Strategy Guides are one of the biggest things I miss from the 90's to the 2000's. I have a huge collection of them as they are wonderful extensions of each & every game I loved. From detailed top down maps to locations of hard to find collectibles. It is tragic to me thst they are now a thing of the past.

I love how even the video has an early/mid 2000s vibe

For me it’s diving into the unknown, I had 0 idea about the games I bought, no reviews, no 5 hour video essays saying it’s good or bad, no Great Wall of China sized Reddit posts, the only thing I had to go with are either the cover and maybe the company logo and maybe friend’s recommendation as being the best pointer, there is a sense of excitement and magic that this had on games of the past.

MORE videos like this pete, this is my favorite format of yours.

The most obvious thing was that there was a rather robust group of mid-budget Japanese developers who all had the resources and ability to be important players in their specific genres. Now, with the industry moving to either giant, over-produced, big-budget titles, or a host of indie developers who can easily get lost in a sea of online storefront trash, those companies have either merged or disbanded. It sucks to think a lot of those designers working in mid-range companies are now a cog in bigger companies, or have broken off and are working for much smaller developers or left the industry altogether.

I'll always miss full colour, detailed game manuals. Would be perfect to flip through while a modern game downloads/updates before starting

I miss blind buying. So many games I bought or asked for from my parents, was based solely on the cover art and description. And if it was affordable or not.

Pete! My fucking childhood bro. I still remember your first game room tour which inspired me so much to have my game room how it was in 2007 until now.Happy New Year Pete!!!

I miss most of those too. I miss having primary focus on Physical games.

I feel the same way, seems like back in the day there was a lot more heart in video games vs the corporate greed we find today. I miss demo discs the most, you used to find some hidden gems on those things! Made me try out a lot of games I would never have picked up regularly.

Early KZfaq. Like really, what made gaming so cool in the mid 2000s, especially for retro gaming, was channels like yours popping up, and having all of these new suggestions of games to try. That's what I miss.

Most of all I miss magazines and gaming manuals. I remember vividly reading the manual before firing up a new game, the whole ritual made unboxing a new game a small event. I also miss playing arcade cabinets in random stores while my parents did their shopping. Merry Christmas Pete.

i feel like late 2000s was peak. like 2007 alone was amazing. halo3, cod4, bioshock, portal, tf2, left4dead, mass affect, assassins creed, uncharted, guitar hero 3, etc. it was amazing

I miss when you could still dream about what the future would hold for games. That just doesn't happen anymore. A lot of that has to do with expectation, but generally, new game mechanics don't hit me in the chest as they used to. The Portal gun, the Just Cause 2 parachute and grappling gun, the GTA 4 car physics, the Prototype free roaming, the Assassin's Creed 2 parkour... These ground breaking mechanics just don't appear anymore. The industry has stalled a little bit.

Good topic Pete. I miss just being closer in proximity to my best friends and being able to get together all the time to play games. We have to schedule time now and it is hard

i love my 3ds dearly. I wonder if handhelds will come back someday

Definitely miss having the new issue of Nintendo Power waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home from school.

I love Retro Gamer Magazine, I don't know if you get it in the US but in the UK they still publish. Its a gaming magazine for the exactly the kind of guys that miss gaming magazines.

Can't believe it's been 15 years since you released the original video, Pete! I was there when it came out haha! I was 11 then, and now I'm 26! How time flies!

I've been subbed to you on my personal channel for awhile, but thought I'd finally comment. I related super hard to everything here especially the XBL memories. Gaming in the 2000s was truly something magical just like the 90s and 80s. I also want to say that I'd love to see a video on the too many games topic, because I've felt that for awhile.

For me, it was Summer nights with my sister and cousins. We played Melee, Pokemon, Mario Kart Double Dash, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Oh, and Nintendo Power!

I miss when online games had a finite amount of content instead of a live service model that seemingly adds content for years. A good point of comparison is the OG MW2 versus the 2022 MW2. The OG had the base game and a couple of map packs. There was a set amount of guns, grenades, maps, etc. Content in the new game is just added for the game’s entire lifespan (with paid season passes to boot) and it’s just overwhelming for me. I also miss when you could just boot up a game with no updates. Installs on the PS3 were fine but the latter half of the era was when updates really started getting out of hand. I also miss the generally simple UIs of the PS2 / Gamecube where you’d only really access them if you didn’t have a disc in the console.

It's always great to see you upload, what a legend of the YT gaming space! Agreed with a lot of this list for sure

This was more of a 90s thing, but getting my new EGM in the mail was like a magical event for me.

I was born in ‘96 and I for sure miss gaming in the 2000s. 2008 was also when I started watching your videos :) this isn’t my original account but I stay subscribed to my man Pete👍

I'm thinking of the 80's so bad, cartoons, toys, family life, color tv, everything was fresh and new experiences.

Honestly what I do miss the most is the waiting in line for a midnight release. I used to hate getting up and waiting but I always made at least one new friend there at every one I went to.

The big thing I miss is how optimistic everybody was about how much better future tech would make games. How online would let us have a Pokemon mmo or how digital distribution would reduce the cost of games without needing retailers. So much of those advancements were used nefariously by companies rather than to improve gaming so now when everyone thinks of future tech like AI it causes trepidation rather than excitement since they expect the games industry will use it in the absolute worst way possible. 😢

What I miss about gaming in the 2000s: regular PeteDorr uploads!

bro crazy how fast time goes by, feels like yesterday when I discovered your channel in late 2009.

Makes me wonder what you'll miss from gaming when another 15 or so years have gone by, I really relate to just buying a game blind in store, I used to do that all the time back then, nowadays I research everything I buy automatically it seems. gud stuff, good video!

would bring a tear to any Brit, hearing you reminiscing an enjoyable time waiting line.

Great video. The EBGames near me opened an hour early the morning of Zelda TotK which was really cool of them. They had fairy fountain music playing in store and the service was super quick. A group of maybe 20 of us were outside the store beforehand, but no line really and no one was talking unfortunately.

The fact there's too many games now is a big mood. I have to keep a log in my phone or computer what's coming out or else I'll forgot it all.

Magazines ... man I miss that isle at the grocery store

Pete, someday - hopefully not anytime soon - I’m going to be nostalgic for you and your channel and what you give to us as a gaming community. You rock, keep on being great!

man ..going to the video game store and looking unknow ps1 games , watching the back cover images , those were the times

Share all these missed memories with you, please do more videos Pete, your videos and talk are heartwarming and joy to watch

I'm binging all of your vids right now :)

Something I kinda miss is going out with my family to a local blockbuster and renting a game for our GameCube or Xbox. It was an awesome way to demo games and I personally love having to go out and get the things you want instead of ordering or downloading.

Thanks for the nostalgia trip Pete! Man, I camped out for the Wii as well, tent and all! And then had to go to work right after I picked it up!! Good times 😁.

Great topic, Pete. I've watched you for years now! So glad you're still doing this. Here are some things I miss from back then: Psp jrpg releases, halo 3 multi-player online, and decently affordable retro games.

AWESOME video, Pete! More like this!

Great video! They're still printing Game Informer. You just have to make sure to specify which you want.

Growing up poor, i got to experience a lot of this stuff, but it also sucks because I kind of didnt. One thing I am super thankful for was being able to visit the only playstation store ever in the US, which was in San Francisco. I was later saddened to hear it was closed down in 2009. I remember a decent bit. It was during the time of the PS3 and they had kiosks to test games, one I remember was like a stuntman game. I remember they were selling ps1 games that were still sealed too, but I think they were like sports games. But still cool that they were selling that. I remember my old brother and I were actually allowed to get a game and we couldnt decide because he wanted time crises 4, I believe, and I didnt for some reason. Then my dad ended up saying we get nothing...lol

Excellent stuff! Agree with all of your points.

I miss Nintendo Power magazine, system launches, gaming online when people talked and were cool, yeah I agree with you Pete on a lot of this, great video!!

Always love your content Pete!

also miss sniffing the manual and fantasizing about the game in the train goin back home. Reading those " Explore a vast world and face your enemies" and sentences like that

I get what you're saying about the "short bursts" games when it comes to handhelds. I really miss and prefer those exact type of games for a handheld. It's honestly one of the reasons why I haven't bothered to get a Switch or a Steam deck. I don't feel like playing full fledged gaming experiences on a handheld. And I love 3D platformers so I completely agree with that too. Yep. I also miss going into the games sections of stores and looking through the game selection. And for awhile I've also missed the demo kiosks they used to have. As a kid/teen, it was fun going up to the demo kiosks and playing some of the demos they had running on them if any looked interesting while my parents would go look around the area. I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks there's just too much to keep up with. I don't see how people remember the release dates of most games that come out nowadays lol. Especially for me these days as I just don't keep up with gaming as closely as I used to. Great video. I pretty much agree with everything you brought up. And, at least for me, not only do I miss a lot of gaming related things about the 2000's but I also miss just how people and the world itself was back then too. Lately I've come across some videos of people waiting in line to buy the PS2 or videos of people shopping for games during the PS1/PS2 era. And just the vibe and atmosphere of the general public back then is just so different to how it is today. Seeing those videos today, people back then just seemed more "chill" or something back then lol. Not really sure how to put it into words, but if you ever see some of those videos you might get what I'm talking about.

Excellent video, Pete

I can remember sitting over night outside future shop freezing my ass off for a Wii lol. Really miss official PlayStation magazine with the demo discs. So many great memories.

One thing I miss was when my mom would take me to Walmart or GameStop and you could see a wide variety of games. It wasn’t just ps5 switch and Xbox and digital downloads their was a section for ps2 ps3 psp vita, gba, ds, 3ds 360, Wii, Wii U, GameCube, OG Xbox, just a wide variety of games to choose from.

Nice video, enjoyed listening to this.

I couldn't imagine enjoying waiting in line. I miss Gamestops and their pre-order deals.

great vid, pete!

About console launches, it’s funny because my first and only genuine experience waiting in line for hours for a console was for the PS5. The KZfaqr Mystic tweeted that GameStop stores would have limited PS5’s available for pre order. That night I showed up to my local GameStop at 5AM (and was the last person to get one) and waiting for 7 hours until 12PM. Thankfully my Dad would drop by every couple of hours to hold my place in line so I could go to the bathroom and grab a bite to eat. Genuinely it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and wouldn’t mind trying it again. I met some cool people, and that glorious and liberating feeling of having a PS5 guaranteed on launch day felt so very good, even felt like I earned it haha.

I miss when you go over to a friend’s house to play a game - now you do it online. 😢

This is more relevant to the early 2000s, but I miss being able to just put a game into your system and being able to play it right away. No giant installs, no running out of storage space, no massive day one patches, etc. You could just put whichever game you want to play in your system, whenever you want, and play it. I feel like all of the installs and patches and storage space limitations on modern consoles really sucks the fun out of being able to switch between games. I'm often passing on playing a game because I don't want to free up space and install it.

Miss waiting for launches! I remember watching your 3ds console launch video back in the day. Must've been so much fun waiting outside for hours in downtown NYC with passionate Nintendo fans! Sadly you are correct the digital world of convenience is taking a toll on the physical in person experience. Closest thing I've experienced lately was at the Midnight launch for Tears of the Kingdom. So much excitement with people waiting outside for hours! No resellers just fans of Zelda wanting to get their hands on a copy. We need to cherish these moments as eventually we may never get them again.

love love these videos!!

It wasn't a full game but the fact Astro's Playroom was an amazing PS5 pack-in game is worth mentioning.

I really enjoy this topic. I feel kinda nostalgic for the times before there was just one or two mega games that everyone plays. Some of my fondest memories come from going to a friends house or meeting someone's kid and seeing what games they have and being introduced to something new.

I miss midnight releases too. Halo 3, MW2, Skyrim were the most memorable to me. I never got to experience a console launch until the ps5 so I missed that train. I was 12 when the xbox/ps3 came out and my parents would almost never buy me video games for birthdays or xmas, I had a 10$ weekly allowance so the prospect of saving all my money for a year and still not being able to afford a ps3 made no sense when I could buy more 20-30$ ps2 games.

You are right on all these. Especially Game magazines. I miss them so much and Wizard, the way comic and game magazines were. Secrets and codes and all the fun stuff for the gamer.

Madden 2002 release at GameStop midnight release party was a great memory for me. The manager at the gamestop near me went all out with food, gsming trivia quizzes while we waited. Miss those days

This is an awesome video. I really miss the E3 and magazine announcements. Nowadays, every day there's a new announcement, new information is dropped on social media regularly. There's no surprise, no in-depth magazine preview. For me, the last time I felt this was the E3 announcement of Shenmue 3.

I don’t miss being in line for console launches, but I do miss when Pete was in line for that shit. Also, I miss hearing about it on AllGenGamers Podcast.

I miss a ton too. Reading old instruction manuals and strat guides or looking at the maps provided.

Gaming and especially game collecting in the 2000’s was my peak love for video games. Nowadays I sometimes go to GameStop or a local vintage stock to try and relive the magic of going and finding a game and asking the clerk if they have played it or they have any recommendations then riding my bike back home lol. Nowadays it’s a hassle to go to a game shop (at least where I live) and even if I go down there I don’t have the excitement and energy it used to have.

Jak and Daxter statue is beyond epic

To me number one will always be: Actually having the complete game on hand when I buy it in a store. This is also why I barely buy any games anymore post PS3 unless it's on the Switch. I'm better off just getting it on steam then.

I don't know about the lines but seeing tekken 5 trailer playing on bigass CRT tvs was amazing experience in a mall

Totally agree with the handheld sentiment! Games on Switch/Steamdeck are console games that CAN be played on handheld whereas previous handheld games were MADE for handhelds, which led to a lot of innovative gameplay mechanics and styles. Also, Switch/Steamdeck are larger and not nearly as portable as the DS/PSP which could be carried around in a pocket

I always considered Pete Dorr the monk of gaming 🙏

My last midnight release was for fallout 4 which I was surprised how many people showed up. Ever since then I haven’t heard of or known any other midnight release

Retro game stores are taking over. You can still go in and browse the games like at blockbuster

Pete is like a young version of Andy Rooney. Keep up the great content!

Great vid

Pete, 2024 gotta be the year you try to learn a fighting game

I miss good pre-order bonuses. Like the Zelda Ocarina of Time Master Quest or the GBA link cable. I do not miss Electronic's Boutique opening up every game before selling them.

Regardless of what any of the trolls have said through the years you are officially a YT legend!

Gaming and game collecting in general was alot more alive and fun back in the 2000’s, its just not the same anymore

What i miss about that era is the giant leaps we took in gaming. Gaming hasnt seen a holy crap moment where a console looked night and day in graphics in a very long time.

The first few months of the PS5 were exciting for 3d platformers. On launch day, both Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Astro's Playroom came out. Then about 7 months later, Ratchet & Clank: Ryft Apart came out. That time felt like a brief glimpse back to the ps2/ps3 era of 3d platformers.

I miss open mic voice chat. Everyone is segmented off into their own parties and discords now.

Magazines are kind of a preservation of information that you can't even find on the internet anymore. So yeah they are like gold. Keep your magazines and never sell them because some of the adds, interviews, stories and game previews will just fade out of existence.

Excellent video Pete. I agree with every single point. And I might add that I think we, as gamers, were better off back in those days.

Things I miss about early 2000's gaming: 1. Games and consoles that were, for the most part, complete, thoroughly tested, and pretty bug-free at launch 2. Games that were developed primarily with the intention of creating art and good experiences rather than profit 3. Games not having intrusive microtransactions and advertisements everywhere 4. In-depth manuals included with the games you bought 5. Strategy guides. They complemented longer games perfectly. Now with widespread and easy internet access, strategy guides are rare and not as useful 6. Highly attended midnight and early morning releases of games and consoles 7. Physical video game stores actually being relevant, hosting launch events, and having plenty of traffic 8. Not having instant access to every piece of gaming news and information, so that there were a lot more surprises 9. MMOs that were actually populated AND friendly 10. Actually having enough time in my day to truly enjoy playing games for more than 30 minutes

I miss early 2000's getting a few games a year for xmas/bday. Played the hell outta the games and appreciated them. Now i play a few hours and move on to next game.

Spot on Pete, I remember the Halo 2 / Halo 3 days the Lobbys and chat were amazing. Last COD i tried to play online Nobody had a Mic for Capture The flag, Like what?

Mine was the switch everbody was there last good night buying a unit.

I miss the dedicated servers on older multiplayer games. People had full control over their servers. Now it's all controlled by the companies.

Completely unrelated. But you and I have the same eyeglass frames. o_o lol Something I miss is demo discs, especially those that came out for PS1. Those Playstation Underground discs were so exciting for me, especially with all the behind the scenes stuff they show you. That's something that collectors never really touch on but there is a ton of cool stuff besides the demo itself that you can explore.

I remember back in 04 when doom 3 was released for the og xbox I went for my pre order at midnight at gamestop they had like a little doom party going on at the store for all the people who pre order I was so happy to get my game that day

I miss having manuals and strategy guides so so much. Oh Working Designs how you're missed.

I just really miss couch co-op and local LAN parties… Games are not being developed with these thoughts in mind. The most fun I had growing up was gaming with a group of friends with all consoles (PS1, PS2, GC, N64 etc) as well as PC and just staying up late and having a great time. Another thing I miss is physical strategy guides that show off the artists artwork along with special bonuses like posters.

I miss buying games that dont need to be patched... I also agree that i could use more 3D platformers! I beat Kena: Bridge of Spirits earlier this year and it was amazing!

This is the Before Midnight of KZfaq.

There's a lot of games coming put, but not much is great, whereas before there were actually great games worth looking forward to.