Quote: "i dont wanna buy a mac or a pc"
that leaves you game/media consoles.
not being funny but the C64 was a PC, just from the 8bit era is all when there was a bit more variety to choose from.
I'd say you want to pine for the old days of the 80s (that you never experienced), what I would suggest is you research what went on during this period in computer history. There was basically no home industry to speak of, even the big companies were still small enough to be over-powered by small single man operations working from their bedrooms (in-fact companies like Rare (then Ultimate Play the Game) started out just that way)
There was more freedom for developers, and more potencial... which really continued until the mid-90s, but this said that all ended with the fall of Atari, and Amiga. Choice also receeded when Apple decided to take a back-seat to the x86-Compatible PC (aka Windows platform).
It wasn't until the mid-90s that the shockwave of the 80s culture finally caught up with the fledgling video game industry; and the market was to see everything closed behind experience and license agreements. You want to see one of the best examples of why the 80s wasn't as rosey as ppl like myself would love to remember it as; just search on google video for "The History of Tetris". You'd be amazed at what was done because of there being a very young industry; but also how much capitalism was trying to kill homebrew development behind legal walls.
Quite ironic that just over 15years on, and we're starting to return back to how things were conserning that aspect of game development and the machines available; simply because as professionals we can't keep up with technology.. nor can we have the imagination we once did; without sacrificing profit. So power being slowly being given back to end-users; anyone with an idea and a dream to create something interesting now has not simply the tools, but such a vast array of knowledge to achieve it without needing university training. Technology is so complex now we can't simply have a small manual with the machine and provide a basic language to expect people to achieve their means; but we're finally seeing the tools being put in-place to offset this fact.
The knowledge and tools is all you need for making a good idea reality. Back in the 80s we had all of that when we bought the computer.. it just took time, patience and curiosity.
I wouldn't sit here and say "this generation of computers, isn't like the 80s" simply because you have a choice of x86 or PPC architectures using Linux, Unix, Windows or MacOSX. Times have changed so we need these OS, and that architecture no longer matters so much.
There's everything you need out on the internet, to do what developers did back in the 80s. There are also some extremely innovative games that you can play for hours at a time. I'm not gonna lie and say I can still sit down and play new games like I used to with Elite/Frontier where I could just play it all the time in my freetime for months without getting bored. That said, I can no longer play those games.. as I'm grown up now, part of this lack is because of time (i.e. i have non anymore) but another part of this is simply that games can't hold my grip anymore as they're no longer a novelty they once were. There have to be bigger, better and contain aspects that I find enjoyable while being an evolution. As I've grown up so have my tastes.
I remember being able to sit down and play atic atac for several hours, but now.. after 20-30minutes it just no longer appeals.
If you want classic games, there's plenty of emulators.
As for me, these games are good for nostalgia now. Compared to what I expect from games it's difficult to enjoy them wanting to have modern graphics, and the social aspect our games now have.
