So here's the thing with nostalgia, the weird thing- It takes the memory of a memory and puts it on a pedestal so that nothing can ever take its place. Good, bad, worse has got nothing to do with it. It's just that our brain carves such a special, cherished space for it in our mind that for all of our lives, we keep looking back on it and smiling, oblivious of even better options ahead.
That's pretty much what I want to say to anyone who finds me playing a retro game and says, "But the graphics are so lame, why don't you play newer games?" but most people won't be able to level with you on that, and that's fine too :)
The pod that my fellow Sheeple (who was aptly pseudonymized 8bit) discussed this week was such a flurry of fond memories that it made me misty-eyed during many turns. The prospect of going back to my 'personal safe space' and reliving those fond innocent years of DOS-based gaming gave me a joy like I haven't experienced in a long time.
For us, and for all of you Sheeples reading this, you probably connect with us on how games really lit up our eyes as kids. All we wanted to do was find that uncle with a PC/Mobile that had games and plead the fuck outta them to let us play. The joy was uncomparable and simply serene. If we were gaming, we didn't need food, water, sleep, bathroom breaks, all we needed was that screen in front of us to flash its intricate storyline and we were hooked!
My fellow Sheeple says it aptly, Gaming takes storytelling to a whole new level.
Whether it was Pokemon, God of War, NFS, AOE, DOTA, CS, Contra, Duke, Metal Slug, the storylines they used had us mesmerized like never before. Captivity with consent!
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In these tough times were anxiety triggers are plenty, so much to stress you out and people being away from loved ones, we've attempted to create this 'virtual safe space' with a warm fuzzy combination of nostalgia, gaming and two pals cracking lame-ass jokes like this is a teenage sleepover :D
I promise our 'fire-side chat' will find a way to soothe your mind and soul and take you to a happy place :)
Link to the pod- http://bit.ly/getting-retro-with-it - Zee