/retro/ - Y2K

I don't think it has to be an either or thing, to better appreciate a medium it's very educational to look at a broad range of works across time whether that's games, music, films and so on. As the culture around an art form develops trends appear both positive & negative that can have long lasting impacts, or fizzle out for one reason or another. If you look at any given moment past or present there will always be a mix of things you like and dislike, which will better inform your understanding of what's meaningful to you about a particular medium, if something enhances your understanding then it isn't something to be feared or avoided.

On a related note, there is something of a tendency for people to try and find a cutoff where "good" ends and "bad" begins but that's too simplistic a way to look at things. Culture is a collaborative process where many thousands of voices are expressing themselves in whichever manner aligns with their circumstances at the time, with so many things being produced and made accessible through the internet the chances of nothing out there being enjoyable or at least meaningful to you in some way may as well be nil. Discoverability is something that's perhaps suffering, as powerful service operators continually shift their priorities away from user satisfaction but there's people and communities working to provide alternative means of distribution, finding something interesting may just require walking off the beaten path.

gif-Ray-Harryhausen-Jason-and-the-Argonauts-movies-685671.gif
[Hide] (5.2MB, 493x360)

>>4494 (OP) 
That's never been a problem for me. I've just come to accept that most new media just doesn't appeal to me at all on an aesthetic level. In some ways it was a gradual process, but I think it began as a teenager when I started getting more into movie history. I noticed that I much preferred the presentation of old movies compared to what was coming out in the 2000s. It's not like I hadn't been exposed to older media for as long as I could remember, but learning about old-school movie production and special effects (especially movies from the '20s and '30s)  brought into sharp relief how older movies seemed to have a magic to them that newer ones just lacked. I soon stopped caring about new releases. I still went to the theaters a couple times even into the 2010s, but I didn't see anything that stuck with me in a positive way.

I've had similar experiences with other media, like video games and music. I would still try to keep up with new music releases when I was in high school, for example, but later on I realized that it wasn't worth my time and that I had better results just looking for older music I hadn't heard before. I liked a lot of that "synthwave" stuff before the style became so oversaturated  (I even remember talking to Perturbator when he showed up for a Q&A on 8chan's /mu/), but I struggle to think of anything since then that's really done it for me.

I'm perfectly fine being a curmudgeonly grognard. I don't think being passive about it is the way to go though. I think those of us who are dissatisfied with the state of things today should aim to create things that better reflect our own sensibilities, even if only for our own enjoyment.

I don't have the feeling either because like fellow TTs said, there's clearly a difference in quality and mainly characteristics, also there's actual niche for it meaning there's an audience for it and because i am indirectly contributing via IRL distribution and/or digital creation then it's not like i feel stuck back in time, we can still make stuff although obviously not in big productions.
The problem arises with conversations with the nigger cattle, particularly women who do not understand how can someone enjoy something not well known.

>I'm not able to move on to new experiences, interests, and learn new things.
Now that is a problem too, haven't had that either because there's shit loads of media to consume, keeping things fresh. With video games it's lowering the bar although i think there's plenty of great games to immerse yourself, and the average game back then was also way above-average nowadays in terms of gameplay. For example some random games from the Gen 6 era are as good as anything nowadays bar graphix and perhaps amount of items.
In terms of music it's almost a non-problem other than trying to find it, many musicians still make stuff like in the old days.
With movies there's plenty of old stuff and some people, sometimes, make things similarly to the old styles but problem is trying to find it. I still think there's plenty enough before 2005.

>>4494 (OP) 
>I battle with whether I honestly think that certain aspects of retro tech, games, culture, aesthetics were actually better
Stupid thread, of course they were. What's actually better? Games, movies, culture, everything is terrible now. The tech? Sure on a technical level but old tech were built to last, my 20 years old disc drive still burns discs without any issues, meanwhile modern burners crap themselves in a year.

>>4496
> I think those of us who are dissatisfied with the state of things today should aim to create things that better reflect our own sensibilities, even if only for our own enjoyment.
Absolutely. It's so easy to sleepwalk through life in a haze of distractions, but good art and media are in short supply these days.

I vowed to never be the old guy sitting in front of the TV watching reruns, driving a 23 year old car, and only listening to classic rock. So I didn't.
I also wrote off modern pop culture as not my scene so I wouldn't partake. So I also didn't.
It's kind of a lonely existence sometimes, but other times I can bond over food, travel, or tech hobbies instead of consuming. I don't know, mixed feelings here too.

>>4513
>I vowed to never be the old guy sitting in front of the TV watching reruns, driving a 23 year old car, and only listening to classic rock.
Isn't...isn't that what we're doing here?  Isn't that what we're becoming?