I see you don't appreciate the "click all traffic lights" minigame on every single website in existence
this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2025
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Still waiting for the resurgence of Ben 10. I feel like WB games would have made a standalone game a la arkham by now if it wasn't so mismanaged
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I'm on a Macromedia kick this morning but the internet really died when adobe bought flash, turning point for me personally lol
Flash was hells response to programming languages though. Where is uh that web stuff that should revolution everything, html5 mebbe?
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Did anyone else play the dungeons-and-dragons-esque text based game on the Eragon website?
I doubt this will be the catalyst for social change, but I agree. The idea that society owes nothing to the average person, but ownership class members are entitled to public resources, is exactly what will cause heads to roll, if we get to that point. This is a silly little microcosm of that situation, and I do miss those days.
Issues with Flash and the actual quality of those games aside, what I really miss from that period of the internet was that children could use it safely. There's no spaces for children on the internet anymore and I think that's really sad, nine year old should be playing Hannah Montana dress-up not get eating disorders from TikTok influencers
Edit for clarity: I didn't mean to come off as though I think the internet was ever safe for unsupervised children because that's not what I believe. What I was trying to say is that the loss of spaces made for children, with adequate content curation and moderation, pushed children on social media which is awful for them
yeah naw, I was flirting with pedophiles in chat rooms at like 12, it absolutely was not a safe space. Maybe not as harmful of a space, but the internet has always been poison to children. It's why parental supervision is so important.
Is it a sarcastic post? Internet was not safer before, it's just much more accessible to kids nowadays, the good and the bad, thanks to wireless connections, small portable computers and easy UIs.
Not sarcasm just a poor choice of words haha. You're right in that the internet wasn't safer, what I was trying to get across was that at least when there were sites for children they had a curated space where they wouldn't be exposed to anything inappropriate, whereas now they're on sites that don't cater to children (and nor should they!) where they're exposed to lots of things they shouldn't be exposed to
Nice shitpost
what I really miss from that period of the internet was that children could use it safely.
Or less safely. You have to try a lot harder to see someone crush a glass jar in their anus nowadays.
what I really miss from that period of the internet was that children could use it safely
Uhh... my largest grievance with how the Internet has been designed is that it was never safe for children to be on it, yet children were thrust onto it en-mass long before adults even really understood what it was. And still people are ignoring the massive problems it continues to cause, specifically for the healthy development of children, as society is circling the drain.
I think a more accurate statement is that the internet was never safe for children, but online content was never monetized and targeted to various audiences for nefarious purposes the way that it is now (including towards children).
I would also make a tangential argument that interacting with the internet used to foster a degree of technical ability, critical thinking, and reading comprehension that just isn’t necessary when “going online” can just mean downloading an app and mindlessly scrolling through an endless short-form video feed. On a macro level, today’s internet is dumbing kids down, while yesterday’s internet required (or at least encouraged) some understanding of how systems and technologies work.
You're right, the word safe there was a poor choice lol. But I still do think the internet was at least better for children when there were designated sites/communities for them with appropriate moderation, instead of children being on social media. Though of course the ideal would be for them to be playing outside but that's a whole different discussion
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Oh, you sweet, sweet child.
I'm just going to say I'm very glad you discovered flash games before you discovered IRC.
Idk man I discovered some pretty entertaining flash games, and never got into IRC. But them AOL public chat rooms, holy fucking shit how did we not all disappear
Ah, not being American AOL wasn't much of a thing, on account of the A part. Same principle, though.
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Oh, wow, we're there now?
Like, the online hellscape of endless Flash applets and browser shovelware games is retro now?
You get what that means, right? In twenty years you GenZ Tumblr nerds will be in some online forum recoiling in horror at some kid waxing nostalgic about back when you could just play a free gacha game full of anime waifus and where have all the good phone games gone?
It's happening and you're not ready.
Well, either that or Thunderdome. We'll see.
Ok but where have the good phone games gone. I'm horrified watching a 10 year old or so relative playing games on his phone only to spend 90% of the time watching unskippable ads.
Well, for one thing there are plenty of directly purchaseable games on phones these days. I've been handing kids some Peglin and heard no complaints.
For another, 2000s Flash games WERE unskippable ads and yet here we are.
Horrified, you will be. I'm telling you.
It's worth it to pay 1 to 5 dollars for a no ad mobile game for the kid. Even if they play it for a week, it's just like any other $5 toy they may have gotten and got bored of.
Can also get an emulator and enjoy all the classics of yore. Chronotrigger holds up, for example
I'm not their parent, but I guess your argument makes sense.
I'd love to install PiHole for them at one point because it gets rid of all those ads in mobile games.
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Who Rules Barter Town?!?
Not Macromedia, I'll tell you that.
Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time
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Lifesavers had a bowling game on their site that was actually a ton of fun and decent quality. All the balls were patterned to look like their candy, but still. It was free and that's where the advertisements ended.
It was a fair trade.
Edit: This might've actually been creamsavers, not lifesavers. It was back in 2002.
I was thinking about old flash games the other day. Swords and Sandals and Line Rider ate a lot of my time.
I apologize in advance for any decrease in productivity or wasted time.
👀
My boss is gonna be bummed at you for this. I'm not though. Tyvm.
You're very welcome!
And on Nintendo's website, there was an elevator sidebar that'd take you to different levels, each one having some other function like upcoming releases, tips, and stuff.
One was labeled "secret" or something, and opened on a black screen. You'd think it was a broken page. But if you moved your cursor around, you'd find a hidden link that'd take you to their secret page. I can't remember what was there, but I sure remember feeling like an elite hacker at 10 years old when I did it!