Does anyone miss.....

[Sektor 83]

The one that annoyed me the most, in terms of loading time, was probably Walker. I was just saying on IRC the other day how I would have probably played that game a hell of a lot more if it didn't take an insanely long time to load and decrunch... that and the graphics while it's loading aren't exactly easy on the eye!

Zool and Mortal Kombat were two others that used to irk me a bit... although I'm of the understanding that in the case of Zool, it's because of the way it was cracked more than anything... I never played an original copy in order to compare!

[prowler]

I don't miss floppy disks at all. I've still got all those I ever had, including the failed ones whose data have been transferred to other media.

[Harry]

Hm, floppy handling a few times a month is enough nostalgia to me.
I hated disk swapping and remember to have copied the 3rd Humans disk to my 5 1/4" drive to avoid that, and was glad about every hd-install.

[Bloodwych]

I don't miss the technical limitations of the Floppy, although I never suffered hardly any read errors - the tech limits drove me insane! Especially adventure games. Also having two disk drives only to find you still had to swap disks if a game didn't support the second drive. Very annoying. Also the lack of Hard drive support on the Amiga. That's one thing that was always great to have on a PC.

I just miss the feeling of using floppies, installing them onto hard drives, writing out the labels, swapping with friends, the way they slotted into drives, the loading sounds, flipping through my disk boxes etc.....

I get none of that from a DVD or Blueray, flash drive or STEAM/internet download. It just doesn't feel as good. Far easier and faster, but dull and lifeless somehow.

Nostalgia, a funny illogical thing.

[roberthazelby]

A fantastic thread. Great to read the differing opinions on this one.

Since digging out my 1200 tower about six months ago, it's been used almost every day (you guys are responsible for getting me back into the Amiga scene).

I love the ease and speed of WHDLoad, but I've been missing the whole experience of putting a disk in the drive, waiting for the games to load, and watching the crack intros (if they're copies).

In fact, I missed it so much that I bought an A500 a week or so back. The sounds and the lovely 'clunk' when you put in or eject a floppy. There's nothing quite like it. Putting a SNES cartridge into its console is close, but the sound of putting a floppy into the drive of an A500 is great.

On the downside, I think the A500 drive is playing up, as there are one or two titles that work quite happily in the 1200 drive, but the A500 just doesn't want to know. (I did spend a couple of hours cleaning the thing, but it didn't seem to sort it. Head alignment issue, perhaps?)

Anyway, I've just shelled out a tenner for a replacement unit, so here's hoping it arrives in the next few days

[laffer]

I miss the time they represent, not so much the things themselves.

[LuMan]

I think as a format they were exactly what was required for the era. They're such an iconic shape and nothing comes close to how sci-fi they were at the time. Not even Zip Disks!

I used to love getting PD disks from Intoto in Derby and shoving them into my (expanded) A500. I wouldn't even read the little content cards that came with them (nor the labels). I'd just ram them in and wait to see what goodies were in store for me. There could be loads of files on each disk and each one made the FDD light flash and the drive emit that beautiful 'chunkety-click' sound

Also, I love the fact that I've got WB on floppies, so I can test any new Amiga I buy. There's nothing to beat that 'yes, it works' moment when it finishes loading. The anticipation is better than beer!!

Great thread!!

[mfletcher]

I miss getting Amiga Format every month, going to the PD section, looking up the latest ad from 17Bit PD. Was great getting the disks in the mail. I remember putting the disks in for the World of Commodore 92 and Jesus on E's demo and my jaw dropping.

[Eclipse]

Originally Posted by Bloodwych

I don't miss the technical limitations of the Floppy, although I never suffered hardly any read errors - the tech limits drove me insane! Especially adventure games. Also having two disk drives only to find you still had to swap disks if a game didn't support the second drive. Very annoying. Also the lack of Hard drive support on the Amiga. That's one thing that was always great to have on a PC.

I just miss the feeling of using floppies, installing them onto hard drives, writing out the labels, swapping with friends, the way they slotted into drives, the loading sounds, flipping through my disk boxes etc.....

I get none of that from a DVD or Blueray, flash drive or STEAM/internet download. It just doesn't feel as good. Far easier and faster, but dull and lifeless somehow.

Nostalgia, a funny illogical thing.

I'm the same.
Some games, like Lotus 2 for example make a very specific set of noises as the head scans the disk. I remebered those sounds and the sequence they go in to this very day. For me that floppy noise is as much part of the experience as the game is.
Saving as hard is I could to buy a BRAND NEW box of 3M or TDK disks and savouring the moment I opened them. The smell they had, knowing they were new and clean, peeling that label off and applying it (but what colour, the choices!), and then finally copying a new game to it at a friends and writing what was on it as neatly as I could.
Coverdisks I loved, and weep a little when people just randomly copy games over them.
The fact they outlived their shelf life by decades