When life was in 256 Colours...

[Meowster]

I don't remember my SNES coming with Spyware preloaded. I don't remember Monkey Island collecting my personal information for Microsoft. I don't remember Monkey Island II handing Bill Gates a remote control for my 386. I don't even remember my 386.

What do you think? Was life better when it was in 256 colours?

[Gilbert]

I don't know, but I started with 2 colours, as my first PC was a 8088 PC with CGA graphics on a Green monitor...

(I am talking about PC, not that I didn't play with other better things like Apple II and Famicom though...)

[Meowster]

Yes, but Apple II and Famicon don't allow the American Government to spy on you to this day. The PC, on the other hand, is the biggest spy since James Bond. I'm thinking PC Bond.

[DGMacphee]

I remember the good ol' Atari ST days.

I doubt Sam Tramiel could have got my personal info, especially when I was using a 14.4 modem to log on to bulletin boards -- no internet back then!

[Trapezoid]

Even if PCs are spies, I personally don't see much harm. I can't imagine it being very personal, since Microsoft only cares about statistics and demographics.

[Ben]

I don't care about my personal information. I'd be happy if my computer stopped installing ad delivery software and creepy porn browser plugins without asking me first. I can't believe it's even legal to do that..

[Bob The Hun]

I don't think that is legal.
It's just that the internet seems to be in a gray zone when it comes to the law.
If the authorities do nothing, cybercrime is rampant. On the other hand, if they crack down on it, they risk infringing on the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

[Meowster]

I'd rather their new Pandemonium or whateverthehellitscalled system didn't automatically delete files that it finds offensive. One step closer to a 'Democratic Communist' era.

Ha ha! I live in Europe! We'll stay free for at LEAST 2 months after you americans have been enslaved by your own government.

I'd love to go back to 1990, do you know that? Not only was I not being spied on, and not only was I nearly as good as proffesional animators on Dpaint, but my family was a happy one.

Maybe I associate 256 colours with a non broken family.

Does anybody else have this weird thing where they always imagine their parents as kids... in BLACK AND WHITE!?

[BOYD1981]

you would have been 4 years old in 1990 though wouldn't you?

[Gilbert]

Spies? I never had internet connection when in the 256 colour era...

[DGMacphee]

Actually, I remembered this guy in a black trenchcoat who always wrote in a notepad -- He stood over me and watched my every move on my Atari ST.

Me: What are you doing?

Trenchcoat man: I'm a spy watching your every move.

Me: Why?

Trenchcoat man: Because the internet hasn't been invented yet and Bill Gates need to know everything about your PC.

Me: But this isn't a PC -- It's an Atari.

Trenchcoat man: Really? Oh. That's different.

Me: ...

Trenchcoat man: ...

Me: Get out of my house.

[Femme Stab Mode >:D]

Ahh... When my dad brought a laptop from USA... It was such an exitement! It was in black and white and I spilled water on it the first day and the Alt key and left arrow didn't work since and it didn't have a second Alt key or Num Lock because it was so small... It was 1994, I was 7 and about to start school. I played doom on it. I was a one bloodthirsty kid.Now we moved to Australia and we still have the laptop though it's old and we don't use it.  That was a lovely time...

[DGMacphee]

Doom in black and white???

MY GOD!!!

[Femme Stab Mode >:D]

Not black and white, not 2 colours but pinkish-greyish-white and black.Later we got a colour monitor for it and replaced the keyboard, so it was easier.

[Gilbert]

heh I was playing LSL2 with that green monitor at that time, it's hell, as there was a screen where you have to watch out for the traffic light to cross the street, which made no difference what colour the light was in... though it's nothing compared with the evil parser bug that prevented me from beating that game for years...

[Miez]

I'd love to go back to 1990, do you know that? Not only was I not being spied on, and not only was I nearly as good as proffesional animators on Dpaint, but my family was a happy one.

Listen to the Yufster, all of you, for she speaks true! Computers that had their OS on two floppies, games that had some actual gameplay in them. Cheaper beer ... er, that's about all I could think of. Mostly it suxx0red as much as now, or as much as the future will. Memory has this wipe-away-all-the-nasty-details quality to it I guess (well, mine does).  

[Gilbert]

why? I remember my old time when I played KQ5 on floppies...

[MachineElf]

Oh, KQ5 on floppies...
On the Amiga as well.

I think the first 256 colour games I played were World Class Leader Board and Mean Streets (still love that game!). Both also had synthesized speech(!) through the internal speaker. Just imagine the possibilities!
I remember my dad's first computer cost 18000SEK (about $1800) and was a 286 with 3.5'' floppy and VGA screen (640x480!!!). Top of the line at the time. He even got this huge printer that shook our whole house when running... Playing all those old great Sierra titles. Police Quest is an all time favorite, of course.

The problem with going back in time, though, is that you'll always end up in the future anyway...

[Paranoia]

eee when i was a lad!
my first contact with a PC was a ZX81! Super 1k memory, and you could crank it up to 8k,with a add on! the ultimate in crash and burn, took about 3 hour program to make  a "X" go from top to bottom, (5 hours debugging as well)

scarey thing is you can still get em! in DIY form

*Paranoia feels very very very old now!*

[m0ds]

The life of 256 (or 386's) was deffinatley more creative for me in terms that any games I made, I had to make the engine too - rather than just load AGS and make the game

It did however, mean Windows 3.1, which suckckckckcked.

m0ds