I've been reading a few of the comments here and I have a question. When did nostalgia change from, "that awesome thing I was really into a few years back" to "that one innovative or interesting thing that stood out and will remain in history forever?"
Whether it was a game, movie, cartoon, show, song, radio program, toy, or some other memory from you past, not everything you liked when you were younger appealed to other people. Perhaps it wasn't even remotely good to them, even going as far to be the lowest of the low on their list. But ask yourself, do you honestly give a fuck? Not even some of the supposedly big, new, memorable, innovative, or even popular games listed in this thread are gonna mean something to someone else. Not everyone feels the same joy when they see a re-run of an old show you liked. Not everyone is eager to watch that movie from a few years. Same with games.
For the most part, Nostalgia isn't just the memory of that item, but what was going on around it, sometimes not even relating to the game. You can remember how much fun you had fighting that one boss, but you also remember the amount of fun you had as your friends urged you on. Or as you tried to hand the controller over to a sibling. Or the fact that you had sports practice later, or that mom was making your favorite lunch and you actually had time to hangout with dad later. Or maybe it was a bit later in life, where you had a full head of hair, less worries, and perhaps a job you actually enjoyed. Where you lived in a world you fully understood and around people you could get along with.
TLDR: Yes, Nostalgia will exist. Some people will remember COD 2 and others, COD 4 while others remember their Bastions, Amnesia's, Half Life's and even the samey sequels. Because they had different experiences with the games that stood out to them alone, which they hold dear.
