What makes you just feel happy about gaming?

[Retrogamer0001]

What gives you guys the warm and fuzzies about gaming, either past or present? Personally, I always get a big, stupid smile on my face whenever I think about games like Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, and Zelda: LttP. Is it nostalgia? A sick love affair? Maybe both...but it never fails to cheer me up when I think about running around Norfair with Samus or travelling back in time in the Epoch. I get the same sort of feeling walking into a store that sells tons of old classic games - I can literally browse for hours. What gets you guys giddy about gaming?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Yeah, nostalgia generally fills me with warm-fuzzies as well. Whenever I think about getting my first computer that was actually capable of playing then-modern games, I just feel insanely happy. 2002ish? Anyways, it was a Dell (4600?) of some sort with a Radeon card. Many fun times were had with Quake 3, Enemy Territory, The Sims, and Need for Speed.

Browsing stores filled with games is one I share with you. SO MANY OPTIONS!

Good sound design in modern games gives me chills and I love it. For example, the sounds in War of the Roses are just insanely good. Especially for the bows. Love to pump up the noise level to where it sounds like there's a real medieval battle going on in my bedroom.

[Weekend_Warrior]

Well, one thing that makes me happy and still keeps me interested in gaming is that a lot of my favorite video game franchises from when I was a kid are still alive and doing well today. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Zelda, Mario, Sonic, EA's NHL series, NBA Jam, Wipeout, Twisted Metal, Need For Speed, etc...

I dunno. I'm just glad to see a lot of those older game franchises and developers continue to thrive. And at 32, I must admit it gives me a good feeling that I can go on message boards or have convos online and tell stories and brag to the younger generation about how I played a lot of the classic games in the arcades back in the day, or how I bought a certain game or system at launch. That kinda thing

[Gamerforlife]

Well, one thing that makes me happy and still keeps me interested in gaming is that a lot of my favorite video game franchises from when I was a kid are still alive and doing well today. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Zelda, Mario, Sonic, EA's NHL series, NBA Jam, Wipeout, Twisted Metal, Need For Speed, etc...

I dunno. I'm just glad to see a lot of those older game franchises and developers continue to thrive. And at 32, I must admit it gives me a good feeling that I can go on message boards or have convos online and tell stories and brag to the younger generation about how I played a lot of the classic games in the arcades back in the day, or how I bought a certain game or system at launch. That kinda thing

People our age are very fortunate to have seen the gaming industry in its youth. A movie buff can't say that about his hobby. We were born in just the right time to watch gaming grow from a niche hobby to what it is now.

[mrDude]

Classic FF victory music.

Purposely running around the bed to be on the side of Marle when she disappears due to a time paradox in Chrono Trigger. If standing below her Chrono simply raises his arms and it looks lame. If standing to the side wind blows through his hair and he looks like a total badass.

Anything Ryo says when you cut a conversation short in Shenmue. Also "Lets get sweaty" when beginning a practice session.

Most any sound effect/music from Phantasy Star Online

Running games under the best possible connections. Like the DC with the VGA adapter or the PS2 in 480p 16:9 and thinking "I could have just lived with this". Who needs fancy 1080p visuals and whatnot?

Snakes reactions to various food in MGS3.

The GBA splash screen.

I could go on............

[Key-Glyph]

Whenever I'm listening to a good video game cover for the first time, my breath catches when the main hooks come in. Of course I love the originals on their own, but there's something that positively thrills me about hearing video game tunes in a different context, whether in arrangement or instrumentation. I literally choke up.

I bet a big part of this is that prior to discovering MIDI libraries, OCRemix, Napster, and YouTube, I could only experience video game chiptunes one way -- through the console I owned -- and I could never hear a different "version," because no other versions existed (no live recordings, remastered tracks, different orchestras, different conductors, etcetera). The closest I could have gotten would have been comparing the same game tunes ported on different systems, but as a listener I usually find that interesting rather than emotionally moving*. With real covers it's different. You spend a decade hearing a piece of music one specific way, practically its only way, with it never even entering your mind that it could manifest differently... and when you finally hear it reinterpreted you're blown away.

*...unless we're talking about the Sega CD re-orchestrating OSTs. The day I discovered the Sega CD version of Earthworm Jim 2's Lorenzo's Soil on Napster I completely flipped.

[isiolia]

At least some parts of the FFXI soundtrack. Particularly parts I heard a zillion times before I turned music off.

Were I actively playing, getting an abnormally high Ukko's Fury (or any good spike damage). Spent years playing support, so I still would get a kick out of playing DD and having everything just click. I loves mah Ukonvasara, there are many like it but this one is mine.


My subwoofer when firing rockets off in Uncharted 2.


Donkey Kong Country. Probably the epitome of my SNES nostalgia - I got the preview VHS tape, I got the soundtrack (one of my first personally owned CDs), all my friends were playing it that Christmas, so it was something we all kinda shared in...and I moved a month later.


Asura in Guild Wars (including Vekk in GW1, he was awesome).

etc

[shmuk]

For me, I guess it's just about kicking back, relaxing and forgetting about how much the real world really sucks.

[Luke]

Having the time to game. That's good enough for me.

FYI: "Nostalgia" isn't related to happiness. Feeling nostalgic means you have a sentimental value for the past and aren't as happy with the present. It's kind of a sad thing.

[ExedExes]

For me, it's finding the games that can *surround* you and make you forget about time, reality, and nothing else. That is why I enjoy good FPS games. It makes you feel like the character is *you*. Then you finish and it's like "Whoa, 3AM. Time to get to bed." Happens to me all the time.