This serves to outline the importance of 80s pop culture both in the setting of the story, a dystopic 2044, as well as in the plotline, where Wade belongs to a worldwide subculture dedicated to the study of 80s pop culture. This line reflects upon how the protagonist of the story, Wade Watts, greatly reveres the gaming and pop culture of the 80s, holding the archaic arcade games of that time period in great esteem. When I played the classics, I did so with a determined sort of reverence. But I was a gunter, so I didn't think of them as quaint low-res antiques.
These games were outdated digital dinosaurs that had become museum pieces long before I was born.
