Video Game Nostalgia

So the other night Artimus told me he has an old nostalgic video game tune as his ringtone (the music in Links treehouse in the Kokiri forest in Zelda Ocarina of time). So this morning I thought hey I need a new ringtone im sick of mine and downloaded the Kokiri Forest tune. Such nostalgia. I was overcome with this longing to not go to work but instead to call in sick and play Zelda all day. But then I thought about the last time I had done that (lol yes you read that correctly), and how surprisingly unfulfilling the game was. Got me thinking. Why do we get so nostalgic about video games we grew up with? What the heck is the purpose of nostalgia? Sometimes it makes you sad thinking how good emotions you once felt towards something were. Sometimes it makes you feel great about how lucky you were to have such and such experiences. Sometimes you just get enveloped in the same emotions and you instantly get euphoric just thinking about it, almost like the same paths in your brain have been reawakened.

It's got me confused. I've never really thought a whole lot about nostalgia or its purpose. So i'm going to do some reading now, and keep this as a draft post. As I read things which bring sense to the idea ill add them to my post and publish it when theres some learning behind it. I'll try focus on video game nostalgia as i think that is one of the really strong notions our generation feels. The era of Nintendo64! God bless :p


Nostalgia. Turns out the word is derived from two greek words- 'Nostos' and 'Algos' which translate to 'returning' and 'suffering'. So I guess nostalgia is a concept of being sad when you relive past joys?
From the Wikipedia page:

''The scientific literature on nostalgia is quite thin, but a few studies have attempted to pin down its essence and causes. Smell andtouch are strong evokers of nostalgia due to the processing of these stimuli first passing through the amygdala, the emotional seat of the brain. These recollections of our past are usually important events, people we care about, and places where we have spent time. Music and weather can also be strong triggers of nostalgia''.

So Nostalgia has previously been considered as a mental illness, in the same class as homesickness. But recently, it seems people have started classifying it as a positive emotion that actually benefits you despite the feeling of sadness often lingering. Most recently, the functions of nostalgia are classified as follows:

• Improve mood
• Improve social connectedness
• enhance positive self-regard
• provide existential meaning

Having a read of the wiki, it suggests a very strong link present between nostalgic episodes and coping mechanisms. Studies suggested that people who are more prone to nostalgic episodes, always seem to show a positive correlation with their coping mechanisms. Such as stress, or loss. The conclusion was made that people who have frequent nostalgic episodes which are often portrayed as 'sad', develop better coping mechanisms which benefits them during stressful times in their life. So overall it suggests you will be a happier person, and nostalgia is a positive learning experience. 

The social connectedness also has some strong suggestions. Its proposed that since nostalgia generally revolves around past personal connections with others, it reinforces ideas of connectedness to people. It's also suggested that nostalgic episodes generally occur at times of loneliness. When you're alone they may be a bit sadder than when having a combined nostalgic moment with some friends. Either way, the idea is that when youre alone, you are more prone to have bouts of nostalgia, which in turn will counter the lonely thoughts by reinforcing your connectedness. So it could be our brains way to counteract loneliness, by reminding us of a past experience where you shared something great with people? I like this idea, that its a subconscious feat of the brain trying to stabilise. But this doesnt really relate to nostalgia in games does it.. unless we think of the fact that in the games we are really nostalgic about, we usually developed a strong character bond? So our minds might be tricked into thinking its a real person we shared a bond with? Interestign idea..

The third point, enhance positive self-regard is also interesting. Studies were done where two groups were questioned to determine their general characteristics and outlook on life. One team was exposed to a nostalgic influence, while the other was made to think about the future. It was shown that afterwards, the nostalgic team were much more positive about everything, and had a much more relaxed outlook on life, while the future team were a lot more self-centred and selfish with their approach to life. Also found that as a very interesting thought, that when you think of the future, you usually plan around yourself since you cant make up people that will be in your life. Compare this to thinking of the past, where all sorts of people are around and you think of all the people around you a bit more. 

So overall, people who frequently experience nostalgia are shown to have higher self esteem, find it easier to trust others and feel connected to them, and suffer from depression less.

Back to video game nostalgia. Heres an extract from an article ill link to later:

''Today, nostalgia is generally defined as a sentimental longing for the past, especially in reference to how things used to be better...... Researchers in psychology and consumer behavior have studied these questions, and what they’ve found out suggests that video games may have the potential to elicit more nostalgia than any other medium.''

Read a few papers about nostalgia in gaming. The general concept linked it directly to the above notions of good times with friends. It was mentioned a few times that while you may reminisce on a good single player campaign in say Starcraft or Total Annihilation, the real nostalgia comes from games you played with friends like Mario Kart, or an MMORPG, or at the very least bonding with them over the shared seperate experiences playing a Single Player campaign. The most nostalgic memories come from sharing the hobby with friends, making new friends through gaming, strong character profiles linking you to the characters and their emotions, and from a solid Tekken Tag or street fighter bender with the lads back in the day.

So in my opinion, a good summary of what nostalgia is, is an antidote to sadness or loss, that can be brought on most easily by a sound or an image that takes you back down the old neuronal pathway, bringing back all the euphoric emotions with it. Man our brain is a trippy place. I think the more of our subconscious mind we can learn to understand, the better we will be able to control it, and the wiser we will get.

I know what im doing next time I wake up feeling shit. Whipping out Pokemon Blue!

The one thing we need to be aware of is the marketing world being aware of this. Pretty sure as we go on, eventually there will be more mario and pacman in our faces than there was when they were cool.

Heres a few links. Mostly summarised above.

Psychology of video game nostalgia

Heres a few images to get the happy chemicals flowing :)

-Attila.