Generation 1983
Apr. 22nd, 2008 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicEvery few years, I go on a real Nintendo kick and pull out the old system and games and just go nuts until I wear myself out. I'm in the midst of a big SNES kick, and I can't get enough of the shit. I remember thinking how advanced it was after having a Nintendo for a few years first. After I got the SNES, I hardly ever played Nintendo again, except every once in a while when I'd feel the need for something old school. Now I'd say I love them both equally, and wouldn't want to erase either from my life entirely. I got an N64 when I was in college, but it lived at home and I never played much. I only ever owned two games, and never beat either one. (Mario and Zelda) I liked them, just never spent a lot of time with the system, and I never owned anything further up the gaming ladder. Wii is okay, I mean I see how it's really innovative and cool, but I don't see myself ever spending hours with it. I can still do that with the old systems.
I wonder -- do the kids growing up with Wii and whatever the next generation of gaming will bring see any value or fun in the original Nintendo or SNES? Do I only enjoy these games for the nostalgia? It doesn't matter to me -- I enjoy it, so who cares why? It just makes me feel a little old.
Z and I were talking today about the concept of generations. There's the greatest generation, and the baby boomers, each of which span a range of about 20 years. Then generations started condensing. Z and I are less than 4 years apart, but there are so many things that are part of his experience that I'm just too young for. And then when people a year or two younger than I am try to talk "old school" with me I'm just like "child, please." Technology certainly has something to do with this, but also television. When our parents were kids, they had three choices of networks to watch -- everyone who had a TV had most of the same viewing experiences. Nowadays, 100 different people could watch 100 hours of television for 100 weeks and never see the same thing. And then there are freaks like me who don't even own a television. Because of that, there are a lot of ways I don't fit in at all with my peers. American Idol, what? Grey's Anatomy? I can't even identify half the people in People Magazine anymore, and I kinda like it like that, but at the same time, a lot of things come up in conversation and pop culture that I just don't get because I don't have a TV.
The most notable effect of non-viewing is that we're not constantly marketed to. There's still a lot of marketing pretty much everywhere, but with Adblock (thank you, Firefox!) on my computer and no TV at all, I'd say I get about 90% fewer advertisements than most people around me. This has a particularly interesting effect on how we perceive the campaigns. Z mentioned all the negative campaigning that was heating up, and I was like "what?" I read the news, I follow the main stories, and I feel like I'm more on top of things than most Americans, really, but it occurred to me today that I have not seen a single campaign commercial in this entire election season. Maybe that's why I don't feel the supposedly harsh divide between Hillary supporters and Obama fans. I'd be happy to support either candidate and I really don't see a huge difference between them fundamentally. I guess that as the battle rages on with no end in sight, they're doing their best to separate themselves from the other in their campaigning, and the media certainly highlights differences, but I just haven't been subjected to all that. I see two Democrats who both share about the same number of core values with me as the other. Neither is a perfect match, but without a bombardment of television ads to sway me one way or the other, well, I haven't really been swayed.
Z said to me at lunch that he wished televisions were much more expensive, because maybe then people would start to understand what a waste of time they are. I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou-ish, but the man has a good point. Sure, we'd all miss our favorite shows, and it's nice to unwind with a lighthearted sitcom or even shitty reality show (which is why I own lots of DVD box sets), but think how much better most people's lives would be if they spent all the time that they now spend watching TV simply doing something else. I do miss Joel McHale's snark, and it is a shame I don't get my daily dose of Jon & Stephen, but overall I think it's a very small price to pay. And there's always YouTube for the really good stuff. Speaking of which:
I wonder -- do the kids growing up with Wii and whatever the next generation of gaming will bring see any value or fun in the original Nintendo or SNES? Do I only enjoy these games for the nostalgia? It doesn't matter to me -- I enjoy it, so who cares why? It just makes me feel a little old.
Z and I were talking today about the concept of generations. There's the greatest generation, and the baby boomers, each of which span a range of about 20 years. Then generations started condensing. Z and I are less than 4 years apart, but there are so many things that are part of his experience that I'm just too young for. And then when people a year or two younger than I am try to talk "old school" with me I'm just like "child, please." Technology certainly has something to do with this, but also television. When our parents were kids, they had three choices of networks to watch -- everyone who had a TV had most of the same viewing experiences. Nowadays, 100 different people could watch 100 hours of television for 100 weeks and never see the same thing. And then there are freaks like me who don't even own a television. Because of that, there are a lot of ways I don't fit in at all with my peers. American Idol, what? Grey's Anatomy? I can't even identify half the people in People Magazine anymore, and I kinda like it like that, but at the same time, a lot of things come up in conversation and pop culture that I just don't get because I don't have a TV.
The most notable effect of non-viewing is that we're not constantly marketed to. There's still a lot of marketing pretty much everywhere, but with Adblock (thank you, Firefox!) on my computer and no TV at all, I'd say I get about 90% fewer advertisements than most people around me. This has a particularly interesting effect on how we perceive the campaigns. Z mentioned all the negative campaigning that was heating up, and I was like "what?" I read the news, I follow the main stories, and I feel like I'm more on top of things than most Americans, really, but it occurred to me today that I have not seen a single campaign commercial in this entire election season. Maybe that's why I don't feel the supposedly harsh divide between Hillary supporters and Obama fans. I'd be happy to support either candidate and I really don't see a huge difference between them fundamentally. I guess that as the battle rages on with no end in sight, they're doing their best to separate themselves from the other in their campaigning, and the media certainly highlights differences, but I just haven't been subjected to all that. I see two Democrats who both share about the same number of core values with me as the other. Neither is a perfect match, but without a bombardment of television ads to sway me one way or the other, well, I haven't really been swayed.
Z said to me at lunch that he wished televisions were much more expensive, because maybe then people would start to understand what a waste of time they are. I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou-ish, but the man has a good point. Sure, we'd all miss our favorite shows, and it's nice to unwind with a lighthearted sitcom or even shitty reality show (which is why I own lots of DVD box sets), but think how much better most people's lives would be if they spent all the time that they now spend watching TV simply doing something else. I do miss Joel McHale's snark, and it is a shame I don't get my daily dose of Jon & Stephen, but overall I think it's a very small price to pay. And there's always YouTube for the really good stuff. Speaking of which:
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no subject
Date: 2008-04-23 05:03 am (UTC)Wii is awesome.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-26 01:18 am (UTC)I agree with your last two items on the list. :-)
I am a *huge* fan of Mario Galaxy. Patrick plays Twilight Princess a lot. It's awesome.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-23 02:45 pm (UTC)