From Nintendo to SEGA to PlayStation, everyone has their favorite console makers. But when it comes to retrogaming, nostalgia plays an (un)surprisingly big role. According to a study by Oxford researchers, what you think the best retro console is likely the one you played with when you were 10 years old. That’s right; your favorite console could be a SNES or an Xbox 360, depending on what was hot when you were exactly 10 years old.
A study conducted by Nick Ballou et al. titled, Reliving 10 years old: Descriptive Insights into Retro Gaming, analyzed over 12,000 hours of play from Nintendo Switch players. It included 1,607 participants ranging in age from 18 to 79, with diverse genders and ethnic backgrounds.
By tracking usage across NES, SNES, and Game Boy Advance retro console games, researchers found that participants gravitated toward platforms from their childhood years. Specifically, they spent more time on systems that were most popular when they were around 10.
Among the most popular were the Nintendo 64 and the SNES, taking up over half of all retro playtime logged. The GBA also ranked high, despite being a newer addition to the Switch Online library. Interestingly, it turns out that even how you played games as a kid sticks with you. Players were more likely to use handheld mode instead of docked for handheld console games like GBA, for instance.
Given the prominence of the Nintendo 64 in the playtime data, it follows that for many, the goal is not just to play the games, but to own and interact with the original hardware physically. This leads to the practical reality of console acquisition for adult enthusiasts. For collectors seeking to reconnect with their childhood console, this guide to buying used Nintendo 64 games covers everything from authentication to pricing, reflecting the real-world effort required to curate a personal history. This pursuit of the authentic object is strongly linked to the deeper psychological drivers observed in the study.
Playing older games or ‘retrogaming’ increases steadily with age, reaching its highest level around age 40. Participants in their 30s and 40s were more consistent in returning to old games, suggesting they may be at a life stage where nostalgia carries more emotional weight. The researchers noted that this seems to echo other media-consumption habits, such as watching old TV shows or collecting vinyl records. Nevertheless, 29% of participants also revisited consoles that were discontinued before they were born.
So next time you argue over which console won the generation, ask yourself. What machine were you playing on your couch when you were 10?
