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[tha_Chiller]

Sup.

Overtime i realized a lot of gamers are nostalgic. When I look at the video game industry & comapare to other mediums of entertainment & art, it has to be the youngest; Cinema has been around a good century, Music has been around since the dawn of man along with Painting but Video Games have been around for about 40years I believe (just a shot in the dark, i think its as old as Rap/Hip-Hop).

Along with most with you, I believe video games is art, with that I apply the same logic as Art history to the industry meaning we have yet to have our "Italian Renaissance" or an "Age of Enlightment". So why are we so reminiscent where we should be focused on evoliving?

[Capntastic]

Considering the huge amount of rage I see people throw out because kids these days don't appreciate classics and only care about the latest Madden or Shootgame, I don't think that 'gamers' are any more nostalgic than any other hobby.  Unless you're going to pull a No True Scotsman and say that people who buy Madden and Shootgames are not 'true gamers', or that people who play games exclusively on the iphone or whatever aren't 'true gamers' or that 14 year old kids who have no real gaming past to be nostalgic about aren't 'true gamers'.

In which case you're left with "how come people who played games in the past that they enjoyed still think on those games fondly?", which, again, is pretty commonplace in any walk of life.

[shig]

You can close the thread now.

[JoGribbs]

Because modern games suck.

We already made all the good games now go outside and read a book!

[Belimoth]

Because their obsession with video games stems from a childhood where only kids with a Super Nintendo and that Jurassic Park game were cool.

They have since gotten that Jurassic Park game and want desperately to be a part of the fad, if only retroactively.

Unrelated, do you guys remember that Jurassic Park game on the SNES? Man that was so cool.

[phubans]

It's not just games, but this generation of adults. We're nostalgic because something changed. Look at the media around you today, including not just games but music and films, too. It barely holds a candle to the stuff of previous generations, and this isn't just a sentiment held by new adults who are bitter, but even some kids of this current generation will be the first to tell you that they wish they had been born earlier.

I'm not quite sure why things are held to a much lower, more vapid standard these days, but when I figure it out I'll let you know.

[Trevor Dunbar]

Phubans hit the proverbial nail on the head.  

The standards on mass-market videogames/media held today are really poor. The bar is lower than ever.

Long live the 80's/90's, for like, freaking real.

[DavidCaruso]

Which "gamers" are we talking about here? Because the smart ones play whatever interests them from any time period regardless of whether they played it as a kid, just like the smart movie, novel, or painting fans. (They also realize that some of the best games ever made are still coming out despite what nostalgia-wankers might tell you, and that something has to necessarily be lost in any artistic evolution whether anyone likes it or not.)

[trq]

Because their obsession with video games stems from a childhood

I second that

Unrelated, do you guys remember that Jurassic Park game on the SNES? Man that was so cool.

Megadrive version was better

[alastair]

Because everything was exciting as everything was new, everything kept getting better quickly etc. (not as much retrogression/decadence as now).

[John Sandoval]

Which "gamers" are we talking about here? Because the smart ones play whatever interests them from any time period regardless of whether they played it as a kid, just like the smart movie, novel, or painting fans. (They also realize that some of the best games ever made are still coming out despite what nostalgia-wankers might tell you, and that something has to necessarily be lost in any artistic evolution whether anyone likes it or not.)

listen to this man

he says things

sometimes they are correct

this is one of those times

[Derek]

It's not just games, but this generation of adults. We're nostalgic because something changed. Look at the media around you today, including not just games but music and films, too. It barely holds a candle to the stuff of previous generations, and this isn't just a sentiment held by new adults who are bitter, but even some kids of this current generation will be the first to tell you that they wish they had been born earlier.

I'm not quite sure why things are held to a much lower, more vapid standard these days, but when I figure it out I'll let you know.

This is the part of the discussion where you ask Paul if he's played X, Y, or Z game from the modern era and he admits that he hasn't heard of X, hasn't played Y, and only watched the first 5 minutes of a YouTube video of Z to decide that it was shallow.

[Alevice]

mass effect doesnt hold a candle against mc kids

[JWK5]

Nostalgia has hit just about every generation of every era in recorded history, over just about everything. It is a longing for past enjoyable experiences.

I am nostalgic about certain games, music, art, etc. because they've inspired and and influenced me at one point or another and when I experience them again (or something similar to them) it is like reigniting an old flame, I start to feel that inspiration again.

I don't think there is anything wrong with nostalgia, but just because you feel strongly about past experiences doesn't mean you can't enjoy new experiences. For me the ideal game wouldn't be one that is just like a past game I've enjoyed, it would be a game that takes the best things from the past and present and takes them in an exciting new direction.

I'm not quite sure why things are held to a much lower, more vapid standard these days, but when I figure it out I'll let you know.

Did you not remember that like 50% of the games on the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, etc. were awful generic glitchy messes? The standards aren't lower now, just as it was in the past some developers have lower standards and some games are of poor quality. Every generation (including this one) has had its share of garbage and greatness.

[Belimoth]

I also think there is something to be said for the fact that fans of paintings, for example, don't typically spend 60 hours looking at a specific painting before moving on to the next.

Interactibility/reward-system => more vivid memories and whatnot.

[insert pie-graph here]