The Past as the Future? Nostalgia and Retrogaming in Digital Culture
Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: Digital culture of today is becoming increasingly a field of retrospection. James Newman draws attention to this issue in his recently published textbook on digital gaming (2004). In a chapter on future gaming he mentions three modern trends in gaming: mobile games, on-line games and retrogaming. Newman refers to retrogaming at two levels: firstly, retrogaming means present-day gaming with the genuine, 1970s, 1980s and the early 1990s game devices and applications. Secondly, it means the use of emulators in playing the games. On the other hand, Petri Saarikoski (2004), who has studied the history of computer hobbyist cultures, defines retrogaming somewhat broader as a general term for subcultures that appreciate old computer games. This phenomenon includes the collecting of old games and game devices as well as their active playing. Both scholars see retrogaming as a form of gaming culture that is partly marginal but which is becoming more common. Typically current retrogaming refers particularly to the use of game devices that were used before the PCs (common since the early 1990s). In this paper I will seek answers the following questions: Does the change in computer user groups explain why retrogaming has become more popular? Has retrogaming had an influence on the contents of contemporary games and the appreciation of gaming? What sorts of different hobbies are associated with retrogaming? How has the increased interest in retrogaming been used, then, to benefit financially? Finally, I conclude and discuss how familiarity and nostalgic interests in “older” technologies are incorporated to technological change and innovation.
Author: Jaakko Suominen
Language: English
Topic: Digital Games and Media
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2149451155