Interesting you brought the NES up, I loved it back then for all of those reasons. My dad and I (and some of my family/school friends) used to play games like Zelda for hours back in 1987-90 or so.

For older teens/younger adults, the entire 2000s was probably a bit more like today in terms of technology (even if a basic texting/dumbphone only can do a fraction of what a 2010s smartphone can) but the first half of the 00s does seem like the last time you regularly saw tons of kids outside playing. Though perhaps its kinda to do with 24 hour newschannels and the internet instilling the fear of kidnappers and stuff into parents and not JUST because of tech either?
that's awesome. I feel like the NES was one of greatest game consoles ever made in game history

and you're right. In the early 00s, even though I was still a kid, i saw kids playing outside in their yards, at the park, at other kid events, and they even had an imagination having fun when they were inside the house alone or with friends.

Honestly kids still play outside... I can't drive out of the driveway because kids are blocking the roads playing outside. I never understood why people keep saying kids don't play outside anymore. Maybe older kids? Kids age 4-8 still play very much outside. I could understand older kids play less outside because of technology and video games these days. Pre teens are online more often than outside as opposed to back then probably. But I always see little kids playing outside these days,

I've started getting more nostalgic for the early 00s recently. There was still a lot of good variety in music. I miss the mid 00s a little bit on a personal level, but not the culture. Lil Jon got old after a while.

I miss it on a personal level too. It's like the last of the glory days.  :-
Smartphones! I remember most teens had them but you could only really text or make calls on them (and they didn't have a color screen! Just that green/black with no color) . This was around 02/03.. First time I saw the first iPod touch/iphone I didn't even think it was possible for stuff like that.. Smart phones really changed everything

'02 and '03 I began to see flip phones, but you could just call and text yet. Before that most teens I knew didn't have one at all. The first ones I remember anyone with were all one piece and something you clipped on rather than put in your pocket.


Honestly kids still play outside... I can't drive out of the driveway because kids are blocking the roads playing outside. I never understood why people keep saying kids don't play outside anymore. Maybe older kids? Kids age 4-8 still play very much outside. I could understand older kids play less outside because of technology and video games these days. Pre teens are online more often than outside as opposed to back then probably. But I always see little kids playing outside these days,

It may just depend on the neighborhood. Growing up my street and the streets near it were full of children, not so much now. The only difference I see is parents waiting at bus stops with the kids or walking them there.

For older teens/younger adults, the entire 2000s was probably a bit more like today in terms of technology (even if a basic texting/dumbphone only can do a fraction of what a 2010s smartphone can) but the first half of the 00s does seem like the last time you regularly saw tons of kids outside playing.


I was a teenager from '99-'06 and I only had a desktop computer and got internet access in 2000. We didn't use social media except for instant messengers and that was an important way to communicate back then. The biggest difference was, that we had to go home to write our messages or surf the internet. We couldn't even think of using the internet at any place we want to, like it is normal today with smartphones.

I have tried mobile internet in 2002 for one time though with my sister's cellphone. It was text based and extremely expensive and I didn't get a birthday present from her afterwards ;D

I was a teenager from '99-'06 and I only had a desktop computer and got internet access in 2000. We didn't use social media except for instant messengers and that was an important way to communicate back then. The biggest difference was, that we had to go home to write our messages or surf the internet. We couldn't even think of using the internet at any place we want to, like it is normal today with smartphones.

I have tried mobile internet in 2002 for one time though with my sister's cellphone. It was text based and extremely expensive and I didn't get a birthday present from her afterwards ;D

You ran up a huge phone bill with it?  ;D Our first internet access wasn't cheap and it was limited to 8 hours a day and had to be through the store's service. I miss using messengers to talk because you can get on whenever you want, and off whenever you want. These days people get an attitude when you don't answer a text if your phone isn't constantly on.  ::)

You ran up a huge phone bill with it? 


It was only about 10 USD (equivalent), but still too much for just checking an auction on ebay for 1 or 2 minutes ;)

Yes, nowadays you have to be on-line 24/7 and answear questions within minutes. Otherwise people might get impatient.
Even though we have so many different systems to communicate today, I don't think I meet friends more often than in the early 2000s. It's actually less... 

Our first internet access was no flat rate at all and I had to pay for every single minute. My parents were shocked when the first phone bill (50 USD only for internet) came. After that I got a flat rate which was only on sundays and holidays. I had to dial a special number then.
What I also did was using those free hours from the AOL CDs and then cancel it ;) - Oh yeah, I really miss those early internet days.

that's awesome. I feel like the NES was one of greatest game consoles ever made in game history

I feel Atari was the greatest console of my time.

Our first internet access wasn't cheap and it was limited to 8 hours a day and had to be through the store's service.

I remember our first internet access 18 years ago.

Interesting you brought the NES up, I loved it back then for all of those reasons. My dad and I (and some of my family/school friends) used to play games like Zelda for hours back in 1987-90 or so.


The thing about gaming back then (probably NES to PS2/Xbox) was it was directed towards kids/teens. Gaming is more directed at adults (over 15s) than kids and you knew where you stood with it back then. When you bought a cartridge/floppy disk/computer tape you knew you had the whole game on it and it was so challenging and addictive it kept you going for a long time. Now games are measured in 'hours'. People say to me now, that such and such a game has 'x' amount of hours play to it.  ???

DLC (downloadable content) could have been something amazing but it's an excuse for lazy/cynical games developers to chop their full games up and blackmail consumers into buying their content (example Mass Effect 3).

Online play is great but now there is pressure for people to buy the game as soon as it comes out so they don't fall behind others who have preordered the game and played it 'x' amount of days before them.

There is not just one version of a game to buy now but there are collectors editions too (often come with a model or something) that is sold for anything from £20 to £100 extra. My mates bought Destiny for the Xbox One on Download for approx. £52 and then bought the game on disc! On top of that one of them was going to buy a collector's edition of the game because it had some merchandise with it. All in all, he was prepared to buy the same expensive console game 3 times costing him roughly £240!

The most worrying thing for me in console/computer gaming (this is where they really price kids out of the market IMO) is micro-transactions where you can buy extra things like weapons/outfits/skills whatever. It was bad enough when free games were doing it on Facebook (Farmville/Cityville from Zynga spring to mind) but I understood that because that is how Zynga makes it's money. To get the most out of a game now you are encouraged to spend increased amounts of money on top of the £40/£50 price you've already paid. My above mentioned mates spent £200 on micro-transactions for one computer game.

People say that we will never have a gaming crash like we did after the E.T fiasco in 1983 but it was this opportunistic attitude that started it all off in the first place. If we are not careful the next thing we will be getting nostalgic about is computer/console gaming.

The thing about gaming back then (probably NES to PS2/Xbox) was it was directed towards kids/teens. Gaming is more directed at adults (over 15s) than kids and you knew where you stood with it back then. When you bought a cartridge/floppy disk/computer tape you knew you had the whole game on it and it was so challenging and addictive it kept you going for a long time. Now games are measured in 'hours'. People say to me now, that such and such a game has 'x' amount of hours play to it.  ???

DLC (downloadable content) could have been something amazing but it's an excuse for lazy/cynical games developers to chop their full games up and blackmail consumers into buying their content (example Mass Effect 3).

Online play is great but now there is pressure for people to buy the game as soon as it comes out so they don't fall behind others who have preordered the game and played it 'x' amount of days before them.

There is not just one version of a game to buy now but there are collectors editions too (often come with a model or something) that is sold for anything from £20 to £100 extra. My mates bought Destiny for the Xbox One on Download for approx. £52 and then bought the game on disc! On top of that one of them was going to buy a collector's edition of the game because it had some merchandise with it. All in all, he was prepared to buy the same expensive console game 3 times costing him roughly £240!

The most worrying thing for me in console/computer gaming (this is where they really price kids out of the market IMO) is micro-transactions where you can buy extra things like weapons/outfits/skills whatever. It was bad enough when free games were doing it on Facebook (Farmville/Cityville from Zynga spring to mind) but I understood that because that is how Zynga makes it's money. To get the most out of a game now you are encouraged to spend increased amounts of money on top of the £40/£50 price you've already paid. My above mentioned mates spent £200 on micro-transactions for one computer game.

People say that we will never have a gaming crash like we did after the E.T fiasco in 1983 but it was this opportunistic attitude that started it all off in the first place. If we are not careful the next thing we will be getting nostalgic about is computer/console gaming.


There probably will be another crash, along with another Renaissance.

There probably will be another crash, along with another Renaissance.


I have seen it coming since I bought my PS4 on launch date late last year. Gaming has never been an inexpensive hobby but now games publishers are doing everything it takes to shaft their consumers and it will be to their own detriment in the end. Hopefully, if Nintendo manages to stays afloat it will be able to bring back R.O.B again to save us after the collapse like it did for the NES in 1985.  ;D

DLC (downloadable content) could have been something amazing but it's an excuse for lazy/cynical games developers to chop their full games up and blackmail consumers into buying their content (example Mass Effect 3).


and also The WWE games too.

There probably will be another crash, along with another Renaissance.


PC gaming was pretty popular during the first half of the 2000s but nearly completely died in the second half.  It seems as of recently there has been a slight uptick in it.  Console gaming on the other hand has remained consistently popular.

I still have my iPod mini that I got for my birthday, hasn't been updated since mid 2005... ahhh the nostalgia

I feel some nostalgia for the pre-Iraq War Bush years. I despised Bush then as I do now, but at least his idiocy didn't seem to be quite so capable of utterly ruining the country at that time as it would later, so I had an easier time making light of it and laughing at it, thinking he was just a temporary national embarrassment who would soon be on his way out. However, when it became clear that he wasn't only stupid but also dangerous, it wasn't so funny anymore.

I feel some nostalgia for the pre-Iraq War Bush years. I despised Bush then as I do now, but at least his idiocy didn't seem to be quite so capable of utterly ruining the country at that time as it would later, so I had an easier time making light of it and laughing at it, thinking he was just a temporary national embarrassment who would soon be on his way out. However, when it became clear that he wasn't only stupid but also dangerous, it wasn't so funny anymore.


Interesting.  In the post 9/11 world, it was almost taboo to openly bash Bush.  He had a tremendous amount of respect and political capital.  It wasn't until the Iraq war that his public approval started to erode. 

PC gaming was pretty popular during the first half of the 2000s but nearly completely died in the second half.  It seems as of recently there has been a slight uptick in it.  Console gaming on the other hand has remained consistently popular.


PC gaming had the advantage of online play in the early 2000s as consoles at that time couldn't do it (I believe the Xbox was the first to introduce online gaming towards the end of it's run but it's effect was negligible). As the next generation came along (PS3/Xbox360) online play became a big focus around quarter/half way through it's life span and the PC didn't have that online advantage over consoles anymore.

PC gaming was pretty popular during the first half of the 2000s but nearly completely died in the second half.  It seems as of recently there has been a slight uptick in it.  Console gaming on the other hand has remained consistently popular.
PC gaming has become very popular recently, ever heard of Steam?

PC gaming has become very popular recently, ever heard of Steam?


I agree there has been an uptick in PC gaming recently.  The current landscape is far better than in 2009 or 2010 when the only games coming out for PC were buggy console ports.  It's still no 2004 however.

PC gaming has become very popular recently, ever heard of Steam?


PC gaming was huge in the '90s, it started declining in popularity after about 2003 or so, and now it's starting to get popular again. It became popular around '94 due to the graphical capabilities the PC could offer, and it started declining around 2004 as online gaming became more widespread. Remember the original Xbox (Microsoft's only good console!)? The PC gamers have been really vocal for the past few years, but it's only this year that people have been actually taking their advice.

I am nostalgia for 1903.  That was good year for myself.  I have bit of memories every day from year.  You see, only myself can remember it as it were.  And only myself know that 1903 was magical sexy year for me.

PC gaming was huge in the '90s, it started declining in popularity after about 2003 or so, and now it's starting to get popular again. It became popular around '94 due to the graphical capabilities the PC could offer, and it started declining around 2004 as online gaming became more widespread. Remember the original Xbox (Microsoft's only good console!)? The PC gamers have been really vocal for the past few years, but it's only this year that people have been actually taking their advice.


I was a hardcore PC gamer from the late '90s through the late '00s.  2004 was the absolute peak of PC gaming.  That year we had Half Life 2, Doom 3, World of Warcraft, Far Cry, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter Strike Source, Painkiller, and countless lesser known games that were still a blast to play.  The decline was noticeable after the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005.  There are several reasons for this, but one of the major things I blame it on is the fact PC games had become ahead of their time in the mid-2000s and ran rather poorly even on the high-end hardware of the day.  You could play the same game on the Xbox 360 and it would run much better than the PC version thanks to being optimized for the hardware.  This is why most of my PC gaming friends switched to consoles.  You literally had to spend $400 on a PC graphics card every six months just to keep up.

By the early 2010s this became less of an issue because once again the high-end hardware was way ahead of games that were currently being produced, as it should be.

As the next generation came along (PS3/Xbox360) online play became a big focus around quarter/half way through it's life span and the PC didn't have that online advantage over consoles anymore.

and this is why I love my PS3 now.

I am nostalgia for 1903.  That was good year for myself.  I have bit of memories every day from year.  You see, only myself can remember it as it were.  And only myself know that 1903 was magical sexy year for me.


Yes but did you view 1903 as part of the 1900s or the late 1890s?

Yes but did you view 1903 as part of the 1900s or the late 1890s?


IMHO it's this:

1889-1892: early 1890s
93-96: mid 90s
97-04: late 90s

wait why are we talking about the 1890's?  ???

At least a good majority. Music from 2000-2003 are 90s influenced. Even 2004 in a sense. Plus, their realizing how different the vibe was from back then.

Well, people just getting out of college like myself had their childhoods take place in the early 2000s, so it makes sense.  I have a lot of fond memories of the year 2002 especially, from the music, to the video games, to the television shows, and all other sorts of things.  I think that year was when I first became truly immersed in popular culture, which I felt started to decline around 2005.

At least a good majority. Music from 2000-2003 are 90s influenced. Even 2004 in a sense. Plus, their realizing how different the vibe was from back then.


The transition from late '90s culture to core '00s was pretty slow.  I remember that it wasn't until 2006 and 2007 with the peak of emo/MySpace culture that the 2000s really had a separate identity from the late '90s.  Looking back its pretty easy to see it but at the time the transition seemed pretty slow.

I think the overall cynical, materialistic, brash tone of the 00s was established all the way from 9/11 to the Great Recession, but that the decade's actual innovations, like YouTube, Wikipedia, crunk + emo music, etc., arrived more gradually.  For this reason, and also because so much of the decade's popular culture was just expanding upon things introduced in the 90s, it's no surprise a lot of people seem to have trouble defining the 00s as a coherent decade at all.  I think they were defined by pretty distinct overarching themes, it's just that you have to look much closer to understand how they're different from the 90s and 10s.

I think the overall cynical, materialistic, brash tone of the 00s was established all the way from 9/11 to the Great Recession, but that the decade's actual innovations, like YouTube, Wikipedia, crunk + emo music, etc., arrived more gradually.  For this reason, and also because so much of the decade's popular culture was just expanding upon things introduced in the 90s, it's no surprise a lot of people seem to have trouble defining the 00s as a coherent decade at all.  I think they were defined by pretty distinct overarching themes, it's just that you have to look much closer to understand how they're different from the 90s and 10s.


I agree.

In hindsight, I can definitely see the overall themes of the '00s as well as their distinctness.  It was a lot more difficult to see though at the time.  I remember distinctly being on my lunch break at a mall food court in 2006 and thinking to myself how culture had not advanced very far since the late 1990s and that there wasn't a distinct 2000s culture.  Later that year and in 2007 it started to become a lot more apparent that there was in fact a 2000s culture and that it was more than just an evolved version of the late 1990s.

At least a good majority. Music from 2000-2003 are 90s influenced. Even 2004 in a sense. Plus, their realizing how different the vibe was from back then.

2004 back then did not sound 90s like at all to me! I think you meant early 00s influenced!

The transition from late '90s culture to core '00s was pretty slow.  I remember that it wasn't until 2006 and 2007 with the peak of emo/MySpace culture that the 2000s really had a separate identity from the late '90s.  Looking back its pretty easy to see it but at the time the transition seemed pretty slow.

2004 and 2005 seemed core 00s culture to me back then!

2004 and 2005 seemed core 00s culture to me back then!


I agree, 2003 was the last year any type of 90's pop culture was still relevant, even though by then it was mostly 00's culture, by the time 2004 hit 90's culture was officially dead to me.

2004 and 2005 seemed core 00s culture to me back then!

true the early 00s was just an updated version of the late 90s the mid 00s is when 00s culture truly started to develop

Being a toddler during this time, it was just like the 90's, but it was the tail end of that decade. Yes, I believe people are getting nolstalgic over this. For example, I hear people talk about missing old shows like Recess, Kim Possible, Jimmy Neutron and even the television version of VeggieTales (I was eight when that came on and watched it every week!)

Also if you went into a mall during 2002-2006 everything would be drastically different then today
http://fromscreentotheme.com/imgB24.jpg

I still have a local Disney store with that exact same setup, and will visit it whenever I go to the nearby dentist. If anyone would like to know, this location's the one in the Broadway Mall. If you go by the side entrance near Macy's, it's the first thing you see. I got my Joy plush from Inside Out from this particular location, and she's sitting next to me (along with the Sadness plush my sister got me yesterday from the Disney Store at the Riverhead, NY Tanger Outlets). I also had three other Disney stores like this, but one remodeled and two shut down. The one that I spent the most time in is now a Forever 21 store, which I don't mind because 1. they have a Disney Store-like thing in JCPenney's and 2. they sell Hi-Chew!
Speaking of malls, there used to be a toy store in malls and sometimes shopping centers called KB Toys.  I would get a lot of great stuff from there. I remember getting a My Little Pony plush beanbag from 1997 from said location, and I have fond memories of the one at the Riverhead Outlets (I think it's now a clothing store or something.) I got a Hamtaro toy from there when I was obsessed with Hamtaro, and I would sometimes find stuff from the 90's there like Nano Pets and some Sailor Moon stuff (before I knew who Sailor Moon was, and I never brought it). I also remember this educational toy store called Zany Brainy (at the same outlets), which I have a story about that I remember well. On the same day I got Hamtaro, I saw a Mumfie plush, which I was obsessed with because I occasionally watched my brother's VHS tapes of the show, but my mom promised to get me him next time. When we went back, the store was closed, so she got me the pregnant Barbie doll that caused a lot of controversy back in the day instead, and I only remember chewing on it's belly a lot. (I was five, okay?).

^ Oh yes, the Disney stores in the malls all looked pretty much like that. When I was a kid in the 80s and early 90s I would often go there. Ah, memories...

Kind of - and I suspect in the next 5-10 years nostalgia for the 00s will explode as 90s babies reach their mid 20s-early 30s (and 80s babies really will be getting old, lol).

Kind of - and I suspect in the next 5-10 years nostalgia for the 00s will explode as 90s babies reach their mid 20s-early 30s (and 80s babies really will be getting old, lol).


What happens to the 70's babies?

What happens to the 70's babies?

They died.  :\'(

They died.  :\'(


Am I a 70's baby? ???

Am I a 70's baby? ???

since you were born in 74 you're obviously a 70s baby! But also a very late 70s and early -mid 80s kid!

since you were born in 74 you're obviously a 70s baby! But also a very late 70s and early -mid 80s kid!


I grew up in the late 70's and early 80's era.

Being a toddler during this time, it was just like the 90's, but it was the tail end of that decade. Yes, I believe people are getting nolstalgic over this. For example, I hear people talk about missing old shows like Recess, Kim Possible, Jimmy Neutron and even the television version of VeggieTales (I was eight when that came on and watched it every week!)I still have a local Disney store with that exact same setup, and will visit it whenever I go to the nearby dentist. If anyone would like to know, this location's the one in the Broadway Mall. If you go by the side entrance near Macy's, it's the first thing you see. I got my Joy plush from Inside Out from this particular location, and she's sitting next to me (along with the Sadness plush my sister got me yesterday from the Disney Store at the Riverhead, NY Tanger Outlets). I also had three other Disney stores like this, but one remodeled and two shut down. The one that I spent the most time in is now a Forever 21 store, which I don't mind because 1. they have a Disney Store-like thing in JCPenney's and 2. they sell Hi-Chew!
Speaking of malls, there used to be a toy store in malls and sometimes shopping centers called KB Toys.  I would get a lot of great stuff from there. I remember getting a My Little Pony plush beanbag from 1997 from said location, and I have fond memories of the one at the Riverhead Outlets (I think it's now a clothing store or something.) I got a Hamtaro toy from there when I was obsessed with Hamtaro, and I would sometimes find stuff from the 90's there like Nano Pets and some Sailor Moon stuff (before I knew who Sailor Moon was, and I never brought it). I also remember this educational toy store called Zany Brainy (at the same outlets), which I have a story about that I remember well. On the same day I got Hamtaro, I saw a Mumfie plush, which I was obsessed with because I occasionally watched my brother's VHS tapes of the show, but my mom promised to get me him next time. When we went back, the store was closed, so she got me the pregnant Barbie doll that caused a lot of controversy back in the day instead, and I only remember chewing on it's belly a lot. (I was five, okay?).

KB FREAKIN' TOYS. YES. I REMEMBER THAT. What were the Sailor Moon stuff? I remember seeing some of the Serena and Amy dolls there and yes I bought a Hamtaro. Wait a minute. Mumfie? I think I had her. She had a show? I thought she was just a doll.

Also, 2002? Allow a flash game I was obsessed with as a kid sum it up for you in four words:
"You'll NEVER defeat us!"

I grew up in the late 70's and early 80's era.


Mostly 80's though :P