Relaunching arcade games: game nostalgia and collective memory practice for China’s first-generation players

This study examines the arcade memory of the first-generation players in China through semi-structured interviews. Using Menke's framework of media nostalgia as an analytical tool, this study found that the narrative of arcade memory is formed through game text, material technology and spatial structure: Players established a visualized memory mode by revisiting the game world and recalling the material sensations generated through human-machine interaction; the coexistence and interactions among multiple actants shape the arcade hall as a landscape of public memory and spatial affect. The memory of arcade games emerges as a geographical and interest-based collective memory centered on weakly connected neighborhood life and generational identity. By analyzing the memory practices surrounding arcade games, this study develops a theoretical framework for understanding game nostalgia, thereby contributing to the broader fields of game studies and memory studies.