and listening to the great music in Banjo Kazooie.

What about the next generation though, who are going to grow up in a world of Xbox, PS3, the Wii, and PC? What games are they going to be nostalgic about? What is really going to stand out as memorable today, what with DRM, DLC, and (too many)gritty first person shooters?

In essence, what modern games are the kids of today going to grow up with, and cherish many years from now? Where will their nostalgia lie?

 

[krazykidd]

There will be no nostalgia . This generation ( graphics asside) is the worst generation . We are going to forget it existed , save for a few titles such as DA:O , Dark/demons souls .

 

[TehCookie]

I don't think they will, this gen games are short and it's all about moving onto the new thing and not playing the few games you have until you break the timer.

 

[shrekfan246]

In essence, what modern games are the kids of today going to grow up with, and cherish many years from now? Where will their nostalgia lie?

Welcome to the Escapist!

Now that that's out of the way.

Depends, really. For the Wii, there's Xenoblade Chronicles, Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Sonic Colors (though that's mostly wishful thinking on my part), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Okami, Last Story, Pandora's Tower (which will hopefully eventually get a US release), No More Heroes, and a few more that I can't really think of at the moment...

For the Xbox 360 you've got... er... Halo and Gears of War, I guess? Lost Odyssey maybe?

For the PS3 you've got Demon's Souls, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Disgaea 3/4, Uncharted.

Then cross-console there's Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Bioshock, Dark Souls, Darksiders, Dead Space, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, (hopefully) Dishonored, Dragon Age: Origins, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Portal, Sonic Generations (more wishful thinking).

I'm trying my damndest to only think of this console generation because I'm at the age where I remember DOS-gaming back on my PC, but I technically grew up with the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and Playstation 2 all at different times. I'm also wondering if these games aren't already "too old" for the current generation or something... hm.

 

[Cabisco]

There will be no nostalgia . This generation ( graphics asside) is the worst generation . We are going to forget it existed , save for a few titles such as DA:O , Dark/demons souls .

Mass Effect?
Halo?
Cod?
Little big Planet
Arkham Asylum?
Portal?

You seem to have chosen a very limited spectrum of games, perhaps instead of 'we' you meant to put 'I'

 

[Eddie the head]

There will be no nostalgia . This generation ( graphics asside) is the worst generation . We are going to forget it existed , save for a few titles such as DA:O , Dark/demons souls .

Until the next generation in witch case that will be the worst generation ever and this one is the holy grail of gaming that we should all hope to live up to. Yeah, that's how nostalgia works.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

In essence, what modern games are the kids of today going to grow up with, and cherish many years from now? Where will their nostalgia lie?

Welcome to the Escapist!

Now that that's out of the way.

Depends, really. For the Wii, there's Xenoblade Chronicles, Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Sonic Colors (though that's mostly wishful thinking on my part), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Okami, Last Story, Pandora's Tower (which will hopefully eventually get a US release), No More Heroes, and a few more that I can't really think of at the moment...

For the Xbox 360 you've got... er... Halo and Gears of War, I guess? Lost Odyssey maybe?

For the PS3 you've got Demon's Souls, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Disgaea 3/4, Uncharted.

Then cross-console there's Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Bioshock, Dark Souls, Darksiders, Dead Space, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, (hopefully) Dishonored, Dragon Age: Origins, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Portal, Sonic Generations (more wishful thinking).

I'm trying my damndest to only think of this console generation because I'm at the age where I remember DOS-gaming back on my PC, but I technically grew up with the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and Playstation 2 all at different times. I'm also wondering if these games aren't already "too old" for the current generation or something... hm.

Add Valve's entire post-2004 catalog to that list, and I think you've pretty much got it. People are going to be nostalgic for the biggest games, the best games, and the games they had growing up, just like in every other console generation in history.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I often hear kids in my area acting out Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect when they're being loud little shits outside my house. Can almost guarantee they'll be nostalgic towards those games when they grow old and hateful like the rest of us.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Well for me I will be Nostalgic about Mass Effect, Dragon Age, The Elderscrolls IV and V, Fallout New Vegas, and Kotor 1 and 2. Maybe Assassin's Creed.

 

[Wayneguard]

Mass Effect man. For those who were able to play from the beginning, there won't be anything like it ever again.

 

[Daniel C 'Magistrex']

In essence, what modern games are the kids of today going to grow up with, and cherish many years from now? Where will their nostalgia lie?

Welcome to the Escapist!

Now that that's out of the way.

Depends, really. For the Wii, there's Xenoblade Chronicles, Super Mario Galaxy, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Sonic Colors (though that's mostly wishful thinking on my part), Donkey Kong Country Returns, Okami, Last Story, Pandora's Tower (which will hopefully eventually get a US release), No More Heroes, and a few more that I can't really think of at the moment...

For the Xbox 360 you've got... er... Halo and Gears of War, I guess? Lost Odyssey maybe?

For the PS3 you've got Demon's Souls, inFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Disgaea 3/4, Uncharted.

Then cross-console there's Assassin's Creed, Batman: Arkham Asylum/City, Bioshock, Dark Souls, Darksiders, Dead Space, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, (hopefully) Dishonored, Dragon Age: Origins, Skyrim, Mass Effect, Portal, Sonic Generations (more wishful thinking).

I'm trying my damndest to only think of this console generation because I'm at the age where I remember DOS-gaming back on my PC, but I technically grew up with the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, and Playstation 2 all at different times. I'm also wondering if these games aren't already "too old" for the current generation or something... hm.

Yes, I'd say most of these games are the ones people will remember in future. It's weird to think that these games may be considered 'retro' years from now (we're probably going to need to redefine that term - there's no way Assassin's Creed can be considered on par with the likes of Goldeneye).

Also, something I'd add to this is the many games from the Indie scene. Many of those games offer something that feels really fresh and engaging, just like the time when we were first introduced to the games we're now nostalgic about. The art style of Indie games in particular stands out, giving many of them a look that will never become dated - Bastion and Limbo immediately spring to mind in this, and let's not forget about 64-bit Minecraft either, which still holds up against most modern games.

 

[GamemasterAnthony]

It's really all personal depending on the gamer. For me, being a big RPG gamer, it will lie in any games that are RPGs or just have RPG elements. Everything from the classic Final Fantasy games to Okami to even Arkham City will hold good nostalgic vibes for me.

So...really it depends on what the gamer himself/herself will like. I don't think there is one game or even one TYPE of game that will lay singular claim to nostalgia value.

 

[peruvianskys]

I think it'll be Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, maybe Little Big Planet or Portal.

This feels like the "indie generation" and most kids in their teens today will remember a lot of those indie classics like Super Meat Boy and LIMBO and stuff.

EDIT: Someone mentioned Minecraft and I totally agree. I think that might be the Mario of this generation.

 

[Lunar Templar]

depends on the gamer. but I'm betting

Portal 1-2
Darksiders 1-2
Obilvion
Skyrim
Halo
Mass Effect
the Arkham games
DA:O

mind you, i don't like every game i've listed, so i won't have nostalgia for say ME, but its highly likely people will look back on it fondly at some point

 

[felbot]

well ill probably be nostalgic for league of legends, fun thing about nostalgia is that it just forgets all the bad times so i will be left with only the few really good games of that game.

and the fallout series, i love those games, and ill love them when i am 80 years and dying.

 

[Iron Criterion]

There will be no nostalgia . This generation ( graphics asside) is the worst generation . We are going to forget it existed , save for a few titles such as DA:O , Dark/demons souls .

That's ridiculous. There's been a lot of shit this generation (more so than any generation), and it will never be as legendary as the PS1 & PS2 eras; but IMO this generation is one of the best ever:

Awesome settings:

Bioshock
Portal
LA Noir
Assassin's Creed
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Skyward Sword
Bordlands
Undercharted
Super Mario Galaxy

Massive, cool worlds:

Red Dead Redemption
Oblivion
Skyrim
Fallout 3/ NV
Crackdown
GTA 4
Just Cause 2
Stalker


Overall Fantastic Experience:

Dead Space
Dark Souls
Mass Effect 1 -3
Dragon Age
Crysis
The Witcher 1 & 2
Nier
Dead Rising
Battlefield Bad Company 1 & 2
Super Street Fight IV
Modern Warfare 1
Left for Dead
Halo: Reach
Arkham Asylum/City
Metal Gear Solid 4


Memorable Game/gameplay:

Viva Pinata
Kinect Sports (I enjoyed it at any rate )
Mirror's Edge
Minecraft (if that counts)
Little Big Planet
World of Goo
Heavy Rain

I've probably missed off loads of games, but there's a few to highlight the good amongst the shit of DLC and EA styled 'wider audiences'.

 

[gigastar]

In the fighting game area i think that if any kids are going to grow up with fighting games it would most likely be Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Out of all the current-gen fighters its the most simple, its has the fastest pace and its stocked with characters that the kiddies might already know from somewhere else.

Also Persona 4. Doesnt matter what system it started on, it was initially released in 2008 making it a current-gen game.

 

[TrevHead]

The games that most of us think most fondly of are the games we spent the most time playing, however with this gen games have become much cheaper which gamers quickly consume before moving on.

Imo this would mean that less single player games apart from RPGs and more the popular online games like Gears, CoD, LoL and WoW, SF4

Hopefully some kids will also fondly remember deeper SP games like Splunky, Vanquish and Bayonetta & Mario.