Celebrating our greatest gaming memories this World Video Games Day

Cast your mind back to January – the year had just begun, lockdown was a word we didn’t even have in our vocabulary and gaming was something, for the most part, reserved for occasional evenings in and weekends. Fast forward just six months and one pandemic later, gamers are sneaking in far more hours than ever before, with less commuting time and even the extra lunch hour.

2020 was always set to be a big year for gaming. With the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, fans around the world are debating where to take the plunge and invest in the next half decade of gaming. But this hasn’t always been the case. Just a few short decades ago, games were played in arcades and it would be a luxury to see one in your best friend’s bedroom.

Over the years, the ways in which we interact with games has evolved, along with the games themselves, whether it’s 80s arcade classics, 90s side-scrollers, 00s simulation or the more recent narrative-driven stories, we’ve all experienced a little piece of history and value the nostalgia of dusting off old consoles from the attic.

With that in mind, we spoke to Fever team gaming fans (so, all of us TBH) to highlight what gaming means to them and how it’s changed over the years…

The Sims 2

Claudia Hockey

My favourite game(s) growing up was the entire Sims collection, but The Sims 2 has to be the best. It had the biggest jump in graphics and quality from the first instalment and was just hilarious to play, especially as it was released at a time when I had my first laptop and had total free reign. The game itself is a great example of how things have changed too – it’s so progressive and allows LGBTQ+ and diverse family structures, as well as the representation of real issues in their expansion packs, such as a focus on environmental issues and its impact on the world around you.

Anything social!

Chrissie Cooper

As a kid my favourite game was Spyro the Dragon, but now my favourites are the social games you can get on PS4, such as ‘That’s You’ which is perfect for when you have people over but don’t want to commit to anything too extensive. We also love classics like Mario Kart because it’s so nostalgic and everyone loves it!

Final Fantasy VII

Simon Hilliard

Final Fantasy VII has an amazing story and characters from start to end and really sucks you into the mystery with traditional and non-traditional story threads from the off, which keeps you playing as more and more characters join your party and the world opens up for you to explore. Plus, it has an amazing score, and graphics which were good enough at the time, and now are just retro joy.

All the classics

Gabriella Cantelo

The gaming world is so different now compared to when I was younger. As a kid, my favourite games were Crash Bandicoot and Parappa the Rapper because they reminded me of Disney/Pixar movies, as well as the old football games (FIFA, Football Manager, etc) that my dad and I bonded over, which I have such fond memories of. Despite being a PlayStation girl at heart, I’ve recently started playing Call of Duty on Xbox One X (mainly because it’s my boyfriend’s preference!) and couldn’t believe how much gaming has changed. The biggest difference was playing online, which can feel intimidating at first but now I love it.

Other notable mentions include both parts of The Last of Us franchise, Theme Hospital, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Katamari and Streets of Rage 2. This diverse range of memories capturing what gaming means to so many people, for so many reasons, shows why it shows no signs of being a slowing industry for many years to come.