Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia
Barely 50 years old, video games are among the newest media today, and still a source of fascination and a site of anxiety for cultural critics and parents. Since the 1970s, a generation of video gamers have grown up and as they began to have children of their own, video games have become objects ev...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Humanities |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/7/4/123 |
| _version_ | 1818024058758889472 |
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| author | Péter Kristóf Makai |
| author_facet | Péter Kristóf Makai |
| author_sort | Péter Kristóf Makai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Barely 50 years old, video games are among the newest media today, and still a source of fascination and a site of anxiety for cultural critics and parents. Since the 1970s, a generation of video gamers have grown up and as they began to have children of their own, video games have become objects evoking fond memories of the past. Nostalgia for simpler times is evident in the aesthetic choices game designers make: pixelated graphics, 8-bit music, and frustratingly hard levels are all reminiscent of arcade-style and third-generation console games that have been etched into the memory of Generation X. At the same time, major AAA titles have become so photorealistic and full of cinematic ambition that video games can also serve as vehicles for nostalgia by “faithfully„ recreating the past. From historical recreations of major cities in the <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> series and <i>L. A. Noire</i>, to the resurrection of old art styles in <i>80 Days</i>, <i>Firewatch</i> or <i>Cuphead</i> all speak of the extent to which computer gaming is suffused with a longing for pasts that never were but might have been. This paper investigates the design of games to examine how nostalgia is used to manipulate affect and player experience, and how it contributes to the themes that these computer games explore. Far from ruining video games, nostalgia nonetheless exploits the associations the players have with certain historical eras, including earlier eras of video gaming. Even so, the juxtaposition of period media and dystopic rampages or difficult levels critically comment upon the futility of nostalgia. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T03:54:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e544bd7026164856869230cbe934b27c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0787 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T03:54:11Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities |
| spelling | doaj.art-e544bd7026164856869230cbe934b27c2022-12-22T02:03:10ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872018-11-017412310.3390/h7040123h7040123Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of NostalgiaPéter Kristóf Makai0Centre for Intermedial and Multimodal Studies, Department of Film and Literature, Linnaeus University, 352 55 Växjö, SwedenBarely 50 years old, video games are among the newest media today, and still a source of fascination and a site of anxiety for cultural critics and parents. Since the 1970s, a generation of video gamers have grown up and as they began to have children of their own, video games have become objects evoking fond memories of the past. Nostalgia for simpler times is evident in the aesthetic choices game designers make: pixelated graphics, 8-bit music, and frustratingly hard levels are all reminiscent of arcade-style and third-generation console games that have been etched into the memory of Generation X. At the same time, major AAA titles have become so photorealistic and full of cinematic ambition that video games can also serve as vehicles for nostalgia by “faithfully„ recreating the past. From historical recreations of major cities in the <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> series and <i>L. A. Noire</i>, to the resurrection of old art styles in <i>80 Days</i>, <i>Firewatch</i> or <i>Cuphead</i> all speak of the extent to which computer gaming is suffused with a longing for pasts that never were but might have been. This paper investigates the design of games to examine how nostalgia is used to manipulate affect and player experience, and how it contributes to the themes that these computer games explore. Far from ruining video games, nostalgia nonetheless exploits the associations the players have with certain historical eras, including earlier eras of video gaming. Even so, the juxtaposition of period media and dystopic rampages or difficult levels critically comment upon the futility of nostalgia.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/7/4/123nostalgiavideo gamesindependent styleretro aestheticshistorical recreationsimulationnostalgic dystopias |
| spellingShingle | Péter Kristóf Makai Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia Humanities nostalgia video games independent style retro aesthetics historical recreation simulation nostalgic dystopias |
| title | Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia |
| title_full | Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia |
| title_fullStr | Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia |
| title_short | Video Games as Objects and Vehicles of Nostalgia |
| title_sort | video games as objects and vehicles of nostalgia |
| topic | nostalgia video games independent style retro aesthetics historical recreation simulation nostalgic dystopias |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/7/4/123 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT peterkristofmakai videogamesasobjectsandvehiclesofnostalgia |