Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: As video games and players age, some are drawn to retro titles, operationalized here as games from the 1970s-early 2000s.This trend has sparked growing interest among researchers and the games industry in areas such as consumer behavior, nostalgia, and well-being.However, little is known about naturalistic retro gaming-who plays them, and what time periods players revisit.We analyze 1,099 players' logged session histories on Nintendo Switch classic consoles (e.g., Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64), totaling 13,000 hr.We find that retro gaming increases with age until around 40; that people tend to revisit consoles popular when they were 5-13 years old (personal nostalgia) but that some play games predating their birth (historical nostalgia); and that there are no stable differences in well-being between those that do (not) play retro games.Retro gaming may yet have more localized or short-term implications for psychosocial health in older adults and is set to significantly impact the future of the games industry. Public Policy Relevance StatementThis study shows that retro gaming (playing video games from the 1970s to early 2000s) becomes increasingly popular as players approach their forties and beyond.Players are most likely to revisit games popular when they were aged 5-12 years, although 27% of sessions happen in games released before they were born-so-called "historical nostalgia."With gaming increasingly taking the role of a lifelong hobby, policymakers and industry leaders should consider its potential to support intergenerational connection and healthy leisure in aging populations.
Source: Psychology of Popular Media
DOI: 10.1037/ppm0000666
Institutions: University of Oxford, Imperial College London, Syracuse University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7140723465