Misplaced Nostalgia: Arcades
This week’s blog is going to be a little different. Normally I try to pick a specific video game and then dive into it and talk about what I like and don’t like about it. However, this week I want to branch off from that a little. You see I experience something called misplaced nostalgia. One of my favorite gaming podcasts (that is not my own of course) Retronauts did an episode a while back about the topic and I still think about it a lot. Not necessarily their specific points in the episode but more along the lines of the topic as a whole.
Misplaced nostalgia is the idea that you experience nostalgic feelings and emotions for things you never personally experienced. For example I never grew up with an NES however if you ask me about it would seem like it was the world to me as a kid (that was actually the N64 for me). Part of this idea also leads me into my “gaming sins”. Meaning games that I know I should like but for some reason I just can’t get into. Some of these gaming sins also line up with my misplaced nostalgia. The Mario Kart series has never been something I was that into. But if you were to talk to me about it I would end up feeling super nostalgic for it. I honestly can’t explain why. So for the rest of this week’s blog I wanted to talk about other games I’m super nostalgic for but don’t really have any experience with.
One of the major things I never really had experience with was arcades. The whole concept of the arcade just somehow feels magical to me. I know they still exist and you can go find some. Hell there are some retro arcades near me that I could go an experience some classic arcade gaming. But every time I go an play a game in an arcade. It’s always underwhelming. The reality of an arcade just never lives up to the image in my head. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen one too many movies about arcades (Tron anyone?) but it just doesn’t feel quite right.
I’ve listened to a ton of podcasts all about developer’s arcade histories as well. I am beyond fascinated with it. Seeing the progression of technology and game design is just amazing. It may be a little geeky but I like learning about the tech put into the old cabinets, even if I don’t understand it all fully. I also like seeing how developers learned from each other and competed off of each other. So maybe my nostalgia for it is less about the experience and more about wishing I could have experienced it when it would have had an impact on me.
The advent of home consoles always made me question why anyone would want to pay more money to play games in the arcade. I mean I can just go home and pop on a game I want and play it as much as I want. I don’t have to pay again when I lose. That was my thought process when I was a kid. I remember being on a field trip to an amusement park and all my friends spent the entire time in the arcade and I just went on rides with other people. I never understood the appeal then. But I guess I do now. I sincerely hope there is some way for arcades to attract my attention again. I would love to get hooked and make it like a weekly thing that I would go to and hang out at and just play video games.
What is something you have misplaced nostalgia for? Arcades are just one of mine. I plan on doing one post a month about something I have misplaced nostalgia for. Well until I run out of misplaced nostalgia of course. But I would love to hear from any of you on what yours is!