Thanks for all of the nice comments and PMs. You have no idea how much they push me forward on this project, not that I've ever considered abandoning it, I just get slow sometimes.
See, now we're "retro-chronogaming" -- playing the old games that we missed the first time we tried playing all those old games! I've got a few movies this time, so sorry to those on 56k lines.
(EDIT 2021: None of the video links work and I totally should have put everything on YouTube back the
October, 1977
(EDIT: Apparently the original shipping date was scheduled for October of 1977, but somewhere in the years since 2005, I seem to remember hearing it didn't actually ship until November. I don't recall the source and I'm too lazy to look but I thought I'd mention it.)
The Atari VCS is born!
The system that started a lifelong habit for most (edit: many) of us.
I can't say anything about this system that hasn't already been said. Serious
Two games. One cart.
Armored Encounter! Odyssey^2, 1978
I'll include a picture of these tanks when I have one.
Oh, hey, I do. Here's Mr. Blue and his eternal nemesis, Mr. Red.
Okay, this is very much like Atari Combat, the Tank games, with minor changes to the gaming variants and one very notable addition.
Two tanks (red vs blue, again) face off with or without guided missiles, with or without barriers (simple
Armor Battle (Intellvision, 1980)
Don't get me wrong, I really love Atari's Combat; it will always hold a special place in my heart. However, Armor Battle immediately strikes me as being a "next generation" tank game: two tanks for each player, obstacles, variable terrain (road, water, woods, grass, buildings), mine laying capabilities, 240 different terrain maps, tanks that take multiple hits...jeez, the feature list goes on and on, doesn't it?
Each player has two tanks under their comm
I discovered another Chronogamer! A writer over at Retrogaming Times Monthly is chronogaming the NES, starting in 1983! This is the same guy that wrote the always interesting Syntax Era, so it should be good.
Anyway, here's the link to the issue with the first NES chronogaming. The column is called "Nintendo Realm". (You have to scroll to it.)
http://my.stratos.net/%7Ehewston95/RTM19/RTM19.html
No, he doesn't call himself a "chronogamer," and as far as I know,
Welcome to the era of the dedicated Pong machine. It's a mercifully short era, over most of which I shall skip.
Before we talk about the first 1975 Odyssey, I must tell you there is another 1975 Odyssey: The Magnavox Odyssey 200. Apparently it is a different color than the one we are about to discuss. Dang, I guess I'll have to find one of those now, too.
The Magnavox Odyssey 100 is a garishly orange, slightly sleeker looking version of the original Magnavox Odyssey. (The original is pic
Amazing Maze / Tic-Tac-Toe (Bally Professional Arcade, 1979)
I know many of you are very anxious to hear just how the Bally performed in Tic-Tac-Toe against the Fairchild Channel F's built-in Tic-Tac-Toe AI, but before I get to that, I have a solution regarding the heating problems some of us have been experiencing with the Bally Pro Arcade.
Bally vs. Fairchild: Tic-Tac-Toe
In order to get a statistically significant sample we figured we should p
Alpine Skiing, (Odyssey^2, 1979)
Unless I'm forgetting a game, we haven't seen a Skiing game in a home videogame context since 1972!
Skiing for the Magnavox Odyssey was fun for its day in a Zen sort of way. Alpine Skiing is less fun but has some perks. I wonder what made them choose the Alps? Why not Andes or Himalayian Skiing?
First perk: it's two player, simultaneous. Points to any game that attempts to force people to play together, even if it the overall
As EricBall very correctly pointed out, it wasn't long after figuring out that this machine might work, that I realized that it's little better than a door stop without a floppy drive.
Fortunately for me, I discovered the CFFA! This is a card that plugs into the innards of an Apple IIGS with a Compact Flash card as a hard drive. You can have as many 32MB hard drive images as you can fit on a compact flash. So, I quickly, and without really reading anything about it, ordered one and then orde
Okay, back sometimes in the closing days of 2008 an AtariAger was looking for an Emerson Arcadia 2001 and was offering an Apple IIGS in exchange. I've always wanted one of those, so I went for it, traded my extra Arcadia (I had to keep one if my chronogaming ever makes it to 1982) a few boxed commons and maybe one scarce (I was feeling generous, and I really did want to mess around with an Apple IIGS).
So, sometime in January, the exchange was made and a happy IIGS began its life in my home
Air-Sea Battle (a.k.a. Target Fun)
My son and I have played this, but today, on the game's "write up" day, I asked my daughter if she wanted to play.
Yeah, that's a Genesis controller plugged into my Atari VCS. Yes, it's anachronistic, but then again, so is she.
She said yes! She was happy to engage in what her big guys "waste" so much time doing.
Air-Sea battle is a little bit like the Fairchild's Torpedo Alley in that you shoot stuff going across the screen using a "shooter"
Yesterday I did write "National Instruments" but what I should have written was "National Semiconductor". I could go back and correct it in each of the entries in which I make this error, but I've decided not to because it would represent a larger waste of time than this paragraph apologizing for it. So, sorry about that.
Okay, this is a dedicated Pong clone. The Adversary, by National Semiconductor, is a lovely little console, resplendent in the faux woodgrain decor previously reserved for
Adventure (Atari VCS, 1980)
Okay, I"ve started this entry about six times! I'm trying to keep myself from babbling but what I keep writing is a long and pretty uninteresting description of the different elements of Adventure. I'm failing to capture the essence of the whole which is so much greater than just a listing of the separate parts.
Rather than make another attempt at objectively describing Adventure, let's just activate Fanboy Mode.
I think that it's safe to say that this is
W.I.N. stands for Word, Image, Number. The object of this game is to construct words, images and numbers drawn from a deck of cards using the elements on the Überlay. To claim an element for use in your assembly, you have to move the Spot while it is invisible to an element you can use.
The Player Spot starts out in the blank square at the bottom center of the screen (near the scientist). You hit the reset button on the controller and the Spot disappears. You then manipulate the controls unt
I like to play computer/videogames. There are many of these games and I want to play them all, even the bad ones. In one lifetime, I can't. Well, I technically could, but then, at the end of it (the lifetime) would I be able to call it a life? With my clawed hands and burned out eyes on my deathbed, would I relish having consumed all possible videogames or would I curse my life as wasted? Nevertheless, I'd like to give it my best shot, while still trying to maintain a real life. We'll call this
A few words about the term "Crap Game from Hell".
While I was cajoling my son into playing Handball with me, I billed it as the "Last Crap Game from Hell from 1972!!!" This term isn't meant to malign the Odyssey or its games. It rather serves as a warning to my son that the game I'm asking him to play isn't going to be easy to enjoy, but that I need him to do his best for me. We tend to enjoy these old games a lot more when we expect that they are going to be hard to enjoy. Calling them "Cra
Off topic, but my Xbox Live name is Chronogamer. If you play 1 vs 100 Live on the Xbox 360, then you'll know what I'm talking about. Last night, I (with the help of my lovely and brilliant wife) came in third out of a crowd of 42,000 in a Live game and won myself a copy of RezHD! Yay! By the way, if you're an Xbox Live person, please invite me to be your friend!
3D-Tic-Tac-Toe (Atari VCS, 1980)
I need to clear up any impressions I may have given about my feelings towards playing 3D-Tic-
The 1978-1979 school year was significant for me.
Other than seven people to whom I'm related, I no longer know anyone I'd ever met prior to the school year of 1978-79. Anyone I knew, peers or otherwise, before that school year, is either dead or is now 28 years in the past and I've got no hope of getting in touch with them and even less hope that they'll remember me.
I almost got into just how many friends I've made and kept each year since 1979, but the amount stops growing in 1991 and
There's already a list of all the games that came out in 1978 in this entry here. Rather than rehash that list with the only change in it being the addition of smilies or frownies, I think the electrons would be better spent on picking out a few of the standout titles from 1978, by system, while giving each system a general rating.
APF MP1000 -- Not Nearly As Fun-Free as I Thought It Would Be
This system really seemed to have some potential, but it was wasted on unimaginative games. Still i
1978 Protoview
Yes, I'm well aware that there were other things happening in the world of electronic entertainment during 1977-78. I'm only focusing on the Home Videogames for programmable systems. That should be more than enough to keep me busy for a good long time.
So, let's look at 1978. There are four (possibly five) active consoles in 1978:
Atari VCS
Fairchild Channel F (formerly VES)
Bally Professional Arcade
The Magnavox Odyssey^2
I'm pretty certain the Bally console di
Lots of pictures, thought I'd make it its own entry.
Here are the participants that took, what, 6 months to play through?
They seem like such tiny piles . . .
Here we have the 1978 Atari VCS family with their enlightened 7800-only cousin from the future and the underused but kinda cool keyboard controllers. The Cuttle Cart 2, for those who don't know, is used to play games on Atari hardware for which I no longer have the original carts.
1977 in the Retroview Mirror
Okay, for a combination of lack of funds and lack of any sense of timing with eBay there were some home videogames that I missed in 1977. The only ones I vaguely care about are:
Stunt Cycle (a.k.a. Motocross)
Video Pinball (a.k.a. Pinball Breakaway)
Ultra PONG Doubles (a.k.a. PONG Sports IV)
EDIT: I completely forgot about Coleco Combat and Telstar Arcade. I still want to try those, too. END EDIT
I'm sure I'll
Actually, it wasn't until August 1976 that the Fairchild Video Entertainment System came into existence. So we've got some other ground to cover until then.
First of all, let's list the dedicated PONG machines:
In the PBS version of this blog, which is now airing in a few select viewing areas, this scene occurs in episode four.
I start reciting the list of different PONG systems available during the great PONG Rush of 1976. Every time I say the name of another dedicated PONG machine,
Okay, 1975 stuff, almost as an after thought, but I'll put it first because it is short.
Sears Telegames PONG by Atari
Magnavox Odyssey 100
Magnavox Odyssey 200
And that's IT. If you wanted to play video games you were going to get most of your action outside of the home at the arcades.
Someday, when I play a Sears Telegames PONG unit or a Magnavox Odyssey 200, I will record them on their appropriate days.
Atari 2600 Tourney at Alamo Drafthouse Austin Downtown
Well, last
THERE ARE NONE!
Zip! Zilch! Zippo! The Big Goose Egg! Empty City! ZERO!
Since this blog is just dealing with HOME videogames, specifically, games one plays on their TV, in their home, I've really got very little to say about 1974 as no new home videogames come out in 1974.
Let's imagine that for a few minutes shall we?
Do you remember, towards the end of the last millenium, what Summertime used to be like for our dear hobby/lifestyle?
Dead. Very few games came out in the Summ
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