Bachelor Project : Nostalgic Visual Design and PS1 Nostalgia 

Purpose of the project: My bachelor project focused on the exploration of when and how retro design is considered nostalgic and was done with fokus on the aesthetics of the PlayStation 1 console's graphical limitations. During the project, I investigated users' reaction to various nostalgic design elements by using a PS1-imitating game prototype, which, in continuation of interviews, was used for user surveys.

PS1 Renaissance in Modern Indie Horror:

My choice of said subject came from the fact that I had previously investigated how contemporary indie horror games had begun to draw inspiration from PS1 horror games such as Resident Evil (1996) and Silent Hill (1999). I did this research on the basis that I had noticed an increasing trend of indie horror games that used the retro 3D graphics from the PS1 console.

Looking at the phenomenon from a trend cycle perspective, it is estimated that it takes a 20-year cycle for a previous trend to re-emerge, given that is the time interval it takes before it becomes retro and generates a nostalgic value. So it is probably no coincidence that the 90's PS1 graphics, in particular, have had a renaissance in 2020.

Through these modern indie games, PS1 design elements are recycled and there are modern interpretations and changes that deviated from the design of the time, but at the same time they still manage to reuse nostalgic design elements that categorize them as PS1 aesthetics.

From my research, I found that nostalgia can be caused by personal or indirect nostalgia, but that regardless of age, there was a selective memory of what they remembered as being design elements of the PS1 console. Overall, Low Display Resolution, Low Poly 3D models and fixed camera with standard controls ranked as having the most nostalgic value for the test group.