(re: re: re: re: So what did you like more?)
It’s like all industries:
Movies used to be in the theaters only, then came video, and event diminished. Theaters have fought back with better sound and picture quality, but it’ll never be like in the ’50s and ’60s.
Music was fun to collect on LPs and such. When you heard a song on the radio, it was something spectacular. Today, it’s passe, and music piracy is rampant everywhere. Can’t do much about this, it’s just the way it has gone. I still look for stuff from modern musicians on LPs, usually at the Virgin Megastore inside Caesar’s Palace.
Books are same. There’s the large magazines, now all are about the size of comic book, and then there’s hardcover to paperback. However, I prefer paperback in this case. Easier to carry around. Comics are way better today, so this rule doesn’t apply to comics at all.
Lastly are video/PC games. The big boxes of the late ’80s and early ’90s made the game seem like an event. Indeed, some games were, like Ultima 7 and KQ5. The big boxes added to the mystique of the event. Seeing these “new” games playing on the hardware was amazing. Then going on a journey and seeing all the events in the game, and getting to the end and such. Amazing. Video games, under Nintendo, had a mystique because of the oversized carts, but that’s about it. CD games looked high-tech, but early systems like LaserActive, CD-i, and Sega CD sure didn’t add to any mystique. Nothing on these systems were an event, either. Working Designs/Game Arts tried, but the games are passe.