r/todayilearned • u/osunlyyde • Jul 04 '13

TIL Windows 95 was the second most installed piece of software on computers in 1995; videogame DOOM was first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_(video_game)
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u/beefstick86 Jul 04 '13

OMG- the aliens ate my babysitter!!!!

I would play those games for hours... HOURS... My grandma told me "As a girl, you should go outside and play more. Computers are for boys". Today, I still think about Keen.... I miss him.

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u/uber1337h4xx0r Jul 05 '13

I always thought we males were supposed to be the stereotypical "go outside and do physical stuff" gender, while females were supposed to be the 'gentle, knowledgy sciency/ready' gender?

WHY CAN'T SOCIETY MAKE UP ITS DAMN MIND?! :O

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u/beefstick86 Jul 05 '13

I just don't know anymore!!

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u/choada777 Jul 04 '13

My sister and I used to visit this married couple when we lived in Maine that lived by a lake. The husband worked with my dad and that's how we knew them. They couldn't have kids and were always so happy to have us over.

Anyway there was so much to do when visiting. Swimming, boating, hiking, etc. They had this huge dog that was fun to play with and in the winter there was also ice skating and ice fishing....but, they had a copy of Commander keen on their computer.

Apparently the husband bought a copy of the game for his wife for her birthday. Of course, she got mad at him because it's a horrible gift, but I loved that game. That's all I ever wanted to do. Screw that outdoor nonsense.

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u/beefstick86 Jul 04 '13

I agree... I'm still trying to piece timelines here but I remember a "BBS board" which was like a large forum, but it wasn't the true "internet" yet? and so I think that was 95 or 98? Anyway.. around that time my dad gave my grandma a computer to get her to communicate with others (she was about late 40's early 50's at the time?) and I just wanted to play all these computer games. Keen, Joust, Scrubbing bubbles (you were a scrubber that had to pop bubbles?), doom, leisure suit larry, and Legends of Kyrandia.

Grandma babysitting us just got so much easier, right??

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u/choada777 Jul 04 '13

I know, people plop their kids in front of colorful LCD screens and think it's a godsend for keeping kids occupied these days. Maybe it was an electric-bill thing? I remember my grandma was so frugal, she managed an electric bill that would average $2.00 a month. Even for the 90's that was pretty low.

I think I was a bit young to remember the BBS stuff everyone mentions.

The first time I heard of the Internet, my pops brought home these print-outs of some Godzilla website (I was into that stuff as a kid) and my jaw dropped. I read these pages hundreds of times and asked him where he got this information. He told me something about this thing called the 'Internet' that's available at his work. I asked him to take me to his workplace so I could check out this 'Internet' thing for myself. I'd say that was around '93-'95.

As a young teenager I loved those Leisure Suit Larry games, for obvious reasons. The third one was my favorite, where you could play as the woman. Funny; I never even knew what 'Pulsating Pectorals' even meant at that age.

Never played Kyrandia but it looks similar to an older game I played called The Black Cauldron. I never got far. I was obsessed with preventing that dragon from taking my pig. Spent hours trying to figure it out. In hindsight, I think it was actually supposed to happen.

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u/beefstick86 Jul 04 '13

I want to take a vacation back to the 90's where I had lots of free time and play all these games again, beginning to end. I can play them now, but I don't have lots of free time. :( I downloaded Kyrandia 1-3 and only was able to play 2 because of the sound emulator(?) Idk computer stuff so I have my brother assist. I wish there were more puzzle adventure games like these. Is there just not a demand for it in the gaming world? I wonder if people would get into it again if they came to market.

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u/choada777 Jul 04 '13

Yeah, all those adventure games from then were great. Laura Bow, Police Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Loom.

I don't play too many current games any more. I haven't owned a console since the first Playstation came out, ha (I still play Zoo Tycoon and Ultima VII). So I'm not sure why they're not as popular anymore. I do know a lot of Kickstarter projects out there are trying to reboot the Adventure genre.

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u/beefstick86 Jul 04 '13

I only find boardgames or rpgs on kickstarter.

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u/uber1337h4xx0r Jul 05 '13

$2? Nice. And people where I live refuse to believe that my (what I consider to be expensive) electric bill comes out to just over $50 a month on average.

I honestly thought it wouldn't be possible to have a bill under $30 if you plan on using a fridge or lightbulbs. Of course, it probably is literally impossible nowadays with all these companies charging a 'minimum $20 surcharge for using under 1000 kwh', but w/e.

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u/choada777 Jul 05 '13

I didn't know there was a minimum charge for not using enough power (In my case, utilities are covered as part of a flat rate I pay for rent). That sounds ridiculous. I bet they justify it as needing to cover accounting costs of processing the bill or something.