FastRobPlus
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Posts posted by FastRobPlus
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I'm kicking myself for not asking KJMANN if he could show this to me when I saw him in Portland a couple weeks ago.
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I remember playing Leaderboard, might have been one of the later ones. It had good graphics (256 colour?) and decent effects + speech through the PC speaker.
You are thinking of Links, the predecessor to LeaderBoard. Bruce Carver's son did a port of the game to the Amiga, and it was a 4,096-color HAM mode game(!)
It didn't sell well at all (when I managed the transition of assets from Access to Microsoft I took a look at their sell-through for various titles)
The Amiga version was very, very slow and somewhat rough. You needed almost at minimum an Amiga 3000 (68030 processor) to get playable speed from it. It may even have been hard disk playable only, which was the first real limiting factor for Amiga games...
I've probably written about this before, but there was a lot of good will toward Amiga in the late 80's/early '90s and many companies wanted to release games for it if possible. Many dev houses like EA still used Amiga for a lot of the creative work and already had a deep toolbox and lots of best practices for porting stuff to Amiga.
But again, hard drives were the big limit. Amiga generally needed a custom host controller and often a more expensive SCSI drive, and worse yet, the 500 and 1000 needed external enclosures.
New World Computing made Might and Magic III: Isles of Tera for the Amiga and it would have been fairly trivial to release the sequels as they used the same engine. The issue was that these new PC games all required hard disk installation, and this was the one thing that the PC world had that the typical Amiga user did not.
Several companies (like Dynamix) went as far as to release revised game engines that used the Amiga's 64-halfbrite mode to reasonably emulate VGA. While VGA was 256-color, you will find that a typical Sierra/Dynamix game like Longbow uses only around 50-90 colors on any screen. It was pretty easy to use an image processor to cut those screens down below 64-color and have a game that looked identical to VGA, if just a bit washed out in places.
The final nail in the coffin was the shift from walkabout adventure games to real-time 3D Doom clones, since those games really played to the PC's chunky-graphics strengths and were tough to pull of on the Amiga planar graphic architecture.
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I won't miss 'em
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Sorry to dust this off again, but it appears we may be getting a small bit of well-deserved justice:
Wikipedia has apparently forbade further interference by the tightknit group of editors who have been up until now curating and effectively locking down Wikipedia's GamerGate article to make the controversy appear to be about bullying women in gaming rather than about journalistic corruption.
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We also have no idea about other factors which have led to this type of response. Perhaps the IP holder has recently signed exclusive video game rights to another developer and are protecting themselves under that contract. Given the reboot of the series over the past several years, this is a very likely scenario.
I think all of us find it funny that an exclusive license would preclude development of any games for the Amiga (or VCS, or C64, INTV, etc.)
But I do get your point that corporations who treat their IP as a curated commodity are too myopic to appreciate that distinction.
Still, if the Smurf guys did intend a new video game flurry, it'd be awesome if they had marketing smarts to reach out and solicit a few retro platform versions of their games. It might be a cheap and effective way to catch the fleeting attention of mainstream video game bloggers who otherwise would not have bothered to report on it: "Smurfs push new games on multiple platforms: Xbox, Wii, PS3, and wait a minute: Atari 2600!?!"
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The concept of "if you're going to do something illegal, make sure you don't get caught" isn't a new one. It's just important to realize that doing so doesn't justify your actions and you must take full responsibilities for your actions should you be caught.
I don't disagree with what you say here. However, there are shades of "illegal" and shades of "full responsibility" that have to be considered.
For example, when a new Harry Potter or Star Wars movie comes out, it's not uncommon for fans to dress up like characters using home-made costumes. They are often praised by the studios and IP rights holders, even though they aren't officially licensed.
If we apply the standard that it's "important to realize that doing so doesn't justify your actions and you must take full responsibilities for your actions should you be caught." it implies that these homemade costume designing fans can and probably should be fined. And if this were a Smurf movie, perhaps the fans would be fined.
I put this homemade Smurf game creator into the same category as a parent that will sew a Harry Potter costume for a kid, or make a Mario-themed cake for a birthday party. The "punishment" that fits the crime is that the IP holders should ignore the act or give it a thumbs up for the sake of publicity. Certainly, that's what Rare did when my wife made Viva Pinata costumes for the kids.
The Smurfs braintrust is just stuck too far in the past. Consumers need to (and are) turning away from these kinds of dinosaurs and migrating to properties that fans can participate in within reasonable limits.
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Agreed. That letter REEKS of a scamor, at very least, a shakedownjust sayin.
Yeah, we've all asked him to do that. He apparently also got more formal documentation sent directly to his home by this firm.
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The label is legit at least. I've seen a bunch of CA Pacific and that's definitely the plaque patten they get. Its possible that this game started life as a Akalabeth but was then overwritten by another, two sided game. That's the kind of thing CA Pacific was known to do. I had an Ultima 1 from them once with a far rarer game label underneath.
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I think keeping your IP trolls on a short leash is a particularly good idea when your IP brand is all about goodness, or togetherness, or lightheartedness as I think the Smurfs are supposed to be.
I and others have been cross-posting this to a bunch of places. If it gets legs, it won't do much damage, but it might do enough that when some retro gamers see an actual Smurf product they immediately think "Hmm, I don't remember why, but I think there's something wrong with the Smurf company. I'd better avoid this"
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So it wasn't his fault that he made a product out of IP he didn't own or license? Then who is to blame?
Personally, I think both cases suck and I think the patent trolls need to prove there was monetary damage before they can collect. On the other hand, it'd be much easier to just not use trademarked characters and names in the first place unless you have permission. It wouldn't be that difficult to change things to "Shartnado" or "Slurfs" and modify the images to something less infringing.
I'm not convinced anyone is to "blame" in this particular case. It looks like he just likes Smurfs and used that universe to make a game as a training exercise. It only just barely meets the definition of a "product" if you go by the dictionary definition of "something that others will derive use from"
But if we are looking to assign blame percentages, I'd assign most of the blame to the copyright holders. I know little about Smurfs, but I do know they have some kind of song that goes "la-la-la-la-something-something" and I seem to remember the characters sing it all the time and encourage others to sing along.
This means if a person were to hum the song while walking outdoors, it ought to be fair to sue the person humming for damages associated with the public performance (the product).
I get how that works, but I think they are culpable for leading the impressionable person into humming in the first place without sufficient warnings prior that reproducing the sound could be infringement.
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That's unfortunate. I hadn't heard of the Sharknado game. There are two things that might make this a more sympathetic story:
It was released as a "look I can make a game!" type release - not even a homebrew to be sold at cost to a few enthusiasts.
He did remove the game immediately. The patent trolls are saying "not good enough, you owe us for the damage you already did by allowing the game to exist."
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I waned to get your guys' thoughts on this:
A month or two ago a retro Amiga user made a game called Smurf Rescue with a quick and easy game creation tool.
It's a PD-quality game side scrolling jump game. Looks okay, but basically unplayable.
He's apparently gotten a large stack of Cease and Deist papers from the Smurf IP owner's patent trolls demanding that he pay €2000 for use of their characters.
Here's one of the original threads (from English Amiga Board): http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=76750
I'm wondering if retro gamers publicize this story if we can perhaps shame them into a bit of mercy.
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My wife is super excited about this event. I think she imagines I'll sell off a bunch of stuff that's taking up storage space in the garage.
She hasn't realized this is a swap meet.
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I second Fable, but I may be biased
Out of curiosity, have Battlefield Pizza Girl or the Kameo demos ever been leaked?
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Is it out yet?
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Guys, guys... this is simple. Obvious, even.
One need only compare an original Amiga 1000 mouse with an 800 so see the near-perfect match, in color and design. Looks like Atari themselves could have manufactured and sold it as the CX45 in 1979. Clearly, the Amiga is the heir to the bloodline, as Jay Miner intended!
You heard it here first: I predict a brief spike in the value of these mice when flashjazzcat's GUI is completed, as people with Incognito 800s will want a mouse that matches their system.
All kidding aside, I was also thinking that these would be the best mice to match with an Incognito-powered FJC GUI Atari 800. I'm wondering if I could find a yellow plastic dye that matches the color of one of the A8's function keys, to paint the mouse buttons.
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I still have the Amdek Color I
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If you upgrade the Amiga 500 or 2000 blitter from 512K to 1MB, it automatically runs both regions' software (as long as you have a 1084 monitor).
You'll need a free utility to tell it to switch between NTSC and PAL.
As for the Amiga 1200 and 4000, you can access the same mode switching by holding down both mouse buttons while booting. The 1942 monitor handles both modes for these machines.
The Agnes chip is the one you are referring to (which does indeed contain the blitter) Some 500/2000 systems are already good to go, but older ones actually need the chip swapped.
As with the Atari ST, some TVs and monitors won't handle the other region's settings. Symptoms include a rolling screen, or a stable screen but only in greyscale. You are right that all 1084/1942/1959/1960 monitors can do both PAN and NTSC with no issue. 1080s and 2002s usually also all work, but may need a more dial tuning.
I do think that as long as you are opening up the unit, it might be worth putting an FFVII or Indivision scan doubler board inside so you can output to a more modern monitor, but that's just my personal opinion. I know lots of folks who like CRTs better.
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These are region-free by default. The actual issue with the 3 computers you mention is that they were made with the intent of outputting video using old television standards, and when developers made games, they designed them to fit either NTSC-spec or PAL-spec televisions. The takeaway is that part of the game might be cut off in some cases, and things like game speed might be a bit off.
For the C64 and Atari 8-bit, I'm not sure you can do anything about that.
For the Atari ST, I think you can pop a disk in that changes the computers output back and forth between the two standards, but this may be hit or miss, and most televisions and some Atari monitors from one region might have trouble or require vertical hold adjustment to lock in the other region.
Amiga is similar to Atari ST, but most Amiga users now have some kind of VGA upconverter (flickerfixer/scan doubler) that promotes video to a format compatible with VGA monitors.
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Anonymity can magnify it, but when I was in school up and down the eastern side of the USA, before the Internet existed, it seemed like most kids were A-holes in person to your face. Most of them seemed to hate their parents and hate their lives, so a lot of kids took it out on a lot of other kids. Then they grew up to become adult A-holes who hate their lives even more and they raise their own A-hole kids who hate their lives and you end up with a bunch of old and young A-holes on the Internet who get even worse when anonymity is involved. Then we have Google trying to make everyone use their real names with Google+, but that hasn't seemed to tone down the horrible comments that people make, so I don't know what to think.
I agree. And I know it stuns a few people here, but to simplify the discussion:
The problem with Sarkesian and her ilk is that they are saying "Cyberbullying of women by men is a serious issue that male gamers must work together to address!"
while the more reasonable among have said and are still saying "Don't fragment the issue. Cyberbullying of people online is an serious issue that we should all (not just men or gamers) work together to fix."
Remember Dong Nguyen? He was a far more famous game developer than any of these women and he was also driven from the games industry (his words) due to a large number of death threats. This was in the news for a week or two but the threats were brushed aside as the action of internet trolls and thus an overreaction on Dong's part.
Why didn't everyone get just as angry about what was happening to this person? Was it inconvenient to hear that cyberbullies will bully men as readily as women? If he were to get a gender change, would he then be reasonably considered a victim?
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Another list of 25 assertions without any real evidence, but it illustrates the way in which Anita's "sounds about right" pop psychology can be used to prove the exact opposite of male privilege in gaming:
Many women recently have claimed to experience alienation and harassment in gaming because of their gender. They have spent countless hours telling social media, and real media, about how their individual experiences are indicative of a widespread issue. Any women who attempt to showcase their positive experiences in gaming are met with accusations of self-hatred, or of not being real. One of the issues of being a member of a group that is constantly being told is “oppressed” is that the benefits awarded to us may remain invisible. Working towards a solution requires that female gamers become aware of the ways which we unconsciously benefit from being female. With that in mind, the following is a list of some of the concrete benefits that female gamers automatically receive simply for being female.
1. I don’t have to be worried about being told I am “too old” to be playing games. Because I am female, no one will call me a “man-baby” or claim that I “need to grow up” simply because I choose to play games. It will also not automatically be assumed that I am a nerd or a virgin.
2. As a female, I don’t have to worry that someone will automatically assume I live with my parents because I play games.
3. People will be willing to censor popular titles, and content, for the sole purpose of catering to my possible feelings.
4. I could openly admit that I do not play games, yet people will be willing to hand me thousands of dollars just to hear my opinions on them.
5. Men will be willing to devalue themselves, and their entire gender, in order to place me on a pedestal, solely because I am female.
6. I will never have to worry about having a sufficient party in order to complete raids. Being female ensures that I will always have available allies willing to contribute to my success.
7. I can make blanket claims about gamers of an entire gender, a gender which I am not a part of and can not relate to in any real life situations, and will receive the widespread, unwavering support of the media.
8. Because I am a female, I will be far more influential in the socio-politics of in-game communities because I am seen as a rarity.
9. The industry, as a whole, is willing to attempt to push out other consumers in order to secure a safe spot for me, free from any potentially offensive or controversial content.
10. When dating, the fact that I am a gamer will not be looked down upon because of my gender, rather it is more likely to be viewed as an endearing quality.
11. In the event my presence is not welcome for any reason, I have the ability to claim the motivation is based solely on my gender, and there will be no lack of people willing to believe me with no requests for proof.
12. In the event I do something wrong and am called out on it, I have the ability to claim the person calling me out is sexist, and will receive intense, widespread support.
13. My opinions on any matter will hold more widespread clout immediately, for no reason other than I am a female.
14. Many players will be more willing to censor their language in order to make sure I am more comfortable. In the event someone does not censor themselves, I will have no shortage of men willing to “white knight” on behalf of my honor. On horse or afoot.
15. As a female, people will be afraid to criticize me, or my opinions, no matter how radical or insane they are, for fear of being called sexist.
16. If I am short on in-game currency, there will always be someone willing to purchase items for me, solely because of my gender.
17. Rarely are my mistakes called out in a game. Instead of the expected trash talk a male gamer receives, I am offered constructive criticism, advice, and even compliments on what I DID do correctly.
18. As a female in a “male dominated environment,” I have the potential of holding more power in a gaming community than someone far more experienced than I, simply because I am seen as a rarity.
19. People are willing to gift me extra items, or even games, for no reason other than that I am a female.
20. I will have more success if I decide to stream on Twitch, for no reason other than that I am a female who happens to play video games.
21. Should I ever choose to enter the gaming industry, I will have more success with fundraising campaigns because of my gender alone. I will have access to special grants and foundations, based on my gender instead of my experience, ability, motivation, or credibility.
22. While it may be true that some people expect males to be better at games, that also works in my favor. I don’t have to be as good as a male in order to be considered better than him. Lower expectations does not mean I am unwelcome. Rather, it means my performance does not have to be impressive in order to impress people.
23. People will automatically assume that, because I happen to be female, I want to read gaming articles, blogs, reviews, and magazines written by other females, and will go out of their way in order to accommodate me in that regard.
24. Popular websites and magazines will take my gender into account when reviewing any game, and will stretch as far as possible in order to “pre-warn” me about any small amount of material in the game which could potentially hurt my feelings, because of my gender.
25. Because it was created by a female, this checklist will be less likely to be taken seriously because of its content. I will likely be accused of internalizing misogyny, simply because I am acknowledging the benefits I have as a female gamer, versus focusing on what I think my disadvantages are. However, I know that, in creating this list, I will also garner a decent amount of appreciation, simply because I am a female willing to express appreciation for the benefits available to me, instead of playing a perpetual victim.
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WestofHouse
You've declared yourself the winner and the discussion finished?
Is that how you think debating works?
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What the video and it makes sense. The men in Anita's latest video came up with 25 "reasons" why being a male gamer is a privilege. It's an extremely shallow
strawman'sstrawperson's argument at best. No real guy would speak this way unless he is ashamed of being male.I went ahead and watched the whole thing. The second to last guy (I think he's the snarky, curmudgeonly G4 reviewer guy) was saying something like "We must acknowledge the problem and take responsibility for it as a community!"
Really G4 guy? We've been a community supportive of kids trolling online up until now? We haven't as a grass-roots community already been doing our part to to foster an inclusive community, pushing the racist and homophobe kids and trolls to the dark corners of the internet by down voting them, banning them, and helping to teach each other how to ignore them?
We never thought to do any of that, but now that you've told us we'll wake up?
Let me tell you what you are really doing with your 25 privileges:
- You are giving the trolls a list of 25 ideas for things they should do or say to enflame and re-arm the feminists and keep this whole cycle front and center. You are ensuring that the stories keep coming.
- You are telling us the problem is internal in an attempt to pit us against each other rather than frame the issue as a gamers versus trolls who want to tarnish our reputation - the lone argument that could galvanize everyone into supporting this cause you profess to care about.
- Oh, and of course you are painting yourself as a white knight who is an advocate for all gamers, rather nicely deflecting the conversation away from the journalistic corruption issues that plague your part of the industry.
But you knew that last one already, didn't you G4 guy?
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Yes, Gamergate is toxic and full of trollish manchildren because some people were threatened on the Internet. You know plenty of pro-GGers have received death threats too, right? But I guess that doesn't count, because you don't agree with them.
To be fair, I have seen links to twitter tweets where a threat is made to a woman and the threat is from someone like "GamerGate001" or something. But nobody has ever answered my initial question (or for that matter any of my others quesitons!)
So getting back to my initial question:
"Who in the games industry is making threats?"
As near as I can tell, these are anonymous threats made by trolls or easily tricked kids responding the initial feminist trolling. This is troll-on-troll twitter violence pure and simple! Calling it gamer-related does not make it true. It's only a problem for the gaming community in that we keep being told it's an internal problem. I have to say, It's really hard for me to prevent my fellow (for example) AtariAge users from issuing all these death threats when I have no reason to believe that anyone is actually making any!!
The very closest I've found to an actual threat issued to anyone was that Hungarian StarCraft pro tourney guy who threatened to "Rape my female opponent in the StarCraft playoff" or something. You can reasonably say he's a gamer. So what happened? Other gamers dog piled him in social media, he was banned from the tournament, and he quickly apologized and acknowledged his insensitivity.
Is he an ass? Yep! Did he deserve what happened to him? Yeah, I think so. Did we in the gaming community make an example of him for his comment and probably scare others from making stupid comments - or at least make sure when they says they'll 'rape' or 'kill' you in StarCraft, that they make sure they direct the comment at a guy? Yup and yup!
This does not sound like the endless litany of credible threats from within the games industry I keep being assured is happening.
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Atari portable computer
in Atari 8-Bit Computers
Posted
Several years later this is still one of the coolest Atari computers ever made.