Nebulon

Actually, I'm just talking about sheer variety of gameplay in the list of released games between those years. I.e. I see the amount of gaming diversity in releases from 1975 to 1985 to be greater than between 2004 to 2014 (or maybe Jan 1977 - Jan 1987 and Jan 2004 - Jan 2014) to capture the core of the old and the existing titles of the new -- since 2014 isn't quite over yet). By diversity I mean in-game mechanics and visual aesthetics. Or another way to put it is that I view the older decade as having a wider range of gaming experiences from the set of titles released during that decade as compared to a decade in the modern era. I suppose someone could set up a laboratory experiment measuring responses in different parts of the brain as the players try each game. Of course, there are so many games in these time-ranges that it would be a truly massive study (and pretty tough to make totally comprehensive).

If you're saying that the idea that Jay Miner wanted it to be a computer is an urban legend, then you are incorrect. He clearly stated that he wanted it to be a computer in a published interview. However, if you're saying that the idea of the Amiga being strictly a computer is an urban legend, then I'd have to agree with you. The Amiga is essentially a computer that is based around the design philosophy of a console. And that's because about half of the design team (including R.J. Mical) wanted a game console and most of them were very familiar with the use of custom hardware (like blitters) for the purposes of running video games. Thinking back, I recall the Amiga having trouble in North America because the OCS series of machines didn't have monitors that were able to compete with the sharpness and clarity of the PCs and Macs and that programs like Lotus, DBase, Excel, and Word were never ported to it. Yes, the Amiga had alternatives, but it's hard to convince an office worker that their spreadsheet or database files can be easily read on an Amiga. And yes there was a PC compatibility option for the Amiga, but that was too much extra cost and 'hassle' for a lot of customers to consider. They'd just as soon buy a cheap PC and stay compatible with what was at the office. Something that people keep forgetting in today's gaming-happy world is that a computer that ran games well was not considered a badge of honor back then. Instead it made people think the computer was a toy. Only years later did people start to catch on that a computer that can run games well, has a high likelihood of running productivity apps well too. As Rybags mentioned, AGA was too little too late. It had the professional-level monitor output but didn't do full SVGA-equivalent graphics modes. And of course, there was the 8-bit sound issue.... No, the Amiga was definitely not cheap and it was not a toy. However, it was a tough image to shake... one that Atari struggled with as well.

If anyone has good photos of the show, I'm curious to see what it's all about. I've been planning to make a trip to Portland sometime in the next few years, and this event would be a cool one to check out while I'm there.

I'm really trying to get the hang of Hyperchase. I thought for sure the analog stick wouldn't be too tough, but yeah -- it does take time to get the hang of it. I still suck at it and hope to one day become a Hyperchase Jedi Master (unlikely, but one can dream).

It's definitely unique. I don't know of anything else quite like it. Not sure why it's so expensive though. I'd rate it as a pretty good game. But I think there are better ones on the Vectrex for sure.

I recall the same kind of thing in the 80s. There'd be an article on the MSX or some other machine from far away. I'd think, "Neat! I wonder if I'll see it in stores". Turns out I never did see them in stores at all. I have a feeling that distribution and in-store placement is difficult and expensive. It sure made a difference back before e-commerce.

From what I've observed, there certainly has been a reduction in the variety of approaches to in-game mechanics and visual aesthetic in the modern era. I would argue that the amount of variety from 1975 to 1985 is greater than from 2004 to 2014. Two key items that have contributed to this in recent years are: 1) There's a very limited number of ways that 3D content can be created for modern systems, so you can expect the various developers' products to look and 'feel' similar to one-another (partially) due to this.. 2) Investor-driven funding has led to favoring of that which has a track-record of selling well. The emphasis on guaranteed return-on-investment and larger (and more risky) budgets has led to fewer game 'types' and discouragement of new ideas. In the early years, Atari's coin-op division set out to avoid duplicating an idea once they had developed it. They placed emphasis on new ideas for each project. Looking at the same era of SEGA arcade games, you can see the same level of raw inventiveness. My diversified list includes: Tac/Scan Marble Madness Sinistar Tempest Pole Position Gravitar I-Robot Tail Gunner Tank Major Havoc TRON Centipede Astro Blaster Star Trek : STOS (1982) Mr. Do's Castle Battlezone Gauntlet Venture Time Pilot Missile Command Frenzy Paperboy Defender Warlord Golgo 13 Q*Bert Ghosts n' Goblins Joust Robotron Reactor Zektor Crystal Castles Crossforce Elevator Action Zaxxon Space Harrier Frogger Discs of Tron Scramble 1942 Vanguard Yar's Revenge Space Wars Two Tigers The Glob Qix Bubble Bobble Moon Patrol Front Line

Berzerk and Scramble are really well done. And for new ones, I can't say enough about Vector Pilot (Time Pilot). Vector Pilot is possibly the best Vectrex game I have ever played (and I've played quite a few). I'm glad I ordered a copy of it. It's well worth the money: http://www.kristofsnewvectrexgames.comli.com/vectorpilotorderlisting.htm

Donkey Kong Jr. - NES Burgertime - NES Defender - NES

Front Line (Arcade and ColecoVision) - because you can noodle around with the tanks. The enemy tank-spawning is semi-randomized. Frenzy (Arcade and ColecoVision) - random mazes and enough stuff going on to keep me interested. It becomes a furious fight for survival. TRON (Arcade) - This one puts me into the zone. Sort of a trance. Very relaxing. Star Trek : The Strategic Operations Simulator (Arcade) - Something about using finesse in order to succeed is what keeps me playing this one. Major Havoc - same reason as Star Trek (plus it looks really cool). Soul Calibur (Dreamcast) - gets my adrenaline up. Very responsive controls and well-balanced characters. Flag to Flag Cart Racing (Dreamcast) - This one also zones me out. Great for decompressing. Space Duel (Arcade) - The two ships tethered together makes for interesting gameplay physics. Galaga (Arcade, SG-1000, Color Computer 2, and MSX) - I don't know. I just keep having cravings to play this. Perhaps it's the abundance of levels? Ms. Pac-Man (Arcade, Apple II) - Pac-Man at just the right speed, nicely-designed mazes, and it's fun to chase bonus items around the screen. Time Pilot (Arcade and ColecoVision) - Evading heat-seeking missiles is endless fun. Mr. Do (Arcade and ColecoVision) - So many inventive ways to complete each stage. Digging and semi-random apple placement helps to make each game unique.

Exactly what I noticed as well. Couple that with infrequent appearances in U.S. computer magazines and in TV ads, and it's a bit of an uphill battle. A machine like the Tandy Color Computer was cheap and available at thousands of locations and the Apple II was entrenched in the school system. So, from my recollection, it comes down to: Distribution Marketing strength per region Local repair facilities

Anyone have any tips on the Super Action controllers? In my case, one of them is being a bit of a cranky beast when pressing the stick to the left. The rest of it (buttons, spinner, etc...) works fine.

Of course, wi-fi is another story...

Dreamcast: Virtua Fighter 3 Daytona USA 2001 Street Fighter Alpha 3

If you like mech games, perhaps give the XBOX version of GunGriffon a try.

SEGA Genesis - Mortal Kombat. For the longest time, that was the only game I had for that machine.

Putting it back into context, I think Tempest is/was pretty trippy when it was released. That and "I, Robot".

Thexder - PC Virtua Fighter - SEGA Saturn S.T.U.N. Runner - Arcade

I'm not a programmer. However, if I were to sit down and learn programming, I'd learn it on the Apple II. I think it's a great place to start and I really like the 'feel' of the machine and the way most games run on it. Years ago, I tried to teach myself Assembler on the Color Computer 2. I couldn't grasp it. Friends of mine were programming assembler on the 6809 and 68000 since they were quite young. They have nice things to say about those chips, so those still intrigue me. However, I think the Apple II still delivers a lot of 'fun' for the specification. There are days that I think about what it would be like to write code for computers with more custom hardware (like the C64 or Atari 8-bit machines). However, I think there's something really interesting about writing for a machine the Apple II that is so simple (in a good way) and close to the hardware. Kind of like the old analog synthesizers. They won't stop doing something until you tell them to stop. They might not even have storage memory, and they tend to drift. But that's what makes them interesting. Everything's there at your fingertips. Nothing is hidden from the user/performer. Again, the Apple II strikes me as a platform that is understandable and has tons of great in-depth documentation. I too am surprised that it doesn't have a massive homebrew community. Perhaps people keep thinking of it as "the computer that ran that spreadsheet" rather than "the machine with lots of fun games on it".

I think my enjoyment of the urban environment would be vastly improved if there were Atari posters, um, well, pretty much everywhere. Heck, I just purchased a magazine about wedding design because it had an article about a couple that included a classic arcade room at their wedding. Apparently it was a hit with the guests.

This is pretty exciting. At some point, it might be worthwhile to create a quick "Dummies" guide to getting this all set up (for people like me). That way the retro-masses could try it too.

I recall an old article on a rewrite of Win 95 in assembly by some hot-shot German programmers. Apparently they managed to squeeze it down to six 3.5" DS/HD diskettes. They did it to prove a point. I don't think it included extensive drivers or anything like that. Still though...

Mid-1970s - Saw an Odyssey 2 and an Atari 2600. 1979 - First arcade experience (Tail Gunner). Brain fried and re-wired for VIDEO GAME ACTION! 1980 - Arcade madness. 1981 - Arcades on steroids. Saw an Atari 8-bit computer running Pac-Man. Blown away by it, yet couldn't afford one. 1982 - Arcades go into super-hyperdrive. Got a ColecoVision as a gift from Dad. 1983 - Even more arcade awesomeness. At the height of searching out any and all coin-ops in a 300-mile radius. 1984 - Saw Marble Madness and was duly impressed. However, I started to notice the decline in arcades at the end of this year. Gradually becoming more interested in home computers. Gaming mainly on Apple II, TRS-80 Color Computer, and PC. 1985 - Arcades started to disappear. The rest of the 80s - shifted from arcades and consoles to home computer gaming. Impressed by R-Type and Space Harrier. 1988 - Purchased an Amiga 500 and popped in the game Blood Money. 1990s - Kept a close eye on the polygon gaming evolution. Purchased a TRON upright coin-op. Played the prototype of Virtua Fighter in Las Vegas. 1995/6 - Did game development on the Ultra 64 (N64 pre-release work-name). Discovered the limits of 1990s polygon-pushing capabilities. 2000s - Got back into console gaming with the original XBOX and the GBA. Today - Total retro freak. FREEEEEEAK!!!!!!!!!!! No known cure. Looks like I'm stuck this way.

Do you mean formally, or can this be a casual conversation? Personally, all I think an operating system needs to do is cover the basics in an efficient manner (copy, paste, move, delete, rename, manage memory, and provide useful information about files and privileges). As for interfaces in general, I know that there are people that think touch interfaces are THE future. I'm not so sure about that. I think touch interfaces are more of a component of the future since the mouse and tablet still has a place in the future of computing. Consider also that touch has been done in the past (along with light pens). Then consider the ergonomics of it all (dead-arm from raising your hand to the screen all day). I can see touch interfaces being great for the types of things you typically see them used for on phones and tablets today (the web, certain types of games, videos, etc...). I don't see them being as good as a mouse or tablet for high-precision work like 3D modeling/animation and CAD applications.

Maybe these might help? http://www.colecovisionzone.com/page/coleco%20industries/tech.html http://drushel.cwru.edu/schematics/