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Author Topic: Sigh... where is everyone?  (Read 47880 times)

« on: December 02, 2014, 04:03:20 AM »
It's getting to the point where only mods comment here... hell, I only come here once a month
My mind is telling me no... My body is telling me no too, just so you know.

BP

  • Beside Pacific
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2014, 04:24:28 AM »
I would say internet forums are dying out, but a couple weeks ago I was googling for venison roast recipes and stumbled upon a forum about cookin' meat that gets more traffic than we do. I guess meat is, always has been, and always will be, more popular than Mario...


it's-a meat
All your dreeeeeeams begiiin to shatterrrrrr~
It's YOUR problem!

Suffix

  • Steamed
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2014, 06:02:42 AM »
Forgive me while I ramble a bit. Heh, isn't that the kind of thing Insane Steve would say? Anyway...

As a whole, I kind of feel like TMK is a living tribute to the turn-of-the-millenium "if you build it they will come" magazine-style sites, such as Zelda Legends. TMK was late to the crowdsourced Web 2.0 thingymabob (I think that's what they called it), and trusted volunteer staff can only dedicate so much of their time before they are burdened with other responsibilities, or simply grow tired. These days we have blogs with writers who make their living off attention-grabbing articles about games and other things. Perhaps Web 2.0 has replaced "posters" with "commenters."

How we interact with internet media aside, another big problem is youth recruitment. Cliched as it is, youth are the future, and necessary for maintaining communities. Youth come because they have interest, and google queries like "Mario games," "secrets," or "MIDIs." They'd come for the data and stay for the speculation on forums. Remember how we all talked about Project Dolphin, Revolution, and that weird water gun thingy Mario was getting? Guess where the kids get their speculation now? Professional blog writers, sometimes Youtubers! Or so I am led to believe.

Perhaps the biggest problem facing Nintendo sites in general, however, is that the playing field is now several times wider that the "Mario vs Sonic" wars of yore.

Turtlekid1

  • Tortuga
« Reply #3 on: December 02, 2014, 08:24:31 AM »
Also, Glorb is gone.
"It'll say life is sacred and so is death
but death is life and so we move on"

Koopaslaya

  • Kansas
« Reply #4 on: December 02, 2014, 08:32:10 AM »
/\ /\ Suffix, that's a post of the year candidate if I've ever seen one.

In fact I, in my capacity as ADVANCED Poster Awards Emcee Emeritus, declare it the winner in honore.

In any event, Suffix, I do believe you're right. I would argue that those blog articles with a catch title and a list format are more than just a threat to the "magazine-style" websites like TMK. They're a plague to the internet and a bane of our intelligence. Articles like "The Top 20 Mario Moments You Won't BELIEVE," are attention grabbers, sure. But there is really a paucity of any real content in such articles.

Yes, maybe the information sources have changed. But isn't it also possible that TMK can remain the premiere resource for all things classic Mario? Maybe we can't keep up with all the new things in the gaming world. But there's a resurgence in retro gaming, especially among the younger demographic who are in many cases discovering for the first time "lost classics" or games we've always known as great. Vinyl sales are up in the music world, and I have my own ideas about why. But I also think that classic gaming might be our wheelhouse. TMK still has a great feel after all these years, and there's still a purpose to this website.

Maybe the forums will flicker out, but I still see TMK as a cornucopia of reliable Mario information.
 
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Suffix

  • Steamed
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2014, 09:32:55 AM »
They're a plague to the internet and a bane of our intelligence. Articles like "The Top 20 Mario Moments You Won't BELIEVE," are attention grabbers, sure. But there is really a paucity of any real content in such articles.

Yes, the "Top (N)" and all Upwordy/Buzzkill/etc clickbait articles are the absolute scum of the internet, but whether or not the articles are "real" content or not is beside the point. At least there's something new to talk about-- that's why forums pop up around Youtuber communities. Even if there's not a new title or console around the corner, there's always the topics the personalities bring up to discuss.

As a game designer/programmer, I have my doubts about any significant retro resurgence. The indies 8~16 bit throwbacks are largely to save on design costs and send people our ages and above on nostalgia trips. It's not like people claim in earnest that older games "feel better" as people claim vinyl, as an analogue medium, "sounds better." I'd go further into it, but I don't feel like generating too much animosity uninvited.

Anyway, I agree that TMK has a great feel to it, that's why I called it a living tribute to the internet we grew up on.

ShadowBrain

  • Ridiculously relevant
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2014, 12:03:50 PM »
I kind of feel like TMK is a living tribute to the turn-of-the-millenium "if you build it they will come" magazine-style sites, such as Zelda Legends. TMK was late to the crowdsourced Web 2.0 thingymabob (I think that's what they called it), and trusted volunteer staff can only dedicate so much of their time before they are burdened with other responsibilities, or simply grow tired. These days we have blogs with writers who make their living off attention-grabbing articles about games and other things. Perhaps Web 2.0 has replaced "posters" with "commenters."
This man knows what's up. Granted, nostalgia's practically currency these days, but this site means a lot to me for that, if only because it represents things that meant a lot to me growing up. I still remember the chain of events that led me from searching for info on Shiguru Miyamoto for an elementary school class project to finding the ClassicGaming network, to checking out all the trivia and fan stuff in the TMK archives over several years, to finally joining the forums in 2007 after my old haunt "Nintendomain" tanked. I've seen a lot of fellow forums and favorite sites come, go, and get retooled in those years--for better or worse--so whether the Fungi Forums keeps attracting new blood or just becomes a ramshackle pub for aging Millenials to wax nostalgic, you can guarantee I'll be popping in on the daily until somebody brings the Super Mario Bros. 3-inspired curtain down on the stage.
"Mario is your oyster." ~The Chef

Koopaslaya

  • Kansas
« Reply #7 on: December 02, 2014, 01:25:46 PM »
As a game designer/programmer, I have my doubts about any significant retro resurgence. The indies 8~16 bit throwbacks are largely to save on design costs and send people our ages and above on nostalgia trips. It's not like people claim in earnest that older games "feel better" as people claim vinyl, as an analogue medium, "sounds better." I'd go further into it, but I don't feel like generating too much animosity uninvited.

No animosity here, I think this is a worthy discussion, anyhow. I did not look to any statistics (if there even are any on this topic) to defend my claim that retro gaming might be making a resurgence. I did however use my experience of going to the local record shop which also happens to sell NES, SNES, Atari, Sega, and N64 games. I'm always amazed by the young people who are drawn to the classic consoles and games. I overhear a lot of conversations of teens who realize that they have indeed stumbled upon a goldmine. You're probably right that indy developers go for the 8~16 bit "feel" for nostalgia's sake. But there is still something to the old games. A few of my friends have younger brothers who have either discovered their brothers' old systems or who have gone out to buy a NES. And they're ecited about these games as if they were brand new. I really do think that there is something there.

As a vinyl collector myself, I'd like to explain my comparison. Some people say vinyl "sounds better." That's up to debate. A lossless digital file is pretty good. Sound quality also depends much more on recording techniques than whether the sounds are pressed onto vinyl or not. (There are, of course, exceptions to this. Some bands have recorded their music directly onto wax as opposed to magnetic tape... but I digress). A good speaker setup and free Pandora sounds better than a crappy turntable and a cheap preamp, even if hipsters insists that the vinyl sounds better. To me, the vinyl resurgence plays a little on nostalgia, yes. But more to it, people want something physical when they buy. CDs don't really offer an investment. Rip it to the computer and it's done. They're not worth much. But with vinyl, the packaging, the liner notes, the art, these all go into the sale of the album. There's something satisfying about the tactile nature of vinyl listening. Search for your album on the shelf, pull it out of the dust jacket, admire the art, place the needle, listen to half the album and follow along with the liner notes, get up, turn it over, replace the needle, pick up the album, place it in its sleeve, and put it back on the shelf. A wholly different experience than click iTunes and listen. I wonder if there isn't something similar going on with old games. The cartridge experience is similar, maybe?

This is me thinking as I type: not usually a good thing. I'm probably wrong. But I certainly didn't mean any animosity, Suffix. We've all had conversations here a lot more hard-hitting than this one.

But I like to think that TMK of the future might be a hub for those with memories of Mario games and an archive of those games all but lost to the contemporary gaming scene.
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The Chef

  • Super
« Reply #8 on: December 02, 2014, 04:08:54 PM »
I think another big issue is the fact that people used to come to TMK for information, but now keep going to Mario Wiki instead (even though people with brains can tell Wikis are actually really stupid in practice!).

I've been trying to convince Deezer to give the Mariopedia a bit of an overhaul for this reason. I feel like it can and should be able to stand toe-to-toe with Mario Wiki at the very least. I really do want people to come here for Mario info again. There's gotta be a way to propel ourselves back into the average Internet surfer's eye, right?

« Reply #9 on: December 02, 2014, 09:16:22 PM »
Now that so much information has been consolidated into sites like the Mario Wiki, people have less reason to scour every Google result in search of information. As such, fewer curious fans to discover this forum. Had TMK been founded in 2007 rather than 1997, it would probably just be a Facebook group or Twitter feed.
YYur  waYur n beYur you Yur plusYur instYur an Yur Yur whaYur

BriGuy92

  • Luck of the Irish
« Reply #10 on: December 02, 2014, 10:59:54 PM »
Quote from: The Title
where is everyone?
I'm right here! I never left! I just don't post a lot.
Know the most important contribution of the organ Fund science girls type. It's true!

The Chef

  • Super
« Reply #11 on: December 03, 2014, 01:04:28 AM »
Now that so much information has been consolidated into sites like the Mario Wiki, people have less reason to scour every Google result in search of information.

It still pains me that it's everyone's primary source. It's still terribly written, terribly organized and rife with baseless speculation and "trivia" that's not remotely even fact. I'm ok with having one place full of consolidated information, but it could at least be better-delivered and better-researched.

« Reply #12 on: December 03, 2014, 02:03:31 AM »
one place full of consolidated information, but it could at least be better-delivered and better-researched.

Like TMK!
Kinopio is the ultimate video game character! Who else can drive a kart, host parties, play tennis, give good advice and items, and is almost always happy??

Suffix

  • Steamed
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2014, 06:40:29 AM »
No animosity here, I think this is a worthy discussion, anyhow.

Glad to hear it! I probably should have stuck a </facetious> tag on the end of the sentence, as it was more of a tired, mental nod to how people sometimes go off on rants in Youtube comments and such... Before I added that note, I actually did go on a long bit about games-as-spectacle, psychological game loops, and what not. I don't remember much of it now.

That's definitely a fun anecdote, it's nice to think that kids these days would see old consoles as treasure troves.

The Chef

  • Super
« Reply #14 on: December 03, 2014, 03:27:11 PM »

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