‘It’s like their escape’: Retro gaming is back thanks to Gen Z

Retro gaming is experiencing a revival thanks in large part to people born after the Game Boy era. 

According to a new survey from Pringles, a popular gaming snack, 66% of Britons have bought retro tech of some kind in the past two years, with 24% of Gen Z now owning a retro games console. Popular retro consoles include Game Boy, first released in 1989 and discontinued in 2003; Super Nintendo Entertainment System, released in 1990 and also discontinued in 2003; and the Xbox original, first released in Europe in 2002 and discontinued in 2009.  

For 89% of gamers, retro games offer a welcome break from the internet, with 74% agreeing that “nostalgic games” are more relaxing. Of those surveyed, 77% had hung on to their retro tech for sentimental value. The rest, however, more recently purchased retro games that might have already been discontinued by the time they were born or certainly of gaming age.

The youngest in Gen Z would’ve been born in 2012, the same year the Wii U was released; while the oldest of their generation were born in 1997, the same year the Nintendo 64 (N64) and Sony PlayStation were released. 

Earlier this month, Pringles was in the U.K. promoting a Retro Console Clinic in London, which offered free repairs for retro handheld and home consoles. The pop-up encouraged people to dig out all their retro consoles and bring them down, the Verge U.K. reported, plus gamers were invited to stop by to play classic games for free. “I think younger generations have got a lot more stress now; growing up in the social media world is mentally very challenging,” Luke Malpass, one of the event’s engineers, told the Guardian. “[Retro video gaming] is their safe place. It’s like their escape.”

Low-tech holds nostalgic appeal and may even offer a solid antidote to our increasingly fast-paced tech-driven society. For 78% of those polled, one reason they enjoy using retro gadgets is because it means they’re not using their smartphone. According to a September 2024 survey conducted by the Harris Poll, 21% of Gen Z adults say they wish smartphones had never been invented. 

The nostalgia trend shows no sign of slowing down with #nostalgia amassing more than 12.6 million posts on TikTok, many featuring gadgets and games from the 1990s and 2000s. Perhaps it’s time to dig around for my pink Nintendo DS and see how my Nintendogs are doing.

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