9/9/99 - the Sega Dreamcast is released.
Now, take a look. 8 years ago, this was the new Sonic game.
Now this is the new Sonic game.
The Matrix is released, and causes an enormous splash. It's one of the biggest movie deals ever made, comparable to Jurassic Park.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
1998 - Rush Hour, Blade
Roughly everything "existed yet" in 1998. Even the Marvel Movie Saga of today began in 1998.
It was a big deal when, in WWE, Jackie had her shirt ripped off, exposing her breasts on TV.
Rush Hour
It was a big deal when, in WWE, Jackie had her shirt ripped off, exposing her breasts on TV.
Rush Hour
1996
Goosebumps is hot. Sliders is hot.
The N64 is made, and this shatters ground even more than the 16-bit shattered the 8-bit era.
The PlayStation had a pretty silent year and a half. When the N64 was first released, the PlayStation - 32-bit - didn't look too appetizing. One had Mario 64, and one had Crash Bandicoot. It was like comparing Batman to Hawkman.
The N64 is made, and this shatters ground even more than the 16-bit shattered the 8-bit era.
The PlayStation had a pretty silent year and a half. When the N64 was first released, the PlayStation - 32-bit - didn't look too appetizing. One had Mario 64, and one had Crash Bandicoot. It was like comparing Batman to Hawkman.
1995 - Internet Begins
Connecting online was still more of a luxury that people didn't own. You could access it at the library, so it was kind of like seeing something in the arcades.
1994 - Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country really made you stop and say, whoa, look how far video-games have evolved. In 1980, Donkey Kong was the new game that had just come out. Now it was Donkey Kong Country.
Arcades were beginning to decline. They were still very popular, but they no longer served food and drinks, and the size of arcades had shrunken tremendously.
Many games came out on home systems that were never in the arcades. Donkey Kong Country was a great example. It was a game with an immersive home system experience.
Arcades were beginning to decline. They were still very popular, but they no longer served food and drinks, and the size of arcades had shrunken tremendously.
Many games came out on home systems that were never in the arcades. Donkey Kong Country was a great example. It was a game with an immersive home system experience.
1993 - Jurassic Park
1993. Saturday Night Live is hitting its peak, with an all-star cast of future celebrities including the likes of Mike Myers, Tim Meadows, and many others. What they were originally known for was SNL.
Jurassic Park came out in theaters and broke new ground like never before. It was almost like saying "Wow, now we live in a world where man has walked on the moon". Now we live in a world where man and dinosaur co-exist in a movie just as realistically as man and woman.
Jurassic Park was one of those things that was as well-known in 1993 as one of the three channels in the 70's - there wasn't a damn person around who hadn't heard of it. It was THE thing.
Jurassic Park came out in theaters and broke new ground like never before. It was almost like saying "Wow, now we live in a world where man has walked on the moon". Now we live in a world where man and dinosaur co-exist in a movie just as realistically as man and woman.
Jurassic Park was one of those things that was as well-known in 1993 as one of the three channels in the 70's - there wasn't a damn person around who hadn't heard of it. It was THE thing.
1992 - Aladdin, Rugrats, Doug, Are You Afraid of the Dark?
These days, in the 2010's, you have to sift through hundreds of decent or OK TV shows and movies to find the ones you like.
Back in the 90's, nearly every movie was great, nearly every TV channel was great, nearly everything out there was great. It wasn't flooded with cheaply-made things.
1992 was the year for sure.
GOOSEBUMPS
Goosebumps books were only intended to be a trilogy, but they caught on and spread like wildfire.
Disney's Aladdin.
Back in the 90's, nearly every movie was great, nearly every TV channel was great, nearly everything out there was great. It wasn't flooded with cheaply-made things.
1992 was the year for sure.
GOOSEBUMPS
Goosebumps books were only intended to be a trilogy, but they caught on and spread like wildfire.
Disney's Aladdin.
1991 - Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog
Now the 90's starts taking a deeper form. From 1985 to 1988, you had one choice for video-games: Nintendo. (Literally - they would engage in certain business practices to deter any competition.) The Sega Master System was largely unheard of in the United States. It was generally a well-held notion that nobody could really compete with THE Nintendo. Until the Sega Genesis launched in 1989.
The launching of the Super Nintendo in August of 1991 ushered in a new era of a two-party system in which you're either a Nintendo Person or Sega Person. For a couple years, Sega had struggled to find their flagship iconic main character, having earlier attempted to find it with Altered Beast and then with Alex Kidd. However, one character was formed that gave them their answer to Mario: SONIC.
The Sega Genesis had been around since 1989. But now it was like the Marvel of video-games, if Nintendo were the DC Comics - not just in terms of games sold, but in terms of characters. Sonic the Hedgehog was the first Sega character who was able to be spun off into cartoons, animated movies, comic books, and toys.
The 80's was ruled by an 8-bit era in video-gaming, and the 90's was ruled by the 16-bit era.
Nintendo had actually planned for the 8-bit Nintendo to simply stay in business for a good 15, 20 years. The Sega Genesis had pushed them to up their ante to keep up with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, even surpass it in some ways in the technology . . . with a little help from Sony.
The year is 1991, and Nintendo and Sony are good friends, working together to make the system called the Super Nintendo.
Video-games are becoming so hot with young audiences - arguably as hot as pizza - that comic books are beginning to take a backseat and become an outdated, past-decades thing.
The launching of the Super Nintendo in August of 1991 ushered in a new era of a two-party system in which you're either a Nintendo Person or Sega Person. For a couple years, Sega had struggled to find their flagship iconic main character, having earlier attempted to find it with Altered Beast and then with Alex Kidd. However, one character was formed that gave them their answer to Mario: SONIC.
The Sega Genesis had been around since 1989. But now it was like the Marvel of video-games, if Nintendo were the DC Comics - not just in terms of games sold, but in terms of characters. Sonic the Hedgehog was the first Sega character who was able to be spun off into cartoons, animated movies, comic books, and toys.
The 80's was ruled by an 8-bit era in video-gaming, and the 90's was ruled by the 16-bit era.
Nintendo had actually planned for the 8-bit Nintendo to simply stay in business for a good 15, 20 years. The Sega Genesis had pushed them to up their ante to keep up with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, even surpass it in some ways in the technology . . . with a little help from Sony.
The year is 1991, and Nintendo and Sony are good friends, working together to make the system called the Super Nintendo.
Video-games are becoming so hot with young audiences - arguably as hot as pizza - that comic books are beginning to take a backseat and become an outdated, past-decades thing.
1990 - Dick Tracy,
1990. Does it count as the first year of the 90's, or the final year of the 80's? On one hand, it should be counted as the first year of the 90's. But then again, you don't count 0 through 9, you count 1 through 10, 11 through 20, 21 through 30, 91 through 100, and so in that sense it should be 1991-2000. But you know what? Let's just stuck with the idea that it's 1990-1999.
The year is 1990. The 80's are over, and the 90's are in.
Gone is this:
(80's funk. Funkytown. April O'Neill. Jem and the Holograms.)
In place is this.
(Mortal Kombat II. Donkey Kong Country. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Martin.)
There was a certain realness to the 90's, a certain sense that everyone is a teenager or mentally a teenager.
VIDEO-GAMES. There's two systems out with games coming out: the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, and the 16-bit Sega Genesis. There's also the handheld 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy.
MOVIES. Dick Tracy. 1989 Batman was such a big success among an audience older than young children, shattering the expectations and earlier beliefs, that it made possible other comic book adaptations. Thus we get to Dick Tracy: an immortal classic that can be watched again and again.
There was a certain realness to movies in the 1990's, compared to the 2000's and 2010's. Nobody had a billion-dollar budget to simulate a gorgeous house, with million-dollar curtains, a million-dollar car, a million-dollar TV. No - movies would come out looking like this, as if they might have filmed it at your friend's house.
NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS.
Newspapers are printed in black and white, printing in color only on Sundays.
Sunday comic strips are better, because they're longer.
Sounds awesome, right?
RACE RELATIONS.
Everyone's actually functioning like one, at last.
Okay, so racial integration really took place in the 1960's. Racists were mad that their white Christian nation now suddenly had to accommodate non-whites, as equals instead of servants. So although the Jim Crow laws ended in the 60's, racism itself still remained alive and at large, particularly for older folks. In the 1970's, it was still very possible to be denied housing, jobs, and many other nice things because you're black instead of white. Racists complained that Affirmative Action was hurting whites by depriving them of jobs and letting some COLORED person have an office job instead which was meant for the genetically more qualified white person. (Okay, so racists weren't generous enough to use the word "colored".)
But guess what? Kids at the time didn't see it. Kids saw Americans - tall Americans, short Americans, white Americans, black Americans. The notion of "whites only" was, for the most part, over with. If you were a kid, you didn't see things in racist terms unless you were personally spoon-fed such views by your parents (which I never was).
Born December 1987, I spent the year 1990 being 2 years old.
Although the Jim Crow laws were over with since the 60's, it really took until the 80's for the majority of America to let go of racist anger, and for everyone to co-exist in peace. However, the peaceful co-existence still wasn't too far away from the Jim Crow laws, where people of different colors stayed apart from each other and maintained a peaceful existence. But in the 90's, everyone was truly playing together like equals, whether it be shooting hoops at the basketball court, TV, movies, music.
In the 90's, kids at school had to be taught that there was ever a time when everything was divided across towns between white and black sections. That looked laughably outdated and Flinstonian to 90's kids.
TV. There were only 3 channels from the 1950's through the 1970's. The 1980's added the 4th channel: FOX. But by 1990 there were almost 100 channels to choose from. A whole other state of luxury compared to the days when there were only 3 channels on TV.
Maybe the old way was better. Everyone knew what Starsky and Hutch was in the 70's, because there were only 3 channels. With nearly 100 channels, it was a little more stretched out.
DRUG EDUCATION. Children were all being educated about drugs. Smoking is bad (cigarettes). Drinking (alcohol) is bad. Drugs are bad - marijuana, cocaine, heroin. It's important to educate children so that some seedy drug-pusher doesn't get to them later on in life.
COMPUTERS. Not many people own a laptop yet. Mostly, those are meant for business professionals.
CELL PHONES. If you see a man talking into a cell phone, you can be certain of two things: he is rich, and he holds himself to be a big-shot. Nobody had quite done the "Henry Ford" effect yet on cell phones.
STORES. There is not yet a Super-Wal-Mart in every small town. Regular Wal-Mart was, to us 90's kids, like Super-Wal-Mart.
Going to McDonald's was a thing.
Here are the Happy Meal Toys one saw in the year 1990.
The year is 1990. The 80's are over, and the 90's are in.
Gone is this:
(80's funk. Funkytown. April O'Neill. Jem and the Holograms.)
In place is this.
(Mortal Kombat II. Donkey Kong Country. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Martin.)
There was a certain realness to the 90's, a certain sense that everyone is a teenager or mentally a teenager.
VIDEO-GAMES. There's two systems out with games coming out: the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System, and the 16-bit Sega Genesis. There's also the handheld 8-bit Nintendo Game Boy.
MOVIES. Dick Tracy. 1989 Batman was such a big success among an audience older than young children, shattering the expectations and earlier beliefs, that it made possible other comic book adaptations. Thus we get to Dick Tracy: an immortal classic that can be watched again and again.
There was a certain realness to movies in the 1990's, compared to the 2000's and 2010's. Nobody had a billion-dollar budget to simulate a gorgeous house, with million-dollar curtains, a million-dollar car, a million-dollar TV. No - movies would come out looking like this, as if they might have filmed it at your friend's house.
NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS.
Newspapers are printed in black and white, printing in color only on Sundays.
Sunday comic strips are better, because they're longer.
Sounds awesome, right?
RACE RELATIONS.
Everyone's actually functioning like one, at last.
Okay, so racial integration really took place in the 1960's. Racists were mad that their white Christian nation now suddenly had to accommodate non-whites, as equals instead of servants. So although the Jim Crow laws ended in the 60's, racism itself still remained alive and at large, particularly for older folks. In the 1970's, it was still very possible to be denied housing, jobs, and many other nice things because you're black instead of white. Racists complained that Affirmative Action was hurting whites by depriving them of jobs and letting some COLORED person have an office job instead which was meant for the genetically more qualified white person. (Okay, so racists weren't generous enough to use the word "colored".)
But guess what? Kids at the time didn't see it. Kids saw Americans - tall Americans, short Americans, white Americans, black Americans. The notion of "whites only" was, for the most part, over with. If you were a kid, you didn't see things in racist terms unless you were personally spoon-fed such views by your parents (which I never was).
Born December 1987, I spent the year 1990 being 2 years old.
Although the Jim Crow laws were over with since the 60's, it really took until the 80's for the majority of America to let go of racist anger, and for everyone to co-exist in peace. However, the peaceful co-existence still wasn't too far away from the Jim Crow laws, where people of different colors stayed apart from each other and maintained a peaceful existence. But in the 90's, everyone was truly playing together like equals, whether it be shooting hoops at the basketball court, TV, movies, music.
In the 90's, kids at school had to be taught that there was ever a time when everything was divided across towns between white and black sections. That looked laughably outdated and Flinstonian to 90's kids.
TV. There were only 3 channels from the 1950's through the 1970's. The 1980's added the 4th channel: FOX. But by 1990 there were almost 100 channels to choose from. A whole other state of luxury compared to the days when there were only 3 channels on TV.
Maybe the old way was better. Everyone knew what Starsky and Hutch was in the 70's, because there were only 3 channels. With nearly 100 channels, it was a little more stretched out.
DRUG EDUCATION. Children were all being educated about drugs. Smoking is bad (cigarettes). Drinking (alcohol) is bad. Drugs are bad - marijuana, cocaine, heroin. It's important to educate children so that some seedy drug-pusher doesn't get to them later on in life.
COMPUTERS. Not many people own a laptop yet. Mostly, those are meant for business professionals.
CELL PHONES. If you see a man talking into a cell phone, you can be certain of two things: he is rich, and he holds himself to be a big-shot. Nobody had quite done the "Henry Ford" effect yet on cell phones.
STORES. There is not yet a Super-Wal-Mart in every small town. Regular Wal-Mart was, to us 90's kids, like Super-Wal-Mart.
Going to McDonald's was a thing.
Here are the Happy Meal Toys one saw in the year 1990.
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