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Mezrabad

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Blog Entries posted by Mezrabad

  1. Mezrabad
    This is not an April Fool's Day prank, but since it is April Fool's Day, I think it would be entirely appropriate to talk about something one wouldn't expect to find for the Channel F. I'd been trying to come up with ways to talk about the odd hack or homebrew every now and then. I don't want to do it too often, because it does fall outside of the chronology, but on odd dates and stuff, Friday the 13th, Feb 29th, April Fools and whenever, I'll do them for the heck of it.
     
    Tetris (Channel F, 2004 - Peter Trauner)
     
    Who says there are no good games written for the Channel F?
     

     
    Title page. I don't know who Frank is, but the other two are easy to figure out.
     
    If I remember correctly a gentleman named Fredric Blåholtz issued a challenge and a reward to get homebrewing started for the Channel F. He wanted someone to program a Channel F version of Tetris and he offered a complete collection of Channel F carts to the person who did it first. I believe there was a thread that spoke of this on Atari Age's forums.
     

     
    Tetris in action.
     
    There are probably ways of making a real live Tetris cart but I haven't made one. The screenshots are what it looks like on the MESS emulator when output to my TV. We used Playstation controllers to play it, which worked well enough.
     

     
    The play is two-player, head-to-head. A single player game starts if you wait long enough after the second player loses. The score is simply the number of blocks emitted by the, um, block emitter. Unexpectedly, the winner of a two player game is determined by who survives the longest, not by the score. There are no scoring bonuses for taking out more than one row at a time, but, there does seem to be a way to punish your opponent for not doing as well as you. I was doing pretty well and my son started complaining that the game was adding rows to the bottom of his side! We weren't able to isolate the behavior completely, but it seemed to happen whenever I was able to get rid of two or more of my bottom rows.
     

     
    End round shot
     
    Is it fun? Of course it is, it's Tetris! There's no sound that I was able hear, so you might call it quiet fun.
     
    Anyway, there it is: a game that doesn't take any stretch of the imagination to be fun on the Channel F. Who woulda thunk it?
     
    Next Entry I'll start working on US released games for the Channel F starting with #19 Checkers.
  2. Mezrabad
    Tele-Games Electronic Games Motocross Sports Center IV (Atari, 1977)
     
    I kinda "get it" now but back in the late 70s I had no clue what was going on between Atari and Sears. It seemed like Atari stuff in other department stores was labeled "Atari" but Sears was a parallel universe where every Atari item was called something else. Combat was called Tank Plus; Air-Sea Battle was called Target Fun. The Atari Video Computer System was called the Sears Video Arcade, etc.
     
    Suspicions of conspiracy often played in my mind. Did Atari know that Sears was blocking Atari products from its shelves and replacing them with rebranded copies? Were these watered down versions or were they just as good as the "real" thing? The world may never know! (Look, I know we know, okay? I just didn't understand then.)
     
    One such rebranded (or prebranded) property is the Atari Stunt Cycle sold in Sears as Tele-Games Electronic Games Motocross Sports Center IV. This unit boasts several unique features that sets it apart from other consoles that come fully loaded with several variations on a PONG. Most notably the console resembles the throttle controls of a motorbike. The right-hand throttle is used to accelerate the on-screen motorbike to take it through a series of tasks, depending on the game. The left-hand handle is simply a handle that has a nice rubbery texture to it. The sound effect which accompianies the acceleration of the motorbike shows promise...
     
    Motocross Sound Demo on YouTube
     
    The occasional beeping sound in the middle of my revving is the Motor Bike sprite sliding on its head.
     
    The downside to the cool pontential of this sound is that during game play it became an annoying "vreeeeeeem". I'm not saying this is unrealistic, motor bikes make the same sound and some may argue that it's just as annoying. I'm saying it isn't very pleasant to overhear from the next room.
     
    Motocross Sound Demo II during gameplay on YouTube
     
    (by the way, 2:49 isn't a bad time for a five year old.) All of the sound comes directly from the console itself, so forget about practicing late into the wee hours, your family will not be pleased.
     
    To accelerate, there's a gear shifting scheme acheived by turning the throttle towards you quickly and then releasing it slightly (Trin's video demonstrates this). This technique of accelerating is related to the way that real motorcycles shift through the geers. When it's time to shift a real motorcycle, one releases the throttle, squeezes the clutch and uses their left foot to "toe" down or up to the next gear. Instead of releasing the throttle in Motocross, the player quickly turns it towards them and then forward again. This is exactly the wrong way to shift gears on a motorcycle because one should never rev an engine while the clutch is engaged ("rev it to the red!!") so, if you learned all your motorcycling skills from Tele-Games Motocross, you're going to have to unlearn them when you get on a real bike.
     
    The games in Motocross are pretty simple. The playfield consists of three levels, all of which are connected by a screen wrap-around effect. As the motor bike drives off the right side of the top level it reappears on the left side of the middle level and this is consistent when it drives off the right of the middle level (it shows up on the left side of the bottom level). Each game involves moving through those three levels with various goals. The first game, and most simple, is called Drag Race and the challenge is to get the motor bike through the course as quickly as possible by accelerating it quickly but without over revving it and sliding on your head. (Always dress for the ride AND the slide!)
     
    In addition to the "head slide" state there's also a "wheelie" state. If you accelerate just enough, you'll do a wheelie (in case I'm spelling it wrong, a wheelie is when your front wheel is off the ground and you're bike is continuing to move forward.) Motocross uses the wheelie state for a game called Motocross where the player must pull a wheelie over a barrer by accelerating the throttle as they approach it.
     
    There also Stunt Cycle. This is the most fun on here. If you were alive and watching TV during the 70's you will probably remember the Happy Days episode where Fonzie does the motorcycle jump and slides into the fried chicken stand. Well, this is similar. You start out with eight busses sandwiched between ramps and every time you successfully jump the lot they add another bus. This game is challenging and fun at first but then it gets hard and finally merely frustrating. If you're not going fast enough when your bike reaches the busess, you will not have enough forward momentum to sail over them. If you are going too fast, you may make the jump but not the landing. Yay! Another opportunity for a head slide!
     
    Okay, I blew most of my attempts to get decent gameplay footage, but here's a nice shot of the head slide.
     
    Stunt Cycle Head Slide
     
    You should be informed that there are Expert and Novice variations of each of the Cycle games. The Expert level involves much more sensitivity in the control making it more difficult to not over-accelerate into a head slide.
     
    I should also mention that there is a "Sports" in the title of this console because there are also 16 PONG variants you may enjoy by plugging in the paddle controllers. The games support between two and four players and include such Pong hits as Pong, Hockey, Street Hockey and Street Tennis. I'm officially "for" anything that involves up to four players, but I would doubt anyone will ever purchase Tele-Games Motocross blah blah blah so that they can play more Pong. On the other hand, if one doesn't already have a Pong dedicated machine, this is a nice way to get one bundled with a pretty cool Motocross game.
     
    With the exception of Atari/Sears PONG and the Coleco Tel-Star Arcade, that wraps it up for the 70s! If I should acquire either of those units in the future I'll insert them into the 80s but now, it's onward and forward! Next entry we'll jump back to 1980 and start playing the Mattel Intellivision (also known as the Sears Super Video Arcade ... oh no! Sears must've gotten to Mattel, too!) 17133
  3. Mezrabad
    Coleco Telstar Combat (Coleco, 1977)
     
    I lost my battle with Coleco Combat!
     

     
    As described in this thread I have a Coleco Combat unit with crappy stickers and a single broken joystick. I took the thing apart (using the "hair dryer" trick) and discovered a snapped "eye-hook" style leaf switch. After putting it off for a few months, I finally took the thing into a local arcade cab repair shop (S&B Amusements in Austin, TX near Northcross Mall) and they looked at it and said: "Mmm, nope, we've got nothing to replace that style of leaf switch."
     
    So, daunted, I took the floppy-limbed thing home and decided I might be able to wrangle some gameplay footage out of the console. Unable to load it to my website for some reason, I've put it on YouTube:
    Coleco Combat - Move, Shoot and Explode
     
    In the video you can see many elements of other tank games including the "guided missiles" and the mines. The sound effects come through a speaker built in to the console and do an adequate job of conveying a fairly generic "video tank" sound.
     
    I suspect that my console is busted in more ways than just one of its joysticks (black tank's left stick, by the way) as the tanks in the game seem to ignore all of the white barriers, including the border around the playfield. The barriers do serve to block any missiles, however, causing them to explode prematurely -- a nice touch to the design, I think, as I've played other tank games that merely have the missiles disappear if they hit a barrier. I also like that the screen flashes when a shot is fired.
     
    Another nice touch is that the tanks are given a feeling of inertia to some extent. To get a tank moving there isn't a sudden lurch forward, there's more of an acceleration, this makes the controls feel a little sluggish, but I think the effect is intended and appropriate. Speaking of the controls, let's talk about the controls.
     
    The whole point of picking this particular dedicated console out of a large field of available dedicated consoles (which I WON'T be playing) is because of its unique control scheme. Reminiscent of the Kee Games arcade release, Tank II, the Coleco Telstar Combat console features two "tank controller" stations. Each side has two "up-down-only" grip joysticks, one of which has a fire button on the top of it. While not being a direct, licensed descendant of Tank II, it looks, controls and plays a lot like it, making it a very nice "arcade perfect" attempt for the home.
     

    FYI: pictured above is not my actual unit. My actual unit is too horrible in its disfiguration to show to anyone at the moment.
     
    These controls, however, no matter how keen, had a bit of a learning curve. My son, who has demonstrated ability at picking things up quickly when it comes to most videogames, took more than his usual 20 seconds to understand how to operate his on-screen vehicle. Obviously, I haven't exposed him to enough tank controls in real life and will have to rectify that situation as soon as possible, though I think the real ones involve pedals.
     
    Here's a clip showing the lack of working barriers as well as my son trying to understand the tank controllers:
    Coleco Combat - Broken Barriers
     
    This console supposedly has four different tank game versions. Other than a slight change in background contrast between each one, all four variations are fairly indistinguishable to me. Most likely, this represents yet another failing of my hardware. If I find out anything about those variations I'll edit this entry appropriately.
     
    Compared to other tank-a-like games in the home from the 70s (on the Fairchild, the Atari VCS or the Odyssey^2), this isn't a bad example, mostly because it offers the specialized controls. However, given its limited variation in gameplay I can't see it taking up space under my TV for very long. What would be cool is if I could figure out how to rig the controls up to work on the Atari VCS for Combat or future VCS tank games...now that's a good reason for keeping this console around!
     
    The next retro-out-of-chronogaming-sequence console we'll do is what is commonly known as Atari Stunt Cycle, also chosen for its unique controller. It won't take as long to get to as Coleco Combat did, I'm certain of that! 16437
  4. Mezrabad
    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 then. Shame on me. If I find these old videos, I will post them. They may be on a hard drive or burned CD from 13 years ago or so...)
     
    Atari Video Pinball (Atari, 1977)
     
    The pictures below are of the Atari Video Pinball console. This is the version of the console which is, sadly, lacking in the faux woodgrain finish. On the top of the console, you can see the large knob. That's for controlling the paddle of the Breakout game included within the console. If you look on either side of the console, you can see what appear to be knobs protruding from either side. Those are actually oversized buttons used to control the pinball flippers in the video pinball variations.
     

     
    The person who thought of placing the flipper buttons on the sides of the console in imitation of the location of the flipper buttons on an actual pinball machine was either inspired, or just doing it the only way that made sense to them. This location of the controls has huge potential as when one starts hitting those buttons they start feeling that, 'hey this is just like real pinball!' kind of feeling.
     
    A quality found in most PONG games is that they are 2-D and Zero G. When not being manhandled by an ENGLISH controller, as on the Odyssey, PONG balls normally sail across the viddy screen in a nice straight line. They also demonstrate an admirable symmetry in their angles of incidence and reflection when interacting with the upper and lower walls of the PONG playfield. In Video Pinball, they've kept the 2-D but they've added a G. Instead of a uniform straight line, the ball travels through graceful parabolic arcs interrupted only by a bunch of junk on the screen masquerading as pinball accessories.
     
    Yes, I love the concept of adding gravity. Yes, I love the placement of the controls. The trouble with this pinball game is the activity of the on-screen flippers. For this, you'll need a visual.
    Atari Video Pinball Gameplay Movie (6.14 MB)
    (No, Sony is not a sponsor of my chronogaming. Though that IS a good idea. I should contact them and see if an arrangement could be made...)
     
    Our experience with this game was not unpositive. The ball moves well and interacts with the various, um, squares in a satisfying way. The touble is in those flippers. They appear to not exist between their open state and their closed state, almost like how electrons disappear when moving through energy shell levels. At the end of that last clip, you can see that the flippers can indeed act on the ball when it is in that "in-between" below the exit but above the bottom of the abyss. However, flippers that appear to merely "switch" between open and closed aren't flippers at all. Yes, they should be called "switchers" or "binary state gates" something more clever but at the moment, I got nothin'.
     
    You can see on the playfield, that there are some "drop switch" like squares that go away after the ball hits them a few times and they turn a few different colors. They'll reset after all of their brethren also drop away. You can also see the graceful parabolic movement of the ball. This play experience has potential, I just don't like those flipper wannabees.
     
    Breakout

    This dedicated console is also dedicated to Breakout! Yes, the arcade smash hit is now available in your home! The big round dial serves well as the controller. My son and I found this version of Breakout to be, well, hard. The ball really picks up speed quickly and every seven or so hits puts very shallow angle on the ball's trajectory that's a pain in the paddle to hit. I should note that, unlike Video Pinball and the yet to be discussed Basketball, Breakout is in good old fashioned Zero G.
     
    It should also be mentioned that one of the Pinball variations uses the Breakout paddle instead of the pseudo-flippers. I wasn't crazy about the gameplay for that version of Pinball either, but I prefered it to the flippers. There was no gravity effect in this one, in that respect it was also like Breakout.
     
    Basketball
     
    There are two Basketball variants and they illustrate my contention that one of the cool things about the Atari Video Pinball console is that the console itself essentially is the controller. It doesn't merely contain the controls; you practically hold this thing while playing Basketball or Pinball. Here is a video of my son playing one of the basketball games. Notice that his left hand is on one of the pinball buttons and his right hand is on the dial controller.
     
    Controller shown and Basketball being played on Atari Video Pinball (3.95 MB)
    ::ASIDE::For those who care, that's a 34" Sony WEGA Flattube HDTV which I bought in 2004 just a few months before the Plasma HDTVs that you can hang on your wall got much cheaper. Poor market timing on my part, as that behemoth weighs over 100 kilograms. Underneath you see a Wii, a fat modded Korean PS2, a moded Korean Halo green Xbox and a Platinum GameCube with a matching Platinum Game Boy Player underneath it (don't see many of those, do ya? ) Yes, my kids take videogames for granted, but I make it very clear that these are MY toys.::END ASIDE::
     
    The side button is used to give the ball a "boost" in its bounce. To score a basket, you try to maneuver the ball and paddle to a point from which you use the "boost" to get the ball through the top of the net. Which is better shown in the next vid...
    Video of Basketball gameplay on Atari Video Pinball (3.45 MB)
    The numbers at the top of the screen are, from left to right, the current score, the high score and the number of balls left. Notice also that, again, we've got gravity in this one.
     
    Here is one more video of the other Basketball varient.
    Deep net Basketball on the Atari Video Pinball console. (3.17 MB)
    This version is a little harder because you have to get the ball a little higher to consider it "in" but, as you can see, getting it in through the side can also work. Also note the net moves to the other side when a basket is scored.
     
    Up to four players can play any of the games by taking turns. Hmm, I don't know how it displays the scores after four people play. It probably cycles through them, but I didn't think to check while playing. When my daughter stops playing Hello Kitty on the 'Cube and I'm done cleaning the kitchen I'll have to check.
     
    Next entry we'll laugh at my pathetic and failed attempts to fix my Coleco Combat. 13745
     
    EDIT:: OH THE MISINFORMITY!!!
     
    I made an assumption about the option settings being a number of player settings but I was wrong! For instance, in Breakout, option one gives you a big paddle and seven balls, option two gives the player five balls and a big paddle, option three gives five balls and a half-sized paddle and option four gives three balls and a half-sized paddle.
     
    Whne a player manages to "breakout" the size of the paddle they are using is reduced by half. So in option one, the big paddle becomes the same size as the half-size paddle used at the start of options two, three and four. When a player "breaks out" in options two, three and four, their half-sized paddle becomes quarter sized--teeny, tiny!
     
    So, I retract my statement about multiple players playing. It just isn't true and was an assumption! Good thing I got curious about how the games would display the score for multiplayer. Answer to that question is: there is no multiplayer!
     
    So, Seven different games, 4 different options for each game. That's 28 games on this one console. I have to say that while I'm not crazy about the games, I'm still very impressed with the console. Does that make any sense? Oh, and Breakout isn't all that hard afterall, I just hadn't given myself a chance to get back into the Breakout groove.
  5. Mezrabad
    Technically, the APF doesn't "end" until 1979.
     
    Space Destroyers, a Space Invaders clone for the APF MP1000, comes out in 1979. While I've seen Space Destroyers on eBay a few times in the past, it's been over a year. Even on collecting forums it seems to turn up rarely in "wanted" and even less rarely in "for sale."
     
    I'm going to count this title in with Bingo for the RCA Studio II, I'd play it if I could find it. According to the rarity guides it's as scarce as APF Blackjack (R7) but I've got two Blackjacks and I've seen others on ePay. I just can't get a handle on this one.
     
    So, anyway, if anyone who reads this happens to have this cart, please let me buy, borrow or rent it from you. I'll take good care of it and send it back asap, though if you don't act soon, I may have to buy another console to replace the one I'm trying to sell.
     
    Here we have the accumulated APF collection:
     

     
    No boxes for anything ...
     

     
    ... but I do have six or seven genuine instruction booklets and the docs for the console
     

     
    ... (Dungeon Hunt instructions are missing from the shot, but I have those, too.)
     
    and the packing foam.
     

     
    I paid $84, shipped, for the console. and $50, $21 and $55.87 for three separate lots of carts, shipped.
    Total cost basis through eBay: $210.87
     
    I'll sell it all, shipping included, for $200 even (that's $10 off for the broken Brickdown in the lot.) if anyone is interested. If you want a more detailed breakdown of what's included and higher resolution photos I can send them, too.
     
    Serious inquiries only, please.
     
    Next entry we'll continue where we left off in 1979 with cart #23 Galactic Space Wars for the Channel F.
  6. Mezrabad
    Okay, we've been here before.
     
    Last time we were in 1978 was back in October of 2005 or so and I'd finished doing all the APF carts I had. I ended with Brickdown/Shooting Gallery. At the time my copy didn't work. Now it does.
     
    Brickdown/Shooting Gallery (APF M1000, 1978)
     

     
    Brickdown is a sideways version of Breakout. If I recall correctly, it's similar to the version The Woz did for the Apple II in terms of sideways.
     

     
    The game play is fine, except for some anomalies. I don't know if they were intentional or not.
     
    First anomaly: When the ball is returning from the bricks it will sometimes take out multiple bricks, wiping them out as if they weren't there.
     
    (dead link of gameplay movie removed)
     
    Second anomaly: Sometimes your paddle hits the ball, even if it doesn't touch it.
     
    Third anomaly: Sometimes your paddle misses the ball, even if it has touched it.
     
    Fourth anomaly: There's no field refresh after clearing the field. You could have 6 balls left and have downed all the bricks and the only thing left to do is use up your remaining balls and end the game. No more points to score, nothing to do really. It's creepy.
     
    You can choose a field 8 bricks deep or 12 bricks deep and play either on fast or slow. That's it.
     
    Not a bad game but I'm not crazy about using a squeaky joystick to play it. I'm a firm believer in paddling. (Especially if my partner is willing, but let's leave my personal life out of this.) Atari's version of Breakout is pretty superior to all the versions we've seen, including the Bally's though that also has a nice paddle control scheme.
     
    Shooting Gallery is similar to the Shoot games from the UFO cart. Except that there is a section for each shooter. The target changes color, size and speed, like the previous Shoot game, after a successful hit. It doesn't suck in that the targets move smoothly and the graphics are clear, there just isn't a lot here to enjoy. You try to hit the target as many times with the amount of ammo you're given (three levels) and that's that.
     

     
    (another dead link to a movie)
     
    I'll get the pictures posted and write a summing up entry for the APF.
  7. Mezrabad
    Backgammon (APF M1000, 1978)
     

     
    Backgammon is an ancient and respectable game. My experience with it, prior to chronogaming, is limited to wondering what the design on the back of my checkerboard was when I was in grade school. Remember those? You'd have a checker board (or chess board) and on the other side there'd be these two dozen triangles and we'd be like "what the heck is this design?" and some other kid would always say it was backgammon but nobody knew how to play it. At least, no one around me did.
     

    This is close to the opening. I'm playing the blue pieces.
     
    So far, there's only two Backgammon games out in our universe of videogames. Backgammon for the Fairchild Channel F and Backgammon for the APF M1000. In a duel to the death, APF's Backgammon wins because it has something not often found in the videogame versions of boardgames during this era: a computer opponent.
     

    clearly, victory is close at hand.
    (EDIT 2021: The screens got kind of scrambled so I honestly do not know if this screenshot is appropriate for the caption beneath it, as I've forgotten anything I've ever known about playing Backgammon.)
     
    Of course, the Channel F's Backgammon actually had the instructions for how to play Backgammon, where as the APF's version just tells you how to implement the software.
     
    So, with Channel F instructions in hand and the APF cart in, I play my first genuine Backgammon game against a computer and I win! Or at least I think I do. There's no fanfare whatsoever at the end of the game. I've born off all of my pieces and the computer continues as if nothing is amiss, even expects me to take my turn when I have quite clearly beaten it soundly. In fact, I don't think the computer has any AI to speak of. It's as if it's "phoning in" its Backgammon moves while playing a game of 3-D Go with someone in another timestream.
     

    Of course there's no blue piece on point, I've already won, you cybernetic simpleton!*
     
    Oh, there's no doubling cube in case you were wondering. Channel F's has a doubling cube, but of course one had to provide one's own friend to play it with, so I guess it's a trade off.
     

    It's an impossible move because I'VE BORN OFF ALL OF MY PIECES, you misguided mechanical misery!*
    (EDIT: Again, if you know Backgammon, it's very possible that the screenshots have no relation what-so-ever to the captions beneath them. Mea culpa.)
     
    Screenshots later (EDIT in 2021: Added them, but many years late unsure which ones went with the captions). It's a nice board, actually. Graphics, no complaints. The fact that it HAS a computer opponent: thumbs up! The fact that the computer opponent is a little "special": meh.
     
    Next entry will be the fabled Dungeon Hunt cart! Yay! Early D&D themed gaming! Yay! I want to fight a Ballhog!! ("I SHALL NOT PASS!!!")
     
    *Insults courtesy of Dr. Smith.
  8. Mezrabad
    Okay, I'm back with all my chronogaming equipment and ready to do this whole chronogaming thing again. Yes, time in general has moved forward in my absence, but I'm still stuck in good 'ol 1979, looking at the APF games from 1978 that I missed the first time through. (Or was it my second time, since technically I lived through 1978 before)
     
    Today, we're looking at the one I thought I might never see and regret for the rest of my life. I'm fairly prone to "stress" and "regret" dreams. Though definitely more the former than the latter. Lately, I've been doing a lot of studying for a class I'm taking (Federal Tax Accounting, whee.) and last night I had those horrific school related-acheivment dreams where you find out about a class you've never attended or you're naked in a class you've never attended or you're naked taking the final exam in a class you've never attended, etc.
     
    So, my worry was that after doing this chronogaming for 30 years or so I'd be waking up screaming: "Slots!! I never played Slots on the APF M1000!!"
     
    Not that I'm a big slots fan, but the slogan is "every game. chronologically" and, well, you know, if I didn't do slots, then I wouldn't have done every game. (Yeah, I know, I'll probably never do Bingo for the RCA Studio II. Boo-fucking-hoo. I'm over it.)
     
    Casino I: Roulette / Keno / Slots (APF M1000, 1978)
     

     
    EDIT: I came up with a pithy way to sum up this cart.
     
    These games all rely on luck, however if you happen to be playing them, you don't have any. /EDIT
     
    Roulette was attempted for the Magnavox Odyssey waaaay back in 1972, six years ago on the chronology. I hated it. Really.
     
    On the APF, I also hate it, but it is a kinder, gentler, less italicized hate.
     
    First let's look at presentation, which you will be able to do when I post a screenshot. I'll just talk about it, for now. The presentation is good. You've got your little bank at the bottom from which you place bets, you've got the mainboard on which you may place bets from 1 to 9 and the side boards which take bets up to 99.
     

     
    Placing bets is strange. You move your marker around, left to right only, until you're at your bet and you input your amount. The amount doesn't show up on screen while you input, nor are there any audio cues to indicate you're inputting anything. You just hit "5", hit "enter" (or "fire") and a "5" will show up under the position you're betting on.
     
    There may be a limit to how many bets you may place, but I didn't find it. I placed 12 before I felt I was just pissing my life away and had to stop.
     
    Payouts are simple, 2 to 1, 3 to 1 or 36 to 1. This is a two player game, by the way, and both players may place their bets simultaneously! That's a nice feature, as proceedings would seem to stretch interminably if it weren't there.
     
    When you "spin" the wheel the number indicator goes through a bunch of numbers randomly for about 12 seconds and when the number comes up, all the winning points on the main board are marked. It's actually pretty spiffy.
     
    The problem is: it's still Roulette! I just can't get excited gambling in such an abstract manner for merely a score! I can't see that there is any skill involved; I can't see any "clever" bets that will improve one's odds! It's neither a puzzle, nor a game and it is as fun as flipping a coin except there's even less money involved.
     
    Keno is a new game (EDIT: by new, I mean, new to videogame-land), in fact, I'm tempted to say that it's an APF exclusive! You've got a Keno board with 80 numbers. You pick 2 to 15 numbers (out of 80), (your co-player may also choose numbers). When ready, you pull down your stick, the computer clears the Keno board and picks 20 numbers of its own (out of 80). If your numbers come up ... you win! You start with $100.00. Each time you play a group of numbers it costs $.70. The amount you win varies depending on how many numbers you've chosen vs. how many numbers you've chosen that the computer pulls up. With one number chosen and chosen correctly the payout was $2.10. (though I thought you had to pick between 2 and 15, mistake in the manual?) When I picked 5 out of 8 correctly I won $1.40. Kids, you can do the math for this at home, if you want, I'm mathematically paralyzed by not caring.
     

     

     
    The presentation is good enough, as you see in the screen shot; the Keno "board" is shaped like one. There's an area for your picks below it. Everything moves quickly enough, for Keno, I just see no draw for this game. I just can't imagine people designing this game, based on a real Vegas game, I'm told, and thinking there would be people who would enjoy it. Buy it? Maybe. Enjoy it? No way.
     
    Slots. Slots is awful. You can't choose the amount of your bet. You just pull back on your stick and the machine goes. The noise produced by the slots, um, slotting, is unpleasant. The graphics are fairly colorful, but as representations of icons found in a slot machine, they're a little hard to identify, though not impossible. The horror is that you just pull back on your stick, you lose a coin from your bank, the slots "whir" and you either get a payout, or you don't. I just don't get it. Two players get separate banks but have to take turns pulling their respective stick. What the heck is up with that?
     

     

     
    You can only win 2 coins (one cherry) or 5 coins (two cherries). If you're very lucky, you can get three gold rings (or lemons, not certain) and win 10 coins. If you're even luckier, you'll lose power before you lose 40 minutes of your life trying to find out if there's a "jackpot" or something. If there is, 40 minutes is too long to wait to find out, but I'm certain that, eventually, you can win more "money" for other sets of three; I just never saw them.
     
    Now I can lay this little obsession to rest and I am happy about it, despite how unenjoyable Casino I is. See, "enjoyable" isn't really the point of this whole exercise, is it? No, it's merely indulging an obsessive compulsion.
     
    Of course, 20 years from now, I'll wake up screaming: "Slots!! Oh, god, I played APF SLOTS!!! *sob*" (EDIT 2021: Well, it's been almost 15 years and no nightmares. Just thought I'd let y'all know.)
     
    Next entry we'll do another APF gem, I think we'll try Backgammon. I have the instruction booklet for this one, too, so I'm a little excited.
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