History Main / CassetteFuturism

As the name implies, a good way to judge if this trope is present is the frequent use of cassettes, which were used in the decades named above to house magnetic tape ubiquitous in technology of the period, and later on often contained ROM chips for game consoles and occasionally add-ons for computing hardware. Other technologies to look out for are CRT displays, computer systems reminiscent of microcomputers like the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, freestanding hi-fi systems, small LCD displays as opposed to full color screens, [[MagicFloppyDisk floppy disks]], and loads of analog technologies. TheInternet or some analogue may exist, but if it's more frequently used to exchange large files than physical media, chances are that the work isn't using this trope.

Stories which use a technological aesthetic reminiscent of the early 1980's as [[TropeCodifier popularized]] by the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and imitators, regardless of the real time setting of the media. Most often found in the context of science fiction.

* The original ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' is as 80's as it gets (thanks to, among other things, being a homage to ''Film/StreetsOfFire'') even if it happens in the 2030s and one example is that the "Data Units" (portable computer information storage units with hefty amounts of data on the KillerRobot Boomers and the Hardsuit PoweredArmor that are used via BrainUpload) which serve as an important MacGuffin in the backstory of two mayor characters look like Betamax cassettes.

* ''Film/TheMatrix'': While the world inside of the Matrix mostly looks contemporary to the time the film was made (late 90s, when there were both readily available landline phones and trendy flip-phone and slider cell phones), the real world is much grungier, with monitors only showing text terminals and information stored on [=MiniDiscs=] which manage to both look very exotic to American audiences at the time (the format never caught on in the US) and incredibly dated within a few years with the adoption of USB flash drives.

->''"The game's setting is sort of like Steam Punk except with computers instead of steam which I guess needs a name. [=DOSpunk=]? [=CRTpunk=]? Pentiumpunk? So-nerdy-my-underpants-are-spontaneously-wedgieing-themselves-punk?"''

* ''Film/{{The Net|1995}}'' (1995) caught the tail end of this aesthetic in real time, showing it giving way to the Internet. As as sign of its times, a 3½-inch floppy disk was an important plot item.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' is set in a very '80s/'90s vision of what the year 2077 would look like, in keeping with the [[TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} pen-and-paper RPG]] that it is based on. The angular cars look like they came out of ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' or an '80s Detroit assembly line, UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion (on the ascent in TheNineties after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp) is an economic superpower whose "euro-dollars" are the global currency, and even with all the high-end computer technology around, the primary means of electronic data transfer is through an evolution of USB drives rather than anything resembling the internet.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' and its sequel, ''Videogame/Wasteland2'', both heavily feature machinery of this style and vintage whenever electronics are involved, the former having been made in the 80s itself and the latter following up on setting consistency.

* ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'', the source of the page image, does this deliberately as part of its ZeerustCanon, mimicking [[Franchise/{{Alien}} the original films']] '70s/'80s vision of the future.

Compare and contrast EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture. Compare to {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse, ZeerustCanon and RaygunGothic.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporwave Vaporwave]] is a pretty new music subgenre of electronica. The genre was born from {{Plunderphonics}}, [[OlderThanTheyThink (which has been around since the late 80's to early 90's).]] Vaporwave is more-or-less this trope in musical genre/subculture movement form, and became to what it is now by numerous nostalgic internet users from [[TheNewTens early 2010s]].

->''"[[VideoGame/QuadrilateralCowboy The game's]] setting is sort of like SteamPunk except with computers instead of steam which I guess needs a name. [=DOSpunk=]? [=CRTpunk=]? Pentiumpunk? So-nerdy-my-underpants-are-spontaneously-wedgieing-themselves-punk?"''

* Several skits on ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'':
** Puppeteer and {{Cloudcuckoolander}} David Lied Hart holds a giant VHS cassette with a "VHS for sale" sign nearby.
** Uncle Muscles show sketches feature 1980s and '90s icon Music/WeirdAlYankovic, and feel like a warped version of a bad '80s cable access show. The "special effects" look like they were ripped right from old Genie analog editing consoles.
** One sketch is made to look like an ad for a Midi file organizer.
** One sketch is made to look like an ad for "The Innernette" (all contained on one CD!) and reeks of this trope. You have to see it to believe how deep into this trope it really is. (season 2 episode 8)
** Its SpinOff counts as well.

As the name implies, a good way to judge if this trope is present is the frequent use of cassettes, which were used in the decades named above to house magnetic tape ubiquitous in technology of the period, and later on often contained ROM chips for game consoles and occasionally add-ons for computing hardware. Other technologies to look out for are CRT displays, computer systems reminiscent of microcomputers like the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, freestanding hi-fi systems, small LCD displays as opposed to full color screens, [[MagicFloppyDisk floppy disks]], and other analog technologies. TheInternet or some analogue may exist, but if it's more frequently used to exchange large files than physical media, chances are that the work isn't using this trope.

* The store in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' is an in-universe example. The whole 2015 segment in the same movie heavily features this kind of aesthetics, but it's implied that they also have some form of advanced digital technology (though we never see it directly in the movie itself).

* ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' is as 80's as it gets (thanks to, among other things, being a homage to ''Film/StreetsOfFire'') and one example is that the "Data Units" (portable computer information storage units with hefty amounts of data on the KillerRobot Boomers and the Hardsuit PoweredArmor that are used via BrainUpload) which serve as an important MacGuffin in the backstory of two mayor characters look like Betamax cassettes.

* [[http://english.bouletcorp.com/2011/07/07/formicapunk/ Formica Punk]] is basically the PunkPunk version of this trope. The name inspired a [[http://formicapunk.tumblr.com Tumblr blog]] (in French).

* ''Film/TheFifthElement'' has a distinctive aesthetic that looks like a lot of '90s music videos. It's deliberately futuristic-looking but also quite campy.

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' has a very '80s (and later parts with some '90s) feel to it, despite being set in the present day (around original show air is very likely early 2010s so show universe is likely based from) and even one episode from early season had the characters time travel to the actual 1980s. All video game graphics are 8-bit, the music is mostly Hair Metal or New Wave, some montages ape early-MTV music video techniques, Russia is implied to somehow still be USSR, America's current president is very like Bill Clinton himself, and two of the oldest main characters' (Skips and Pops) backstories are like this with Skips's high school years[[note]]as seen from Skips' Story[[/note]] that play off similar to 1980s films that are set in high school.

Compare and contrast EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture. Compare to {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse, and RaygunGothic.

Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the lack of powerful computers and cell phones,]] it is clear that this is neither the RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

Stories which use a technological aesthetic reminiscent of the early 1980's as [[TropeCodifier popularized]] by the IBM PC and imitators, regardless of the real time setting of the media. Most often found in the context of science fiction.

Stories which use a technological aesthetic reminiscent of the early 1980's, regardless of the real time setting of the media. Most often found in the context of science fiction.

Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the lack of powerful computers and cell phones,]] it is clear that this is neither the RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

As the name implies, a good way to judge if this trope is present is the frequent use of cassettes, which were used in the decades named above to house magnetic tape ubiquitous in technology of the period, and later on often contained ROM chips for game consoles and occasionally add-ons for computing hardware. Other technologies to look out for are CRT displays, computer systems reminiscent of microcomputers like the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, freestanding hi-fi systems, small LCD displays as opposed to full color screens, and other analog technologies. TheInternet or some analogue may exist, but if it's more frequently used to exchange large files than physical media, chances are that the work isn't using this trope.

Contrast EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture. Compare to {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse, and RaygunGothic.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', being a mismatch of all sorts of futures and settings, features this trope particularly in the Hive Cities, where 70s style punks that live in a {{Cyberpunk}} WretchedHive face off against each other or expies of JudgeDredd that make up the local police force. Other times, some technology of the Imperium Of Man is quite boxy and their screens tend to lack a Graphical User Interface. Considering that the game was developed in the 80s, a lot of the original [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/warhammer40k/images/2/2d/Field_Police.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111011185130 artwork was full of this trope.]]

* ''Modempunk'' is a simple role-playing game made by the [[FourChan 1d4Chan]] community about a [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] [[{{AlternateHistory}} alternate history]] 1980s where the 1990s internet boon came a decade early, owning a computer without a license makes you an outlaw by the [[{{OppressiveStatesOfAmerica}} police-state]], and most kids are [[{{HollywoodHacking}} cool, savvy hackers]]. Players are encouraged to make clever uses of commonly available electronics from the 1980s, altered for hacking and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaking "phreaking"]] by the characters. The game was inspired by the 1995 movie ''Film/{{Hackers}}''.