More importantly : no responsibility

1. Vote
2. Cultivate meaningful local friendships
3. Seek a sense of purpose and explore this with fevor
4. Exercise regularly including with others sometimes
5. Avoid Nestle products whenever possible

One word: Indie. I agree with you that AAA games absolutely have stagnated and regressed. But smaller productions are far more frequent today and very creative and innovative. Arguably even more so than back in the day, if you really cherry pick. Personally, the main thing I feel is really missing from that time is mid-budget, AA games.

Just a quick note on movies.

I’ve noticed dialogue is getting dumbed down across the board. The vocabulary is shrinking and plot is being explained more extensitvely (using basic vocabulary) so audiences don’t get confused regarding the plot. Basically, making it so the audience doesn’t have to think as much to fill in blanks. And as far as I’m concerned, filling in the blanks a little bit is part of what makes a good movie or book better. It makes it more personal to the viewer/reader.

One example I just experienced this weekend, and I’ll probably be crucified for this because apparently everyone loved this movie, was The Odyssey. Personally, I thought the dialogue was awful. I don’t mind that they went with the American accents, although I always think movies like that are better with British accents. It was the writers behind the dialogue. It just sounded like I was hearing dialogue written by junior high kids. I’m assuming it was a decision made on purpose, maybe to connect more with modern English speakers, but it just sounded bad and kind of ruined the movie for me. I ended up just having kind of a meh opinion of the film largely because of it.

As the other guy said, look indie.

There’s so much fun there at the moment. Even double A stuff like Galactic Racer is really damn good this year.

Triple A is a mess rn, gonna take some time to recover and it’ll be different I think.

What game is it?

You could disconnect.

I had it explained very sadly to me that my generation was the last that got to choose to be digital.

They were better than now somewhat, but we already knew that we were getting screwed compared to boomers (gen-X checking in).

Food and rent were a lot cheaper.

Life was not exactly simpler. Technology has made a lot of things easier and better, too. Life was slower in a good way though.

The internet was in its infancy and mobile phones were not common. TV was broadcast on a schedule and your favorite show was only on once a week.

There was no algorithmic social media that ranked content by its engagement score. Culture and sub culture were more diverse, less polished and mainstreamed.

At least in the western world there was a lot of hope and optimism about the future. That was naive in hindsight but it sure felt better than the doom and gloom we have today.

I can think of bad things, too. Few cars had catalytic converters and particle filters and smoking indoors was still common everywhere. Basically, the world outside smelled like gasoline and the world inside smelled like cold cigarette smoke.

If you see a lot of nostalgia for the 90s these days that’s mostly because Millennials are middle aged now and start talking about “the good, old days”.

Keep in mind that what people mean with “good, old days” is never a specific, absolute time period. What they actually think about is their youth when their lives were still simple and fun and when they were full of energy, hopes and dreams.

They start to feel nostalgic about that lost youth, often remembering it as better than it actually was.

It happens to everyone. It’ll happen to you. That’s just life.

Things were more affordable and there was much less surveillance, both of kids by their parents and of people in general by the government and corporations. Growing up during that decade gave us a feeling of freedom and limitless possibilities. The millennium was a huge deal and the vibe was hopeful. Technology was advancing fast and making life more fun and convenient, and the downsides had not become apparent yet. Then 9/11 happened and then war and the Patriot Act, and I had to get a job and pay rent and things went downhill from there.

This comic is likely a decade old at this point, most average people would have just used AI.

And yes, vintage gaming is very much a thing, and is pushing vintage hardware into nosebleed territory. Ten years ago you couldn’t give away a 36″ Sony Trinitron CRT TV. These days you have gamers offering up to $500 for it just to be able to play Duck Hunt (which requires a CRT TV in order for the guns to work). Same goes for the machines and consoles as well… just saw a Commodore Vic-20 on FB Marketplace for $200CAD, and that was just for the bare unit, no extras.

shallowest games anyone ever created

Have you tried some Roblox content?

Agreed.

Most of the old games I revisit now do not hold up at all, as much as I want them to.

I will say that modern games often hold your hand a little too much. There is value in not knowing exactly what to do and having to explore a bit. And I think a lot of modern devs focus too much on spectacle and not enough on gameplay mechanics. To be fair, the tools at their disposal now do allow for a lot of spectacle, and as an artist I can see how you could over-focus on that.

That was the 90s for me. I didn’t have that much, I spent most of it walking or pondering or whatever. I did fantasize about having lots of shit… And I kinda do now, so there is that.

Yeah, you’re basically an inmate when you’re a kid. But that time…all that time. Without having a hundred responsibilities floating around your head. That I miss.

Life was friends, school, weekends, and school breaks.

Now it’s no breaks, bills, and where are my friends?

Yeah. The 90s were only, like, 10 years ago. Right?

I checked, and this was originally posted on Reddit by the artist in 2019.

Math checks out to me…

Having my Bluetooth controller disconnect mid game makes me unhappy.

Gaming was so… cordial

I was at a party, and I saw a guy with a leather jacket, and I thought, ‘That’s cool’. Then I saw a guy with a leather vest and I thought, ‘That’s not cool’. It was then that I realized what coolness is all about… leather sleeves.

I OWN LEATHER SLEEVES.

-Demetri Martin