alt Hacker NewsI loved gen 1 pokemon as a kid in the 90s. But today I sometimes feel like our culture is locked in time. Walking into a toy store is somewhat depressing - everything looks exactly the same as it did when I was a kid! It’s been 30+ years, kids should have way cooler toys and IPs.
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"Block" games existed in the 90s, perhaps, but Minecraft is from 2009.
"Factorio" type puzzles may have existed, but nothing of that detail until 2016.
Part of the big advancements of the 80-90s was that the technology was advancing insanely quickly, which meant that things that were simply impossible a year ago were commonplace next year.
LEGO still exists, but the Lego of 2026 is not the Lego of the 90s (for good or ill).
Toy cars existed in the 80s, but the Cars franchise started in 2006.
Part of the problem is it's hard to see what will be huge in 20 years that already exists today.
You also have "sideways cannibalization" where something in one area never really expands to another: Harvest Moon never moved to PC/Mac and so there was an opening that Stardew Valley took advantage of, and now has moved way beyond. In a way it's "the same thing locked in time" in another it's not.
What do they say about there being only seven stories?
I walk past something resembling a claw machine arcade on my commute, and I've noticed that although every month the prizes in the window swap around, the anime woman figurine and the mascot plush always looks quite similar to the one from the last month.
I _think_ they're from different series, but aesthetically it's impossible for me to figure out one from the other. Trends are still changing, but I think our design sensibilities have definitely found a place to plateau.
I try to (relive my youth and) buy my kids action figures and they could care less. Injection molded plastic hunks can't compete with the dopamine hit of Roblox or Dogman books.
I was just thinking too when there are new IPs, they are completely indistinct today. Take a character from any of the past 15 years of animated movies and they are interchangeable with each other. Everyone is afraid to establish a design language beyond looking kinda-sorta like a pixar character.
90s were so different with creative freedom with the media we were exposed to. All those shows had their own art style. Characters were distinct and unmistakable. Brands were cemented as a result.
Marketing executives have lost the hat. They are like those people from the Neutral Planet in Futurama. Somehow they reigned in everything that made them successful in the 80s and 90s.
Eh, how long has looney tunes and Bugs Bunny been around? I was watching that with my silent generation grandfather into the 2000s, and my first video games were basically my Gen X dad's first video games on the 2600 and first Nintendo, Intellivision. I think the simplicity of those games and that IP is just universally approachable for people at a certain age. Before Pokemon cards, it was just sports cards for ages.
Not exactly Pokemon related, but this would have been the coolest toy I had for a while if I had it 30 years ago.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVXryEIj8ah/?igsh=MWViMDBvZ3h...
While there IS innovation and novelty in the toy industry, I can tell you from experience in the field that the people with the money are the parents. So the nostalgia play is a very strong tactic. Sell what the parents had because they will INSTANTLY want to give the same to their kids.
It’s not just video games but everything… movies, music, everything has basically barely evolved compared to the prior 30 years. Compare 1965 to 1995 and 1995 to present and it’s so clear we have become stagnant in so many ways. Way fewer choices in a lot of ways even if we have more convenient options.
I've come full circle to appreciating the current durability of culture.
Last summer, I played Pokémon with my neice's kid. I got to relive the pure joy of playing Pokémon with my neice, nephews, and own son. So now three generations are nerding out together. I love it.
> But today I sometimes feel like our culture is locked in time.
People say this often and I agree that it does feel that way.
They particularly underline "they are constantly remaking old movies!" which is also true.
However, this is not a new phenomenon. As someone who loves movie trivia, IMDB is full of "this 1980s film was actually a remake of this other 1947 film". An older example: the Victorians (~1837 - ~1901) were obsessed with the ancient Romans. This was during a time when the telegraph was connecting the world and people could talk to humans, instantly, on the other side of the world.