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Gaming is such a mainstream culture these days that ABC Classic FM have a weekly program called Game Show to share any and all gaming music that was created with an orchestra.
Meanwhile nostalgia has long been recognised as a field of neuroscience. It can even be used strategically as a powerful tool in the treatment of anxiety and depression. For further reading on its effect and its uses look for anything that US-based psychology Professor Dr Constantine Sedikides has written or said about it such as this.
In short, the concept of nostalgia involves any sight, sound, or smell that triggers personal memories. These can vary from simple common objects through to artistic expressions like well-known music, which is also one of the most universal and powerful triggers.
When used judiciously, the right triggers can be used to improve your mood.
You'd know this instinctively just based on how these triggers make you feel. It's the reason why we have certain radio stations playing more than just a few classic songs for instance. Even if the programmers don't understand the concept of nostalgia themselves, they still have a handle on what their demographic of listeners responds to the best.
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Aside from music, for each generation it's just a matter of identifying the segments of popular culture that brought them joy in their past, particularly in their youth.
One nostalgia trigger for the youth of the '70s to the '90s that's largely been tucked away for some time is arcade gaming, which is now publicly demonstrating its strong appeal in various ways including right here in Goulburn.
Although there were consoles and computers to play with at home back then (and those machines are also experiencing their own nostalgia-driven resurgence with some being re-imagined and re-released to the market), by far the best gaming of that era was available from arcade machines.
In fact, for most people it still is today. Pinball just isn't the same without a real ball, and only those who might identify as gamers own anything more than simple controllers; most of us just kill time on our phones.
The prominence of the arcade faded around the turn of the millennium as each one found it too costly to continue competing with retailers for space.
Fortunately for us, there were a dedicated few who always wanted to bring them back one day.
Greg Appleton and Miranda Heath have been slowly collecting various arcade machines for the past 15 years or so, and taking it more seriously in the last 18 months.
Actually, it turns out that collecting them was the easy bit, and several of theirs came from Sega World.
The hard part was finding gurus to help restore, repair, service, and in some cases, mildly improve them with a better display screen for instance.
In terms of who they have attracted since opening recently, Greg says that Back to the Arcade "has been a magnet for a whole different culture that I wasn't sure existed in Goulburn."
Among them are enthusiasts like Paul O'Malley who made most of the life-size figures you'll see on display, and the working custom droid that he first built as an R2-D2 (Paul halved its original height so it wouldn't intimidate little ones).
At $20 for all the games you can play Greg and Miranda have their regulars already.
Miranda says that the under 13s absolutely love it, the parents love it, and local cosplay enthusiasts also love it for the chance to get dressed up, usually on a Saturday night, which all suits the couple's goal of becoming a local hub for social activity.
They also welcomed their first corporate client last week, showing the local Ford dealership a great time.
The couple also tells us they've only just begun this epic new journey, with many more machines on the way, including some of the latest and greatest new creations available on the market.