Your Cart

How Gaming Nostalgia Is Making A Comeback

When we look back at the video games of our childhood, we often see large pixels in 8- or 16-bit graphics. That’s retro. Where a lot of people grew up with 8-bit Mario and Mega Man, more gamers are growing up with Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Sly Cooper and Ratchet & Clank as their nostalgia mascots. Then there are the kids growing up with the amazing games we have today. Will they look back on these games in 20 years with a sense of amazement thinking, “Wow, we came a long way since I was a kid”? Who will be their nostalgia mascots? Yooka-Laylee? Maybe even Nathan Drake?

Why are the amazing games of yesteryear making a comeback? Recently we’ve seen the launch of Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy which has sold many copies and even more recently the SNES Classic went up for pre-order and immediately sold out everywhere. Why is that? I think it has to do with why “90’s kids” are nostalgic already.The Super Nintendo Classic

Sure, Nintendo and Sony have classic games available on their digital stores, but each player has to buy and download them, regardless if they still have a physical copy sitting on their shelves. Nintendo classic games are one of the better deals, allowing save states in games that you could not originally save in, such as Castlevania, or giving you a massive discount on a digital copy compared to getting a physical copy because a loose copy of Earthbound on SNES will cost you at least $150, if you’re lucky. On the Wii U eShop? Ten bucks.

Nostalgia

Sony is infamous for re-releasing or remastering some of their classic games instead of coming out with new titles in their franchises. Did you want that new Uncharted game sooner? Play through the first three games again while we finish up the fourth one. A new Ratchet & Clank on PS4, you say? Have a movie tie-in that’s kind of, sort of the first game. But it looks so much better though, right? Although it hasn’t been the case so much this year, as Sony is kicking butt with their exclusives such as Persona 5 and Horizon: Zero Dawn, I can still see them re-releasing games. Why? Because people will buy them, as they have before.

I see re-releasing games as a yin and yang situation. While it does allow gamers to experience games they may have otherwise been unable to play, due to being a rare game or they just grew up in the wrong era of gaming, it is a bit of a money grabbing scheme. It’s easy to do. I’m grateful that these companies are making it easier for me to play games like Earthbound, Super Metroid, or Crash Bandicoot. I just wish they’d not do it as often. Microsoft on the other hand, like I said before, seems to be doing it right.

I’m just waiting on that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD to make it to PS4 instead of pachinko machines.

Leave a Reply

Latest Reviews