{"id":97,"date":"2026-04-13T15:43:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/video-game-nostalgia-is-powerful-but-it-only-works-if-developers-understand-the-psychology-behind-it\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:43:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:43:27","slug":"video-game-nostalgia-is-powerful-but-it-only-works-if-developers-understand-the-psychology-behind-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/video-game-nostalgia-is-powerful-but-it-only-works-if-developers-understand-the-psychology-behind-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Video game nostalgia is powerful \u2013 but it only works if developers understand the psychology behind it"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion for gamers.<\/span> Gorodenkoff\/Shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When thinking back to the gaming experiences of your youth, it\u2019s easy to get misty-eyed. Depending on your generation, you might yearn for Dizzy on the Commodore 64, marathon GoldenEye sessions with friends or your first Minecraft world.<\/p>\n

And games publishers<\/a> know this. Recognising the nostalgic appeal of games, there has been a recent slew of re-releases of beloved classics. Tomb Raider Remastered (2024), Croc: Legend of the Gobbos (2025) and System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster (2025) all show publishers know how to capitalise on nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Our research into player engagement frequently encounters nostalgia as a key driver of player satisfaction. Nostalgia<\/a> is both potent and delicate: powerful when done right, disappointing when not. So, why do some games nail nostalgia while others fail?<\/p>\n

Cultural theorist Svetlana Boym<\/a> has argued that two different types of nostalgia exist: restorative and reflective.
\nRestorative nostalgia is about conquering the past \u2013 a belief that what was lost can, once again, be found, with enough effort. Whatever your political views, there\u2019s no denying that the slogan \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d is a clear encapsulation of a restorative nostalgic philosophy.<\/p>\n

Trailer for The Blizzard Arcade Collection.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Blizzard Arcade Collection (2021) is a good example of a game design underpinned by this restorative philosophy. Here, players can experience original versions of Blizzard\u2019s early work with visual effects applied that mimic the effect of playing the games on old, grainy televisions from the 1990s. <\/p>\n

By contrast, reflective nostalgia is less interested in accurately recreating the past and keener, instead, on recapturing a remembered feeling. For instance, instead of yearning for the specific place in which they grew up, a reflective nostalgic may realise it\u2019s the sense of carelessness they felt as a kid they yearn for \u2013 not their actual hometown.<\/p>\n

Shovel Knight\u2019s (2014) design adheres to this philosophy wonderfully. Synergising a smorgasbord of inspirations from original NES games \u2013 a world map akin to Super Mario Bros 3\u2019s (1988), themed bosses like those seen in Mega Man (1987) \u2013 it feels less like a specific game a millennial might\u2019ve played as a child and more like their fragmented memories of playing games in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

Shovel Knight has sold well<\/a> since its release and, as of 2026, has made an estimated US$12.5m (\u00a39.3m) in revenue. This shows there\u2019s a hunger for nostalgic content among players. But, this being the case, why aren\u2019t all re-releases cash cows? The answer relates to the above nostalgic philosophies.<\/p>\n

Nostalgic inconsistency in remasters<\/h2>\n

If Blizzard Arcade Collection and Shovel Knight represent a strict adherence to their respective nostalgic philosophical underpinnings, then Croc: Legend of the Gobbos Remastered (2025) serves as the antithesis. Croc is certainly not a bad attempt at a remaster, but its nostalgic inconsistency dampens its emotional impact.<\/p>\n

Take the art direction. By dropping Croc\u2019s original pixelated textures, the remake signals that it isn\u2019t aiming for perfect authenticity. Instead, it reflects a nostalgic approach that priorities reinterpretation over faithful recreation. Some critics even argued<\/a> that the new textures look flatter, losing the illusion of depth that the original textures created.<\/p>\n

A direct comparison of the Croc: Legend of the Gobbos remaster and the original game.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At other times the game adheres rigidly to the original source material, aligning it with a restorative nostalgic philosophy in ways that feel incredibly dated. The anticlimactic pause screens that appear upon defeating a boss \u2013 who seems remarkably unaffected by the beating it just took \u2013 is one such example. So, too, is the lack of level scenery \u2013 indefensible in an era of high-powered PCs capable of rendering vastly more complex environments.<\/p>\n

Personally, we\u2019d have enjoyed a re-release of Croc that more wholeheartedly committed to the reflective philosophy \u2013 updating textures, sure, but also level scenery and boss animations. Doing so might have helped to better capture the joy we felt when playing the original even if it meant deviating more widely from the source material. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that dissatisfaction at the choices made when updating beloved cultural artefacts is nothing new though. Indeed, Boym cites the restoration of the Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes as a potent symbol of this. In preserving Michaelangelo\u2019s original work, the restoration team were lambasted for removing aspects that made the original artwork so special.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely you\u2019ll always disappoint some when restoring a historical relic. But if more developers commit wholeheartedly to a nostalgic philosophy when remaking their games, we\u2019d argue they\u2019d more effectively nail nostalgia and, in turn, leave players more satisfied.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion for gamers. Gorodenkoff\/Shutterstock When thinking back to the gaming experiences of your youth, it\u2019s easy to get misty-eyed. Depending on your generation, you might yearn for Dizzy on the Commodore 64, marathon GoldenEye sessions with friends or your first Minecraft world. And games publishers know this. Recognising the nostalgic appeal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}