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Teens React to Nintendo (NES)

Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
JesseEwiak said:
If you're an old man, sure. But, blluntly, why would a fifteen year old who wasn't even born when DVD's came out know what a NES or VHS is? That's like expecting to know what an 8-track was if you grew up in the 90's.
Click to expand...

Zeyphersan said:
No child born in the last five years will know what a VHS is, and nothing of value will be lost. Not to say that the NES isn't valuable, but c'mon, they're VHS tapes.

Hell, I was born in 1993 and I've never seen an 8-track. I know what it is, but I've never seen one.
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Hey, some kids/people ARE aware of things from before their time and some aren't. 8-tracks are from before my time, too, but I know what they are. In fact, I know the difference between LP's and 45's, too.

Hell, I know what the Magnavox Odyssey is, and I've watched plenty of movies from the 40's 50's 60's and 70's. I had a "Bob Dylan phase" in high school.

I don't get it. Just because I was born AFTER all that shit doesn't mean it ceased to exist by the time I was a teenager. It's just that some people AREN'T aware of anything that's not directly in front of them. I mean, I'm know I had friends when I was a teenager who weren't aware of all that stuff, and probably couldn't find Russia on a map. There are kids like that in any generation, that's just who they pick for these videos.
 
Z

zruben

Banned
KojiKnight said:
My 4 year old not only knows more about the NES, but is way better than these teenagers... We sure these videos aren't staged?
Click to expand...

I don't think they are "properly staged", but I do think that some of the teens try too hard to be funny/quirky in front of the camera.
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
Duane Cunningham said:
Hey, some kids/people ARE aware of things from before their time and some aren't. 8-tracks are from before my time, too, but I know what they are. In fact, I know the difference between LP's and 45's, too.

Hell, I know what the Magnavox Odyssey is, and I've watched plenty of movies from the 40's 50's 60's and 70's. I had a "Bob Dylan phase" in high school.

I don't get it. Just because I was born AFTER all that shit doesn't mean it ceased to exist by the time I was a teenager. It's just that some people AREN'T aware of anything that's not directly in front of them. I mean, I'm know I had friends when I was a teenager who weren't aware of all that stuff, and probably couldn't find Russia on a map. There are kids like that in any generation, that's just who they pick for these videos.
Click to expand...

In the grand scheme of things, if a teenager is not familiar with a 30 year old video game system, it's not a sign of imminent brain death from atrophy. Kids like different things. Some like cars. Some like music. Some like video games. If the music person doesn't know about cars or video games, how is that surprising or alarming?

I swear, I hope we don't turn out like Asshole Boomers who think their culture is the pinnacle of the American experience, and that if you don't know everything about it, you're culturally bankrupt.
 
J

JesseEwiak

Member
Mutanthands said:
In the grand scheme of things, if a teenager is not familiar with a 30 year old video game system, it's not a sign of imminent brain death from atrophy. Kids like different things. Some like cars. Some like music. Some like video games. If the music person doesn't know about cars or video games, how is that surprising or alarming?

I swear, I hope we don't turn out like Asshole Boomers who think their culture is the pinnacle of the American experience, and that if you don't know everything about it, you're culturally bankrupt.
Click to expand...

Bingo. There's nothing special about the NES. It was a good product. It had some good games. You're not a lesser person if you were born a decade after it was discontinued and don't know what it is because ya' know, you've got other things to do.
 
J

Jea Song

Did the right thing
The fuck are these teens talking about? Do they seriously just play COD? How can they not understand how a 2d game works? Isn't there a shit load of 2d indie games that borrow everything from super mario bros? I sometimes feel as if these teens are either paid to hate on the retro stuff, or are seriously this naive.

I don't get how in a world where 2d indie games are blowing up, how these teens cannot grasp the controls and concept of a super mario bros game. Unless they seriously just play Call of duty and that's it. If that's the case I quit gaming.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
Mutanthands said:
In the grand scheme of things, if a teenager is not familiar with a 30 year old video game system, it's not a sign of imminent brain death from atrophy.
Click to expand...


No, but it's a lot like:

cDCKF79.jpg


or

we-landed-on-the-moon-jim-carey-dumb-and-dumber.gif



...the world is full of people (of any age) who don't know shit, but I refuse to believe it's standard. Finding people who don't have any cultural literacy makes for great funny videos. These "kids play" videos are basically the same thing as Jaywalking with Jay Leno.
Hopefully everyone is familiar with that reference, I know he's been off the air for a few years
 
D

Dusk Soldier

Member
Starwolf_UK said:
So like how did they "break" every single NES in such a way that was reproducible and only needed blowing. Also sucks that the blowing myth is kept (I thought it was inside the NES that was problem caused by things bending due to the silly cassette style loading it had).

I found it odd how they had a CRT here but for Punch-Out the teens were stuck playing on a (probably laggy) LCD.

I also found it sad how you could have an NES style iPhone case and not be aware of what it is referencing. I mean I don't think it is ironically pretty or anything.
Click to expand...

This is a personal anecdote obviously, but I owned the NES and I had blow on the cartridge for every game before I put it in or 9/10 times it didn't work.

If I left the game in it would be fine, but other than that it didn't work.
 
J

Jackano

Member
bbd23 said:
what is Arya Stark doing in this video?
Click to expand...

I've seen this video all day everywhere, fb, twitter, gaming sites... Without clicking, but video thumb always been that girl and all day I refrain myself commenting "the first teen looks like Maisie Williams".
I finally clicked here on GAF and ha, that's her lol
Idk know why she's in there but I thought she was more geeky than that. On the other hand, she's pretty young. Still, the NES!
I blame the parents for not giving enough of "pop" culture.
 
J

JesseEwiak

Member
Jea Song said:
The fuck are these teens talking about? Do they seriously just play COD? How can they not understand how a 2d game works? Isn't there a shit load of 2d indie games that borrow everything from super mario bros? I sometimes feel as if these teens are either paid to hate on the retro stuff, or are seriously this naive.

I don't get how in a world where 2d indie games are blowing up, how these teens cannot grasp the controls and concept of a super mario bros game. Unless they seriously just play Call of duty and that's it. If that's the case I quit gaming.
Click to expand...

A 2D indie game that "blows up" might sell 250,000 copies. That's not enough to get in the popular conscious.

Yes, for a lot of people, XBox/PS4's are Assassin's Creed/Call of Duty/Minecraft/Madden machines. So?

I blame the parents for not giving enough of "pop" culture.
Click to expand...

The NES only sold 20-something million. A lot of kids never played a Nintendo, aside from maybe a couple of times at their cousin's house when they were nine or whatever.
 
S

sappyday

Member
Jea Song said:
The fuck are these teens talking about? Do they seriously just play COD? How can they not understand how a 2d game works? Isn't there a shit load of 2d indie games that borrow everything from super mario bros? I sometimes feel as if these teens are either paid to hate on the retro stuff, or are seriously this naive.

I don't get how in a world where 2d indie games are blowing up, how these teens cannot grasp the controls and concept of a super mario bros game. Unless they seriously just play Call of duty and that's it. If that's the case I quit gaming.
Click to expand...

This can't be serious?
 
H

HellBlazer

Member
Jea Song said:
The fuck are these teens talking about? Do they seriously just play COD? How can they not understand how a 2d game works? Isn't there a shit load of 2d indie games that borrow everything from super mario bros? I sometimes feel as if these teens are either paid to hate on the retro stuff, or are seriously this naive.

I don't get how in a world where 2d indie games are blowing up, how these teens cannot grasp the controls and concept of a super mario bros game. Unless they seriously just play Call of duty and that's it. If that's the case I quit gaming.
Click to expand...

What are you talking about? Most of them beat the level, it's not like they didn't grasp the concept... These are casuals or non-gamers, you can't expect them to be old-school Mario experts the first time they play the game. 2D indie games? In what world would they even be aware of any indie game beyond Minecraft?

And for your information, I'm sorry to report but one of my friends is a high school teacher, and the only games his students really know or talk about are Call of Duty, GTA, and maybe Assassin's Creed.
 
P

PHOENIXZERO

Member
Guamu said:
Not sure if trolling or only unaware
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I honestly didn't know that was a satire site and I saw that story elsewhere before and it really didn't come off as too much of a stretch from my own experiences and just as this video and the "Punch Out" one showed it really isn't.

mantidor said:
18 is a little bit older to be called a teen.
Click to expand...

Reference to that other "React" topic from a few weeks ago?
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
I think we're seeing a bit of reverse culture shock, where people are surprised that their cultural touch stones are not as universal as they thought they were.

The NES is not a ubiquitous part of the culture. It resonates with a certain age group, and with video game hobbyists of most ages. Hobbyists. I don't get the level of sturm und drang over non-hobbyist teenagers being unaware.

And most of them liked it after they tried it! That's a plus.
 
E

eyeball_kid

Member
Mutanthands said:
The NES is not a ubiquitous part of the culture. It resonates with a certain age group, and with video game hobbyists of most ages. Hobbyists. I don't get the level of sturm und drang over non-hobbyist teenagers being unaware.
Click to expand...

I think that statement should probably be qualified. The NES used to be a ubiquitous part of the culture, back in the '80s. So much so that I remember many adults during that decade just calling any game console a "Nintendo". But "the culture" is a constantly-changing maelstrom and by the '90s the generic term for a game console was already a "PlayStation".
 
M

Mutanthands

Member
eyeball_kid said:
I think that statement should probably be qualified. The NES used to be a ubiquitous part of the culture, back in the '80s. So much so that I remember many adults during that decade just calling any game console a "Nintendo". But "the culture" is a constantly-changing maelstrom and by the '90s the generic term for a game console was already a "PlayStation".
Click to expand...

Agreed, I should have specified current culture.
 
D

Derphoof

Member
K-A-Deman said:
Wait, I'm only 23 and my first console was the SNES. How old were some people if they're first console was a Sixth Gen console?
Click to expand...

I'm 20 and my first console was an SNES, albeit I don't remember getting it since it was mainly for my older brother. I just remember playing it as my first system. I played a lot of Mega Man X and Goof Troop with my brother.

The first console I remember getting was an N64 around Christmas '99. Still have it hooked up to my TV.

eyeball_kid said:
I think that statement should probably be qualified. The NES used to be a ubiquitous part of the culture, back in the '80s. So much so that I remember many adults during that decade just calling any game console a "Nintendo".
Click to expand...

Yep. My grandma still calls it all a "Nintendo."

Granted, if I ever have anything around her it's a 3DS... so technically she's still right.
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
"old school" is the most overused description anywhere and it pisses me off when people use it
 
S

Serpens007

Member
Finally bought a NES today with SMB/Duck Hunt, SMB2 and some Mickey game. Gotta say, I died in the third level of SMB and game over. The control is for small hands, I forgot how tiny they were lol
 
C

Catalix

And on the sixth day the LORD David Bowie created man and woman in His image. And he saw that it was good. On the seventh day the LORD created videogames so that He might take the bloody day off for once.
Both videos were pretty entertaining. It seemed like the kids genuinely gained some knowledge from their play sessions. I ain't even mad.

Mutanthands said:
I think we're seeing a bit of reverse culture shock, where people are surprised that their cultural touch stones are not as universal as they thought they were.

The NES is not a ubiquitous part of the culture. It resonates with a certain age group, and with video game hobbyists of most ages. Hobbyists. I don't get the level of sturm und drang over non-hobbyist teenagers being unaware.

And most of them liked it after they tried it! That's a plus.
Click to expand...
Yeah, a lot of people in this thread are having trouble coming to terms with that fact.
 
S

sappyday

Member
I just realized the FineBros got really luck with these series. From being a unknown channel that made videos with final fantasy dolls to being one if the biggest channel on the internet.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Zeyphersan said:
No child born in the last five years will know what a VHS is, and nothing of value will be lost. Not to say that the NES isn't valuable, but c'mon, they're VHS tapes.

Hell, I was born in 1993 and I've never seen an 8-track. I know what it is, but I've never seen one.
Click to expand...

It's funny you say that... I was talking to some kids recently, and I asked them if they've ever touched a VCR before... and they laughed and said "yes, of course they had!", they grew up on old VCR hand me downs, and it made me feel like it was an ironically old man question to ask because only someone old would think VCRs were totally out of the picture. :p

Although I will say that I am ten years older than you... and I've never seen an 8-track either. ;)

Mutanthands said:
I think we're seeing a bit of reverse culture shock, where people are surprised that their cultural touch stones are not as universal as they thought they were.

The NES is not a ubiquitous part of the culture. It resonates with a certain age group, and with video game hobbyists of most ages. Hobbyists. I don't get the level of sturm und drang over non-hobbyist teenagers being unaware.

And most of them liked it after they tried it! That's a plus.
Click to expand...

I disagree with this.... because the NES has had amazing awareness amongst people who were not around 1985-1994. I have seen kids wearing NES shirts all over the place... and this thing died 20 years ago! I remember being shocked to see NES shirts in the early 2000s... and you can still buy NES wallets and iPhone cases in 2014... so for me the ubiquity is greater than I would have ever guessed.

But I agree that hobbyists will know what it is going forward.
 
D

DoktorEvil

Banned
Zeyphersan said:
No child born in the last five years will know what a VHS is, and nothing of value will be lost. Not to say that the NES isn't valuable, but c'mon, they're VHS tapes.

Hell, I was born in 1993 and I've never seen an 8-track. I know what it is, but I've never seen one.
Click to expand...

The thing is, I'm more confident that NES and SNES and N64 carts will last much longer before all of the CD/DVD/Blu ray deterioration.

Those carts in general are build to last.
 
davepoobond

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
DoktorEvil said:
The thing is, I'm more confident that NES and SNES and N64 carts will last much longer before all of the CD/DVD/Blu ray deterioration.

Those carts in general are build to last.
Click to expand...

The batteries will not last longer. The carts will essentially be useless and there are too many internal parts in a cart that can go awry as opposed to disc rot
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
davepoobond said:
The batteries will not last longer. The carts will essentially be useless and there are too many internal parts in a cart that can go awry as opposed to disc rot
Click to expand...

Disagree completely. Batteries can be replaced... and actually, they are dying far less than people anticipated. They were guaranteed to last five years. Well guess what, my copy of Zelda from 1987 (the earliest ever battery back up game) saves like the day it was new.

But one bit of disc rot, and the whole game is shot.
 
D

DoktorEvil

Banned
davepoobond said:
The batteries will not last longer. The carts will essentially be useless and there are too many internal parts in a cart that can go awry as opposed to disc rot
Click to expand...

You can replace an internal battery.

What do you do about disc rot?

BocoDragon said:
Disagree completely. Batteries can be replaced... and actually, they are dying far less than people anticipated. They were guaranteed to last five years. Well guess what, my copy of Zelda from 1987 (the earliest ever battery back up game) saves like the day it was new.

But one bit of disc rot, and the whole game is shot.
Click to expand...

The estimated guarantee for the battery numbers had to have been conservative at best, because not a single one of the NES carts I bought or found at flea markets have ever had any issues.

I'm really impressed with how the NES and SNES at large holds up very well.
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
DoktorEvil said:
The estimated guarantee for the battery numbers had to have been conservative at best, because not a single one of the NES carts I bought or found at flea markets have ever had any issues.

I'm really impressed with how the NES and SNES at large holds up very well.
Click to expand...

The only game in cart history that routinely has problems with batteries is seemingly Pokemon Gold/Silver, owing to the internal clock that constantly eats the battery.
 
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