It has been the better part of a month since last posting. It is interesting how exciting the start of a new undertaking can be, only for reality to weigh it back down to a level calling for some real conscious time management. The end of my wife's maternity leave (and the fact that she works weekends) meant an increase in parenting responsibility which most definitely leaves this blog a side effort. That being said, I see no cause to let that get things down as this is a hobby undertaking anyway and things will get together...at sometimes the same pace it took Duke Nukem Forever to finally see the light of launch.
Before getting back to the stride of regular postings (I am still deciding whether to stick with MicroProse for now or introduce a new focus and come back; such is the freedom of running your own site in that you can go in any order you like) I though of making another personal post. In general I will not be marking these as "personal" but they will be distinguished by the fact that in them I address myself in the first person whereas "regular" posts it will be third person if I address myself at all. At this early stage I know visitor traffic is virtually-nonexistent anyway so not having to maintain any exposure goal is just further freedom to be myself and manage life as it comes.
I should put out that which I have yet to: my goal for this website is to collect knowledge (that I already have myself) in a pertinent, quick and easy format for the benefit of others who may share these hobbies or who may be considering them. I am well-aware I enter a knowledgebase that is already saturated, with the mainstream resurgence of retro gaming occurring over the past 15 years (not to mention, as elsewhere in the entertainment industry, what seems to be a lack of new ideas among game developers) plus the even better-established international gun and militaria culture being many times as old as I am. My personal tastes in both involve the sum of my own experiences that are not meant to reflect on or direct anyone else's, so even though I love Sonic but hate Mario and love SIG but hate Glock, I have no judgment reserved for those who are vice versa because, as my premier post should have made clear, my purpose in life has nothing to do with salving my own pride. With that I will branch out in 2 directions for today.
As a child of the 80s I think I have the advantage of diversity of experience: having used an Apple II for real and flipped through my dad's encyclopedia-sized DOS reference text I had the sensation back then of the variety of options. With the rise of the internet (who else hated dial-up but gets that nostalgic feeling when the dial-up tone plays in a 90s movie?) I was finally able to understand how little I knew was out there back when I was already alive and learning about computers. Knowledge is one thing though, and it was through the world of emulation that experience connected.
I started with emulating the game consoles I grew up with, going to town (as a kid who knew no better about software piracy) on being able to play the games I always wanted unlimited free time on at my friends' houses on my school laptop, like GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 which I never before had enough time to beat completely. Little did I know I had joined a fast-growing community of non-casual gamers who were less interested in the latest-and-most-flashy and more about what has already been noted as the "good old days" in which technological restrictions meant imagination had to prevail. What is interesting is this was still a handful of years before the seventh generation of game consoles, the first in which downloadable retro content was released to the masses and run on professional emulators from the developers themselves, making many retro dreams come true. Today, the problem is different: retro content is out there for all to once again legitimately enjoy anew, however owners (glaring at you, Nintendo) are being tight-fisted about what gets released and who gets to profit how much; now that we are in what amounts to the ninth generation it seems hands are getting overplayed and that so much is getting charged for so little means the darker world of emulation will continue to have a place in the foreseeable future. Besides, some realms, such as old Atari and Amiga computer gaming, can only be covered by these private emulation programs and software rips because that is the only means by which they are available anyway.
I limit my retro gaming focus from the early 1980s to certain companies, franchises and re-releases that survived through the early 2010s. For the record, I consider Microsoft consoles to be the successors of both Sega platforms and Windows gaming PCs (particularly since both lines were integrated in the Dreamcast's support for Windows CE) and have a preference for Xbox in all cases there is no other port that is clearly-superior. I have a Windows 98-era PC I custom-built to experiment with the variety of APIs (Glide, A3D) and operating environments (16-bit Windows, OS/2) from the time, though the primary purpose of that endeavor was to allow use of input options that emulators cannot touch such as the proprietary control modes of Thrustmaster and CH Products. Then someday after my move to Texas I picked up a basic $300 desktop at Best Buy and set it up as a more modern multiboot to cover the ground between Creative's EAX and Microsoft's Vista-era Games for Windows; through this exploration I discovered that, while modern PC games may still be superior in graphical fidelity, their console counterparts still often boast additional content such as split-screen multiplayer. With the launch of the Xbox Series X (and the enhancements it offers for games in its backwards compatibility support), I see no need to upgrade anymore on the PC front.
While the area of electronic gaming has well-defined limits, firearms and militaria have almost none by contrast. I am not a hunter or competitive shooter (at least not yet) but I am a huge geek of military history, so my own focus is more on what has practical and cost-effective application for today. While I believe in the original intent of the Constitution's 2nd Amendment as ultimately a buffer for citizens to have the means to resist a government turned tyrannical and/or irredeemably-corrupt, my approach is far less a "tacticool: compiling the latest and greatest gear I can to look more ready than the other guy" than a "military mindset: learning to make the most out of what I have and accomplishing more with less." Particularly since it is often available cheap and sturdy (and is made in the USA) I favor forming a "minuteman militia" loadout from original US-issue equipment from late-Vietnam though the early post-Cold War eras, basically anything nylon from M-1967 through IIFS; I prefer to avoid MOLLE because, even though it is stronger and better when used well, it has its liabilities (particularly down here in Texas where it is hot most of the year) and tends to be more expensive. For field camouflage, the Battle Dress System that defined the 80s and 90s is not saddled with the collector-premium prices of earlier eras nor the questionable decisions that led to the design of its successors, plus the 6-color "Desert Storm" pattern happens to make an exceptional dry season camouflage here in north Texas while regular old M81 Woodland works fine the rest of the year.
When it comes to armaments each is a major investment, and as a person who strives to make responsible decisions I precede each firearm purchase with months (sometimes even years) of research. I developed a personal preference for the classic lines and proven power of American military weapons and calibers, but as a family man I must also operate within the constraints of a definitely-not-military budget. As my wife does not share my interest in this area I must set reasonable limits for the sake of family peace; besides, what good is acquiring more arms if proficiency with the ones already-possessed still has yet to be achieved? To these ends I adopted a "golf bag" approach to my armory: each weapon is intended to cover a specific set of circumstances but still capable of being used outside its intended design should a pressing need arise. While, as with gear, I looked to the military (and police agencies) for inspiration, I also had to keep in mind the two major rules of this approach: 1) I am not constrained by the standard issue gear status of these organizations which is done more for the simplification of logistics than anything else; 2) the incidents troops and police can expect to encounter differ in several ways from the kind of defensive shooting scenario a private citizen is more likely to experience.
Couple that with my inner geek and I refined a system in which I categorize the arms I expect to need (accounting for some I inherited from family over the years) into their logical classes and "types" inspired by the small arms of a certain science fiction TV show. I limited selection into 3 classes: Classic) designs dating back to the early 20th century that still hold up today, no-frills strong and practical for carry while presenting an older (less-threatening to the gun-shy?) appearance with the added advantage of being an investment that could be sold for profit should the need arise; Tactical) later 20th century design (and sometimes caliber) with modular extras that enable a focus on quick handling and practical application in a variety of scenarios; Repeater) revolving handguns and bolt- or lever-action long arms that offer fewer rounds before reloading but much greater power per shot for special situations. Types are much simpler (and geeks ought to get the connection at this point): Type I) small, one-handed, often not that powerful but best for weight and concealability; Type II) one- or two-handed pistol making good use of its caliber and great for general carry; Type III) anything two-handed, can be sub-categorized into its variety applications among carbines, battle rifles, shotguns, etc. Under this system an M1911 or Browning Hi-Power would be a Type II Classic, snub-nose revolver a Type I Repeater, most modern Wondernines with rails are Type II Tactical, and the Ruger Mini-14 is definitely a Type III but whether it falls under Classic or Tactical depends on what one chooses to make of it.
And that is where we come full circle back to the "retro" term. Hopefully readers at this point can see my philosophy has elements of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Whether it is the lighter weight and superior breathability of an ALICE ensemble, the fact the the M1911 5-inch barrel was made for and operates well with .45 ACP (.38 Super in turn made for the M1911), or (as one commentator put it during the early Dreamcast era) about hardcore gamers tending to gravitate towards Sega consoles, rather than getting swayed by the latest sales pitches I can exercise the luxury I have today to look back into the past to see what has worked well (and what has not). After all, if we try to have everything we want in this world we will spend a lifetime pursuing that goal and reach the end still dissatisfied. Contentment being superior to want, I go within the limits of what my wisdom determines is best for me and encourage others to do the same for themselves.
Stay classy, y'all!