When I hear Cyrix, I can't help but quote

"Nice shotgun asshole"
"You're luggage"
"Relax..... you've been erased"

Honestly, it runs most of my games pretty well. It's not a 486DX by any stretch, but it's certainly fast enough.

Besides, the compatibility issues and quirks my machine has gives it character:

-Booting the machine with the turbo button off makes it boot at 50MHz or 80MHz
-SpeedSys freezes almost instantly in real mode, and does so after about 3 minutes in V86 mode
-The noise across the motherboard is so bad that you can easily hear when the machine is working hard (squeals over the sound card)
-Static on the screen when it updates quickly
-Battery leaked, cutting two large traces, but the machine still passes every diagnostic I've thrown at it

It's a hell of a machine, and I'm glad it's mine. The weird combination of Cyrix and ULSI CPU/NPU is just fantastic.

Today, I still don't use the standard (Intel). I'm an AMD fanboy.

It's quite likely that a 10 yo kid today will have more sentimental attachment to gaming on a quad-core PC than an Atari 800.

But. Modern electronics such as iPads and PCs are way more dependent on outside services than in the past. Analog cell phones aren't usable anymore, so those can never be collectible. Similarly, it's quite likely your iPhone won't still work in 2050. Also I somehow doubt you can still download automatic updates for a Windows 7 PC 40 years from now. So even if said 10 yo kid feels nostalgic for the days of playing Angry Birds on his phone someday when he's 50, he's never getting that back again.

kao wrote:

It's quite likely that a 10 yo kid today will have more sentimental attachment to gaming on a quad-core PC than an Atari 800.

But. Modern electronics such as iPads and PCs are way more dependent on outside services than in the past. Analog cell phones aren't usable anymore, so those can never be collectible. Similarly, it's quite likely your iPhone won't still work in 2050. Also I somehow doubt you can still download automatic updates for a Windows 7 PC 40 years from now. So even if said 10 yo kid feels nostalgic for the days of playing Angry Birds on his phone someday when he's 50, he's never getting that back again.

Yes... you're right.. I've never looked at it from that perspective before 😵

I am 20 right now but I have been into retro computer gaming since I was at least 13 or 14 which was around 2005-2006, way past the time that DOS was considered relevant. It mostly came out of having a piece of crap HP Pavilion PC that while it was not bad CPU wise, was terrible GPU wise and discovering abandonware sites with DOS games that can run without a hitch on my Windows ME computer (Yeah, forgot to mention it had that terrible OS on it). Since I didn't have the power to play then new games like F.E.A.R., Doom 3, Far Cry, Painkiller, etc. it was the only way to go and I couldn't change it either way. I find something great in DOS gaming despite not being around when it was the main OS to use on computers, typing things in a command line to load up the game and spending too much time making sure you have the right hardware options selected is just fun to me oddly enough. Plus there are some great DOS games that actually do some things that some modern games have yet to do.

Yes... you're right.. I've never looked at it from that perspective before

You have to look at the bigger picture of everything. Not just software, but repairability. It's much, much, much easier to fix a Commodore PET motherboard than a quad-core PC.

I liken 8-bit hardware to the cockroach. It was here before the dinosaurs and it's still here long after they're gone. Consider that the Z80 is still a standard component in embedded systems while all 486/Pentium/PII/PIII/PIV chips are long gone.

Heck, if an EMP attack happened, your 2012 Lexus becomes instantly useless while Jay Leno's Model A Fords will still run (until you're out of gas at least) 🤣

I wonder how difficult it'll be to keep a Pentium II/III working in 10 years time.

kao wrote:

It's quite likely that a 10 yo kid today will have more sentimental attachment to gaming on a quad-core PC than an Atari 800.

But. Modern electronics such as iPads and PCs are way more dependent on outside services than in the past. Analog cell phones aren't usable anymore, so those can never be collectible. Similarly, it's quite likely your iPhone won't still work in 2050. Also I somehow doubt you can still download automatic updates for a Windows 7 PC 40 years from now. So even if said 10 yo kid feels nostalgic for the days of playing Angry Birds on his phone someday when he's 50, he's never getting that back again.

Not just that. But the whole mindset might also be different. Away from owning things to consuming on-demand. This might also have an impact.

There will be companies like GOG.com that will re-release DRM free games. It's a market after all, so I'm not worried. I also see companies being smart about their IP and recognising that re-releasing old games makes business sense.

Take a classic came such as Wing Commander. Before it was available on GOG.com you could buy it second hand or pirate it. Neither gave the original developers / right holders any money. So I expect this to be quite different, with most games available to purchase / play.

The market will be a lot larger compared to the market for DOS games for example. So the larger the market, the more likely things will happen because of the $.

I am 16 year old teenagers, I am liking old computer since Virtual PC not enough for me.

The first old computer I use is Acer 486 (I think), then I use HP Vectra VL 5/100 Series 4 which formerly used in mom office. And currently I use modern Core 2 Duo PC.

I have got Pentium II system which it has ASUS P2B-F 440BX motherboard and HP Vectra VL600 which it has rare and expensive RDRAM.

And I am planning to get HP Vectra VL 5/100 Series 4 from my mom office, the previous HP Vectra was unusable because someone stealing RAM, HDD, and COAST module.

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

I wonder how difficult it'll be to keep a Pentium II/III working in 10 years time.

That stuff was built like a tank, all you have to worry about is either finding parts (for vintage builds) or more normal use finding light weight enough software.

It really sucks that modern websites have become so demanding. I remember a few years back I was actually able to watch Youtube videos on a Pentium II, albeit at the lowest quality. 🤣 Nowadays, Youtube would be completely out of the question on a machine like that, and I doubt that it would even be able to handle Slashdot with all the crazy Javascript it has. 😜

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Not just that. But the whole mindset might also be different. Away from owning things to consuming on-demand.

Remember the good old days when "consuming on-demand" meant getting off your butt and driving to the software store to buy a CD in a box with a printed manual?

I actually prefer digital distribution these days because it's easier to keep my games in sync between all of machines. I do I have physical copy in each computer's HDD bay.

I like Steam, but I don't like the fact I can't run it on my older computers to install the old games I own on steam. GoG has this problem too with a modern website design (shutting away customers that use Netscape Navigator) and WinNT-requiring installers.

If only digital distribution came for the legacy platforms. 🙁

cdoublejj wrote:

I actually prefer digital distribution these days because it's easier to keep my games in sync between all of machines. I do I have physical copy in each computer's HDD bay.

Personally, I do as well, but I'm aware that one day the plug can, and likely will, be pulled and it' all gone.

leileilol wrote:

I like Steam, but I don't like the fact I can't run it on my older computers to install the old games I own on steam. GoG has this problem too with a modern website design (shutting away customers that use Netscape Navigator) and WinNT-requiring installers.

If only digital distribution came for the legacy platforms. 🙁

The old games that come with DOSBox (Steam has a few and gog.com has heaps, run just fine on a retro PC. Sometimes things are missing (like INSTALL.EXE in some Sierra games or the secret missions in Wing Commander), but it's better than nothing.

But IMO it will be abandonware sites that really keep these games alive. It's not like second hand sales will get any $$$ into the pockets of artists / right holders, so if they don't make it available for sale, how can they complain?

gog.com gamea ate at least DRM free. A huge plus if you ask me.

Being that I'm only 20 myself, I'll sign up here as well. My interest in this stuff comes from experiencing a good deal of games in 98/99 and that's pretty much about it. I don't feel like making a lifestyle out of it, because it's too normal to me.

I think most of the newer releases lack the "certain something" that the games back in the day had, and it doesn't help that the DRM stuff is getting worse and worse too. Back then, they didn't have the tools to make the gaming industry as commercialized as it is now with DLCs etc. and actually had to care about producing unique games that would stand out from the crowd.

I'm also into consoles, with the PSX probably being my favorite. I think we need to do something against the underappreciation of that console on VOGONS. 🤣

d1stortion wrote:

Being that I'm only 20 myself, I'll sign up here as well. My interest in this stuff comes from experiencing a good deal of games in 98/99 and that's pretty much about it. I don't feel like making a lifestyle out of it, because it's too normal to me.

I think most of the newer releases lack the "certain something" that the games back in the day had, and it doesn't help that the DRM stuff is getting worse and worse too. Back then, they didn't have the tools to make the gaming industry as commercialized as it is now with DLCs etc. and actually had to care about producing unique games that would stand out from the crowd.

I'm also into consoles, with the PSX probably being my favorite. I think we need to do something against the underappreciation of that console on VOGONS. 🤣

I agree, even though I'm mainly a PC gamer, some of the best gaming experiences I've ever had have been on consoles.

Most 10 year old kids where I live won't get attached to quad core PC gaming because their parents don't have money to buy quadcores. Pretty much everyone 12 year old and older has played PS1 and PS2 and my generation (16-20 year olds) remembers Famiclones or old DOS PCs from childhood. I have a secondhand PS1 one that I bought for retro gaming from a 17yo friend who only stopped using it a year ago. Until a few years ago he still played games on an old Pentium 233 Mhz computer and the PS1.

"90s kids" remember a lot of things here that Western people might think of as "80s" because 90s and 80s culture got mixed up here as many 80s things only got here after the fall of communism in 1989. So for example they showed Alf in the 1990s here, kids played Mario games from the 80s on NES-clones etc.

I was a teen once. 20 years ago. And I played old games on a 10 years old computer architecture. My ZX Spectrum clone was brand new, but the tech was old. Played in the 90s games from the 80s.

When i was 10 i got my first computer in 2002, it was an AMD K5 100MHz computer.
Learned everything on it. Amazing how computing is fun and how much it interested me even more into electronics and hardware.
Sadly, i was the only one in my entire grade school, thats 2000 children, to ever be interested into computers and electronics.
But i didnt complain, life is good 😀