get-off-my-lawn
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Teens playing Mario Kart 64: 'Who designed this?'
Ready to feel old? The Fine Brothers' latest React Gaming video shows teens playing another classic game, 1996's Mario Kart 64. The ten-minute competition is entertaining through the final close race while taking older players back to simpler times. Among our favorite quotes is one of the test subject's confusion over the Nintendo 64 controller, turning it over while pondering, "Who designed this?" The React Gaming series pairs retro games and consoles with youthful players, putting their bewilderment on display for the benefit of all. Past videos showed teens failing at Mega Man, discussing the size of the Game Boy and the absurdness of the NES, the latter featuring Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams. Younger players may have a greater appreciation for the latest game in Nintendo's racing series, Mario Kart 8, which was one of Joystiq's best games of 2014. [Image: Nintendo]
Watch teens play Mega Man for first time and mega suck at it
The same people who made us feel geriatric by givings kids Game Boys and teenagers NES-es are back, and now they've got Mega Mans. This time, we don't just feel old, but also shocked and appalled. Why isn't this stuff taught in schools? Where the hell is Mega Man 11? Why are you still on our lawn? [Image: grumpypants]
Feel old by watching kids not know what a Game Boy is
Kids today with their fancy touchscreens and their 1080p! Why, back in our day, we took our non-backlit 160 × 144 pixel screens and we liked it! Rabble! Rabble rabble rabble rabble! If you owned an original Game Boy and would like to feel like an old fogey yelling at people to get off your lawn, be sure to check out the newest "Kids React" video from YouTubers TheFineBros, where kids between the age of 6 and 13 show their knowledge (or lack thereof) about Nintendo's iconic handheld. Ah well. If nothing else, we can take solace thinking that one day these children will probably shake their heads when the next generation expresses bewilderment at an iPad. [Image: TheFineBros]
The Anvil of Crom: Hives of scum and villainy
Once, a long time ago, I stood on the summit of a sandy cliff with my MMO mentor. His sage-like eyes took in the desert around us, surveying the burgeoning multiplayer landscape. On one side of us were MMOs; on the other, FPS titles and social networking games. Surrounding us from all directions I saw a writhing, rioting mass of digital humanity, overlapping chat bubbles floating toward the horizon for miles around. Some of these bubbles were legible, though many featured bizarre butcherings of the king's English as well as certain phrases that I couldn't even begin to decipher. Almost all of them sported excessive punctuation and some variation on LOL. Squinting his eyes against the glare and covering his ears with both hands, my mentor inclined his head down the slope. "Global chat," he said, a weary sign escaping his chapped lips. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
The Daily Grind: We had to grind uphill, both ways!
One of the things that our new webcomic Grinders brought to mind were some of the things that used to drive us absolutely bonkers about the old-school MMOs we used to play. Speaking personally, I could list a whole bunch of things from original EverQuest; having to stare at the wall or the floor to cast heals for my party otherwise the spell effects caused my poor old computer to lag unbearably; the idea that you had to regenerate mana by staring at your spellbook for well on 5 minutes; dying, losing a level, and then running back naked and alone. There's a whole bunch more, but this morning we thought we'd ask you - what are some of the old-school things you remember as being totally normal and expected from your early MMO experience that just make you shake your head now?
Mac II couch
I love this. From my old hometown of Maryland Heights, MO (although Google says there is no Mac Store in town there-- maybe it's that old computer store that used to be on Dorsett just east of 270), it's the Mac II couch, made completely out of old Macintosh IIs held together with drywall screws. I can't imagine that it would actually be comfortable (although it's probably as comfy as any park bench), but I do like how there is actually a little bit of design to it-- instead of just building a solid block, those armrests and that base look great.See, that's the problem with today's computers. Sure, MacBook Pros are super thin, and iPhones are slim little devices that have many times over the power of the old Mac II, but can you build a couch out of them? I think not![ via Neatorama ]
