Nostalgia is dope, I’m pro-nostalgia. I’m an unashamed nostalgia junkie. I am anti-consumer and anti-capitalist to my core though, and I have self control, refined taste, and am self aware in that I am constantly creating new nostalgia by just living my life with new experiences all the time. And while by my spiritualist, Jane-ism standards I am highly covetous of my posessions, I have purged said belongings many times in the past, always getting rid of excess clutter, even when it’s dope nostalgia pieces.
In the context of the games industry, yeah, it’s putrefied pretty badly. We should all be keenly aware of this by now. There is much pandering, and the great creators of the classics return as indies only to make overly derivative works that fail for various reasons.
When I think of toxic nostalgia though, I think of my hometown, and what it’s like visiting there. The nostalgia hits hard, but, I should never have returned. I’m not supposed to be there. It’s my living Hell, my living Silent Hill if you will. I’m reminded of this constantly, and it drives me to a panic as my brain screams “I gotta get out of here!!”. And yet, seeing the terrain I used to explore as a kid and how it changed is always interesting.
There are toxic aspects to my video game hobby, but I don’t believe nostalgia is one of them.
Consumerism is toxic, nostalgia is a valid emotion.