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Comment by MengerSponge | Hacker News Reader

People's use of the internet has changed, but the fact that there is not a new Homestar Runner or NewGrounds is telling. How much does a weird high school/college art nerd need to know about the tech stack to get their vision online?

I'm old enough that HSR is still part of my lexicon. Kids just think I'm weird, which is fine.

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The weird high school/college art nerds today are designing their own VTuber rigs, selling art commissions or making indie games. The biggest reason there isn't a new Homestar Runner or Newgrounds has less to do with technological limitations or complexity and more to do with evolving tastes over time.

Also the fact that the new whatever would be either Youtube or Twitter. Or Tiktok. Or something most people here have never even heard of.

> more to do with evolving tastes over time.

Among the top HN posts of all time is an interactive watch visualization: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31261533

This is evidence that people still enjoy interactive experiences, but they are just harder to create.

That's only evidence that interactive experiences can be enjoyed under the right circumstances. In that particular instance, such interactivity is both useful and fresh. But there's no evidence that people want to make more content like that but can't, nor that all such content would be appreciated.

How do you know there’s no evidence? You gotta prove that too

I'm saying no evidence has been presented, not that there couldn't be evidence out there. You don't have to prove lack of evidence.

There is plenty of evidence in this thread to prove both points wrong.

The strange claim is that people dislike interactive flashy experiences and favor plain text with minimal styling. That needs extraordinary proof

I mean, Hacker News is practically a nexus of people who dislike interactive flashy experiences and favor plain text with minimal styling. I don't know what more proof you need.

> but the fact that there is not a new Homestar Runner or NewGrounds is telling.

I think that niche is now filled by the app stores. A lot of little games can be installed on your phone.

The monetization of those games has made them less fun, in my opinion, but that's more on the evolution of game makers, and not really on the development technology.

itch.io is massive for games if you want a new Newgrounds. The tech stack has moved on from Flash to use Unity or GameMaker or Godot or Construct. It's feasible for someone not knowing how to code to use most game engines to create something - not uncommon in Game Jams to see teams like that.

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