Nostalgia

Astro Wars- To my knowledge the first game I ever played.

                                

As I find myself squarely in my third decade, I've noticed that I often reminisce about my life thus far. It's only natural I guess, and working with people who are younger than you does make you wonder. So with today's little jaunt into games and whatnot, I thought I'd talk about nostalgia.

Now then, when we humans remember something, we often recall it because of something we've seen, or smelt or heard. You see a guy walking past in something you used to wear and back the memory pops into the forefront of your brain. You walk past a cake shop and the smell reminds you of so-and-so's house, whose mum always made cakes when you visited. But can a videogame make you nostalgic?

Games occupy an interesting place when it comes to memory, because they hit the senses in several ways. Sometimes you'll hear a bit of music and think, "Hey, that reminds me of the theme from Zelda", or you'll spot someone who reminds you of a character in a game and think, "Oh look, it's Squall from Final Fantasy 8". Then there's the memories of the actual game itself and how you poured so much time into defeating that boss. Heh, good times. I remember starting a game of Command and Conquer at 11pm and then realising it was getting light outside. But hey, at least I stopped that nuke launching, right?

Warning: May cause sleep loss and a distrust of bald men with goatees

But here's the thing. Recently I've been looking into the whole "Are Videogames an Art form" question, and those that are on the side of 'yes' often cite the fact a game can cause an emotional response in us. Now this debate is one for a later post, but there is one thing I do know, and that's that memories and nostalgia all have to do with emotions. Looking back on better days and all that.

It's almost like the question, "Where were you when.." be it the destruction of the Twin Towers, the Moon Landings or even when the movie Men In Black came out. When we recall these events, we often recall how we felt at the time. Do games do this when I remember them? Hmm, let's chuck out an example. Final Fantasy 9.

When I think of Final Fantasy 9, A wave of memories hit. I hear the music in my head, I picture certain cut scenes and characters but most of all I remember where I was when I was playing it. I was in my early 20's, living on my own in a pokey little room I was renting. It was summer time, and boy, what a summer it was. I'd taken the leap of faith that was doing a Theology BA, and I was learning so much about my faith that I'd never knew existed. I'd met a fascinating young woman who for some crazy reason found me fascinating as well. I'd joined a charismatic church, I'd even moved city. Boy, those were some exiting times. Through it all, I was playing Final Fantasy 9. So it's no wonder that when I hear it's theme tune I remember so much! As it comes zooming back to the front of my memories, I remember how I felt at the time- exited, hopeful, filled with wonder. 

So, to answer the question "Can games cause nostalgia", I'm going to have to answer yes. Like a film or a good book, not only does the game itself lodge itself into your memories, but the circumstance around it do too. Often, like a movie or book or even a smell, a game can bring back times long forgotten. Heck, in writing this I've remembered three more examples, none of which I'll bore you with here.

Well, I suppose it's over to you lot then. Has seeing a copy of a game on a shelf in a shop brought back fond memories for you? Squiggle it in the comments box. ;)