CHICAGO — Reviews of the recent “Backyard Baseball ‘97” re-release have revealed gamers are much less interested in the game itself, and more interested in the wish fulfillment of one day owning a backyard.
“After being on hiatus for almost 10 years, we couldn’t have hoped for a warmer welcome back,” said Lindsay Barnett, CEO of Playground Productions, “What we didn’t expect was the longing these young adults have for one day owning land.”
Overwhelmingly positive reviews of the game praise the developers commitment to maintaining the 1990s desktop gameplay, art style, and iconic characters, but always return to the imagined pleasures of owning a home.
“Back in ‘97 I played this game and fantasized about making it to the big leagues one day,” says local millennial Steve Petersen. “But now, as an adult, I play the game and fantasize about making enough money to ever be able to own a backyard and host neighborhood kids in Sandlot-esque baseball games. Maybe I could even get a big ol’ dog that looks scary but is really a sweet-hearted softie, like James Earl Jones did in the movie. My rental only allows fish and birds.”
One expert noted that a recent phenomenon has emerged where gamers’ nostalgia is not for the games themselves, but the comforting, upper middle-class lifestyle that they had when they last played the game.
“Deep rooted nostalgia seems to be directly linked to an economically comfortable upbringing,” says DePaul Sociology Professor, Monica Waters. “Playing on a 1997 DELL computer that runs games at 10 FPS was, for some, the closest they’ll ever get to living the American Dream. The inability to afford anything today causes these young individuals to mentally recede back to a point in time when they didn’t understand how money worked at all.”
“My colleagues and I have dubbed this sociological trend ‘Oblivious Nostalgia,’” said Professor Waters, “which is defined as being in a state of longing for the blissful ignorance one possessed as a privileged child.”
At press time, the upcoming Backyard Sports slate will try to capitalize on this unique phenomenon with such titles as “Backyard Builder,” “Backyard Tycoon,” and “Backyard: The Retirement Years.”
