I recently watched an older TV show, and I suddenly realised that people were doing things, everyday "iconic" movements which were familiar to every one back in the day, which my kids have never done and probably never will do.

One example would be to actually dial a number on a phone. Or to slot a coin into a payphone.

So I was thinking about gaming related moves and actions which for us oldies are still familiar, but which have since died out. So far I've come with:

Handling, switching, flipping floppy disks
You know... the satisfying click when the 3.5" disk locked into place. The grip on the side of the Amiga to find to button to extract it ("Please insert disk 9" on the screen...). Even better the lock mechanism of 5.25" drives (when floppy disks were still floppy). Related to that: Punching notches in the sides of 5.25" disks to make them double-sided...

The joystick grip
While consoles started early with controllers, home computers like the C64 and Amiga used joysticks for almost every game which was not point and click (and the C64 even for those). Gripping that big joystick (Quickshot Pro?) with anticipation while the game loads...
I still have a HOTAS unit for special games which I rarely use, but it's not the same feeling. Who still has a regularly uses a joystick?


And now you: What else can you come up with? :-)

The smell of vinyl and putting a LP record on the turn table, expertly handling it without getting scratches or fingerprints on it.

Now that brings back memories, I actually used a mouse with mouseball up until 2015! Now remember back when they didn't have the scrollwheel either? ;)

My addition to this is actually physical CD/DVDs, as most laptops and desktops don't even come with a disc drive these days. It'll soon be a forgotten media, besides for uhh console players I suppose (but even there digital is pushed quite hard).

Well, my moves were old even back there :o)

As for the topic, keyboards? It’s all touchscreens now. As writing has gone, so will typing.

Word!

Fast forwarding and rewinding of tapes and VHS cassettes, trying to find the right spot without having any quick and precise means for it, no simple moving the cursor to the right time, no simple selection of individual songs until the CD player came along (well, you could with vinyl records, but it wasn't quite as easy either, and - what PetrusOctavianus didn't mention yet - you also had to flip it over to access the songs on the other side).

Or generally, pressing actual analogue buttons and switches on boomboxes and other audio or audiovisual devices. I remember we didn't even have a remote control for the TV when I was a kid and we used to zap through (all 3, later 5-6! XD) channels by sitting next to the TV and pushing the buttons to the side of the screen.

EDIT: Oh, okay, you were asking for gaming related stuff specifically. Hm. Of course, in part the first did also apply to datasettes. How about flipping the little switch on 3,5'' disk to make them read only? Browsing manuals, or better yet, turning code wheels? :D

Walking through a gaming store and browsing the big gaming boxes, checking the screenshots and descriptions on the back trying to decide what to buy with your hard saved pocket money.

edit: same goes for video stores and the vhs boxes.

I have a Microsoft Sidewinder Precision 2 attached to my computer. I'd just finished playing Wing Commander 2 with it..

I believe that it will turn 21 this year.

Unpacking boxed copies, reading the manual, inserting CD-Rom into your computer...pretty much all gone.

Yes!

Also opening and cleaning the keyboard. A while back I naively tried that with my current keyboard and had to learn the hard way that it's not that easy anymore.

Reminds me how I always had a small screwdriver ready to fine-tune the head to read (data) cassettes from other people. And if you forgot it and then caught a virus...
Nice! The original Sidewinder had a reputation of being rather fragile although one of the most precise joysticks around.

Typing commands on DOS to execute a game.

Looking at a physical manual/poster/cheat sheet to answer the copy protection question.