Vaporware is only vaporware, when it has been anounced. To my understanding has Halflife 3 only been expected by the public, but never been officially announced by Valve, hasn't it ?
You shouldn't feel guilty for opening copies of rare games. Showing it to the world like this is the best way I can think of to honor the content. And it probably preserves the memory of the product better if you show it on a TH-cam channel, vs if the product lies around gathering dust and is later opened by someone who never shows it to anyone else.
Same here, i got a new copy of Persona 3 for the PS2 a while ago which is one of the rarer PS2 games and i could hear a million nerds around the world cry out in pain when i opened the cellophane.
6:30 - "...all that hardware you have sitting around on your desk may quickly be obsolete. It will be replaced by little tiny watches that you talk into, just like you used to see in the Dick Tracy comic strip. These watches will all communicate with some mega computer rumored to be nearing completion in Peter Nerdon's basement." Prescient!
I have to thank you for staying true to your channel and your format. So many channels have changed over the years, few to become better, most to become worse, but your videos still have the same feeling to them. Sure, you've got a better camera and microphone now, learned to edit a lot better and lost the goofy beard, but other than that, the videos still feel the same. The same dryly delivered humor allthewhile you remain so enthusiastic over everything you do. People like you are the reason i don't use adblock here. keep it up
Just doing some very rough calculations.. If he sold 50,000 copies at $10, that's $500,000. In 1986 inflation means it's more like 1.1 million. Considering it's just printed paper and an empty disk, the profit margins are really high. Any way you slice it, taking away taxes or expenses, the guy made almost a million dollars off a joke product..
To pull the comparison even further, it applies to the Pet Rock too. A cardboard box with a semi-smooth rock in it sold millions of units. No idea what they charged back in the '70s, but they had to have made a killing.
jjprulz - capitalisation - which is intrinsically linked to the US, coupled with an era in which Americans led the way in software development and consumption. Just my guess.
The TV show "Computer Chronicles" talked about his "latest" release of Nerd Perfect. Apparently this was the last in a line. You can see it for yourself in the episode, "Bus Wars".
In the spirit of Nerd Perfect, I've made an image of the floppy disk and am releasing its contents here. Enjoy! drive.google.com/open?id=0B7-cJK68JK-3LVJoMnVVQkV3WEE
Not sure of any of the copyright implications and how much time you actually have, but would be great to have a pdf version available for download of one of these beautiful rarities...
The chances of someone actually trying to enforce a copyright claim on something that hasn't been published for nearly 30 years is basically nil. He'd be doing the Internet and 80s computer historians a serious favor by preserving a full scanned copy of this. (You know, if he has time and inclination and whatnot.)
So, not sure if this thread is still live, but it was published with a copyright notice in 1987/1988, so whoever owns the assets of Vaporsoft after it was wound down holds the copyright; the term would expire in 2082. I don't see a copyright registration in the US Copyright Office online db for either the company or the product, although "Plain Jane Inc." does have a copyright registration for "Nerd Perfect" from 1998 - probably wholly different product. If it's not the same product whoever holds the copyright would have to register before bringing suit in the USA. So that's the technical legal side. Practical side: you probably wouldn't get sued, by why not just email the guy behind this, assuming he's still around, and ask permission to put it online for noncommercial purposes? He either owns the rights or knows who does. Internet Archive is the logical place to put it. (not legal advice - never take legal advice from youtube comments)
Just paused the vid and read the back cover. The 2. Remedy states you get a free copy of the disk and manual if you can prove that there are 4000 holes in lancashire. (That's a reference to the Beatles song A Day In The Life which contains the sentence "4000 holes in blackburn lancashire") and then in part 3 teh steps to get this "free copies" are listed:a) Return hard evidence of holes and a cashier's cheque for the retail price of the product ..." :P
Wow! This is probably the best piece of software never written. I love everything about this. Thanks for showing this off for us, Clint! I've never heard of it before and now I have a strange feeling that I really need it.
I honestly thought it would be something that interacted with Word Perfect in a comical way from the look of it. Definitely one of the weirder things I've ever encountered. Thanks for the video.
This thing got a few chuckles from me. I agree, it's miles better than the Parrotty interactive programs. BTW, If you haven't seen it you should watch Brutalmoose's video on Pyst. (Even if you have you should watch it again anywayz). :P
I am new to your channel but loving all the old school computer videos. Even though I don't know much about them, but I did use an old apple 2 and play number crunchers while the boys played Oregan trail. Love the vintage PC stuff! So cool
Wait, you opened a product that you’ve only seen elsewhere IN MUSEUMS!? You monster! Also wow, that’s absolutely hilarious. An empty floppy disc shell... ...that’s amazing!
Well ... a disk with nothing on it? Funny how this has kinda become the reality for some current AAA games. At least this one here comes with a printed manual. :)
The best joke in the manual was the small area given for writing where you heard about Nerd Perfect.They wanted a specific description shoe-horned in there.
Out of sheer curiosity I looked up the address listed in the manual on my phone and drove to it and it is now a coffee shop. I wonder what it looked like in the late 80's
A few days ago I was shopping at Target and I saw a woman carrying a baby that looked exactly like a baby version of LGR, it's been freaking me out ever since. I am starting to suspect we are all being replaced by baby doppelgangers.
LGR, I don't think the nerd jokes were mean-spirited as you are assuming they are....Software writers and computer buffs back then were rare people and they had an entire subculture where they celebrated the things that the average person would give them shit for. Some of that celebration comes in dry-cut stereotypical humor, but the thing to remember is Its written for nerds, by nerds. This was back when "Geek" "nerd" "Dweeb" were actual slurs, insults....back then, they were simultaneously a symbol of the social oppression experienced by "being a brain", and also a way to take back self-esteem by creating an entire subculture that embraced the so called "negative" attributes that mainstream culture had assigned to the "nerd." These words weren't cool, socially accepted monikers that you can add to your name to get more views on your social media feed. Now when you see someone wearing a bow tie, pocket protector, thick glasses and suspenders, I can guarantee you 2/3 times its a normie posing as a geek because it's now "trendy" and "cool" to make software and work with computers. Geek culture has been appropriated, it was way different back then. The humor was being used as social bonding, not to shame and offend.
I’ll try to look out for another copy, or at least some of the contents, at Goodwill, as I live in Portland. I saw the publishing info, and the light came on in my head, total late 80’s PDX humor...
You gave me an idea to joke my users and include some ester egg in my game's privacy policy and check how many users will actually find it :D Thanks man!
The 3 laws of engineering: 1. Never let an engineer design the GUI 2. Never let an engineer write the documentation 3. Never let an engineer write jokes
I remember the computers in my elementary school all had Word Perfect installed. This is really kind of cool to see, even though many of the jokes in it are probably a bit before my time.
"Peter Nerdon" was a pun on Peter Norton, I'm actually kind of surprised someone as well-versed in old PC lore as LGR didn't notice it. And I still prefer Norton Commander-style file managers to the modern ones.
I am not 100% certain, but I think one of my friends got this back in the day. For 1987 this was not that common. Add 2-3 years and they became more common. Thanks for sharing. :)
Reminds me a bit of The Winners' Book of Video Games. Although that is a legit strategy guide, it is probably the funniest video game strategy guide ever written.
The torch was passed to Parroty Interactive... and immediately dropped. This static product, developed by one guy, is more amusing than anything interactive that I've seen put out by Parroty.
Remember when computers were a niche thing and programmers could do fun, pointless stuff like this? And, it wold actually _sell?_ Man, I miss those days… It was my childhood. :(
There's something amusing about the thought that you spent years looking for nothing.
I'm disappointed that nobody is making "it belongs in a museum!" jokes cuz he should have put it in a museum
@@arthas640 Never mind Clint said he's seen pictures of this product in a museum...
@@arthas640
PART TIME
I just find it interesting that a company called Valve, which runs a service called Steam, is the developer of the most awaited vaporware of all time.
Vaporware is only vaporware, when it has been anounced. To my understanding has Halflife 3 only been expected by the public, but never been officially announced by Valve, hasn't it ?
Frank Schneider it has been hinted at, but never confirmed.
Steam is technically a mist and not a vapor.
Water vapor is water vapor, steam is water in its gas phase.
H A L F L I F E 3
5:34 You missed the fact the entire company is staffed by guys called Dave, even the one that wasn't! 🤣
Mind if we call you Bruce, to keep it clear?
Also: CMOS.
You shouldn't feel guilty for opening copies of rare games.
Showing it to the world like this is the best way I can think of to honor the content.
And it probably preserves the memory of the product better if you show it on a TH-cam channel, vs if the product lies around gathering dust and is later opened by someone who never shows it to anyone else.
Oh I agree, which is why I only _almost_ feel bad ;)
I'd rather share my collection than have it rot away in a cellophane prison.
Same here, i got a new copy of Persona 3 for the PS2 a while ago which is one of the rarer PS2 games and i could hear a million nerds around the world cry out in pain when i opened the cellophane.
Serpico's Beard Do people care when it comes to games in dvd cases? I thought it only applied to cardboard boxes
BenRangel Some people do but it doesn't bother me, i collect games because i want to play them.
all this stuff was meant to be enjoyed, not to be tucked away in the corner to wait for resale price to go up
I mean, I see it, it's right there "Vaporware". But my brain chooses to read it as "Vaporwave" anyways.
Because vaporware can't exist and your brain knows this!
+Lief Derekson
/music plays
Where do you think the term vaporwave came from? It's a stylized play on this concept in musical form.
Slay
*V A P O R W A V E*
i clicked on the video because i thought it was vaperwave...
I hope you've made a disk image for software preservation ;)
Made high res scans, which is the best kind of image in this case hehe.
@@LGR where are they
@@LGR it belongs in the museum
@@420sakura1 SO DO YOU
I like how they nicknamed the one dude not named Dave, "Dave."
6:30 - "...all that hardware you have sitting around on your desk may quickly be obsolete. It will be replaced by little tiny watches that you talk into, just like you used to see in the Dick Tracy comic strip. These watches will all communicate with some mega computer rumored to be nearing completion in Peter Nerdon's basement." Prescient!
"Recursion: See Recursion."
Yeah, I laughed.
I have to thank you for staying true to your channel and your format. So many channels have changed over the years, few to become better, most to become worse, but your videos still have the same feeling to them.
Sure, you've got a better camera and microphone now, learned to edit a lot better and lost the goofy beard, but other than that, the videos still feel the same. The same dryly delivered humor allthewhile you remain so enthusiastic over everything you do.
People like you are the reason i don't use adblock here.
keep it up
Just doing some very rough calculations.. If he sold 50,000 copies at $10, that's $500,000. In 1986 inflation means it's more like 1.1 million. Considering it's just printed paper and an empty disk, the profit margins are really high. Any way you slice it, taking away taxes or expenses, the guy made almost a million dollars off a joke product..
Dude Spewed MURICA
To pull the comparison even further, it applies to the Pet Rock too. A cardboard box with a semi-smooth rock in it sold millions of units. No idea what they charged back in the '70s, but they had to have made a killing.
jjprulz - capitalisation - which is intrinsically linked to the US, coupled with an era in which Americans led the way in software development and consumption. Just my guess.
Kinda like nophone?
Hey at least he printed something and sold something physical. So many shitcoins do the same and they offer nothing
The TV show "Computer Chronicles" talked about his "latest" release of Nerd Perfect. Apparently this was the last in a line. You can see it for yourself in the episode, "Bus Wars".
"Where did you hear about Nerd Perfect? (Be Specific)" then it gives you an inch and a half of space to write in your story, lol.
"Hallucination"
At least the disk won't get corrupted over time.
In the spirit of Nerd Perfect, I've made an image of the floppy disk and am releasing its contents here. Enjoy!
drive.google.com/open?id=0B7-cJK68JK-3LVJoMnVVQkV3WEE
It's empty, fantastic! Now I can sit down and perfect my nerds!
Lazy Game Reviews
Nice, maybe it'll run on my Steam machine. Gedit? OK...
So you actually HAVE the osmotic drive - you just don´t want to share it with us! Oh you sly fox!
Don't copy that floppy
It's all in your head.
Literally, in this case.
"do you understand, it's all in your _hands_ , it's your move"
lmao no one ever gets that lyric right
it's okay I did too
You guys put the Animorphs theme in my head. It's all in your hands.....
ｉ ｔ ＇ ｓ ｙ ｏ ｕ ｒ ｍ ｏ ｖ ｅ
Robert A. Rini (the illustrator) died in 2013 :(
Aw man :/
You could write Dark Spore on the disk and it'd be the same.
Savage
Darkspore is p o s t v a p o r w a r e
sick burn
You can try and write Dark Spore on the disk.
You just gave me something interesting to tell my friends about. Thanks!
Not sure of any of the copyright implications and how much time you actually have, but would be great to have a pdf version available for download of one of these beautiful rarities...
The chances of someone actually trying to enforce a copyright claim on something that hasn't been published for nearly 30 years is basically nil. He'd be doing the Internet and 80s computer historians a serious favor by preserving a full scanned copy of this. (You know, if he has time and inclination and whatnot.)
Brandon Page But this company doesn't exist anymore.
So, not sure if this thread is still live, but it was published with a copyright notice in 1987/1988, so whoever owns the assets of Vaporsoft after it was wound down holds the copyright; the term would expire in 2082. I don't see a copyright registration in the US Copyright Office online db for either the company or the product, although "Plain Jane Inc." does have a copyright registration for "Nerd Perfect" from 1998 - probably wholly different product. If it's not the same product whoever holds the copyright would have to register before bringing suit in the USA. So that's the technical legal side.
Practical side: you probably wouldn't get sued, by why not just email the guy behind this, assuming he's still around, and ask permission to put it online for noncommercial purposes? He either owns the rights or knows who does. Internet Archive is the logical place to put it.
(not legal advice - never take legal advice from youtube comments)
Just paused the vid and read the back cover. The 2. Remedy states you get a free copy of the disk and manual if you can prove that there are 4000 holes in lancashire. (That's a reference to the Beatles song A Day In The Life which contains the sentence "4000 holes in blackburn lancashire") and then in part 3 teh steps to get this "free copies" are listed:a) Return hard evidence of holes and a cashier's cheque for the retail price of the product ..." :P
David C Moss
C Moss
CMOS
Wow! This is probably the best piece of software never written.
I love everything about this. Thanks for showing this off for us, Clint! I've never heard of it before and now I have a strange feeling that I really need it.
I honestly thought it would be something that interacted with Word Perfect in a comical way from the look of it. Definitely one of the weirder things I've ever encountered. Thanks for the video.
This thing got a few chuckles from me. I agree, it's miles better than the Parrotty interactive programs. BTW, If you haven't seen it you should watch Brutalmoose's video on Pyst. (Even if you have you should watch it again anywayz). :P
I thought the title was "Nerd Perfect Vaporwave" and was very excited. Though the actual title isn't bad.
And now I have read the description. Oops.
CaveManta
The cycle continues.
I read the title as "Near-Perfect Vaporwave".
he needs a new show for this, "LGR Oddwave"
A Player 69
In a parallel universe I read it as Jock Inept Heavy Metal.
Thiago Coelho
All the footage is recorded off a VHS, and the only audio is vaporwave.
"If there are 50,000 out there, I would assume somebody kept one..."
That was the one, you opened it!
I was jut binge watching the Oddware playlist as well. Thank you for this LGR :)
Fascinating :D
It belongs in a museum!
You looked so worried in the intro :P
And that "How To Use This Manual" was perfect! xD
how did I live for so long not knowing this channel?!?!?! I love it and I can't stop watching, it's addictive.
Glad you found it then :)
6:28 "Tickling the 8088's" HA! Take that Intel!
Was that a caricature of Hunter S. Thompson in that panel? Oh well guess that's his problem.
Oops, I´ve read that as 8008´s ...if you know what I mean xD
Intel invented the 8088, so what exactly are they "taking?"
Whoops! I knew they invented the 8086 microcontroller, but I forgot they also made the 8088. :P
Its true, all the stuff on your 1988 desk has been replaced by a watch... Scary.
Loved the video! That is the coolest thing I have seen in ages!
I really hope ypu find that Nerd Perfect poster and put it in the background of future oddware videos.
Stare blankly at the user manual and emit animal noises
"Betty, what should we get that computer-wiz nephew of yours for Christmas '87?"
Listening to ANY of LGRS videos relaxes me so much. Can't explain it.
LGR, can you scan the manual and post it as a PDF or something? I'd love to read it in detail
that Steve1989-esque speedup around the 3 minute mark. I was almost waiting for a "Nice!"
Haha, I'm always tempted to get it out onto a tray.
Steve is MRE god.
Your Voice is Perfect.....
I swear to God he worked as a phone sex operator in a former life...
O_O Exactly
I am new to your channel but loving all the old school computer videos. Even though I don't know much about them, but I did use an old apple 2 and play number crunchers while the boys played Oregan trail. Love the vintage PC stuff! So cool
This was awesome, the humor was really really good, and most of it holds up till date, whoever this guy is I hope he is doing well for himself.
That certainly was odd Clint, great episode as usual man.
Don't feel bad for opening it. Leaving the plastic on is for scalpers... and whatever museum has this on display, I guess lol.
Wait, you opened a product that you’ve only seen elsewhere IN MUSEUMS!? You monster! Also wow, that’s absolutely hilarious. An empty floppy disc shell... ...that’s amazing!
Well ... a disk with nothing on it? Funny how this has kinda become the reality for some current AAA games. At least this one here comes with a printed manual. :)
But does it fit the aesthetic
Smugly puts on a white woods song
Ａ Ｅ Ｓ Ｔ Ｈ Ｅ Ｔ Ｉ Ｃ Ｓ
The best joke in the manual was the small area given for writing where you heard about Nerd Perfect.They wanted a specific description shoe-horned in there.
it would be nice if lgr scanned the booklet for archiving purposes
"So what's it about?" "It's about nothing!"
So this was, before this video, lost media?
Funny how a parody of vaporware almost became vaporware.
Out of sheer curiosity I looked up the address listed in the manual on my phone and drove to it and it is now a coffee shop. I wonder what it looked like in the late 80's
A few days ago I was shopping at Target and I saw a woman carrying a baby that looked exactly like a baby version of LGR, it's been freaking me out ever since. I am starting to suspect we are all being replaced by baby doppelgangers.
Best vaporware in my memory was Battlecruiser 3000AD. Lots of promises, nearly no delivery.
Floppy disks are the most beautiful peace of hardware I've seen, its a shame that they're nearly obsolete :(
4:25 That drawing reminds me of Professor Norton Nimnul from the cartoon Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.
LGR, I don't think the nerd jokes were mean-spirited as you are assuming they are....Software writers and computer buffs back then were rare people and they had an entire subculture where they celebrated the things that the average person would give them shit for. Some of that celebration comes in dry-cut stereotypical humor, but the thing to remember is Its written for nerds, by nerds. This was back when "Geek" "nerd" "Dweeb" were actual slurs, insults....back then, they were simultaneously a symbol of the social oppression experienced by "being a brain", and also a way to take back self-esteem by creating an entire subculture that embraced the so called "negative" attributes that mainstream culture had assigned to the "nerd." These words weren't cool, socially accepted monikers that you can add to your name to get more views on your social media feed. Now when you see someone wearing a bow tie, pocket protector, thick glasses and suspenders, I can guarantee you 2/3 times its a normie posing as a geek because it's now "trendy" and "cool" to make software and work with computers. Geek culture has been appropriated, it was way different back then. The humor was being used as social bonding, not to shame and offend.
Amen.
You really expect people to take you seriously and then use the word normie unironicaly huh?
@@DimT670 yeah I was okay with the comment until he said that and I realized he's probably an actual "modern" nerd.
Anyone who thinks nerd, geek, or dweeb are slurs is someone whose life was pretty good growing up.
This is so something a Portlander would make, thanks for showing off this relic of humor.
is Moss from IT Crowd named after him?
This is really strange. I'm a bit baffled by this whole thing.
Precisely how LGR Oddware should leave you feeling ;)
Can you do a review of Amnesia: The Dark Descent on PC?
Omg I got this for my dad back in the day as a joke. Purchased at a local old school computer store.
Holy crap! I walk past 510 SW 3rd all the time! It's a beautiful building.
If you liked Nerd Perfect you should track down a parody of classic For Dummies books called "Byte Me"
"Backup: Something you should have done before dropping your hard disk." That's like a sign you might find in the IT department
People who don't understand satire would be so pissed
I’ll try to look out for another copy, or at least some of the contents, at Goodwill, as I live in Portland. I saw the publishing info, and the light came on in my head, total late 80’s PDX humor...
Plug and pray was something commonly said in early iterations of windows lol
5:20
"The parody still holds up...today"
NOOOOOO SHIIIIIIIT!!!!!
ＬＡＺＹ ＧＡＭＥ ＲＥＶＩＥＷＳ 蒸気波 「 Ｌ Ｇ Ｒ 」
You gave me an idea to joke my users and include some ester egg in my game's privacy policy and check how many users will actually find it :D Thanks man!
The 3 laws of engineering:
1. Never let an engineer design the GUI
2. Never let an engineer write the documentation
3. Never let an engineer write jokes
"or if you can prove there are really 4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire..." Nice little local reference there.
Your music choices are always magnifique
You had to awkwardly stare at the camera for a while before you could speak. I laughed my ASS off!
IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM
i must admit that i got a heart attack seeing you tear open that plastic
I read an old fairytale an hour ago and now I can't help but think about 'VaporWear'.
I remember the computers in my elementary school all had Word Perfect installed. This is really kind of cool to see, even though many of the jokes in it are probably a bit before my time.
I was expecting Vaporwave. great video as always.
I wonder how difficult it was to buy stock of floppys without the actual disk in them to sell them.
A product as promised. And on time, can you belief that!
It would have made an ideal novelty gift for the computer geek that is hard to buy for. I would have appreciated such a thing back in the day.
This is so wonderful
"Peter Nerdon" was a pun on Peter Norton, I'm actually kind of surprised someone as well-versed in old PC lore as LGR didn't notice it. And I still prefer Norton Commander-style file managers to the modern ones.
I am not 100% certain, but I think one of my friends got this back in the day. For 1987 this was not that common.
Add 2-3 years and they became more common.
Thanks for sharing. :)
A E S T H E T I C
Oh, that's the wrong thing...
I thought it was V A P O R W A V E.
Still, no problem. Great joke, great video.
This would still be a hysterical gag gift for nerds today XD Obvious Plant needs to get on that
Wonder what would happen if you send that questionaire in ?
Can you post an image of the disk so I can write my own copy
AWW YEAH NEW LGR
"panicked" -- lol
if someone sends you literal vaporware today it should just be a vapor pen shaped like a computer lol
Reminds me a bit of The Winners' Book of Video Games. Although that is a legit strategy guide, it is probably the funniest video game strategy guide ever written.
The torch was passed to Parroty Interactive... and immediately dropped.
This static product, developed by one guy, is more amusing than anything interactive that I've seen put out by Parroty.
I know there's no disk inside the floppy, but when you pulled that out I smelled the floppy disk smell.
Any chance you can make some higher quality scans of the illustrations? They are pretty cool and it'd be a shame if they were lost in time.
I always wonder what you are thinking about, staring blankly into the camera while the intro plays.
Reminds me of the invisible man toy from Hawkins Bazaar which was just an empty packet in the shape of a man
Also, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy game's Microscopic Space Fleet, which was just an empty plastic baggie.
Remember when computers were a niche thing and programmers could do fun, pointless stuff like this? And, it wold actually _sell?_ Man, I miss those days… It was my childhood. :(
That is brilliant. Now to check out your Winblows vid.