Platforming the past
Nostalgia, video games, and A Hat in Time
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21836747 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matt Griffin (0000-0003-1008-9232, University of Iowa), Greg Loring-Albright (0000-0002-0812-6877, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-14 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Transformative Works and Cultures (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1941-2258 • E-ISSN: 1941-2258 |
| Publisher | Transformative Works and Cultures (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3983/twc.2024.2461 |
| OpenAlex | W4392804949 |
| Language | EN |
Research on nostalgia has shown how media texts can promote ideological visions of the past. The 2017 3D platformer video game A Hat in Time (AHIT) is a case study in this nostalgic construction of values in a contemporary, postmodern, convergence-culture context. The game's marketing and text discursively and materially construct AHIT as a continuation of video games from the 1990s and early 2000s in a way that creates a communal nostalgia. Fans have also used the game itself as a platform by creating a library of more than five thousand modifications, or mods, many of which are based on 1990s and 2000s texts; these mods allow the game to serve as a platform for postmodern remixes of nostalgic texts. AHIT shows how contemporary convergence culture and media platforms allow for communal, customizable nostalgia
Art · Art history · Multimedia · Video game · Visual arts · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Computer Science · Nostalgia and Consumer Behavior
| Highly cited | No |
|---|