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Blackjacque, APF, 1978

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Blackjack, APF, 1978

 

blog-1571-1138386626_thumb.jpg

 

Blackjack. Again. I'm really sorry, all of you must be really tired of hearing me bitch about the fact that this game shows up on nearly all the systems. So, let's just get it over with, shall we?

 

Okay, the only thing you must know is that you can choose the number of decks up to four that the dealer draws from, which is cool. The graphics are ugly. The suits are green and black.

 

blog-1571-1138386637_thumb.jpg

 

 

EDIT: Let this serve as an example of my intermittent green/red color blindness, though I've never noticed it before. The suits are RED and BLACK, just like normal card suits. I went back to get some screenshots and realized I must've been misremembering my colors. (Not the first time I've done so.)

 

I don't know what the "options" are for each hand because we were only able to get it to "hit" us. Sort of a sure way to lose.

 

 

blog-1571-1138386637_thumb.jpg   blog-1571-1138422226_thumb.jpg   blog-1571-1138424808_thumb.png

APF, Atari and Fairchild Blackjacks.

 

EDIT: A comment (below) brought up that these graphics are actually better than any other Blackjack I've shown to date. From the above shots, you can see, that Supercat is absolutely right. There's no good reason for me to have called them ugly. For the record: I was hasty in my pronouncement of calling these graphics "Ugly". These are the nicest Blackjack graphics on any system so far, and it's the only system to bother to include symbols for the suit. I obviously didn't give this particular cart the attention I should have due to not being able to figure out how to control the game. I guess this was an "off day" :) End EDIT

 

Did I mention that this Blackjack also takes place on a green background, undoubtedly meant to represent the green tables on which these games take place in the casinos? Well, it does. In fact, every game on this system has a distinct "green"-ness to it. Could be my console. Could be my TV. Could be my frackin' eyes. Don't know for sure, but my memories of the MP1000 are green. (except for Bowling, but even the text background in that has green to it, doesn't it?) Probably something to do with . . . nah, I got nothin'.

 

The only distinction to the graphics from other versions is that there is a separating line between the playing areas of the dealer and each player. The pattern is similar to the one you might see on a Blackjack table, but I haven't seen enough of them in real life to be an authority. EDIT I'm wrong again here. This version of Blackjack includes suit symbols. Nice suit symbols. This is an important distinction that I failed to make. End EDIT

 

One plus to Blackjack was the sound effect for the shuffling of cards: it sounded like a long controlled quiet electronic fart. My kids and I chuckled heartily, as I'm sure you would've guessed. It also triggered a Pavlovian response in my children as they suddenly decided "share" their own little shuffle sounds! Um, sorry, I guess that has very little to do with this game, I'm just finding it hard to come up with a different angle on Blackjack so I've resorted to flatulence humor. I'm so ashamed.

 

Yet another Baseball entry is next.

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supercat
Okay, the only thing you must know is that you can choose the number of decks up to four that the dealer draws from, which is cool. The graphics are ugly. The suits are green and black.

 

The graphics look pretty good to me. Nicer than any other blackjack games you've shown to date.

 

One 'problem' with the ATF is that since the video chip was designed for use in a more of a computer application, the text-mode text is rather small. On the other hand, the playing cards look quite nice.

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Mezrabad
Okay, the only thing you must know is that you can choose the number of decks up to four that the dealer draws from, which is cool. The graphics are ugly. The suits are green and black.

 

The graphics look pretty good to me. Nicer than any other blackjack games you've shown to date.

 

One 'problem' with the ATF is that since the video chip was designed for use in a more of a computer application, the text-mode text is rather small. On the other hand, the playing cards look quite nice.

 

*sigh* I can't disagree with you. This is the first Blackjack that even bothers to set up distinct suit symbols, as well as that player/dealer border design. Guess I was just in a bad mood today.

 

I've gone back and added comparison shots from the Fairchild and the Atari Blackjacks and I'll add to the post.

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supercat
I've gone back and added comparison shots from the Fairchild and the Atari Blackjacks and I'll add to the post.

 

Did the Fairchild use any black cards, or were they all red? The Fairchild's video hardware is designed around a four-color display, though it looks as though it can support more in some cases (I think your blackjack screen has 5 or 6).

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Mezrabad
Did the Fairchild use any black cards, or were they all red?  The Fairchild's video hardware is designed around a four-color display, though it looks as though it can support more in some cases (I think your blackjack screen has 5 or 6).

 

Definitely black and red. Just a coincidence that this screenshot is all red.

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Nelio

I was also :o when you said Blackjack's graphics were ugly. It was a Blackjack screenshot that got me interested in the system in the first place, as I noticed the cards featured the suit symbols - proof that this system had better graphics hardware than the previous machines. I'm happy you retracted your original comments. :)

 

Ironically, I couldn't play this one on MESS. All I get is garbled graphics, just like with the built-in game. I think it's one of the system's video modes that isn't emulated yet. :-( It's just Blackjack, but I'd still like to see it running myself.

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Mezrabad
On 11/3/2012 at 9:51 PM, Nelio said:

I was also :o when you said Blackjack's graphics were ugly. It was a Blackjack screenshot that got me interested in the system in the first place, as I noticed the cards featured the suit symbols - proof that this system had better graphics hardware than the previous machines. I'm happy you retracted your original comments. :)

 

Ironically, I couldn't play this one on MESS. All I get is garbled graphics, just like with the built-in game. I think it's one of the system's video modes that isn't emulated yet. ? It's just Blackjack, but I'd still like to see it running myself.

Yah, clearly I was having a bad day or something. xD Well, let it be said I'm not a man that holds on to his opinions when shown evidence of his mistakes.

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