The Gaming Persona

From Pixels to People: How Nostalgia Shapes Our Gaming Identity

• Daniel Kaufmann Ph.D. | Dr. Gameology • Season 5 • Episode 21

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Dr. Gamology, Marcus, and Doritos explore the powerful nostalgia of the games that shaped them and reflect on dramatic graphical evolution from early pixels to modern photorealism. They examine how gaming experiences from childhood created lasting preferences and identities.

• Marcus shares how NHL hockey games on Super Nintendo fostered his love for social gaming
• Doritos recalls starting with Commodore 64 and Atari before finding his passion with Knights of the Old Republic
• Dr. Gamology connects NBA Jam and Michael Jordan to his early exploration of game character identity
• The hosts examine how graphical leaps between console generations created watershed moments in gaming
• Marcus presents his collection of original cartridges, triggering powerful nostalgic reactions
• The group discusses ritualistic behaviors like blowing on cartridges and hitting reset buttons
• Dr. Gamology reveals how Star Wars: The Old Republic experiences shaped his academic research direction
• The hosts compare generational perspectives on game technology and preservation
• Nostalgia proves to be the connecting thread between all recent podcast topics

Continue the journey with us as we explore the games that made us who we are today.


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Thanks for Listening, and Continue The Journey!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Gaming Persona podcast. This is the show that explores who we become when we play games, whether you're saving kingdoms, leading epic raids or just vibing in cozy indie worlds. Join me, dr Gamology and my good friend Marcus as we search for all the ways gaming and personal growth collide. Grab your controllers and let's continue the journey Now. Continue the journey now.

Speaker 2:

You know, in other words in other worlds. I finished my second thousand page book and I got book three right here. This thing, is ginormous. It is ginormous this one.

Speaker 1:

I don't know how many pages it is. It the size of the book, marcus. It's the motion of the page turn uh 1,233 pages that's a lot. They they needed an editor. I'm just telling you right now, like I was gonna do that and dr anth Bean told me what the hell Daniel.

Speaker 2:

But it's you know, it's a fantasy book. I've never read fantasy before ever, and I saw a YouTube video talking about this Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson. All I've ever read really is star wars books, because that's really the only compelling book. There's like the gamer's journey, but that's like you know, that's like uh one or two and done.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, that's me yeah, you know.

Speaker 2:

So we don't like to talk about that. And I've read a bunch of, like warhammer books. But the warhammer books are so detailed and I fell into this series and there's five books so far and it's really really good and I've kind of hooked on it. But what's nice is I've been working alone so much that I'll, at my 30 minute lunch I'll read, you know, five pages in 30 minutes because I I'm dyslexic, you know sounds right.

Speaker 1:

I have a real curveball to throw in this conversation, but you have to promise to only brief me a reasonable amount if I trust you with this information. Oh boy, so I don't know if either of you know this, but the field of counseling.

Speaker 1:

No, I Based on the last 20 episodes of our show. Well done, marcus, but no, that's not where we were going. Um, the field of counseling is incredibly female dominated and, if we go with gender stereotypes, there is a category of books that cater to female audiences that I end up having lots of conversations about, but I've never read any of them. So during one of my internship courses, one of the students asked if I had ever read a certain book, and I knew what they were talking about before they even finished the sentence, because that exact week I had started reading my first ever Romantasy book. And so I'm in the middle of Iron Flame, which is the Empyrean saga. It's like dragons and romance and like going to college, like Hogwarts, learning how to be a dragon rider killing machine, the Empyrean saga.

Speaker 1:

So the first book is called Fourth Wing. It's by Rebecca Yaros and I'm really enjoying it. It's my Fourth Wing it's by Rebecca Yaros and I'm really enjoying it. It's my also first step into a different style of book and there are sexy scenes and stuff. But as far as the type of reading it kind of reminds me of a young adult version of Game of Thrones. But because the structure of the book is going to school to learn how to be a military killing machine that rides dragons kind of has a Hogwartsy Harry Potter for mature audiences kind of vibe, I like it. I'm turning a new leaf. Also, something really cool happened that was on none of our bingo cards this morning and I know you both know about it because I told Doritos first and then I told both of you at the same time immediately after. But I am now officially an education game, video game character, did you? Did you know that, marcus?

Speaker 3:

Yes, yeah, yes yeah.

Speaker 1:

First off so this company that um kind bridge is using to help gamify some of the elements of my gambling counselor training decided to turn one of the quizzes for my modules into an interactive game where you walk as a little like 28 bit version of me through a casino and you have to find the right doors to walk through in order to navigate it successfully, and the doors are the answer options for the questions that are up at the top of the screen and they're like yeah, that's you. That's based on your headshot, so it's the people who do the training are going to play the quiz game as a digital version of me I can't find this book.

Speaker 2:

I'm frustrated what happened?

Speaker 3:

what happens if you play?

Speaker 1:

they pick the wrong door we actually talked about that today and I think there's going to be a different set of like a couple sets of failure animations. One of the things that happens when a gambler has a problem is they can sign a legal contract that basically is a trespass order on the casino, so they're legally not allowed to be there. And so if you go there anyway because your gambling addiction convinces you it's going to be okay, and they catch you, security can handcuff you and walk you out, or they can call the police and have you go to the station. Uh, so we might have a security guard come out of the door and drag me down the hallway if you get the question wrong. That's something we talked about today wow.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, as you check things off in your box of things you're doing, you can now say you're a video game character yeah you're not one that I created right, not one that I created right, you're an award-winning author, you, uh well, oh, you are a part of the un I'm not part of the un I'm on speed dial for the un, though.

Speaker 1:

That is true. I'm doing a webinar for them next week oh boy yeah, I just yeah.

Speaker 2:

I can't find your book Really.

Speaker 1:

No Fourth Wing, because he was trying to look for the series, not the book.

Speaker 3:

Oh I was looking.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm sorry, I found Fourth Wing but I didn't find the series.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, actually the series. You only know what it's called if you look on the copyright page yes, rebecca yaros, you're reading the fourth wing fly or die yeah, I finished that one. I'm on the second one, which is called iron flame I walk by these books in um parson novel I by these books in um.

Speaker 1:

Parson Novel. I mean, these books are mainstream. I've seen them at Target. They're not hard to find Lots of. I mean, the only the only series that is on the shelves more than them is, uh, court of Thorn and Roses. You know the um yeah, hackatar.

Speaker 2:

I don't know how I would do with it.

Speaker 1:

Eh, it's fine. Maybe, it's fine. Maybe it's characters and fighting and death, but they also want to make love. So doc.

Speaker 2:

What's our topic today?

Speaker 1:

well, I didn't have any of this on my list, so I was thinking that it would be cool for us to talk about video games that bring us nostalgia and also give us warm, fuzzy feelings at different points in time in our life. But that's not what you sent me, fuzzy. That is what I sent you.

Speaker 2:

It's just the meaning of all the words no, no, no, I asked Doc earlier what's the topic for the podcast Nostalgia in gaming Childhood games that shaped us. That's what I just said.

Speaker 1:

Warm, fuzzy feelings at different stages of our lives. Childhood is a life stage, yeah, but you worded it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, you worded it wrong.

Speaker 1:

Nostalgia is a warm and fuzzy feeling. People, do I need to do a science lesson on nostalgia? By the way, today is a really powerful day for that, because you've been talking about Mortal Kombat all month, Marcus, and you know what happened today. Nope, the Johnny Cage trailer for the next Mortal Kombat movie hit the internet today. Have you seen it?

Speaker 2:

No, I'll watch it now though.

Speaker 1:

Let's watch it right now.

Speaker 2:

Can you stream it?

Speaker 1:

on Squadcast. I don't know if I can do that. Does squad cast give us the ability to do stuff?

Speaker 2:

that's that mortal combat 2 official trailer.

Speaker 1:

Here we go yeah, just just just watch it yeah, you won't be able to hear it no, it's fine, we can still react. I'm watching it right now.

Speaker 2:

Marcus, deep contemplation no, I'm waiting for you so what do we think?

Speaker 1:

what do we think?

Speaker 2:

wait, doritos, did you see the first one of the reboot? No, okay, so I did. It was pretty good, I liked it. I really digging that this one they're focusing on johnny cage, or that's the way it seems. You know what I mean, I think, when he says, like you, big ugly, fuck, I don't think he's fighting shao kahn, I think it's gonna be goro or something like that. So I think it's good, you know, I like that they're finally putting it that Mortal Kombat is fight to the death.

Speaker 1:

I like that yeah.

Speaker 1:

It featured all the characters from Mortal Kombat 2 also. But in Mortal Kombat 2, sonia Blade was captured by. Shao Kahn was not a playable character and Kano also was chained up not a playable character. So it looks like they may be remixing the story a little bit, but those characters are still in the universe during Mortal Kombat 2. And you do get a shot of all 12 characters, I believe, plus the secret characters Jade and Noob Sabot. Sure, sure, yeah. So Mortal Kombat 2, by the way, from Sega, genesis and arcades and Super Nintendo. That was my introduction to Mortal Kombat in home. I had played a few matches of mortal combat, one a little bit younger, but mortal combat 2 is where I really practiced a video game yeah, uh, that's what um melina was introduced and she's my jam yeah lots

Speaker 2:

and lots of. I remember going to the arcade with mortal combat 2 and my mom would give me I can't remember if it was five or ten bucks, and I would go home with money because I was dominate at the arcade oh, kids would put up the quarter and I'd be like climbing the tree and I would get so mad when they put it in. When I'm like in the second round, about about to beat the enemy I was fighting, I'd look at him be like, come on.

Speaker 1:

They're like ha ha ha, I'm gonna beat you now and then you whoop them down for sure yeah, I love this so that trailer gave me a huge dose of nostalgia and I saw it on my phone the moment my stream ended. This morning I just opened Instagram. It was like bam Carl Urban playing Johnny Cage when they cast him. I mean, I'm a huge fan of him from all the way back in Lord of the Rings and the Star Trek movies. He's in a Marvel movie too, for Thor.

Speaker 2:

What's Star Trek?

Speaker 1:

Doritos. Do you want to answer that?

Speaker 3:

Sure, it's where he went around and made friends with aliens.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 3:

There's no Force.

Speaker 1:

Beat me up, Scotty. Yeah, it reminds me of Mass Effect.

Speaker 3:

No laser swords.

Speaker 2:

Mass Effect is so much better than Star Trek. Oh, unpopular opinion, let's go. Mass Effect is so much better than Star Trek.

Speaker 1:

Oh, unpopular opinion, let's go Same concept.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I guess yeah you're right, it's just.

Speaker 3:

in Mass Effect, humans are the ones late to the show.

Speaker 2:

That's true. Space, the final frontier. Well, so, when you mentioned the title, the correct way, and what shaped us? My earliest memories of video games obviously are, you know, super mario, super mario world, f0. But really the one that stands out to me, and I thought about this long and hard, was NHLPA hockey for the Super Nintendo. I would go to my friends' houses and that's what we would play and it would get loud and crazy because it's, you know, like three or four boys just passing the controller around and playing it and it made me social when I gamed and it taught me how to talk smack while gaming and it kind of shaped me the way it is today, because I love the social aspect of gaming, like I thrive on that.

Speaker 1:

Yes, you do yeah.

Speaker 2:

And you know, that's why I think part of the elden ring journey was so hard for me, because I had to break that barrier down to realize it's okay to play a game alone yeah and for a long time I had to stream it, which you know it worked, but it didn't. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I was kind of like on the outs, but I still and I think maybe that's why I like Fortnite and I like MMOs because of that social aspect Even if you're not talking to somebody, you're playing with people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, going back to those early nostalgia days. You're talking about being a social gamer and I instantly started thinking about mortal combat and nba jam, right, those were like the things that brought people over to visit me on the weekends or after church and stuff, and we play some games, go out in the driveway, shoot hoops, then come back in and play some games, go out in the driveway, shoot hoops, then come back in and play some games, and that's like how the day went.

Speaker 3:

Maybe watch the Mortal Kombat movie if it's after 1995, right, the you're both coming from a standpoint of what was your first console though the NES and the original Sega my first console was the NES, and I think I played it for the first time around 1990.

Speaker 2:

My first console was the nes, and I think I played it for the first time around 1990 my first was officially, my first console was a game boy, but really the first like console that hooked up to a tv was the sega genesis. I wasn't allowed to have video games when I was really young.

Speaker 3:

So for me I got to go back in time to the original Atari 64, Commodore 64, the Magnavox Odyssey 2. That's nostalgia for me, Going back to 8-bit Wonderlands.

Speaker 2:

The Oregon Trail.

Speaker 3:

Oregon Trail. Absolutely, Mr Munch. That was an Odyssey game. That was a Pac-Man clone, the Pac-Man for the original Atari 64. Nothing beats that sound of.

Speaker 2:

But at the same time you it's gonna. I don't know how to say it without making it sound like you're old, but well, I'm old too.

Speaker 1:

But what I'm varying degrees of old. You just have me beat by a lot, both of you um, the the thing about that is I.

Speaker 2:

I look at it generationally, like somebody who was born in the 20s to see the technology jump. But somebody who started playing video games at the beginning with the let's use the Atari to what it is today is mind boggling.

Speaker 3:

It is. I just want to add.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I want to add another really crazy ripple to that is I saw a post on Instagram that I was already aware of this, but seeing it was mind-blowing. Someone showed the difference between a PS2 game and a PS3 game and just the jump, and it's like four and a half years between these two games in particular. I don't remember what they were, uh, but it really doesn't matter, because you could pick any common, well-circulated, popular ps2 game, compare it up to the ps3 near the end of the ps3 cycle and you're just like there will. There will never be a technological jump like that, ever again, because now we're just talking about nose, hairs and pores, nostalgic though the the content or the graphics. It depends if you're asking dr gamology or marcusB814, right.

Speaker 3:

Both of you.

Speaker 1:

We are the opposite ends of this spectrum. Yeah, so, like for me, I've been sitting here thinking about all the ways to not play Mass Effect, supposedly no-transcript, because then you have that footage and have the ability to make videos of, like the PS one version of the scene and then the PS five version of the scene, and and educate psychologists that way so that they understand like this story has been building a mythological following since 1997.

Speaker 1:

But, but I know Marcus values graphics. He called himself a graphics for on this show last week and that's what he is so like.

Speaker 2:

But I guess what I'm saying yes, you're right.

Speaker 1:

I'm just playing with you, marcus, no, no.

Speaker 2:

But when the PS1 was here or the PS2, that's what you had. I mean, nobody bought a PS3. Everybody bought an Xbox 360, right? That?

Speaker 1:

is not true. I had a PS3.

Speaker 2:

Yes, but like you're one of like if out of 100% of people, like 8% of people, bought a PS3, everybody else had an Xbox 360, because it's just, it was first, and back then people cared. There wasn't really an ecosystem to join In my opinion, and you're going to, you're going to search it, but either way, the point for me is, back then that was it Right. But then there was a game on the PC called named Crisis. Did you guys ever play that game?

Speaker 3:

No, I've never played it I did not play Crisis.

Speaker 2:

Okay, but.

Speaker 1:

I remember watching a lot of videos about it.

Speaker 2:

Okay. So that was like the benchmark of games. If your system could play that game, you had the PC because it was so demanding and it was such a jump, and back then it was. You know, pc was always outshining. Excuse me, I burped consoles and now that's really. You start to see the divide in games as a console gets older and the pc graphics go up. But I just shared you guys a link in discord and it's a police first person shooter game. It's made with unreal engine 5. Watch it. I'm not saying it's your style of game, but that looks real Like I. If somebody played that and it was on a T on my TV and I'd be like, oh, what TV show are you?

Speaker 1:

watching? Yeah, you're watching cops. Or you're watching?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I've seen that tactical shooter, some videos of that before. Yeah, that's impressive.

Speaker 1:

Right I. I had to talk about a video very similar to this during my last site conference presentation. Somebody asked a question about practical application of video gameplay, and they asked it from a perspective of, like Dr Kaufman, what do you mean? Video games train people and make them better at doing things in life. And then I had to talk about how the military has been doing this for a while. Okay, graphics have improved to where they can do this, but they've been trying to do this even with things that are only slightly more advanced than Call of Duty for over a decade, maybe even close to two, right of duty for over a decade, maybe even close to two, because you can make tactical errors and get killed in a simulation and suffer no injuries, but your mind is retaining the strategy of what happened to you, and so you treat your life in the simulation like it is your life in life, and you become better at situations that you've never been in before in reality, but you've been in them thousands of times in a virtual space.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but even that police game that looks so real.

Speaker 1:

you could have police officers train with that and create a game that is functionally correct for police procedure and have it look like that and then get training from that yeah, the game the game that we're watching is Unrecord, and this is actually a game you can wishlist on Steam, so this is not like a police or military training exercise. This is something people actually will be able to play casually for entertainment, right.

Speaker 2:

But I guess my point of all this is that it's so real. And look at that compared to I'm calling that the crisis of the future. So far, right, yeah, look at that compared to Final Fantasy VII on the PS1.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, like it's just little blocks.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's what I'm saying, and just the movement.

Speaker 1:

GoldenEye. Goldeneye on N64 would be a really good comparison here.

Speaker 2:

Sorry to interrupt you no, no, you're fine, I'm using it as um, I'm just using it, as you know, just the movement of everything. And you, well, you were talking about final fantasy 7, now to then, and how the camera angles changed and you had to move the D-pad, how you were walking to the adjustment of the cameras kind of like Resident Evil.

Speaker 1:

Resident Evil is hard because of that.

Speaker 2:

Correct, You'll be walking. Yes, the shoulder.

Speaker 1:

Everyone who can't see us, marcus and I are foolishly turning our chairs in 90 degree increments and staring straight in front of us, right like goobers right shoulder, left shoulder, yeah, left shoulder but that's, but that's what I'm saying.

Speaker 2:

So this evolution, the reason why I'm a graphical whore is because I remember what these games looked like back then and still to this day, when I load a game I say wow. And the last game I absolutely said wow to is when I loaded 33 up on my computer 33 up on my computer. And when that game loaded and I put it on ultra, I said, oh my God, this is unreal. I also said that with destiny to one of the first times I played it. And you're, I was running through this spinning tunnel and it was all neon lights and I'm like this can't be real, that I'm playing this.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, graphics definitely do change the way we experience video games. Nostalgia is a separate thing, because it preserves the positive energy that we have for the things that no longer would pass as that same kind of entertainment today. Like um, one of the things I was thinking about today when I picked this topic, I rated a streamer who got to have her twitch anniversary plus her main page debut on on twitch today. She was playing kingdom hearts one and the streamer's name is Sailor Nuggie and she's been a super nice person that I'm so happy I got to meet through Twitch and you know, just watching her play Kingdom Hearts 1, which is a PS2 game originally, and she's playing the HD remix versions.

Speaker 1:

There's bonus bosses and stuff, but it's still a PS2 game being played on modern hardware and during some of the boss fights the boss fight is not logically hard for a person who understands raid boss mechanics, but because it's a PS2 game. The difficulty of defeating the boss this one I'm talking about is Ursula from the Little Mermaid. The difficulty of defeating the boss this one I'm talking about is Ursula from the Little Mermaid is like triple the amount of difficulty because you have to overcome the PS2-ness of the fight.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you know she was commenting having a really good time with the chat and talking about how weirdly difficult the fight was and I just went in the chat. I was lurking, most of it said to work, but I just I just let her know like this fight is notoriously stupid, like just you got it.

Speaker 2:

You gotta beat the ps2 part of the game so, in once you asked me the question, I grabbed the bag oh, what's the bag? We're gonna talk nostalgia, you guys ready yeah, let's go what do we got? Super empire strikes back, oh, back, oh, I love that game oh wait, wait, wait, wait. This was me. World Cup 94. Ooh Ready.

Speaker 3:

Make me feel old. Thanks.

Speaker 1:

Castlevania, castlevania on the NES cartridge.

Speaker 3:

I have one of those too, and I'm working NES X -Men, X -Men.

Speaker 1:

I have that game on my iPhone.

Speaker 2:

Okay, pit Fighter Anybody. I've never seen that one Wow I haven't seen that one forever. Okay, here we go. Nhl 95 for me. Here it is, you're such a hockey fan.

Speaker 1:

Nba Jam Tournament Edition. That was my, that was mine too. Okay, I love it. Super star wars I have that, yep techno super bowl three.

Speaker 2:

Uh, here it is. This is, this is like before madden took over ready this is it mortal kombat too so good, so I, when we started talking about this mike tyson's mike tyson's punch out super mario world original okay dude like okay zelda.

Speaker 1:

Link to the past I love that game too super return of the jedi. I mean that that one is the first one that I owned. I had to go backwards and find the other two simon's Quest, Castlevania 2?. Castlevania, yeah.

Speaker 2:

All right, this was the game I was talking about NHLPA Hockey 93. It took me a long time to find this game because I had to own it. I thought I had, oh here it is, excite bike, excite bike, excite bike. Okay, so I know I just for the people listening. They couldn't really see it, but the face you both made when I showed you these games was pure nostalgia. Both of you remembered all of this and were like, oh my God. And when you mentioned NBA Jam earlier, it made me remember NBA Jam changed my mindset on games because of all the codes that they had and when I could be Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton as my team. That was a game changer for me back then.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and they had so many good players, but that was my dream team on NBA.

Speaker 1:

Jam. So for me, I grew up in Illinois at this time in my life I live there still the Chicago Bulls were tearing everybody up, except for the two years and then they tore everyone up again. And that's because Michael Jordan was on the team for those years, right? And that's because Michael Jordan was on the team for those years, right. He was not in NBA Jam because he could make more money not being in NBA Jam than like helping them print money. So I would always put in the code to add Benny the Bull as my character and I would have to pretend he's Michael Jordan.

Speaker 2:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

And so I had to use my imagination in my video games that way. Same thing with NBA Live 96, which was the first NBA Live game I had. Michael Jordan also was roster shooting guard and it had a terrible save system that would lose your created players 90% of the time that you booted the game up. So I would just create a Chicago Bulls number 23 player that had 99 for every stat at the beginning of every play session and add him the beginning of every playstation play session and adam, take roster shooting guard off of the team and put m jordan number 23 and like it was that important for me to have that character in there.

Speaker 2:

So I just would like build in that five minutes of creating the character every single time yeah, so doritos yeah we know you're old because you mentioned the Commodore and Atari, but what was that game for you that shaped you to who you are? Cause like I've played a lot of MMOs with you and I've played a lot of games with you, but really like that's today, right? Or like the last 10 years what, what was? It before that.

Speaker 3:

So before that and this goes into kind of my favorite game was the original KOTOR. When it came out I played that one to a fairly well, I played it to the point where I would go into the INI file and monkey with the settings at that point because I'd beat it every which way, way legit. Now it's just still time to have fun. Um, between that and you know, playing the original halo on my computer, that was cause I mean you guys are talking about all these uh the uh in 64. I didn't have that cause I was in college at that point. So anything that happened in the nineties, I was in college at that point. So anything that happened in the 90s, I was in school. So I didn't. I was poor, broke college student guy.

Speaker 2:

Let me ask you a question though. Yeah, do you remember when Halo came out? Mm-hmm, do you remember how, like next level, those graphics were?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I remember seeing it and what was that? Was it the forge? Where you got? You know, was that the like the main map, the forge, I forget what it was called and you had like water, you had mountains, you had grassy plain, there were trees, there was a bridge, and that was. I remember playing that going. Wow, look at these graphics.

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because at the time, that was awesome. Well, that changed the whole. That was the next step in graphics, the next graphical jump in games.

Speaker 3:

Right, but that originally came out on what the original Xbox.

Speaker 2:

No, yes, the original Xboxbox.

Speaker 3:

Yep, that was a launch title, I'm pretty sure that was, that, that was you know when that was, but that console 2004 was a ps1 came out. Those were those set the new benchmark for graphical upgrades in consoles and that created also, then, the enduring nostalgia for that next level game. Right, because you're going.

Speaker 2:

You're going from, oh, the, the n64 is the sega genesis to to that yeah, because you had the gamecube was september 14th 2001, playstation 2 is march 4th 2000 and then november 15th 2001 is when the first xbox came out yeah, because at that point I was only playing pc games to bother with the console I remember getting the first half-life.

Speaker 2:

Half-life was also a game my mom had. We had a gateway 2000 and I bought. I went to circuit city it was a like a electronic store back then and I bought half-life and my computer couldn't play it.

Speaker 1:

Oh, no, nope.

Speaker 2:

I installed it, I did all that thing and it wouldn't even turn on. So I brought the game back and I was like I don't understand this. They're like well, you opened it, we can't take it back. And I'm like, oh man, but I don't know, it doesn't work. And they're like oh, you need ram or computer, yeah and I said and I was like okay, mom, let's buy another computer. And she looked at me and she told me to get the f in the car.

Speaker 1:

You just threw away fifty dollars yeah my fifty dollars was a big deal back then well, yeah, it's still a big deal. Well, no, I mean just for context. My family of three ate like cheese steaks from Charlie's like for dinner tonight. It was like forty eight dollars.

Speaker 2:

So but did you have it?

Speaker 1:

delivered. No, I picked it up, I drove through. Ok, yeah, so I have a similar story, but it's not the same time period. So I want to hit two different games here, my beginning with PC gaming although I had like Terminator 2, chess and stuff like that on the PC, but my real first PC game was Warcraft 2, tides of Darkness, and that really created my love for Warcraft and strategy games, and I got that game at school. It was part of the book order thing where you'd get the thing on the desk at the beginning of the month and there was a month where my friends had this game and I really wanted it and I usually would be only allowed to get books. But my parents surprised me and ordered it and so when it came at school and it was on my desk, it was like a Christmas present, like I didn't know it was going to be there. So I got home, I installed it, I started playing it, it and that really I mean it's.

Speaker 1:

It's wild with this story that I never have played world of warcraft, because when I was 10 years old or so, warcraft 2 was something I would play almost every day. Um and the this the type of game that that is um, is very different. It's you're looking down the map, you move your troops around and you strategically do the battle and you have to win the battles and the war. And it had magic and arrows and dragons and griffins and wizards and you turn your enemies into sheep. It was amazing um so uh.

Speaker 1:

But later in life the game that I bought that wouldn't work on my laptop was Bioshock. I was so bummed out so when Bioshock eventually came over to PS3, I bought it immediately because I didn't have an Xbox. So Bioshock, as you all know from the book I wrote, is a very important franchise to me. I went out of my way to mention every little connection I could because the games are just so philosophical, but the gameplay is solid. It has shooting and science-based magic-y stuff in it and moral dilemmas. So you know, these games that I'm talking about on this episode today are all critical for me being here talking about them on this podcast today.

Speaker 2:

The thing is about nostalgia. It could be seeing a picture of a game or just talking about something, and it just makes you so happy to remember those moments oh yeah, that's you, you show.

Speaker 3:

You were showing us those cartridges and that's like I remember getting some of those and putting them in the nes and sit down as a kid oh my gosh it's not working. Hold on, hold on, eject it. No, no, no, you gotta. You gotta turn the power off first. Don't power off. Reset, power off reset power off.

Speaker 2:

Reset up and down, up and down, up and down power. Oh, it works, there we go the scientists inside me is cringing.

Speaker 1:

We all realize that that actually did nothing right no, not at all. I did everything, marcus is looking at me like I'm lying and you are lying I don't care about your science, your science is bullshit.

Speaker 2:

Okay, when I hit reset five times and it worked, it was because I hit reset five times.

Speaker 1:

That's the gambler's fallacy, though, like we think our successes are because of us and we think our failures are because the system is rigged.

Speaker 2:

That's the bullshit, marcus, I know and I love it, you're not taking.

Speaker 1:

You are not taking my, my nes reset you can blow whatever you want for those happy feelings, marcus, I will never stop you I will blow until I can't breathe. If I could play excite bike again for the first time and create my own track you could buy one of those retro like that's what I have, one console, that's what I have it's called an fc twin. It plays super nintendo and nintendo I have it. That's what that is I just had a feeling that you had it I never owned an nes yeah.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, my original nes is upstairs, yeah, I just had.

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, I have the perfect story to talk about the generational divide here, but it's not the generational divide with us, it's the generational divide with me and my son. So this past christmas, one of the gifts that we got him that my wife and I thought was really outside of the box and thoughtful was, we bought him one of those things that looks like a game boy color but with extra buttons on the back, because we need back buttons now of course and it has, like every game for every classic console ever oh, I've seen those.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome yeah, and so for me I'm like oh my gosh, this little handheld thing has mortal kombat one, two, three, trilogy, four.

Speaker 2:

It has every madden game from from the super nintendo.

Speaker 1:

It has all the nba jams, it has all the mario games up until, like before the, it might even have n64, like I don't know. I haven't looked through the whole catalog. He didn't care, and the reason is nintendo has their own apps on the switch so he has access to the retro games that he wants, with save states and stuff, so he can very easily beat them and not suffer like I did as an eight-year-old playing from the beginning every single time. And then also he looked at it like it was this like trashy side of the street vendor thing that we bought, that's like an unofficial, unlicensed product and he has no nostalgia for any of the games.

Speaker 1:

So for him, playing the games that way has no value, and actually we've been dealing with this for a couple of weeks on our show. Which is why I wanted to talk about this on some subconscious level is I'm trying so hard to give mass effect a chance. I really am mar, but there's no nostalgia for me. So this amazing remake that's much better than the original is just a new game to me and I'm not getting over that hurdle yet because of Expedition 33. But you know like someday I'll get there. It's just the nostalgia hits every little thing we've been talking about for four or five episodes. So this is like. This has the potential for being our like infinity war episode, where all the all the civil war and all of the all the other little marvel stories like well, now we're here, we're talking about the topic that brings all the topics together.

Speaker 2:

The thing I'm going to tell you is that you can't be forced to like a game.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

I've tried so hard and I'm going to bring it back to my first PC. I'm going to bring it back to my first PC, so back years and years ago, when the Star Wars, the Old Republic came out with their first trailer for the game, and it was CGI. It was so good and I was like, oh my God, I think the first one was the Korriban one, right?

Speaker 3:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean. And then you saw all the sys ships on korriban one, right, yeah, where they had that you know what I mean. And then you saw all the sys ships on korriban and I was like, oh my god, I need this. And it says only on pc or only on windows. I can't remember what it said back then and I said I remember my friends, you know, I I don't remember his real name, we just just played together.

Speaker 2:

His name was Dr Doom, his Xbox name, and that's you know what I mean. Bam the Mighty and Andrew the Goat. You know what I mean. Those were their names, but I don't remember. Well, one of them's name is Andrew, but I don't remember the other dude's name. Anyways, so we would hang out and that would be our Friday or Saturday night, and we would just hang out and play video games together at each other's house. Because I didn't have a pc and so I remember I bought a. They had all the scraps. All I had to do was buy a video card and it was old, like amd processor, like this thing was thrown together, and I remember my first video card was a gtx 260, and that's a long time ago, right, and I remember building the computer and it turning on and it says what do you want to name your computer? And the only thing the only no and the

Speaker 2:

only thing I could think about is it was like a Frankenstein computer, right, and so I named it the Franken-slut 2000. And because of my original? It was because of my original Xbox 360 name. My original Xbox 360 name was Dirty Muff 83. And I know I tried to friend you with that.

Speaker 1:

I was like Marcus. What is this? Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2:

So either way, I did that. And then all of that preparation to be able to play Star Wars, the old Republic in the first day one. I had it collector's edition loaded it up. It looked like I was playing a cartoon. I played the game Like you explore to find things. I, my first character was a trooper and I just searched every corner of the map. Uh, what's the name of that planet?

Speaker 2:

oh my god or mental or mental, and after about like eight hours I was like this is stupid, there's no extra stuff here, because I never played an mmo before and I didn't understand it. And then I just went back to playing call of duty, black ops on the computer. Oh so sad, nope. But then, all those years later, I had a daughter and I something about the malgus, my little pony, online.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, oh yeah my little pony online. I remember that came. That was fun, um, but yeah, nostalgia, wow, this cut. This was a really good conversation because the all of the awesome gaming experiences I've had in my life have flooded through my head throughout this conversation yeah, I mean, do you remember the episode of working class nerds where we had our whole raid team on it?

Speaker 1:

yep, I was thinking about that just now because I had a moment that was very similar to what you just did, where we just went through the entire history of what it was like to play that game together and I knew, the whole time that game was out, that I'm gonna spend the next four years years of my PhD program trying to convince my professors to let me do player types in this game. Because the day that I created my character is also the day that I was thinking about this research thing and I looked up the Myers-Briggs type indicator with Star Wars characters and I am an INTJ in that system and Emperor Palpatine was the INTJ on that chart and my character that I created that I felt would be the best reflection of me was a Sith sorcerer. And as soon as I made that connection, like first time, I logged off. So it's evening time. I played the game for like five or six hours, first time ever sitting down to play it, and I'm just thinking about this.

Speaker 1:

I'm like I wonder how many people look at this chart and their personality says Han Solo. People look at this chart and their personality says Han Solo and they created a smuggler or how you know. So on and so forth. You know Luke Skywalker and they created Jedi Knight, and that idea I told my professor. It was like in between terms. So whenever spring term started and he just looked at me and I remember he was so interested in that, he said to me daniel, you are gonna need to do a lot of work to convince other professors that this is academic, but I think it's amazing, so don't let go of it. And so that's kind of like. All these things are the roots of why dr gameology exists and why the gaming persona exists, and without star wars, the old republic, I wouldn't know either of you yeah such a dark timeline no, no marcus, we gotta do a dark timeline episode.

Speaker 1:

Do you know I'm talking about? No, these are the best episodes in the gaming persona history. It's where, um jenny and I did it twice, where we would imagine our lives without a critical moment from video games and just like make it the most tragic conversation possible to show people that video games create a better version of our lives that's fine we gotta do it next week okay all right, great, I'm excited, but not too excited because we gotta make the timeline dark.

Speaker 1:

So is nostalgia part of your gaming for the next week or so, marcus?

Speaker 2:

I don't know, but continue the journey.

People on this episode

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Daniel Kaufmann

Host
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Doritos

Co-host
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MarcusB814

Co-host