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Is classic computer boredom starting to set in?


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Is this time of the year dangerous for your classic computer hobby? With less going on, reasons (excuses) to 'check in' to AtariAge get put on the back burner, and other things start to take priority.

 

Without something new in the way of hardware or software being released, interest starts to fade, boredom sets in and we go elsewhere for our entertainment. Have you ever switched interests, never to return to the original interest due to an absence leading to lack of interest? For example, over the decades, my hobby has changed over about four times, each time the feeling of boredom, being separated from, or having gone as far as I could go set in.

 

vpcho2.jpg

(Yeah, the person who made this GIF could not spell, don't blame me, I just 'borrowed' it.)

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Not bored here, I haven't been on AtariAge too much lately as I have a 7month old who takes up a bit of my time and just learned I got another bun in the oven lol. But I do hope to get my classic computers set back up soon.

 

But I understand sometimes you do just loose interest or find a new interest. It happens.

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Still checking in here every day. I have so many things I want to do with my systems so not bored at all. Time is my big enemy. With the summer comes stuff to do outside on the weekends as we grow things and go out to social gatherings and movies. Working from M-F as well. Plus I am prepping and selling Amigas for the local club so time is spent on that. It almost seems I just have enough time to go into my retro room and smell that wonderful smell of retro computers and then its time to go to bed!

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I dunno ...seems like expecting "new" things from dead platforms is self-defeating. There's a large existing body of work to discover and enjoy. One doesn't hate on Shakespeare for not bringing novelty every month, one digs into what already exists.

 

Look at someone like the CRPG addict. He's got an endless supply of ancient games to keep him going. http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/

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It can be. I've gotten over chasing cartridges and rares a long long time ago. Back in the 90's or thereabouts. I am glad I did. But at first I was reluctant.

 

The hobby (for me) will change in scope and tone over time. It's done it before and it's gonna do it again. It does for everybody. Now I'm into enriching the classic computer experience through the less is more philosophy. Paring down, selling the dupes and trips. Trying new angles in recreational programming. That kind of thing. Getting more into the history, the nuances, the megatrends, the philosophical connotations. Less into the actual gameplay sometimes.

 

It certainly helps in having kept a huge percentage of my original childhood hardware. The sentimental value is an instant stop if I ever get the crazy notion to sell it off. So it's pretty safe.

 

So is boredom setting in? Well it comes and goes. And when it comes I just set the stuff aside. And all of a sudden next month I'm back at it. Kinda semi-cyclical. Been that way for years.

 

---

 

If you want to know about the PC side of things. At first I wanted all kinds of astronomy and fractal stuff and wordprocessing/communications stuff on the 486 I got in 1992'ish. Then I moved into games. Then security applications. Then Data Recovery operations. And now emulation and atmospheric/orbital flight simulation. All different kinds of things all the time.

 

But with the hardware it was always about paying top-dollah for the latest intel processor, in the dot-com era it was something $639 for whatever was in vogue. Then I'd always try overclocking the biatch. More unsuccessful than successful. Then I chased graphics cards. Thank god I grew out of that shit. It was nothing but a money sink. You know, the typical gamer.

 

I always got disappointed when looking at a $5000 box I'd build, and then see the same level of performance or greater at the bargain bin outlets 2 years later. I even did up a couple of those pc mag dream machines. Ugh!! Times I'd rather forget, but are still nostalgic. What a contradiction!

 

Today I take a step back and when I build rigs I don't always go for maximum megahertz. But rather energy efficiency and elegance. And I build them less-often too. You can build a 4GHz machine with a 35w Quad-Core processor. No it isn't the 4.5 or 4.8 overclocked "beast". It's just 3.9GHz. But it gets me 90% of the way there. It doesn't have the gAmeRz bling-bling either. But that's ok. That shit is so immature, you know.

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Especially when the games you like can run on a potato computer.

 

I recently got a "budget" Nvidia GTX 1050Ti video card for $150. It replaced a three-year-old 750Ti which was fine but a little shakey on the two new games I wanted to play. It lives in a 3 year old prebuilt Acer i5 from Best Buy. I think I'll be set until something fails.

 

It's nice to not be chasing impossibly expensive upgrades. It's great to focus on software, and to rediscover old stuff you missed the first time around.

 

Truly old hardware like a physical Texas Instruments PC? I can happily live without that, but it sounds like that's Dash dash omega dash dash's kind of thing.

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Yes, being on the 'cutting edge' of new computer hardware can get impossibly expensive, especially when one makes the wrong decision on a piece of hardware that does not become 'The Standard'. The TI PC was not really my thing either, just the pre PC era TI-99/4A.

 

Honestly in my old age I do not keep up with the current market trends anymore. When the time comes to upgrade again, I'll spend some time making sure it can handle video editing, but that is about it.

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Well... people usually change over time. For many people, once they feel as though they have "mastered" a hobby, they tend to get bored of it and move on to something else.

 

 

 

I'll never get bored of the hobby... I have so much time invested in it, and history with it... that it'll always be a part of me. But, as my life changes, and responsibilities change... I have less time for that stuff.

 

Having a child can change that as well, as you focus more on building a good family support system for your kids... being responsible both financially and in discipline. That's not to say you can't involve your children in your hobbies. My daughter and I went through Conquest of Camelot by Sierra... and also, she helped me build my Polybius cabinet, and we both beat Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1 and 2 arcade games together on there.

 

 

So, I won't say I've lost interest, because I haven't... but I have less time. I still get on here because there's always a new Jaguar game. I separated myself (really on accident, just got busy) for a few years when Blacklight, Gorf, Battlesphere and Battlesphere Gold came out. I could have easily bought them at their initial offering price... but I missed it cause I wasn't here. :) So now I check constantly, and buy every game I see sold.

 

I'd be interested to see if the original Atari Jaguar games sold through 1996 to bankruptcy, still outnumber the total number of "released" homebrew and after-release games by Telegames and Sonbird Productions?

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There's way too much out there for me to ever get bored due to a lack of "stuff". I just got myself an SD2IEC for my C64 with a loaded SD card, for example, and there are way more games on that thing than I think I could play in a lifetime. I'm sure most of them I will never even fire up because I just don't have time to play 20,000 games. And that's just one computer; I'm planning to get flash storage for all my classic computers over the next few months.

 

I do get bored with this hobby sometimes but it's not for lack of new things to try, for me it's probably that I just get sick of living in the past sometimes. I go through periods where I just concentrate more on current consoles and my modern PC's. But I always come back.

 

Like some others have said, I grew up during the 70's and 80's and got my first computer in 1985, so as long as this stuff physically exists, I'll always be around it. If I didn't have the memories from the actual time itself, it might be easier for it to just fade out of my life forever. But it was then and probably always will be a big part of my life.

 

I'm not even sure modern and classic computing are really different things; I mean I didn't think of it as "classic computing" in 1985. I was just using what was current, and the new stuff coming out all the time was exciting. So whether I'm more into modern or classic stuff today, I think it's really all the same mentality and the same hobby.

Edited by spacecadet
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^^^^ yeah baby yeah

 

Good games are always good games, regardless of when they were made.

 

I often wonder how many "future classics" I'm missing out on, because I gravitate towards familiar names and brands from the past. (Just got Ultra Street Fighter II for Switch, and it's a weird new/old fresh/familiar feeling)

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Now that we've reached the limit of what the first consoles can do - the style and intensity of interest in them changes. Not necessarily boredom, just, different.

 

I also stopped baggie-chasing the latest PC hardware some 10 - 15 years ago. I only build a new rig now and then, and that's usually to get updated processor instruction sets or graphics that support new standards. I don't really care about MHz or overclocking.

 

I do find some interest in modern storage devices for classic rigs. Same with using emulators to bring more capability and speed and convenience to the old friendly platforms of yore. I have no desire to build up a super commodore or apple rig when my current PC does it all.

 

I'd rather keeo the "stock" configuration of a classic Apple II somewhat period correct, too. Just like back in the day. With modern storage to eliminate wear and tear on 40 year old disk drives.

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I can't imagine ever being bored with or quitting this hobby. I've been doing it for more than half of my life.

The Atari 2600 was what really got me into it when I was a kid in the mid-'90s (and I actually got an Odyssey 2 and Intellivision before I got my first 2600). The 2600 alone is such an immensely broad area that even if I had stuck exclusively to that, I can't see myself ever being bored with it. But I've branched out so much from that and now have several favorite systems, including several computers.

I am trying to cut down some of the extraneous stuff I'm not really interested in as much, though. It's just a matter of deciding what needs to go. :P I'm definitely at a point in my life where I value efficient, flexible, and aesthetically pleasing use of space above piles of computers, parts, cartridges, and accessories all over the house. (Probably doesn't help that I work as a merchandiser and display designer for a large furniture retailer! :P)

But I don't think I could ever be bored of the hobby. Just this week I got some disks of games for the TRS-80 Model II! How cool is that? :-D

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I've always had a hard time with expressions of boredom. When I was a kid, my friends would say "I'm bored" and I'd say "So?" and keep working on whatever I was up to.

 

When my little girls would say "I'm bored" I could always list 20 things they could do (plenty of them would be chores). The brief conversation usually resulted in them figuring out something to be engaged in for several hours. I've always heard "I'm bored" as "Please entertain me". I suppose maybe it was partly my job to entertain them. But they are both independent adults on their way to being constructive members of society.

 

I don't think I've ever been bored, unless it was my decision to be bored, such as watching almost anything on TV to fall asleep. (All crime dramas: The celebrity guest star did it)

 

When I'm out shopping with my wife and/or daughters they worry that I'm bored. I'm usually happily busy thinking about what I did wrong or could do better with whatever project I'm working on.

 

There is always a project, and a next project. and a next next project. And never enough time to do/learn everything I want to. My current project has me learning a little systemd, python, verilog, TI-99/4A assembly and architecture, and dabbling with other era platforms for ideas, context, options and UX.

 

I think that is the trick. Always be learning.

 

-M@

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I have been into vintage computers since..well..since they were not considered vintage ;) Well, most of them that is (late 70's and up). I know I will never leave it entirely. There have been quite a few times in the past that I had been forced to sell off certain pieces of hardware due to financial issues and while there was nothing I could have done about that at that point I do try every other avenue before parting with my vintage computer stuff, especially since it has become increasingly hard to obtain either due to much higher prices nowadays or the fact that some pieces are now permanently attached to collections and impossible to get now.

 

Do I get bored sometimes? Sure, everybody gets bored of things. That is when I step back and leave everything alone for awhile. I don't buy anything new or scour around for things and I don't make it feel like it is some sort of requirement that I must play around with my vintage collection. I know its there. When I come back to it weeks or months later I'm happy to see it :)

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I have to disagree a bit with the "good games are always good games" mantra. Sometimes what was great in the past "ages out" when we get used to a better/different/other way of doing things. I think it's usually easier for action-style games to stay relevant/playable, but harder for games like RPGs. At least that's been my experience, particularly in recent times.

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I have to disagree a bit with the "good games are always good games" mantra. Sometimes what was great in the past "ages out" when we get used to a better/different/other way of doing things. I think it's usually easier for action-style games to stay relevant/playable, but harder for games like RPGs. At least that's been my experience, particularly in recent times.

 

When a good game ages out, then it's not a good game anymore.

 

I can play H.E.R.O. and have just about as much fun as playing Head Lander, which it sorta resembles. It's still a good game.

 

I don't enjoy playing things like Indy 500 or Pele's Soccer. I'm not going to play Phantasy Star II, even if the sound is fixed on the next AtGames Genesis. That's just the way it is. Those aren't good games anymore. It's valid to wonder if they ever were.

 

A good game is timeless.

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When a good game ages out, then it's not a good game anymore.

 

I can play H.E.R.O. and have just about as much fun as playing Head Lander, which it sorta resembles. It's still a good game.

 

I don't enjoy playing things like Indy 500 or Pele's Soccer. I'm not going to play Phantasy Star II, even if the sound is fixed on the next AtGames Genesis. That's just the way it is. Those aren't good games anymore. It's valid to wonder if they ever were.

 

A good game is timeless.

 

I don't agree with the "wonder" premise. Some things are just of their time, period. If they were great in and of their time, but are not enjoyable anymore, I don't think that diminishes their greatness. That's more an argument of timelessness vs greatness. Some things, like action games, are by their nature, more conducive to being timeless.

 

This is not a strictly videogame phenomena either. The same thing applies, for instance, to a lot of the movies we'd watch multiple times as kids. Tastes change/evolve and media of their time don't always come with us. I know when I watched the original Star Wars trilogy with my kids - something I watched myself countless times and loved - it was a bit hard to get through. Those were amazing films in their time, but pacing and special effects have really changed in the 30 years since they were released. Acknowledging that doesn't make those films any less than they were. That's kind of like saying Ultima IV was never a great game because it's so difficult to get into today. In the context of its time, it was amazing and was for a long, long time after its release. Not everything has a "forever" shelf life.

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This "growing up" phenomenon you describe is strange, but I would like to learn more. Subscribe me to your newsletter, please.

 

But seriously -- that's exactly what's up with the 40-something Star Wars fans who hate on the prequels. Yeah, they're silly, but they're tonally consistent with the original films, which were built up in our minds as better than they were. There's a reason more kids than adults are into games, escapist movies, comics, things like that. Their minds are more plastic and they're more receptive to new ideas -- good or bad.

 

How would you feel about "a well designed game can be enjoyed on some level for a very long time."

 

I'm looking forward to XWVM, a mod for the computer game X-Wing. It will require the original media but will wrap modern graphics and controls around the old design. The missions were very puzzle-based so I'm curious how I'll respond to this. I like old games, I like Star Wars, I used to like this game a lot ... but it has some creaky design elements that may well have aged badly.

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Why should a game or movie gave to be related and compared to the tine it was made, can't it stand alone? For what it is?

 

---

 

Growing up is the loss of neurons, 200,000 per day. And the solidification of existing patterns & connections. It's why kids learn languages better than grups.

Edited by Keatah
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