We are nostalgic of the best games or the things we played most. Nobody remembers all the shit shovelware that was as ubiquitous as today’s cashgrabs.
In 20 years people will remember BG3, Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild, Outer Wilds, Hollow Knight… And even if they remember Overwatch or Destiny 2, they’ll remember the good parts and the aesthetics, not the storefronts and lootboxes.
Yup, people will be nostalgic for LMFAO’s Party Rock music video, JJ Abrams’ Star Trek, and autotuned music. Just like I’m nostalgic for MTV’s Daria and Star Trek DS9.
Nostalgia happens because you remember the good and forget the bad. People remember Mario 3 but forget Mario is Missing.
In 20 years, people will say, “Remember when they made good games like Baldur’s Gate 3 rather than the trash that is Baldur’s Cash Grab?” Kids today will wax poetic about how the 2020s was the last good decade for gaming.
The truth is, there will always be good and bad games.
Mario 3 is still a good game today, and I know some kids that weren’t anywhere near born when it came out that still loved it.
Nostalgia isn’t the only reason to enjoy old games and “the bad” shouldn’t be assumed to be there for purposes of false equivalency platitudes. Even just counting predatory monetization, the modern game industry is worse on average than it used to be and its desired profit margins and methods of profit are different and worse than before with a more focused exploitation model.
Wow. I totally missed that one despite being a gamer with a SNES in that era. I guess I never saw it on store shelves or mentioned in the game magazines for good reasons.
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