PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum
Non-NEC Console Related Discussion => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Otaking on November 24, 2016, 01:53:41 AM
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Something I find difficult to understand is this strange discrepancy in retro game popularity where over the last 3 years collecting physical games and consoles in retro games has gone up ten fold but discussion has almost disappeared, to me it just doesn't make any sense??
The 10 or so retro games forums I used to read 3 years back are now practically dead, look at Digi Press nobody is on there that used be so busy. My thoughts were that everyone had just migrated from forums to Facebooks groups (I hate retro game Facebook groups), but I had a look recently and they're not even that busy comparatively.
Plus also retro games Youtube videos seems to be completey drying up, there is fraction of the content being made these days compared to 3 years back.
So the current situation is everyone wants to hoard huge collections 10 times more than ever before, but nobody wants to discuss retro gaming, this is a shit time to be into retro games.
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i think its good. 90% of the stuff on youtube or forums is pointless and and a waste of time.
most of them shouldnt be trying to have a voice in the first place. its too bad that online platforms are so easily accesssible. maybe people are starting to realize nobody cares that they found a blazing lazers box someplace and dont bother posting it anywhere. also, so many non-video gamers are just buying the shit 'cuz they think its the cool new trend. and every copy of NES baseball will be worth hundreds at some point. better hold on to that one.
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Something I find difficult to understand is this strange discrepancy in retro game popularity where over the last 3 years collecting physical games and consoles in retro games has gone up ten fold but discussion has almost disappeared, to me it just doesn't make any sense??
The 10 or so retro games forums I used to read 3 years back are now practically dead, look at Digi Press nobody is on there that used be so busy. My thoughts were that everyone had just migrated from forums to Facebooks groups (I hate retro game Facebook groups), but I had a look recently and they're not even that busy comparatively.
Plus also retro games Youtube videos seems to be completey drying up, there is fraction of the content being made these days compared to 3 years back.
So the current situation is everyone wants to hoard huge collections 10 times more than ever before, but nobody wants to discuss retro gaming, this is a shit time to be into retro games.
Goverrat conspiracy theorist.
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Something I find difficult to understand is this strange discrepancy in retro game popularity where over the last 3 years collecting physical games and consoles in retro games has gone up ten fold but discussion has almost disappeared, to me it just doesn't make any sense??
The 10 or so retro games forums I used to read 3 years back are now practically dead, look at Digi Press nobody is on there that used be so busy. My thoughts were that everyone had just migrated from forums to Facebooks groups (I hate retro game Facebook groups), but I had a look recently and they're not even that busy comparatively.
Plus also retro games Youtube videos seems to be completey drying up, there is fraction of the content being made these days compared to 3 years back.
So the current situation is everyone wants to hoard huge collections 10 times more than ever before, but nobody wants to discuss retro gaming, this is a shit time to be into retro games.
Goverrat conspiracy theorist.
I suspect we've been infiltrated by retro game hoarding aliens that you can only see with special sun glasses.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sH1FSWTk_UE/VhKKc2GDRLI/AAAAAAAACHw/QjaipRjHCuk/s640/They+Live+aliens.jpg)
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I know this topic is a veritable "dead horse" ... but I stopped buying stuff over a decade ago... I only buy a few things a year now, and everything I buy is "modest" by today's standards.
So, I felt that prices on some things (like Sylphia) were too high a long time ago and realized that I would not be able to actually own as many items as I had originally planned.
:)
In a way, this might have been a good thing for me... it forced me to play all the stuff I already owned. Similar cycles (of poverty) have forced me to listen to all my "old music" or spend more time listening to "free music" (freeform radio stations in NJ).
I recently cut out cable TV subscription and.... I didn't even notice it. Nobody in my house (except my wife) watched cable TV (obviously, we are not into sports, ha!)
So... it all works out, if you follow in Buddha's footsteps.
I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
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I hate the people on the Facebook Group who post shit like.....
".....Hey, I found a High Definition Graphics Sega Genesis, I hear it is the best kind and quite rare! How much can I get for it?"
People are constantly taking common shit and trying to flip it for mega bucks. The NES retro classic is a huge example of this. Crazy.
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I recently cut out cable TV subscription and.... I didn't even notice it. Nobody in my house (except my wife) watched cable TV (obviously, we are not into sports, ha!)
We cut that shit out years ago. Our version of cable is called DSTV.
We got tired of the endless repeats and advertisements. I miss the Rugby and Cricket a little bit, but not enough to sign back on.
I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
Whether an enforced choice or voluntary, I feel this is the way to go. I'm told it's also very "liberating".
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I recently cut out cable TV subscription and.... I didn't even notice it. Nobody in my house (except my wife) watched cable TV (obviously, we are not into sports, ha!)
We cut that shit out years ago. Our version of cable is called DSTV.
We got tired of the endless repeats and advertisements. I miss the Rugby and Cricket a little bit, but not enough to sign back on.
I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
Whether an enforced choice or voluntary, I feel this is the way to go. I'm told it's also very "liberating".
i played cricket for the first time last week. it was a fun time. its funny how ingrained i am in baseball.
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I know this topic is a veritable "dead horse" ... but I stopped buying stuff over a decade ago... I only buy a few things a year now, and everything I buy is "modest" by today's standards.
So, I felt that prices on some things (like Sylphia) were too high a long time ago and realized that I would not be able to actually own as many items as I had originally planned.
:)
In a way, this might have been a good thing for me... it forced me to play all the stuff I already owned. Similar cycles (of poverty) have forced me to listen to all my "old music" or spend more time listening to "free music" (freeform radio stations in NJ).
I recently cut out cable TV subscription and.... I didn't even notice it. Nobody in my house (except my wife) watched cable TV (obviously, we are not into sports, ha!)
So... it all works out, if you follow in Buddha's footsteps.
I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
I 1,000,000,000% agree with all of this. It is like when you were a kid and you had that one game to appreciate all year till your next birthday no matter how good or bad it is.
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In my opinion this hobby really has gone downhill and is dying. I'm basically done with it and I know many other old timers that are the same way. It was fun in my 20s, but now in my 30s I want to do other things. People don't seem to play much of anything anymore. The goal now is to buy something rare, post on facebook, watch e-penis grow, rinse and repeat. When people stop paying attention to you, switch over to another system. Sell everything for max profit and go again.
I'm in the process of significantly reducing how much stuff I have. A quick count of the stuff I plan to keep puts me under 300 games total. Still a lot, but far more manageable than before. I'm tired of moving stuff. I let my PVM go to a friend. All I have left is a little 20" toshiba and a framemeister. Everdrives let me play anything I let go of that I just have to play and emulators fill in the rest.
Its sad, but if we look back, we had a fun run over the last decade or two. The late 90s through the 2000s were a great time to be into retrogaming. Since 2010 though its been in an increasing decline. Id say by 2020 it may not matter anymore. I may be around then, but it wont be buying / selling / modding or anything like that anymore.
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i played cricket for the first time last week. it was a fun time. its funny how ingrained i am in baseball.
I made SA schools in cricket many moons ago. I was wicketkeeper/batsman. I batted at no.6.
It was a choice between that or Rugby. I decided early on that I kinda valued my physical well being. So I took the "safer" choice. :p
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I think it will come full circle eventually. At some point, prices will go way down. The big question is how long it will take before that happens.
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For years, I've had a mantra that I repeat anytime I go into a game store or look at online auctions: no shelf decorations. If I can play it via Everdrive or CD-R, that's enough, and anything else has to be something I have a concrete plan to use.
As I look at all of the crap in my game room - ugly metal racks with CRTs and systems, piles of controllers and a jungle of cables - I sometimes think about all of the time, money, and effort that's been sunk into just getting things set up and not even playing itself, and it all seems so stupid.
If emulation can ever get over its input lag troubles, I would be happy to get a Raspberry Pi, plug in a Saturn USB controller, and get rid of everything else. I'd have to be some kind of poser not to be able to enjoy that.
Yes, I do wonder if my pursuit of more/better equipment shows that I've lost my passion for actual playing and am only trying to fill the hole. However, I'm pretty sure that I still love the games.
Finally, even though forums have a lot of BS, there are sometimes real discussions of memories, history, and of course the games themselves that make it all worth coming.
Whenever the Xanadus get done, I really hope they give all of you a taste of that pure old gaming again, and I really hope we can have some great discussions about them here.
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It's tough these days, I regret not picking up a lot of stuff while it was cheap. I remember NES stuff going for dirt cheap at Funcoland back in the day, and I only picked up a few things. I buy everything with the intent of playing it - so only the games I'm really interested in, no complete collections or anything like that. Life gets in the way of playing games and there are thousands of video games now so I don't sweat my backlog. I'll never be able to play everything. I do tend to prefer pick up and play titles vs. anything like a lengthy RPG to compensate. I will keep trying to get the stuff I'm interested in, and if I can't get it, no biggie.
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Honestly, at least for me real life seems to get in the way more than anything. Now that I'm in my mid thirties (god I'm old) work, house, wife, etc seems to take a more of a priority than getting more games to play. Yeah every once in a while, if I see something I really want I'll get it, but god damn I literally have hundreds of other titles to play through first! lol I truly think some things will go down in price (like common shit), but the truly rare and unique items will continue to hold their value. What I really look forward to nowadays is homebrewn stuff (like Henshin Engine) and fan translations (too many to list). Its a shame I didn't get more of what I wanted when rental places like Blockbuster and the few local rental stores went under, but at the time I didn't have the income to buy up all their stock. Live and learn. :)
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I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
I think this sums up a lot of how I feel on the subject. In regards to where prices have gone, it is crazy to me. If you asked my younger self in 2001 - 2005 when I worked at a Funcoland, I would have never guessed prices would have gotten like this. Much like johnnykonmai I only buy what I plan on playing. I don't think of what I have as a collection, it is my library. Though it's hard not to wish I bought more stuff back then. I can clearly remember our Genesis bin, and the row that had like 10 Moonwalkers in it for just a few bucks each.
I do think the bubble will burst at some point though. I really think it's kind of the in thing right now, and at some point it won't be. All the people have gone out and bought an instant game collection on ebay, or shit like that are going to lose interest, and eventually you'll be left with the people who just want to play good old games.
I will say though that one of the things that makes it a GREAT time to be a retro gamer, is how much innovation is happening right now. Things like everdrives, RGB mods, HDMI mods, complete disk drive replacements. I never in a million years thought most of this stuff would ever come to be. While I do wish there was greater discussion at least there are some huge jumps going on in the support categories if you will.
I will say to, the level and quality of Fan translations is only getting better, and that excites me so much. Being able to play really well done english translations on actual hardware is so awesome to me. If my younger self knew that all those Japanese Action RPGs and RPGs we were tease with in Gamefan would actually be playable in english one day, it would blow my mind.
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I still am frustrated about the state of things... and the trend will only worsen... but once I figure out how to use EverDrives I will be happy :)
do think the bubble will burst at some point though. I really think it's kind of the in thing right now, and at some point it won't be. All the people have gone out and bought an instant game collection on ebay, or shit like that are going to lose interest, and eventually you'll be left with the people who just want to play good old games.
I will say though that one of the things that makes it a GREAT time to be a retro gamer, is how much innovation is happening right now. Things like everdrives, RGB mods, HDMI mods, complete disk drive replacements. I never in a million years thought most of this stuff would ever come to be. While I do wish there was greater discussion at least there are some huge jumps going on in the support categories if you will.
I will say to, the level and quality of Fan translations is only getting better, and that excites me so much. Being able to play really well done english translations on actual hardware is so awesome to me. If my younger self knew that all those Japanese Action RPGs and RPGs we were tease with in Gamefan would actually be playable in english one day, it would blow my mind.
This far as where the retro market is now.I also agree the best that came out of it are the flash carts,reproductions and even sd card readers for the likes of the saturn&dreamcast.When the market does burst.I'll be laughing when all those collectors thought retro video games were a investment.
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Its because everyone is more wrapped up with showing pictures of their shit, and using it as a means to compare dick sizes.
Everyone forgot what it means to be a gamer, in favor of equating "cool shit in a photo album" to their dick size, or whatever. People try to "out legit" each other, or decide who is legit or not based off of shit they own.
Hate to break it to the retro JP console/computer asshats: We've all got Japan's sloppy seconds because people who are way more legit than us sold the stuff and moved onto other things. We're not supposed to sit and decide who's "legit".
Are they trying to play games for X system? Do they need to emulate? Who cares. They're playing the same game you are.
If you walked into school years ago with a bunch of Polaroids of your sweet gaming session (AKA: title screens, and MAYBE a gameplay screen), people would be like "are you f*cking dumb? What is this garbage. send your scores to Nintendo Power and f*ck off."
We talked about games as kids. we weren't like:
HAH, PLEB, YOU HAVE A FLASH CART. HAH. f*ckIN LAMER GET REAL SHIT OR GET REKT.
As adults, some people have shifted from being gamers, to being f*cking tools.
If you walked up to me in like, 1998 with an Everdrive and said "here's every TurboGrafx-16 game ever made, including JP ones", I would piss my pants, and then use that thing to unleash the fury on my life.
Back then, if we didn't have a game, emulating or bootlegging it was cool.
TL;DR: Social media turned gaming into a show and tell douchefest.
and now the prices are 100% f*cked. You can't even buy stuff.
Me personally:
1) I don't care what the f*ck you own
2) I don't care what the f*ck you bought today
3) I don't need to see your TV + whatever game you are probably pretending you played today
All I care about is talking about games and cool shit going on. You don't need to show me a copy of Neutopia. I know what it looks like.
I also know what a TurboGrafx looks like. Don't need to see it, unless it's got something unique to it.
f*ckers.
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I tend to go in waves honestly, I'll pick up a bunch of stuff for one system, play most of it, and pack that shit away for a while while my taste of the month changes.
Last year, I sold off 70% of my retro shit, and for the most part, I don't miss it.
I'm sitting at less than 10 games for most of my systems.
at the moment, I'm mostly picking up stuff for the PS3 (since it's dirt cheap, like $5 or less for most games) and vita (Since I spend most of every day on campus and it's a good way to sneak in some game time)
Other than that, I don't think I've bought anything turbo related for 2-3 years, and most of my other stuff has been bought off of buddies.
I will say, I'm always interested in seeing people's setups and their thoughts on them.
Initially, video quality didn't matter for shit to me, but as I've experimented I realized that I was relatively spoiled by either gaming on a TV that was too small for it to make much of a difference or by running a really nice secondhand CRT.
But I think part of what's kind of killed a lot of gaming discussion is that the old timers have seen the same topics over and over again "what's the best way to do 'x'" or "did you know that you can 'y'" threads have pretty much all been done by now.
for gameplay discussion, i tend to look more at speed runs and the like.
On the subject of facebook groups, we've all noticed by now that the future of selling your old shit is facebook, so naturally the scumbags who want to avoid paying ebay fees have all moved there.
I'm still always amazed when I see people post things above ebay prices, especially if its common or still available in stores.
I'm still around because you f*ckers left a mark on me.
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But I think part of what's kind of killed a lot of gaming discussion is that the old timers have seen the same topics over and over again "what's the best way to do 'x'" or "did you know that you can 'y'" threads have pretty much all been done by now.
for gameplay discussion, i tend to look more at speed runs and the like.
...
I'm still around because you f*ckers left a mark on me.
Absolutely agree with you. I honestly don't get too excited about certain topics (dead horses), but thankfully there will be something, somewhere that piques my interest.
I know a lot of folks drop out of socializing/participating when "new folks" outnumber the old folks, but I have found it refreshing to see/hear new folks (in real life, as well as our little community here).
Here are things I had LITTLE INTEREST IN many (15) years ago:
(1) Listening obsessively to video game music. I loved VGM, but I was a snob and felt I should listen to "real" music most of the time. Then I realized that I had created an artificial barrier. I still am a music snob, but now I don't worry about keeping up with "real" music. :)
(2) PVM/BVM/STI/STD. I was really annoyed with this trend. I argued with folks here about their (worrisome) obsession with "purity of video signal" and I asserted that CRT + composite was a completely valid aesthetic that resulted in a *purer* experience than RGB+BVM (basically an extension of my preference for using real pads+hardware). Anyway, guess what? Now I am very curious about all the mods and getting clean signals on BVM/PVM/BM/PP... I am taking baby steps... I don't know if I'll ever mod my consoles, but I am open to the idea..
(3) Homebrew (partly because I had yet to play a lot of basic catalog for many systems...I felt I needed to play Shatterhand and Co. before getting distracted by homebrew... also, this was when 99% of homebrew was Atari 2600 stuff). Obviously, I have realized how vital homebrew is. I can't believe 2600 scene used to be a "thriving hotbed" of homebrew. I am glad I was there, but I feel silly for not appreciating homebrew more, sooner. Again, I was a snob.
(4) Conventions. They are still lame, in many ways, but meeting up with a fellow pcefxer makes it worthwhile.
(5) Flash carts/EverDrive. I didn't care about it until I realized I could play homebrew on real console.
My point?
I am glad that the new folks slowly convinced me to evolve and be more flexible.
:)
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This is an awesome time to be into retro games. Everdrives, the Rhea, the Framemeister, etc...
This is a bad time to be a collectard shelf queen.
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This is an awesome time to be into retro games. Everdrives, the Rhea, the Framemeister, etc...
This is a bad time to be a collectard shelf queen.
+100000000
Good point.
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I think that being in your 20s is the best time in one's life for hobbies. You have disposable income greater than ever before and you still have time because most of us didn't have families or were at early parts of our careers with jobs with less responsibility.
Post 30, you hit a point in life where you have a house, bigger family, more time consuming and important job. It is nice, but also time consuming stuff. Between work, girlfriend, friends, and family... I am lucky to get 5 hours a week to myself. I try to game as much as I can, it just is hard doing so... sucks.
I don't think it is much of the hobby changing, other than prices going up (but that always happens with most things). Rather the guys who were playing 80s games are all at the same place in life where people sell out and kinda suck. I have assuredly became like the dickheads that I hated less than 10 years ago and never wanted to be :)
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This is an awesome time to be into retro games. Everdrives, the Rhea, the Framemeister, etc...
This is a bad time to be a collectard shelf queen.
Its also a bad time to think groups of people in retro game groups are actually going to talk about something of worth, lol.
Most of the content is like, shit tier dumpster fire shit
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With things like flash drives being widely available for a wide number of platforms there are reasons now might be the best time to be into retro games if you're specifically looking to play games.
Unfortunately, from the standpoint of wanting to own original software and hardware retro video games have become what baseball cards and comic books were to the baby boomers to the millennial generation. They're the most desired items during childhood that now that those children have grown up into adults become the target of long waiting desires to own causing prices to spike. The bubble will eventually pop so to speak, but this doesn't mean that everything will be cheap again.
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I recently cut out cable TV subscription and.... I didn't even notice it. Nobody in my house (except my wife) watched cable TV (obviously, we are not into sports, ha!)
I did this many years ago and never looked back. Cheers.
In response to the thread title: well, yeah. It's been shit for 4+ years now.
I hate the people on the Facebook Group who post shit like.....
".....Hey, I found a High Definition Graphics Sega Genesis, I hear it is the best kind and quite rare! How much can I get for it?"
People are constantly taking common shit and trying to flip it for mega bucks. The NES retro classic is a huge example of this. Crazy.
Unfortunately, the NES mini is an enabler for these people. Lol.
We cut that shit out years ago. Our version of cable is called DSTV.
We got tired of the endless repeats and advertisements. I miss the Rugby and Cricket a little bit, but not enough to sign back on.
You can stream pretty much any sporting event for free. Of course, you may not be morally inclined to do so. ARRRRR.
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This far as where the retro market is now.I also agree the best that came out of it are the flash carts,reproductions and even sd card readers for the likes of the saturn&dreamcast.When the market does burst.I'll be laughing when all those collectors thought retro video games were a investment.
+1 Every time I see someone post about video games as an investment I want to punch them in the junk.
This is an awesome time to be into retro games. Everdrives, the Rhea, the Framemeister, etc...
This is a bad time to be a collectard shelf queen.
True.
I tend to go in waves honestly, I'll pick up a bunch of stuff for one system, play most of it, and pack that shit away for a while while my taste of the month changes.
Last year, I sold off 70% of my retro shit, and for the most part, I don't miss it.
I'm sitting at less than 10 games for most of my systems.
at the moment, I'm mostly picking up stuff for the PS3 (since it's dirt cheap, like $5 or less for most games) and vita (Since I spend most of every day on campus and it's a good way to sneak in some game time)
Other than that, I don't think I've bought anything turbo related for 2-3 years, and most of my other stuff has been bought off of buddies.
I will say, I'm always interested in seeing people's setups and their thoughts on them.
Initially, video quality didn't matter for shit to me, but as I've experimented I realized that I was relatively spoiled by either gaming on a TV that was too small for it to make much of a difference or by running a really nice secondhand CRT.
But I think part of what's kind of killed a lot of gaming discussion is that the old timers have seen the same topics over and over again "what's the best way to do 'x'" or "did you know that you can 'y'" threads have pretty much all been done by now.
for gameplay discussion, i tend to look more at speed runs and the like.
On the subject of facebook groups, we've all noticed by now that the future of selling your old shit is facebook, so naturally the scumbags who want to avoid paying ebay fees have all moved there.
I'm still always amazed when I see people post things above ebay prices, especially if its common or still available in stores.
+1 on PS3. I have way too many PS3 games as well. But I mean, Gamestop runs 4 for $10 on them and I can't help myself at that point.
Set-up talk can be interesting, but I think it's mostly hashed out at this point. Plus like Este said, lots of people are massive douche bags about it.
As for the facebook groups, the crazy thing is those overpriced items sell. Always a sucker out there I suppose.
I think that being in your 20s is the best time in one's life for hobbies. You have disposable income greater than ever before and you still have time because most of us didn't have families or were at early parts of our careers with jobs with less responsibility.
Post 30, you hit a point in life where you have a house, bigger family, more time consuming and important job. It is nice, but also time consuming stuff. Between work, girlfriend, friends, and family... I am lucky to get 5 hours a week to myself. I try to game as much as I can, it just is hard doing so... sucks.
I don't think it is much of the hobby changing, other than prices going up (but that always happens with most things). Rather the guys who were playing 80s games are all at the same place in life where people sell out and kinda suck. I have assuredly became like the dickheads that I hated less than 10 years ago and never wanted to be :)
TIP: ABANDON YOUR FRIENDS TO PLAY GAMES ALL DAY. I kid, I kid.
This is an awesome time to be into retro games. Everdrives, the Rhea, the Framemeister, etc...
This is a bad time to be a collectard shelf queen.
Its also a bad time to think groups of people in retro game groups are actually going to talk about something of worth, lol.
Most of the content is like, shit tier dumpster fire shit
I quickly realized that no one in those damn groups plays a single f*cking game.
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You can stream pretty much any sporting event for free. Of course, you may not be morally inclined to do so. ARRRRR.
What? Sportsdevil and the like? At one time had a whole lot on them on Kodi.
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Dead links, lost signal, buffering, crap (not always) picture quality.
But I'm open to any source that I may not have yet tried. What do you use?
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Quality is usually crap across the board. My default option is firstrow, but lately I've had to use usagoals.co a bit. Also I know some people live stream on youtube, but I've not tried that yet.
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I've heard Mobdro is decent. An all-in-one type app. I'll give it a proper shot one of these days.
To the OP and the rest- apologies for the off-topic convo. As you were.
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These last two years have been really bad for retro gaming in regards to faggers showing shit on facebook and shit going up for no reason.
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(4) Conventions. They are still lame, in many ways, but meeting up with a fellow pcefxer makes it worthwhile.
Plus we can preach the one true word of obey to the masses.
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(4) Conventions. They are still lame, in many ways, but meeting up with a fellow pcefxer makes it worthwhile.
Plus we can preach the one true word of obey to the masses.
Truth. :)
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It's really only a bad time for buying game. It's a great time if you just want to play games, with more homebrew, translations, user friendly flashcarts, mod/repair knowledge and skills, scans of magazines/manuals/etc., great game info. and review sites (brothers duomazov, pce bible, video game den, etc.), and gameplay videos than ever before. I'd like to see more discussion threads, I guess, but much of it has been covered repeatedly already or has been relegated to chat.
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It's really only a bad time for buying game. It's a great time if you just want to play games, with more homebrew, translations, user friendly flashcarts, mod/repair knowledge and skills, scans of magazines/manuals/etc., great game info. and review sites (brothers duomazov, pce bible, video game den, etc.), and gameplay videos than ever before. I'd like to see more discussion threads, I guess, but much of it has been covered repeatedly already or has been relegated to chat.
The rise of the internet is also good for sharing info on games. It has brought out the obscure and let many people share and play games they never would have heard of otherwise.