Lots of nostalgia happening in games right now with the new GTA announcement.
Invariably, it comes down to music. GTA III, GTA Vice City were not that great of games. But Vice City introduced good 80s music to millions of dudes and that’s all they really remember fifteen years later.
You can swap GTA for Minecraft. Or Mario. Or Halo. Music and sound design shape memories like nothing else. It makes the past look better than it was.
Everything visual blurs in our memories. Considering how much effort is poured into textures, animation and 3D models, what a waste.
A distinctive sound, or melody will unearth the most pristine snapshot of that time. And those sounds can be created in an instant. Audio is the closest thing to actual magic.
I recently recovered a one hour and half recording of a dinner with my parents, sister and grandparents from I think 1999 or 2000. I remember that I was testing the microphone quality. Well, it’s really good. I can hear everyone’s voice. Utensils on the table. The dog’s collar and its movements.
It is so powerful, I’ve only been speechless listening to it once.
Hearing my grandparents (both have passed away) talk and laugh is a million times more powerful than looking at a picture of them. Video is cool, but sound is so pure; I can reconstruct the scene in my mind with the recording. It was a winter evening. I know where I was sitting and where everyone was. Grandma tells me how I should try to go door to door to get hired and I can almost remember what I was thinking in that moment.
Sound and smell are just wired at a lower, deeper level than vision.
Unless we wildly genetically change, reading a book while listening to music will always be some of the best thing you can do, ever. ‘love that.