ClassicConnect

[zookajoe]

At somepoint in 2025, I suddenly grew really tired and frankly pissed off about the state of just media in general-- doesn't matter if it's video games, music, movies, YouTube videos, whatever. It's probably attached to my growing distaste of the modern Web in general (why do you think we use these forums?), but I honestly feel there's such a major disconnect between us, the people around us and the media that we consume. And for me, part of that was having the physical media or dedicated hardware to experience this stuff.

I've even grown tired of emulators, which is not to say they haven't impressed me-- the last few years of PCSX2 for example and PCem/86box with their hardware emulation are nothing to scoff at, but I've grown to the point where I just want to play and experience the hardware/games first hand as they were meant to be, without any risk of inaccuracies.

Archival's been pretty important to me as a result because with the wealth of resources avaliable to download & burn/copy our favorite things, I'd definitely like to start "rejecting modernity" in some ways. Definitely have been thinking of picking up a 5th+ generation iPod Classic to start loading music onto.

I don't know if I worded this whole thing a mess, it's 7am and I should've been in bed at least 3 hours ago lol. Anyone else kind of feeling/going this route?
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"Humanity is overrated."
Still the real Bazooka Joe. Now on ClassicConnect!

[idkwhatnametoputxd]

[fracturedviolets]

Also wanting to go down this route for sure. Buying a box of 100 random CDs reminded me how much more the music I find outside the bounds of an algorithm sticks with me. Some CDs can even be very fun like alot of K-Pop releases tend to be. Also been planning on getting some older machines when I can afford to do so as emulation also doesn't entirely cover everything I want to mess with. Pentium III onward are super interesting to me but PCBox just doesn't run well with that cause of how intensive it is even for my Ryzen 7 8700f which is like... one of the better CPUs out there. Some consoles as well just don't entirely have good emulators at all if even like the Nuon and the 3DO which both absolutely interest me. I think even if I end up having to pay a little "too much" here and there for it it would still be hella worth it just for the little kid in me to be happy again.

[VCSMaster]

I've never been a highly musical person, so the prospect of spending a large sum of money on an iPod is not something I am likely to do, but I have been collecting physical games (nothing modern) for a long time, and physical hardware as well.

I have nothing against emulators, but I've always found them lacking either in experience or compatibility. I much prefer the real thing.

Just make sure to keep your spending under control. There's no reason to be like me and have a bunch of consoles you are amused by but never play.

[zookajoe]