Gaming in the 90's was so relaxing

I know some of you probably feel the same way if you grew up in this time. There's something about those CRT's and a soft chair or a bean bag no worries about the future or anything just stuck in the present focused on the game and you where free man and it was beautiful.

I would certainly agree with that sentiment. Gaming’s definitely grown more serious over the years.

It was... consistent, non-political, genres varied. No retro train to ride on, no indie junk littering the shelves. Yesyes, it was good times.

@palasta: Those games were the indie games you seem to dislike now.

@vfighter: No.

@palasta: @vfighter: ok let’s not derail this sweet thread!! Thank you to both!!

@palasta: A lot (not all of course) are modeled, inspired, etc from those classic 8 and 16 bit games, not sure how you can love them and not the indies. But seeing as you're just an alt I see this going absolutely nowhere

I have fond memories of the 90's and video games. But some of those games were so dam hard you wanted to throw your controller at the CRT TV.

So true man TMNT water level comes to mine.

@vfighter: I could give you a lenghty explanation in addition to the key words already given.

"junk, littering, shelves"

I agree, there was not so much noise from so many games been released. Back then games were hard and you had to improve your skills if you want to finish it, but nowadays if a game is hard we just move to the next game

@warmblur said:

I know some of you probably feel the same way if you grew up in this time. There's something about those CRT's and a soft chair or a bean bag no worries about the future or anything just stuck in the present focused on the game and you where free man and it was beautiful.

Coolyfett set up a "chill" room in his house that has this very esthetic. We keep all newer technologies in the front rooms and all retro hardware in the "chill" room. We dont have a CRT TV, but we do have an older HD 32 in Vizio with a thick bezel. A large bean bag, a SNES-PS1 mini console, very old Fisher speakers, smaller Aiwa speakers for surround sound all connected to a PyleUSA 5.1 receiver. It makes those old SNES and PS1 games sound as good and a retro as can be. Something about older speakers, they just have a warmer sound. The bean bag is the ultimate comfort. It truly is a play to get away!

There was a lot less bullshit. The gaming industry wasn't so commercialized. I mean, there were plenty of shitty games. Me and my friends didn't have access to the internet in our homes until the early 2000s. If there was an awesome game, it was through word of mouth or a GamePro magazine. Like I wrote in another thread, there was no day-1 patches or DLC. If a game was good it was because of the quality product, not duct tape added to it after-the-fact.

Interesting, no one (and it seems the OP included) seems to know that this picture isn't a photo, it's a game. A VR game about playing retro consoles. It's called EmuVR You can run this on most PC's and you don't even need a VR headset.

I know this, because I tested it out last year.

@Bond007uk said:

Interesting, no one (and it seems the OP included) seems to know that this picture isn't a photo, it's a game. A VR game about playing retro consoles. It's called EmuVR You can run this on most PC's and you don't even need a VR headset.

I know this, because I tested it out last year.

I actually know I just didn't mention it.

I definitely think gaming is better now than ever, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it more in the 90's. That's more due to me being a child then (I spent pretty much my entire childhood, from age 6 to age 16, in the 90's). A lot of fond memories.

And you're right @madrocketeer it was definitely cozy. Something about cramming into my friend's small apartment bedroom with three other friends, claiming any pillows or cushions to turn into seats, and then playing games from sundown (after playing outside all day) until way late on his tiny 15" TV, trying to keep the volume low as to not wake the parents.

Plus everything felt so new! Part of this is me being a kid and essentially only buying like one game every four months, but the other part of that being that developers and even publishers took more risks. They didn't have as many these huge established franchises so you never saw games on their 15th installment like Far Cry or Assassin's Creed, there was always just a new IP or something original.

It was nice though, when the only thing you had to worry about was a shitty game.

Didn't have to worry about what content was withhold due to day-one DLC, or how the online community was, or if it was buggy or stable, or anything like that. It was either a good game or not.

And yeah, same; didn't have internet until like 1999 and even then it was a slow-ass 33.6 k modem. Shit, I bet many (most?) people on here never had to deal with dial up.

My nostalgia is mostly for PC stuff, many of the console games in the 8 and 16 bit era are pretty much variations of the same idea and the vast majority aren't that great, I'll play Ori or Hollow Knight before touching 99% of the classics. But late 80s, early 90s PC/Amiga gaming was such an incredible time.

But about the thread, seems like it's more about missing childhood than a moment in gaming.

@SOedipus: That right there is the biggest difference. You bought a SNES cart and that is what you got. I'm sure the development process has changed (obviously) through the years, but the constant rush to throw unfinished games on the shelves, sometimes not even fixing them once they are discovered to be poor, is and always will be disappointing.

We almost have too much choice now. Leading to anxiety over backlogs for some haha.

I think games are better now as far as depth, graphics, and melding genres, but I do miss the days when the gaming industry was more niche and before corporate influence killed creativity. Gaming now has followed the music and movie industries where things are formulaic, play it too safe to protect investors, and stunt creativity to appeal to mass market profits. I now see all these reboots/remasters to cash in on nostalgia and Fandom, and micro-transactions/ DLC to make as much money as possible.

It's all soulless and corporate while the 90's industry was more about pushing the industry forward and creating something new and original. We get excited about new IPs now because it's so rare to see them while back in the 90's and early 2000's it was the norm.

The relaxation came when you bought a game, got the full package, read the booklet on the way home, opened the program and it actually ran well. Now you buy the (sequel) game, download the patches to get it running after installing it, research to see if the DLC or micro-transactions are worth paying more money for, and hope you don't encounter a gamebreaking bug while figuring out if the fluff added to the game is worth playing since it was obviously added to artificially make the game longer.

The difference between gaming now and gaming then back in the 90s. Is that I could go to the store and purchase a game completed. Now, when you go to the store you purchase a disc which is just a license or key. When you stick it in the console you get to wait until it is done downloading the full retail copy. We did not have that problem pre sixth generation of home consoles.

I can still experience the same thing in the 20s. It's kind of the reason we play video games, right? Because you can get so absorbed in the game that you forget everything about your life. It's easier to do as a child, but still completely possible for an adult to do too.

Ah, gaming in the 90's. The awesomeness.

Honestly, I don't know if I agree. The best games were amazing and engrossing, but many games relied on cheap hits, high damage and limited continues to make sure you couldn't beat them on a rental, resulting in more than a few insanely frustrating games. The reason "Nintendo hard" is a term thrown around is that a lot of those games were completely unfair. Then of course, there was the rampaging waves of trash that we'd all get suckered into renting or having our parents buy, only to take home, realize they sucked ass, and that was our game for the weekend... Or the year if it was a purchase.

There's issues today, there were issues yesterday, and there'll be issues tomorrow. Still actively playing retro games helps me to keep things in perspective.

Oh, the old glory days... I miss arcades so much!

For me this generation of games will remain the best in history, it wasn't about graphics, it was about fun, playing was like a ticket to Disney, I love it

@deactivated-63d1ad7651984: in you liked it because you liked being young and without responsibility.

But the game are better now and there is more variety too.

@deactivated-63d1ad7651984: i had our old tv that was probably 20” screen with massive wooden lacquered frame that routinely went all wavy you had to smack the side to stop the waves. I played my nes on that hooked up with the red, white & yellow cords and rf switch.

My Dad at the time said video games wreck the tvs soI could only use the old one. I used to walk to the video rental store and rent a couple games and play them for a few days.