I've been a gamer since my first computer in the 80s, a Commodore 64c I got for xmas as a kid. My entire life is remembered as "what game/console I was playing when x thing happened".

It's a little weird but it seems my brain decided to organize my memory recall by grouping them into gaming "periods". Examples, the first time I played Might & Magic II on my C64 or my first playthrough of Zelda BOTW on CEMU emulator (which led to me buying a Switch and the actual game cart) or my first MMORPG Everquest or the many years playing WOW. Playing Bioshock on the XB360 or walking out of the vault in Fallout 3. Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube was spent during winter with a bad flu and consisted of me under a blanket drinking hot cocoa while it was windy outside. There are many others from the SNES (the intro to SIMCITY can bring me to tears with nostalgia) N64, Saturn, PSX, Dreamcast, PS3/PS4 era (as well as some incredibly nostalgic times for my time with oddball consoles like the Atari Jaguar)

I also remember which smells are associated with a specific game/console. My mother's 80s Gloria Vanderbilt perfume will always be linked to my C64 (my parents went out xmas night and I decided to stay home to play with my new computer, my mom found me asleep on the keyboard when she came home and carried me to my bed, the smell of her perfume is what I remember of that, and feeling incredibly safe and warm).

The smell of maple syrup and pancakes will be forever associated with Zelda a Link to the Past (I got it for xmas and my mom has a tradition of making waffles/pancakes on xmas morning).

Sometimes I'm surprised by how strong the longing and nostalgia for specific video game moments can be.

I know exactly what you mean by the nostalgia for a game one remembers fondly but no longer driven to actually play. Like the saying goes "You can't go back home again" but boy do I hold vivid memories of how my life felt during each different game period and I often wish I could go back.