It's weird. I'm 26, have grown out of video games and mainstream rap/hip-hop, but still watch cartoons as much as I ever did. I guess the recent evolution of animation may be partly responsible. Shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, and SSM have revived the more mature, continuiity-driven storytelling aspect of cartoons like Batman: The Animated Series and Gargoyles did back in the day. Still, it's weird. (SSM = Spectacular Spider-man. If you like action cartoons or Spider-man you have to check this show out. It's very faithful to the comics and just top notch all around)
The new one on Saturday mornings? I was skeptical at first because of their art direction, but the first episode was great. Then the next after that was great. I just haven't been able to catch it in the morning. I'll wait for bluray
I'm 35. Haven't listened to "Bring Tha' Noize" (not the Anthrax collab either ) in maybe 12 years... I'm sure I could walk into a club with that track on and at least spit verse one flawlessly. Some of it never leaves. It's the basic learning principle known as "rote." You repeat some things so much, they never go away. That's how we learned the alphabet, numbers... multiplication tables, etc. Repetition. On the other hand... I still keep up with more current music. Most of the this "rap" now is garbage, although there are some decent lyricists. Thing is... that genre.. rap... hip-hop... was birthed in my generation. No different than Dad busting out and singing right along with "Eight Miles High" when it hits the radio... It's generational. And some things you never want to let go of. It's part of what defines you. And as you age, you actually appreciate youth more. Plenty of totally stupid childish things have been let go... but some remain until the day you pass on. But it's what you pass on that remains.
I think a lot of my conceptions on what it means to be "old" were formed when I was a child and looking at what my parents, their friends, and other older people did. When I was a kid, older people generally weren't into videogames, so I just assumed I would grow out of them. We are really the first generation to grow up during the golden age of gaming: NES-present. Like others have said in this thread, now gaming is seen as a legitimate form of entertainments and as a substitute good for television and movies. Instead of going to watch a 2 hour futuristic war movie, you can now watch - and artificially experience - one by playing Metal Gear Solid. As for the music, I think a lot of my views when I was younger stemmed from the content of the songs. We are also the first generation to grow up with more "hardcore" rap. There just seems to be something inherently odd about me being a 50-year old man singing "F Tha Police" or singing about slanging d*ck to hoes, busting my 9, or smokin' bud. Sure, some of that stuff has been sung about since the beginning of time, but older songs were never so "in your face" with their language.
"I used to be with it. Then, they changed what it was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and what's it is weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you." My musical and video game preferences have always been rather mature, so I haven't had to change much. My fashion has always been immature (though never fashionable). That's been changing, but mostly because it is a means to an end.
Yeah, I know what you mean about a means to an end. I've always been a t-shirt and jeans guy, and I probably always will be... I just need to change into something different when I go to work. And I don't see my music or entertainment preferences ever changing much. I am what I am. The stuff I liked when I was 20 I have little doubt I'll still like when I'm 40. Sure, I'll pick up some new stuff... but I'll still be the same guy. I'll still be excited when Tekken 12 comes out.
i stopped caring about rap around 2000. i still have some classics from back in the days just for memory and occasional listen. i got serious about music and started playing guitar for real. as for video games, i stopped playing after i finished graduate school. just not as fun anymore. plus i need time to practice guitar. now i think about it, the reason that video games were fun to me back in the days, is that it was a way to get away from school and procrastinate.
