Comic Strips

What game is it?

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

shallowest games anyone ever created

Have you tried some Roblox content?

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.

Having my Bluetooth controller disconnect mid game makes me unhappy.

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

Gaming was so... cordial

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

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

nah my issue is ethnofascists and the nerd reich

if the US could stop being a dumpster fire my inside life would be fine

How else do you reconcile the world we observe with the one we were promised?

Tears? Drugs? Apathy?

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time

Being an adult, especially right now, just kinda sucks in a lot of ways. Bills, responsibilities, the general downward trend toward fascism that every major world power took post-covid, a fucked housing market, ever-widening wealth inequality, there's just kind of a lot that sucks right now.

No it’s more like they miss the time in their life where they didn’t have a job or other responsibilities, and were ignorant enough about the world not to worry about the state of the society and how it’s gonna impact their life, plus when you are a kid you have all these years ahead of you and as you get older those years start to shrink so you are constantly thinking about what you’ve done and what you still have to do in the amount of time you’ve got left.