So this is a weird post since its not Gamejolt related but rather a life choice I had made recently because of my distaste of modern culture that has been thrust forward for those born within the Gen Z. Despite being one myself, I have grown uninterested in the flossing Tik Tok-ing Fortnite playing (c)Rap listening Zoomer culture.

I have decided that I identify more with the culture and zeitgeist of the era 1997 - 2006 because I find things such as music, cartoons, extreme sports, and video games to be much better then than now in this hellscape we call the 2020's. This happened due to a epiphany I had after the Capital got raided about how much I dislike the modern culture and kultur of the 2020's.

Without further ado here's the things from 1997 to 2006 that I like more than I like today:

MUSIC

You don't have to look far to realize there are only two genres of music today. Rap and Electronic. Today's modern rap is all about the gang life and how its the best and being violent is awesome and selling narcotics and murdering people for the sake of what color doo-rag you wear is cool and hip. Welcome to the world of 6IX9INE and his soundalike brethren!

I swear, Tupac and Biggie Smalls put more thought and intelligence in one song than 6IX9INE has in his entire career. While yes Gangsta Rap was a thing within the 1997-2006 timeframe., but at least some people try to look at such life critically and constructively. When Coolio made Gansta's Paradise, it was a critical look into how Gang life only serves to shorten one's life and only provides for an uncertain future. That and Eminem made a wide variety of rap songs ranging from Silly (The Real Slim Shady), to sad (Stan) to serious (When I'm Gone). Nowadays Eminem exists as a shell of his former self, a mainstream darling of the modern entertainment industry.

Now to Electronic or as we all know "I'll have the Dubstep hold on the substance and with extra bass." Electronic music nowadays only exist as a way to test subwoofers and is a more musical alternative to the THX sound test. Back in the 1997-2006 timeframe we had Techno and House and whatever you could find in Dance Dance Revolution. We have people who gave a damn about creating quality electronic music such as Prodigy, Moby, Darude, Alice DJ and DJ Sammy. Even Crazy Frog has more substance in Axel F than any Skrillex bootleg or Deadmouse copycat could ever achieve.

Then there is Pop music and I like pop music of the early 2000's then the ones of today which fall on comatose ears. To me, pop music died when Michael Jackson passed on and when LMFAO broke up.

EXTREME SPORTS

Extreme Sports only exist to sell energy drinks and care that you drink Monster or Red Bull. Back in 1997-2006, it was all about the personalities such as Tony Hawk and Dave Mirra. Nowadays Tony Hawk does piss all and Dave Mirra's been pretty busy being dead. This is all I have to say.

CARTOONS

Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network were significantly better in 1997-2006 than today. Spongebob had all its best episodes then. The Simpsons were better, Cartoon Network had the good version of Teen Titans. Dexter's Lab, Camp Lazlo, Chowder, Powerpuff Girls, you name it existed and were better. What passes as good cartoons today? Family Guy? Nope. Teen Titans Go? Still nope. Modern Spongebob? Please leave, you're scaring me. How about (this is gonna strike a nerve) Steven Universe? I'm calling the cops.

Seriously if Steven Universe is what passes for good quality cartoons I'm going to have a fit. Like yes, the LGBTQ+ community should have more representation in today's media but at the same time it shouldn't have to exist within a fandom that takes the worst elements from Undertale, FNAF, and the whiny Tumblr users, and the MS Paint Inflation artists of Deviantart. Honestly if Lesbian Minerals: The TV Show were to disappear the following day, I wouldn't give a shit. And I know a good portion of y'all like it. But I don't because I get have my own ideas about things such as these.

Even my beloved Thomas and Friends sucks today with it being rebooted into a baby show because Mattel sucks.

VIDEO GAMES

Today's modern games come in two flavors, AAA failures or Indie games with toxic autistic fandoms that are only capable of drawing Rule 34. Even console launches suck. At the time of this writing Xbox Series X's and PS5's are still hard to come by and the manufacturers are being feebleminded in their attempts to get them on store shelves. PC games remain good but I hope you like overcrowded online marketplaces bulging from the seems like a fat man in a child's clothes you have Steam, uPlay, Origin, and the Epic Game Store. All with varying degrees of poor design and amounts of shovelware. Yes I know when the Playstation 2 came out it had similar problems to the PS5 but there a quicker turn around to get more consoles unto store shelves and Scalpers didn't have access to technology capable of buying up every single unit to resell at the price of the GDP of a large superpower nation. That and the AAA games industry hadn't become such a corporate monster only capable of churning out poorly made, bland, creatively bankrupt games. The only thing that hasn't changed is Nintendo.

In fact I have been having more fun recently with my PS2 slim in the past two weeks than I have with my Switch in a month mostly due to my disappointment in Nintendo's performance in 2020. In short the Switch had tarnished while the black and blue slab had only emboldened itself.

Then there are indie games. I'm fine with their existence but my distain from them comes from their vapid fanbases that made cringy content and draw sexually charged pictures of the characters. Like seriously? You think that the creepy robot chicken from Five Nights At Freddies is somehow sexy? Please explain why whilst I got to the bathroom to vomit.

Also part of my opinion of indie games is based on my failure to create commercially viable games on Gamejolt, like how is it that some NEET in Oregon made Stardew Valley and made millions while me and my edutainment RPG that I made in RPG Maker MV (in a behavioral health institute in Rutland Mass of all places) on no budget somehow made no money and didn't change the socio-economic class of its creator. I feel like I'm becoming the Joker every time I see someone like Toby Fox or Notch because they made it big and somehow I had failed to make a single splash during the nine years I've been on Gamejolt.

CONCLUSION

I have made the decision to appreciate the culture of the late 90's and early to mid 2000's not out of nostalgic rose tinted glasses or through any decision made out of positivity but one of a jaded displeased disgruntled attitude to the modern world. A place where democracy isn't sacred, where men like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk get richer and richer, whilst us the common folk die in poverty, stucken down with COVID-19 and failed social institutions. I feel as though my talents had failed me in a world that had become fractured and disorganized where chaos and negativity are the thematic vehicles of the present and future. I live in a world where nothing makes sense and the people are screaming at each other. We live in a society on the brink of complete failure with millennials that were promised the world and were given nothing and Gen Z Zoomers falling victim to a failed educational system that produce internet addicted idiots who want nothing more than to have their 5 minutes of fame on an instant gratification challenge.

I however look to the past to find solace and meaning. A place where Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos weren't famous, where Toby Fox and Eric Barone where the same economic class as the common folk and where I felt good. Even though I was a child at the time. I feel like I can look on the early 2000's with a sense of positivity. In a world where the worst thing were two destroyed skyscrapers and a retarded president. Nowadays we have a dangerous president and a destroyed capital.

I look to the past because it a world where there were no toxic fandoms, or reckless leadership, where big business was small and the internet smaller. In short, I have become the Joker of nerds an AVGN type gamer who hides behind a bygone era and face paint.

OTHER BITS

Despite the strong words used, I did not mean this to be a sign of toxicity but rather an essay on my disillusionment with the modern world and what it means to be part of Gen Z.

Also before you ask, no I'm not depressed nor I'm I leaving Gamejolt and the world of self publishing indie games that nobody plays.

Also despite what I have said, I'm not going to retreat into a fantasy world like how Christian Weston Chandler has had. I'm going to remain in the real world with real problems and real consequence and I shan't be running away from them.

Also these are opinion and I'm free to discuss them but don't tell me that I'm wrong and such feelings on such subjects are invalid. I just like having controversial opinions because they're fun to have.

Also I know some things I point out like LMFAO and Camp Lazlo don't fall within the 1997-2006 era. I know this, please don't tell me that such things don't make sense because I know it doesn't make sense.