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Retro Rewind: Nostalgia Sells…And We’re Buyin’

Retro Rewind: Nostalgia Sells…And We’re Buyin’

The mini NES is coming this November! Until then, we can drool at its Japanese cousin, the Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer. It has thirty pre-loaded games, including two Zelda games, Final Fantasy , and Metriod . There are of course, a few titles that the NES mini doesn’t have, like Mario Open Golf . In addition, the controllers are tiny, so it’s probably a good thing they’re hardwired to the console. I think we’re better off with the version we’re getting here, complete with friendlier controllers.

The mini NES is a trip down memory lane to be sure. I’m glad we’re getting it. Interestingly, I didn’t have the NES in my childhood home, but my friend did! I remember finding the controller awkward after being so used to the N64. I believe we played a racing game together and I prided myself on my well-honed skills from Cruis’n the World . This fond recollection reminded me just how often Nintendo sells nostalgia. These are by far outdated consoles – shouldn’t we want the latest technology? Why is nostalgia such a great marketing strategy, and is it okay to be wooed by it?

To answer that, we should probably start with what nostalgia is and what these companies are really aiming for. Nostalgia is a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past, as with something done or presented in order to evoke feelings of nostalgia. Indeed, indulging in nostalgia has a great many benefits, as good memories can uplift our mood and get us through tough times in life.

But how do you convert nostalgia into a marketing strategy? Well, it certainly helps that we put a lot of value in material things. We develop strong relationships with toys and characters from our past, and they never really fade for some of us. Even more so, nostalgia can evoke a strong loyalty to a certain brand – especially if the memories are shared with friends or simply other fans. And what brings together people more than video games? Going over to a friend’s place to play their games is a great example of this, or playing Mario with your siblings. To be able to relate this kind of human connection with a product is probably the most genius thing capitalism has ever done, and Nintendo certainly knows it.

Retro Rewind: Nostalgia Sells…And We’re Buyin’

That said, is it a bad thing to be wooed by nostalgia and to keep buying that Zelda remastered edition every Nintendo console generation? I think that’s a very personal question, and there isn’t a wrong or right answer. For me, I’ll probably be buying Majora’s Mask merchandise until I die, but I also won’t be buying any remastered or HD version. I have become a very different gamer from my childhood and I no longer have the urge to play “rescue the princess” when I could be playing The Witcher 3 or the latest new indie title from Moon Studios. Furthermore, I am personally not very attached to my gaming past. The games were wonderful, no doubt. They were what got me through my past. But I likely don’t feel any nostalgia around them because such escapes were coloured by bad memories. Thus, I find no true value in delving so deeply into nostalgia as to buy the mini NES. An awful lot of other people do, though, and the little thing will probably be printing money come November.

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