Video Game Forums In 2001 Were Different

[@JJAB91]

I miss the old 1997 - 2011 internet so much. The modern internet is such a shell of what it once was.

[@G360LIVE]

Yeah, too many snowflakes offended by everything now. They don't even want to participate in console wars. That stuff was so fun. There were some places where you needed a really thick skin to hang. :)

[@ennz2798]

We are stuck with Reddit, no community feel.

[@disgustedluigi]

Nah the internet died around 2008 when Facebook, social media in general, and smartphones started exploding.

[@stuckintheinbetween]

Mods will ban you for the most milquetoast stuff nowadays. It's just not fun or interesting anymore. Mods rule with an iron fist.

[@thelarry383]

gamers should be able to say any slur they want

[@FSAPOJake]

I miss when everyone on the internet was in their own corner and on their own websites, rather than everyone consolidating on Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and KZbin. There was social media back then, like Myspace. And big media/entertainment sites like Newgrounds. But they were still very much their own websites and didn't make other websites obsolete. With so much centralized control, the internet just feels hollow compared to how it used to be.

[@LZ02-OVERTURE]

Yea and something many forget in these conversations is the existence of "web rings" where different websites of same hobby (like people's diff websites for a same game for example) would build a web community which was way more engaging than just a centralized social media hub. People weren't isolated from other fans for being a user/reader of a specific website.

[@the.littlest.toaster]

Money ruined the Internet all the normies came in and tried to monetize everything like youtube when you weren't being paid was the most authentic now videos are being pumped out just for monetary gain.

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

I hated seeing my favorite forums slowly die like a lake drying up, barely anyone on in an entire year :/

[@therisingdyingidiot8022]

Forums made the internet feel a little smaller than it does today. They were communities where you'd get to know other users, make friends...and have week long arguments with other users that would translate topic to topic.

[@ShinobiShaw]

And the arguments were epic!!😂😂😂

[@user-ln4ye6uf9m]

Life was better back then miss the good days

[@tuerry]

i love that you could draw parallels to our current video game landscape while also giving context for these forum users' posts. spawn wave will always reign supreme in the video game youtube landscape

[@linkvagar2336]

Gamers talking about Square needing to put games on PC way back then is pretty funny.

[@ApolloDawn85]

Man, so people really have been saying Nintendo will drop out of the hardware business for over 20 years

[@Deliveredmean42]

Nintendo sure was lucky with the Wii and Switch.

[@MTY-hq2sm]

They have been saying that since they got into the console business

[@richardhunter9779]

@@Deliveredmean42 How much of it is luck and how much is software?

[@pakaman9101]

This proves people haven’t changed and Nintendo knows what they are doing

[@stevenreyes4791]

​@@pakaman9101they really had their finger on the pulse with Wii U

[@jmtradbr]

I only got access to the internet in 2005, and back then the internet was still a different beast from nowdays.

[@AliFOJ5]

I use to be very active on GameSpot forums during 7th generation. Giving reviews, blogging and taking parts in community forums use to be really fun. I made tons of friends there as well from all around the world

[@Noname15514]

GameSpot during the Jeff Gerstmann era was awesome. Now GameSpot and Jeff Gerstmann are shells of their former shelfs.

[@jeremyf1901]

This is a really good video idea! Things were so much fun back then.

[@TheRealAmericanMan]

That Nintendo quote is so funny because they’re clearly talking about the Wii YEARS before it’s public unveiling

[@QUANTUM_FLUX]

I miss using forums back in the early/mid 2000s. I hung out on the Golden Sun Realm forums for years then around 2009 I was on The Tech Game. I'll never forget those chill nights playing Modern Warfare 2 with my laptop next to me checking out all the modded lobby posts on TTG. I ended up designing a lot of the advertisements for those modded MW2 lobbies on TTG in exchange for free entry haha.

[@thogameskanaal]

You should do a video discussing old usenet boards in collab with MVG. Would be fun to watch!

[@Intersektionalitet]

I guess people didn't realize that Retro Studios had it's roots in Iguana Entertainment, which made Turok 1 and 2.

[@DelcoDudley]

Great video. So many parallels between today and back then. The more things change the more they stay the same.

[@siljeff2708]

Discord is not a forum and the fact that so many groups try to use it as one is sad and will lead to so much lost information down the road

[@JimmyVegasUnity]

I loved this style of video, it’s sorta unscripted and it feels really refreshing to watch. Made me chuckle a few times

[@TheAileZX2]

Video game forums and fandoms have been toxic for the entire while I was a part of that era. The members at most of them are just dramatic as heck, strict where they do not have to be, and engage in loads and loads of nepotism. It..... sucked when I grew up. x~x

[@HKgaming86]

so different from nowadays 🤓🤓

[@kcant65]

Yes, fanboys were always a plague. But I do miss forums, that's where I made some of my best internet friends.

[@KyleVoices]

Retro Studio was created by ex-Iguana Entertainment staff. They made all the N64 Turoks; FPS was their bread and butter.

[@FletcherReedsRandomness]

Out of curiosity, I looked at a bunch of old Sonic forums from 2001-2002, and it was pretty eye-opening. If you think Sonic Adventure 2’s divisiveness only came about in the last ten or so years, that’s not true at all, it SA2 was polarizing from day one. There were just as many posts bashing the game and saying it was the worst Sonic game as there were praising the game and saying it was the best.

[@jimmyju76]

it was both, Sega has had a problem of not polishing their games for a long time

[@metro9640]

What were their opinions on Shadow? Or Rouge even.

[@Nel_Annette]

Even back on forums in the early 90s, Sonic fans were arguing whether Sonic 2 was a worthy sequel. Some things never change.

[@greenmoblin3114]

I always enjoy the random weekend vids. Thank you

[@michaelacostantini]

It's like a little time capsule. Good times.

[@annam6742]

I love this idea! Please make a part two!

[@Walooeegie]

Funny, 2001 was a year I got addicted to Video Game Forums, from 2002 onwards I kinda got a bit bored of it. But I still miss the Forum tools, much better than Discord and Reddit which look like dumbed down version of Forums!

[@Walooeegie]

"Why have they forsaken Metroid"? That's System of a Down influence, lol

[@SakuraAvalon]

Why did they put Samus on the table? Cause they wanted too!

[@jamesnickels7380]

It's funny how the term Disney-fied Gaming (Film & TV) experience means something COMPLETELY different now.

[@God_Shen]

Finally! Not a Switch 2 video, thank you spawn man

[@NickJR528]

Wait till tomorrow lol

[@maroXUprising]

Clearly you spoke too soon.

[@davidlandrum]

Are there any good forums left? I’m tired of the gutter level talk on social media.

[@TurboPikachu]

Most that are still around are ghost towns. Quite literally all my acquaintances from all my forums sites basically moved to Discord, where groups based on those sites became ghost towns themselves. It’s gotten to the point that one Discord group, spun off of one of the forums sites by one of said acquaintances, is the only remaining semblance of community I still have online today.

[@davidlandrum]

@ thanks for the reply. Hopefully web based forums have a resurgence.

[@joshuamcdonell5490]

I agree with the sentiments that 1: we need internet forums back, and 2: we need more nostalgic videos from you John.

[@LainK1978]

They weren't the same because most people didn't use them back then. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, people typically used newgroups not message boards.

[@darrengreenacre1142]

I remeber waiting hours for game trailers to download, would tart it befor school and would run home excited to watch it.

[@catriamflockentanz]

8:18 That's the reason why three forums I am still a part of prohibit piclinking. Upload your picture into the forum proper or not at all.

[@DP3com]

I had a good time listening to this. More please!

[@esho6460]

As a 90s kid I love these nostalgic videos I’m pretty sure Jon and I are the same age because I remember everything he says 😂

[@Mike__P]

Talking about games in AOL Chat rooms was the best!

[@cd5sircoupe]

Dude tell me about it, I was pretty active on those kinds of forums back then myself in a number of different places. I have a really good story about forums from that era, but it's not exactly what you're expecting. I started my first GameFaqs account back in the summer of 2000 but that one got hacked and deactivated along with pretty much all of my other online accounts at the time. I knew the punkass who did it too, no clue how he pulled it off, but he was THAT nerd kid in school. You know the type, a self proclaimed hacker, uses obscure Linux distros, math wiz, pseudo intellectual, social outcast, etc. He made my life hell for like two months while pretending to be on my side and literally lying to my face. And to top it off he looked like Napoleon Dynamite and virtually every 80s or 90s movie teenage nerd loser character ever, the pocket protector and thick glasses type. You can't make this up, it was a real kid in one of my friend groups that I didn't really get along with. Anyway since I got sidetracked, after that forum account and all the hacker bullying I made my current account in the fall of 2001. Think about that, my Gfaqs account is roughly as old as 9/11 back when I was in high school. I know for a fact their archive system doesn't go that far back unfortunately. I haven't tried any of the various web archives on it yet, but I kinda hope there's something there. The site's lost a lot of different sub forums over the years due to inactivity, there's the Armored Core 2 Social Board that I'd specifically love to take a look at but I had a presence in quite a few places over there. That's about it really for anything I can recall still being active from my video game forum history. To be honest it's kinda the same story for automotive forums too, and I was in a bunch of different places in that space during the 00s as well. There is a friend of mine that was a big part of this small community forum behind like an RPG Maker project or something, I would have to ask him the details but I think it was called Blade 2K. He wound up necroing the forum with a new post like a year or so ago, it had been a years long hiatus of activity prior.

[@AustinT97]

Love these trips down the memory lane of gaming. Seeing these forum posts from this time period just shows that some things haven't really changed.

[@slick_link7516]

Retro Studios were the old devs of the N64 Turok games if I’m not mistaken. They weren’t exactly unknown at the time. Now in hindsight, they were unwarranted fears lol

[@PuNiShEdSiciliangamer]

"Nintend00med" was a fanboy anthem circa 2000-2004

[@TheLastLineLive]

This was when the internet was exciting and fun. I would unironically still visit my old haunts if they existed.

[@ovaltinejenkins1136]

14:22 I STILL use sweet . Lol. 🤣🤣🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 LONG LIVE THE EALRY 00’s

[@mjdf122]

I miss the 1980s/1990s/2000s good times many memories

[@JimmyFraggs]

I miss TeamXbox. The years prior to being purchased by IGN was magical.

[@bunnyfreakz]

Such nostalgia. Wasted lot of time on those kind of forum.

[@10thmountainsoldier90]

Well I was 19❤ now I have a ps5 pro.

[@Bsidheq]

we need more of these please!

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

I miss the ornate and fanciful signatures you could have in message boards. Shout out to “Gamers with Jobs”

[@barrensoil]

If only we could go back to these magical days. The state of everything now is beyond depressing, to say the least.

[@twodumbcats390]

The internet is shit now. I miss the good old days

[@damienhagedorn8990]

The Xbox was the first console I ever bought for myself walked into a Circuit City 😂 one day looking for stereo equipment and on a whim decided to get it

[@tommj4365]

I'm sorry

[@JukainPwnsSurvives]

@@tommj4365?

[@slickrat]

Nintendo did get out of the home console business. The Switch is just a portable device with a HDMI output, there is no such thing as "hybrid", even the Switch 2 is going to be severely underpowered by the current home consoles. Calling the Switch "a home console" is almost as much of a stratch as calling your mobile phone connected your TV "a home console", especially with an iPhone being able to run last generation games such as Death Stranding and Resident Evil Remake. At this point, just call a mobile phone with a bluetooth gamepad "a home console", it is almost the same thing as a Switch in technical terms.

[@ShinobiShaw]

❤Message Boards and forums had it all, love and hate, epic arguments and heated debates to a sort of “nerd elitism” because everyone was well informed, I was in middle school and learned a lot😂😂😂😂😂 a major plus was getting anything Japanese way way before it would be seen by the mass market in the US

[@NewsanceInHD]

The good old days

[@rtyuik7]

damn, dude's givin me flashbacks to the "Y2K scare"...

[@KaiserMattTygore927]

Now we're having discussions on Xbox pulling a Sega and almost certainly exiting the console business. In some ways the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[@sherekhangamedev]

I remember fondly the good ol' times at The MadMan's Cafe forum and BB.

[@iShredStreets]

Got some old PS2 stuff back recently and I check the memory cards and I had some saved Games from 2001/2002 of Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid II and nostalgia hit me real hard.

[@robras2850]

I want that Dreamcast dvd player omg

[@WritesTooMuch]

14:00 As someone turning 40 who was a older teenager and a regular on gaming forums at that time -> Flashforward 25 years and I *STILL* employ _"Dude"_ and _"Sweet"_ in my daily vernacular. I am sure younger people must notice it and not say anything.... but not me, man! I'm still living in the past and think nothing of it. lol. 😁 I guess I forget that 'not everyone' speaks like that anymore. But I see no reason to fix what is not broken - I suspect 'Dude' and 'Sweet' will outlive most the throwaway lingo Gen Z and Alpha are saying today anyway. Things like Dude and even Cool aren't even Xennial/Elder Millennial speak - they are time tested slang from our parents days that migrated gens. I feel like Sweet has that potential one day - but regardless, I ain't retiring it. [Image-erik-cartman-sweet-grin.thisisaparodylink]

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

12:40 “more true to life” 😂 Okay “Doctor Gonzo,” because games are so realistic.

[@ProducerX21]

It’s crazy to think that some of these commentators are pushing 50… maybe 60 years old

[@DaBigCheeso]

The PS/Xbox rivalry has been fierce since before the Xbox was officially born

[@jacksonlanterns3731]

I love this retrospec, especially when you compare it to what people say in the market today. The more things change, the more they stay the same 😅

[@stephenprice8825]

It's funny hearing the square go to pc thing because final fantasy 7 and I believe 8 too got pc ports back in the day

[@DrgnMastr386]

Related topic, but not really, in Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 42 (Jan 1993) page 70 there is a section called The Game Doctor I recently came across where readers are discussing HDTV's and online gaming with the SNES. It's rather bizarre to read about HDTV topics being discussed in 1993.

[@FloridaManRacer]

it's really sad to me how SEGA failed with the Dreamcast. Nintendo these days can release under powered hardware but still be the best selling console of a generation, but the Dreamcast somehow was a massive failure sales wise while being a damn great console with a REALLY solid library. I get that the PS2 was really innovative, more powerful and had amazing games, but It REALLY sucks that their success came at the expense of SEGA's future as a hardware company. The OG XBox really is a Dreamcast 2 in spirit with the SEGA mainboard inside and so many SEGA titles on it, but I wish it had been another SEGA console. Not Microsoft reaping the rewards off SEGA's back.

[@batmanbud2]

The PS1 and PS2 hype was completely overblown, honestly. It's like they were Pokemon fans back then.

[@Dagyo23]

Normies getting the internet ruined everything. I miss when old internet culture

[@stuckintheinbetween]

So much better than Resetera and Reddit.

[@stephenoliveau]

I ran a gaming forum in 2001... I still prefer them to reddit or discord.

[@PrinsessePeach]

Did you try any of the dead links in the Wayback Machine?

[@adippful]

450? In this economy? I'll just gonna stick with my Switch OLED for quite a while then 😂

[@The_Larness]

This was a great idea for a video ❤

[@darthjason7019]

Zombie revenge was fun ....bullets , bullets . 😅

[@novaCD4]

If the GameCube had bigger storage size it would have dominated. 1.5GB was not enough.

[@poluticon]

Back when the games industry actually cared about what gamers wanted and cared about releasing quality games.

[@solonepeon5805]

The thing I loved on forums was not being tracked or having to sign in etc. It was click & post without bs.

[@bachir5767]

In Most forums you needed and account and an introduction post tho or you can use it

[@nyjay]

Pretty sure I found a bunch of your old posts back then too, talking about stupid Switch rumors already also

[@jakob87]

The oled lite is finally going to get revealed!!!!!

[@damienhagedorn8990]

The Sims was the 1st game I ever modded Fable (Xbox) & Fable TLC (PC) first game I ever got deep into the modding

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

17:26 Ouch 😎. I felt that.

[@BlackIce4047]

Anyone remember the Nintendo NSider forums?

[@metal9097]

I mean that was like the same thing with gameFAQs there was a forum on their that mentioned that Nintendo would get very popular one day or like very huge and honestly they have

[@TheWaffleFactory]

I still say sweet, what of it 😂

[@zappiestmango6043]

Things different almost 25 years ago...who would've thought 🤔

[@jbischof71]

There were forums in 2000 and they’re still published? Mind blowing. It’s like being a video game nerd with a Time Machine 👍👍

[@bauer9101]

I hung around on System Wars on Gamespot for waaaayyy too long

[@justintaylor3569]

Cows, lemming and sheep *shudders*

[@Likwidfox]

I watched Xplay reruns all Christmas so funny talking about Duke Nukem Forever in 03

[@gamerincorporated154]

Babbage's. I haven't heard that in a long time. 💯💯

[@speedwaynutt]

Legend has it even back then chat forums were filled with talks of a Switch 2.

[@blizmo2]

Happy Sunday 😎 2001 was DreamCast & N64 for me 24 years ago yikes! We Old as Hell 😆

[@badwolf8112]

I FINISHED METROID PRIME ON SWITCH AND I NEED THEM TO RELEASE METROID PRIME 2.

[@earlfrancart5687]

man that brought back memories. ahh the days of dsl 😂😂😂

[@shawmeck9323]

Spawnwave can you increase the volume of your video pleae?

[@tommj4365]

Hard to imagine those hyped for xbox were anything other than MS employees/bots

[@internethistorytrash7464]

The wild west, pure freedom.

[@Zepimo123]

i hate the twitter-reddit-discord that is the internet now, its too centrified and corporate.

[@jimmyju76]

people still pre-order vapor ware 😂

[@tommj4365]

Yea It's crazy, I still wait like 6 months after release

[@vectoralphaSec]

For sure

[@AnthonySmith-bj9mo]

hi Spawn Wave