My thing is Miniclip, brought down by the anti-Flash player revolution. Like, it still exists but it doesn’t have near the catalogue of games that it once did. There are so many niche games that I played there that aren’t available because flash isn’t supported anymore. Random games that were probably created in someone dorm room as a project that they just threw up on the internet (idk but they looked like it at times) and didn’t have micro-transactions, etc.browsing that site and playing random games was a large part of my childhood. and this brings up a majorly depressing point: The games we’re playing now and even the games our kids are playing now won’t be available for the next generations. So many games will be shut down, deleted, lost to time since they require some sort of online support that isn’t native to the disc (among other things). So much will be lost. And we can’t do too much about it.
Ok Pete this IS DEPRESSING. I forgot about all the flash games I played growing up, I spent hours. Or those old random computer games that came pre installed on Microsoft computers. Like chips challenge or jewel thief
My miniclip obsession as a child was motherlode, I played that game for hours and hours, and even though I'm pretty sure I only ever bothered to beat it once as a kid, the experience was similar to what I imagine playing minecraft is like for kids today. A couple years ago I went and downloaded a local flash player so that I could experience some of that nostalgia. Part of me was worried I was going to hate it- and it was a lot more simplistic than I remember it being- but damn if it wasn't a chill gameplay experience.
The Ruffle browser extension lets you play Flash content still, as long as it’s still hosted. A bunch of Neopets games can still only be played with Ruffle
@@Mike-di1og Bro, this is awesome. I'll check this out. I don't think it'll work for a lot of the miniclip games I'm thinking of cuz they aren't even hosted on the site anymore, but I'm sure I could find some of them on other sites if I tried.
I'm from Eastern Europe and people of older generations would never ever buy electronics online or digitally, you HAVE to get them to the store where they have to touch and try out EVERYTHING, I can't imagine these stores closing here, it's insane to me
Sadly there's no Cluefinder community where i can share the experience but my personal favorite was 3rd grade. The music, the story, the plot twist! Come on, Monkey kingdom?! Goo Lagoon?! It was full of personality, jokes and intuitive problems. Monkeys and their shenanigans, plants and their references that i could only catch years later (John, Paul, Ringo and George) it was the best no contest. 4th grade, was still great but the story was dropped for a very simple linear one and 5th/6th grade felt like they just dropped the setting, the story/plot and intuitive games for a more hardcore approach on education. I remember the 5th and 6th were so bad i felt like i was doing homework more than learning through games, i even remember there were problems about BIOCHEMISTRY! 6th grader game about carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen elements to configure and reconfigure.
I lived in the Pacific Northwest for almost 30 years and have never heard of Fry’s Electronics, strange. I do remember being really bummed when my local Borders Bookstore closed
MEMORY UNLOCKED! I loved the Clue Finders games! Especially the 4th Grade Egyptian one. These along with the I Spy and JumpStart games made up the few games we had for the family computer in the late 90s early 2000s. So nostalgic thinking about those games...
Windows 98 software will usually work on newer PCs. Windows 95 is a bit harder to get to work. And CD software is better than downloads; no waiting for a slow connection.
I feel a bit sad about the decline in indie comic book stores. I used walk with my friends 45 mins to the local shop. We'd get the weekly releases and some tcg packs, then grab a slurpee and maybe play a few arcades. I took my son to the store this summer when we were back in BC. I knew it was closing down, but it was sad to see the dilapidated condition. The owner too, I had joked to my son that he was "king of the nerds" back in the day. I had kind of idolized him. Now, he looked beaten down by life. Still, I told him how I wanted to bring my son to see his shop, how many happy memories I had as a kid there, and thanked him for those times. That brought a nice smile. I try to see the interrelation of decay and renewal, but it can be painful sometimes, the ephemerality of it all.
I saw that Fry's in the thumbnail and clicked immediately. I didn't grow up with Fry's but I was stationed in California (first in Pendleton and later in Miramar) for most of the first half of my time in the Marine Corps, im the early 2000s to 2010s, and getting a chance to go to Fry's was always a sublime experience. Plus, I made it a point to stop in before every deployment, so I could always ensure I had whatever dongles, adapters, or batteries I might need to ensure my gadgets work, no matter how austere the environment. I had a similar experienve to yours later in my career, on a detachment to Miramar, where I made it a point in the limited time I had available to stop at Fry's again, and seeing it so close to empty was almost existentially sad. I was also huge into webcomics back then, too, but thankfully most of the ones I followed were the big ones, so they didn't really just vanish.
@CantankerousDave I never got a chance to go to that one, unfortunately, but the "Atlantis" themed one in San Marcos with the giant fish tank was amazing! Supposedly the one in San Diego was "Aircraft Carrier" themed, but honestly I never saw it. It just looked like a store, to me. But what a store it was!
Super Paper Mario being bad was a hot take. It’s very different but the story is amazing. It was my first game in the series so I hold a lot more nostalgia for it, but from a gameplay perspective I understand it’s inferiority. You’re opinion of Super is a lot like the rest of the fandom’s opinion on Sticker Star the next one in the series
Yes I gave up after super lol but I heard sticker star was even worse. It does seem a lot of people have come around on super so I may have to give it a try again - I still own my og copy!
So sad to have to toss those old games on CD, lol. Maybe they will get a remaster. I've been a subsciber for a few months now since you started your ASOIAF reviews and have been really enjoying your channel! I've seen you're a mom and obviously an avid book fan, and as a new dad I am curious if you had any suggestions on some books for younger kids. My son will be turning 1 in a couple weeks so I know he won't be reading on his own for quite some time. But any suggestions for when he does get into reading would be great.
@@Bookborn Very cool! Being a person who doesn't have kids, but has a close relationship with my nieces, it's been really fascinating watching (and helping to shape!) their reading habits as they've grown. I had no idea that kids' books could be so much fun!
Just being able to rent video games in general. As a concept and a service it is essentially non-existent. There’s no local video game rental places where I live (if anywhere anymore) and I don’t want to pay for subscription services like GameFly (do they still exist?). So now it’s “buy it and hope you like it” or “watch someone stream it and see if you think you’ll like it.” As a result, I just don’t buy/play as many video games anymore. 😢
Fry’s depresses me too… After my Mom died, every Sunday my dad would take me to the Fry’s in Oxnard and I would literally spend four or five hours in there and he was so nice he just waited in the same little spot in the shitty little cafeteria just waiting. He’d give me like $15.00 a week and I could choose to save it up or spend it every week and I used to walk to him, show him the game or thing I was thinking about getting, he’d ask if I’m sure and then I’d second guess it and put it back. I’d repeat this process probably 15 or twenty times for like four hours, then on paydays, we’d get $10.00 soup and salad at the Olive Garden across the street. Yeah… $10.00 unlimited soup and salad.
They had a Fry's in Phoenix near where my parents lived and they showed up one morning to buy something and there was a note on the door stating that they were closed and "if you are an employee, please contact...". They didn't even tell the employees they were closing :P I miss CompUSA too :P And the game I remember my kids loving was the Freddie Fish franchise :P
Yeah, they're re-releasing thousand year door for $60. But I'm surprised you bring up Paper Mario and Cluefinders. I didn't realize how many people can relate to missing Cluefinders.
yikes I didn't know they were putting that heafty price tag on it lol I was hoping it would be through the monthly thing like playing Link to the Past and stuff (although I guess they aren't porting but doing an entire remake...)
I will not accept this Super Paper Mario slander -- Sticker Star, Color Splash, Origami King? Absolutely. But Super Paper Mario, while certainly different from the others, is still a delight, if you know going into it that you shouldn't expect it to be like its predecessors.
Ahhh thank you for reminding me about ClueFinders! I remember back in elementary school getting the next grade version every year. I don't think I actually ever finished any of them though 😅
I grew up not too far from a Micro Center. In the mid-90s the place was always packed, and I mean PACKED. I remember so many computers with game demos that you could actually play, I remember staff everywhere helping people out. Then fast forward a little more than a decade and I start a job near the same store. I hadn't been in about a decade. It was quieter, but still relatively busy. Over the years it got quieter and quieter and emptier and emptier. I moved offices right before 2020, so I'm no longer nearby, but I can only imagine what it's like now.
I played Cluefinders, butr I remember nothing about it sadly. There was another edutainment game I loved, Goofus and Gallant.. That was a good one too..
The Paper Mario franchise makes me so, so sad, too. Nintendo forgot what made the first two games so good. (It got much worse after Super Paper Mario) BUT THE SKYWARD SWORD HATRED!?!? Oh no. I love that game.
I think it is fairer to make that claim about sticker star and the games following it. Super paper Mario only deviated in gameplay. I think it is just as fun and silly as the first two games and actually has the best story of the whole series.
Wait, what? Fry's gone? ☹ I'm not American, but I lived in the Bay Area for awhile in 1999-2000... and Fry's were huge! The place where you could grab a shopping cart and walk up and down the isles like in a supermarket and pick out everything you needed to build your own desktop computer.
Little ole Game Stop is still around, Radioshack is gone, CVS will no longer be in a sizable number of Target stores. There was Borders that is now a Gold's Gym, and Barnes & Noble is downsizing to copy smaller local bookstores. Bookstores are still mid to premium priced. Support you Friendly Local Comicbook Stores, FLGS's, and your local friendly used book stores and local libraries with donations. Some cool finds for $1-2 bucks. Oooh, webcomics taken over by digital Comixology? How about media content like Liquid TV and The Maxx (check it out!) from MTV back when they actually made music. What about last Blockbuster? Or other local franchise?
I never went to Fry's, but Circuit City and Best Buy were fun in a similar way. For video games, I often went to Walmart.. Not to mention all the various video rental stores that had games!
BookBorn, I can so relate. As I watched your video I was in the middle of digitizing years of content and collateral I have saved, used and referenced. I have old video projects that I need to get digitized, I have old cassettes of indie bands I loved but cannot find on online, lots of memories and nostalgia. The downside is that tech changes so fast and it is all becoming digital. We can certainly back it up, but how many places do I need to back it up to so it survives a crash, a hacking, a corruption, an EMP? ;) Our old Fry's Electronics (which I used to call Tech Mecca) is now a car dealership. Sad. Thanks for the fun, weird, and nostalgic niche nerd video. If one thing is constant, it is change.
Oh man, Red String! I had completely forgotten about that webcomic until now. I don't think I actually ever finished it... If you like the early Paper Marios, I hope you've also played Super Mario RPG! My husband got me to play Paper Mario by saying it was kind of a spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG. SMRPG is really fun, and I'm both scared and excited to play the remake... I hope they didn't change it too much!
Gosh I miss Fry's so much! I would go to one in DFW and it was just such a fun past time to go. Towards the end I started getting these Red Bull infused drinks the Fry's cafe would make. Got an Elvira DVD and several Doctor Who box sets from them back in the day. 😅 Along with most of the PC I built. Edit: I still hate Amazon. x)
If you like the paper mario games you should try showing your kids the Mario and Luigi rpg’s. I’m not sure how you access them (I think the switch online has a GBA emulator), but especially super star saga and bowser’s inside story have so much humor and charm.
I quite like Super Paper Mario, though mainly for the writing; the gameplay I would describe as "present" and while I haven't played any of the others I've seen what they look like and can't help but find it lacking in that department. I think I managed to only ever read one webcomic that ended without finishing, which was called Prague Race, though Stand Still Stay Silent's ending was pretty disappointing. Currently I'm keeping up with a few; I'd most readily recommend Wilde Life, Nix of Nothing and Daughter of the Lilies, though the latter is currently on hiatus. My personal sad niche nerd thing I would say is Yuri Norstein's The Overcoat and its eternal in-progress-ness.
This is a fresh wound, but CoolMath's end for me. Future generations will never know the vibe of being in the computer lab but you finished what the teacher assigned and so there was only one place to go (that wasnt blocked on school computers).
Holy shit Clue finders. That goes way back....one of those educational games my mom forced me to play, especially that jungle one. I don't think I was ever smart enough to finish it lol Those ole niche computer games from that era come to mind too, like the first few backyard sports games or Lego spy team. I also really miss the old game kiosks from the GameCube/PS2 eras, straining neck to try demos in the stores, a core memory. Game magazines too! Nintendo power and EGM introduced me to so many games I never got to play or experience, but I could dream. All the this now obsolete media that got the word out on media I might enjoy. I miss print copies of Shonen Jump too Don't even get me started on the early internet websites too like New grounds
Mine is how bad the mainline pokemon games have gotten (I haven't played Arceus yet). But in my opinion, they peaked at Platinum. Platinum was genuinely hard. There are so many times in that game I go, oh I'm overleveled and then get wiped by a gym leader or when you stomp the elite 4 and get wiped by Cynthia. Pokemon now feels like it was made for 3 year olds. Its way too easy. Also Platinum had the perfect amount of pokemon at the right times. You could have different team comps that worked really well, but not like giving you OP pokemon off rip or just having a big area like Sword and Shield where you could catch whatever you wanted.
I love Cluefinders, when my daughter was in 3rd grade I managed to get my old copy to work on an old laptop I had that ran windows 7 using an external CD drive (that I probably got at Frys) I couldnt find my copies of 4th-6th grade though, we'll see if I can manage to get 3rd grade to work again when my youngest is old enough.
Man the gameboy Mario games were sooo good. Especially the original. I think that’s still my favorite. Nothing beat the thrill of completing a game you couldn’t save 😂
@@Bookborn I haven't gone that far back, but I started with Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga. You know a game was good when you can remember the name without looking it up despite the decade or more it's been since seeing or playing this game.
Abstruse Goose and Dead Philosophers in Heaven both seem defunct, and that's horrible - genuinely some of the funniest work ever published. Luckily, neither had ongoing story lines, so that didn't end up being an issue. Gunnerkrigg Court is still going strong, 19 years on! And a lot of people these days seem to read webtoons as opposed to independent webcomics. This is a bit of an issue, the contracts are ruinous for the artists, but there's high quality work there still. (Depending on your tastes I'd recommend Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint or Kubera. The second one is a bit of a deeper cut, but it's fantastic. It's rare hindu/buddhist inspired fantasy.)
okay, so I:ve never been to a Fry;s Electronics but I do remember when Radio Shack left and that was a favorite store for me. Not a Mario fan tho i did love Donkey Kong, luckily Assassin's Creed is still around for me ... I'm a bit older so didn't really get into online comics but I have collected comics since the beginning of Marvel and there have been several titles that just disappeared with no closure ... sad, I love a good story!
I'm afraid I've never heard of these specific things, but I get sad and angry about similar things a lot. Technology capability is generally moving backwards. Laptops don't have mouse buttons anymore, and number pads are on the decline. Media editing software can do less than it used to, or at least certain features get moved behind a paywall. My computer in 2024 can do less than my computer in 2014 could. And usually when I mention it, I get backlash for caring about stuff no one else does. Society is generally moving backwards too.
Not sure how niche these are but here's my list: 1) Game franchises that change game play. Two examples Fire Emblem warriors three hopes and Harvest Moon the winds of anthos. Both are still great games but they werent want I wanted or expected from the titles. 2) pokemon doesnt let you snuggle anymore. It explains exactly where you need to go and what you need to do and there's no complicated puzzles to figure out. Rip ice cave.
You can buy a CD/DVD external drive that connects to USB really cheaply, and some games on 98 can run on modern systems and you can get a virtual system going to run older versions of windows anyway. Really you threw those games out for no reason. I had one bad EXP with a web comic and some others where just bad or I just left. I think of the bad one sometimes the others I have no idea what they doing nowadays.
There's a game for the PS1 that I'm convinced my sister and I are the only people on earth that have any knowledge of it existing. It's Called Sheep Raider. It's a looney tunes game where you play as Ralph Wolf and steal sheep from Sam Sheep dog. I'd love to play it again.
Old school Warhammer. I was really into Warhammer as a kid in the 90s and occasionally want to go back to it and introduce my kids, but new Warhammer Age of Proprietary IP has gone way too grimdark and lost all its humor and charm.
Brick and mortar stores used to be an experience to be shared, perhaps with a meal or coffee attached. Online shopping … solitary. 2020 - 2022 accelerated the inevitable. It just is. We need to find other reasons to get out with family and friends and there certainly are options. BTW, I’m one of those webcomic creators. Remember meeting Pete Abrams of ‘Sluggy Freelance’ at a Con when we were on the same panel.
Super Paper Mario was a travesty?!?! I feel like you need to try it again… the story is the best in the series and it may not be turned based battles anymore but now that you know that then you can go in knowing what to expect.
I was never the biggest webcomic reader, I always meant to get into them more than I actually did, but then I quit the internet for a few years and never totally came back except for youtube. But _Vampirates!_ and _Teahouse_ those are the discontinued webcomics that stick with me the most.
the later paper marios are even worse than super paper mario, basically the teams weren't allowed to have named characters anymore besides the regular mario cast! how do you write a story with no characters?! but with thousand year door remake and super mario rpg last year, hopefully there'll be good mario rpgs again in the future. never played cluefinders, but sad cd-rom games aren't a thing anymore. and all the old ones are v well preserved. :(
My mom was pregnant with me while she worked as a cashier at Fry's. My grandpa used to take me there all the time where I'd find some other kids to play games with while he shopped.
1:01 I had the pleasure to visit a Fry's in Burbank when I lived in the LA area - it must have been one of the last ones, and it was amazing! All the nerd stuff and all of the geek stuff together.
I also miss Fry's a lot. Used to go to the one in Anaheim with my best friend and my or his dad a few times a month. Great store as long as you didn't need any customer service.
Man oh man do I wish that we could get a new paper mario game in the vein of thousand year door. Here’s to hoping that the remake sells like hotcakes and Nintendo takes notice
I grew up in Northern California and was saddened by the downfall of Fry's as well... luckily I live near a Micro Center on the east coast, which I love! Still so crazy that Micro Center flourishes while Fry's died... I know Fry's had some sketchy sales practices and bad customer service, just like Circuit City. Remember CompUSA and Good Guys??
Wow, you really are a friggin nerd. Good for you! Or like, bad, for you, I guess, under the circumstances. =( I think the niche nerd thing that depresses me is when you find a random piece of amazing artwork online and realize that the poster hasn't touched their profile in a whole year. Especially if nobody really engaged with it
I grew up with the Animorphs book series (middle grade series). Nickelodeon aired a TV adaptation during their Snick time slot in the early evening. It aired in 1998 and was dropped six episodes into season 2. It probably wasn’t a great show, but my kid self was disappointed; maybe it was for the best because I was disappointed in how the books ended.
I remember Fry’s in its heyday as a kid, it did feel special especially since the closest one to us was a bit of a drive. And I had a lot of fond memories of playing the Cluefinder games. The Egypt one stands out on particular for me. Did you play the Freddi Fish games as well?
I only played Thousand Year Door till around the dragon boss fight, so I can't wait to buy it and finish it at last! I meed it to sell hot cakes and show the team that this is what we want in Paper Mario. Thousand Year Door for the win!
I don’t read web comics, but I read comics and I know web comics are probably bigger than ever. There’s a lot that have gone on for a long time. My big niche thing that is “bad” now is just normal comics. Comics don’t sell well anymore so they restart all of the time and there are rarely stories that go on for years and years before creatives change. A lot of the time books will get just 6 issues before changing.
There was a webcomic for Doctor Who called the Ten Doctors back in 2007 that was this crazy crossover with loads of characters. The author was planning to do another one in 2013 for the 50th anniversary, but ended up abandoning it.
ClueFinders were my FAVORITE games growing up. I remember getting them for birthdays and playing for hours. The Egypt one is still my fave, followed closely by Mothra because the music is fire. Thanks for bringing up a fun memory!
I had no idea that you were a Paper Mario fan! I’m so hyped for the Thousand Year Door remake and I’m hoping it’s a return to form for the series after the horridness that was Sticker Star and Color Splash
Oh man HUUGE huge fan. Although I had played and felt extremely connected/loved a ton of games before I played Paper Mario, I feel like it was the first game I felt radicalized about 🤣
