My thoughts exactly
Posted by Trixter on July 23, 2011
I normally don’t post short articles that just link to other places, but I ran across two posts recently that say exactly what I was going to try to say in coming weeks. Rather than stab at the topics badly, I thought it would be better to just refer you to them. So here they are.
Bryan Jones wrote a wistful account of the end of the space shuttle program, along with his personal photo of Atlantis’ final approach. I saw the first and the last shuttle launches live on TV (as a 10-year-old, my mother woke me at 5:30 in the morning to watch the first one), and I feel, as he does, that our lack of commitment to a space program is a shame. For those who wonder what we gained from spending money on the shuttle program, he lists some of the advances the shuttle program has given us, such as cell phone cameras and LED lights.
Optimus wrote a little on why he has pulled back from the demoscene a bit, and I urge all my scener friends to read this because he sums up very closely the state of mind I’ve had in the last couple of years. In fact, his history mirrors mine a little, including how I felt when I first discovered the scene, how I treated the scene the first few years, why I attempted some scene “outreach” at times, and why I mostly hold back.
So there you go.
Oldskooler Ramblings 
Ewerton said
Some people aaiscsote strong smells or sounds with a time in their life that meant something to them. If they hear a song that played during their prom, they’re instantly transported back to high school. Perhaps, for you, this is what happens with chiptunes and pixel-art. When you experience either one, you’re hit with a rush of fond memories of the first games you played and the love you felt (and still feel!) for them. I know this is true for me. Whenever I hear any sound effect from Mario Kart 64, I’m just suddenly awash with nostalgia. (Yeah, I’m young. Sue me.) Maybe you’re feeling something similar.I also think that yes, we can get orchestral/electronica music and great CGI elsewhere, but for me, it’s not about that. I could listen to Star Wars music without watching the movie, but actually *watching* the movie for the story, for the experience, is what I cherish. The same goes for video games. They contain media that you can consume in other forms, but the actual gameplay, the story, and the experience of working through a tough quest, puzzle, or just trying to level up a little more to beat that last boss those are the things that games provide me that nothing else can.