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Posts posted by 128bytes

    New Nintendo 3ds?

    in Modern Gaming Discussion

    Posted

     

    Like the GB Micro, you're getting in just as the final games are coming out! That's a cute design. I hope the extra filigree doesn't add any bulk, because that hinge is somewhat floppier than the 3DSXL. I like the look a lot though.

     

    I'm very specifically getting in as the final games are coming out ... that's my favorite time to get a new game system :)

     

    I'm looking forward to picking up lots of games on clearance (as well as $20 "Nintendo Selects" versions of all-time greats), and I have a massive 128GB Micro SD formatted as FAT32 -- with my pack-in game (Zelda Link Between Worlds) copied to it... and lots of slots ready for the inevitable Nintendo Store clearance sales.

     

    I loved Wario Ware on the GBA (both Mega Microgames and Twisted) - looking forward to playing WarioWare Gold on my 2DS XL.

     

    One final point - in regards the security risk of leaving credit card numbers in the Nintendo eShop -- NE146 has the correct answer, but don't forget the option to buy a gift card at a physical store (where they are occasionally discounted) and just uploading the code.

    • Like 1

    AI beats Q*Bert in all new way...

    in Classic Console Discussion

    Posted

    Interesting. The version of Q*Bert they're discussing is the 2600 version, not the original arcade version. I'd be curious to see if a human player can replicate this behavior on real hardware.

     

    Seeing this story makes me think back to an Expert Systems class that I took as an undergraduate. A grad student from Belarus had implemented an expert system which learned to anticipate and avoid enemies in a Q*Bert-like game (it was a new implementation, not an emulator), and he demonstrated it for the class. Pretty impressive, but it would have been even better if he had somehow hooked it into the original arcade game.

     

    I know you mean the original arcade hardware, knocker and diagonally mounted joystick and all. That said, the 2600 is still real hardware, and I have loved 2600 Q*Bert since I was a kid :) ;) :P

    How Atari Box Art turned 8 bit games into virtual wonderlands

    in Atari 2600

    Posted · Edited by 128bytes

    http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/19/4716444/how-atari-box-art-turned-8-bit-games-into-virtual-wonderlands

     

    Go there right now - incredible article with some incredible web design. Then let's discuss :)

     

     

    A snippet:

     

     

     

     

    The cover for Adventure on the Atari looks nothing like the title it’s promoting. The game itself is essentially made of a series of rectangles, with a few blocky enemies prowling around, while the main adventurer is simply a square. You’re forced to imagine the fantasy world you’re meant to be exploring. But imagining it is a whole lot easier thanks to the vibrant artwork of Susan Jaekel. Because of her painting on the cover of the box, you knew that you were actually venturing through a hedge maze with three huge dragons lurking inside. It filled in the gaps left by the game’s rudimentary graphics — and Adventure was far from alone.

    The original Atari featured a wealth of games with box art that was quite a bit more imaginative than the “grizzled man holding a gun” template that’s so popular today. The concept of playing a video game in your house, on your television, was still in its infancy in the late 1970s, and Atari needed a way to market its games. One solution was to commission intricately detailed covers that sold the idea of a game much better than any simple screenshot could. “The game-playing experience wasn’t 100 percent of the experience,” says Tim Lapetino, an artist and designer currently working on a book about the history of Atari cover art. “Part of what made the world complete was the artwork that conjured up this other place. I wasn’t sitting in my living room anymore; I was on this desolate planet or in space. And it was mostly because of that art.”

     

    Must read: "For Amusement Only:the life and death of the American Arcade"

    in Arcade and Pinball

    Posted

    I am an arcade operator that runs a strict arcade - zero ticket redemption games, mostly video games with a mixture of new and old, a few pins, an air hockey and one instant prize merchandiser machine. I have been open for almost five years now, last quarter was my best ever and I do not agree with the articles conclusion. They ask a few people around the NYC area the state of arcades and because they are depressed about it, that must mean no need to research further. Sorry but that is a load of crap. There are brand new arcade machines being produced right now, people still play them and they can still make money. There are various factors that affect that however and lets be honest, the land of NYC isn't really the most arcade business friendly environment you can find yourself in (for example, if you have more than 8 machines, get ready to pay up in taxes. The article doesn't even hint at those difficulties).

     

    I wrote up a further "rebuttal" of sorts to the article. I live arcades every day and I do not agree with their premise, excepting Nolan Bushnell at the end where I am happy to see his take on it.

     

    http://arcadeheroes....-of-the-arcade/

     

    Great post, and great rebuttal, Shaggy.

     

    Just what I was thinking -- Home, phone, and tablet gaming isn't guaranteed to kill the arcade, just like how DVD's, Netfflix, and HDTV didn't kill the movies.

    Pattern to Kaboom?

    in Atari 2600

    Posted · Edited by 128bytes

    I'm amazed that the bombs don't fall in a random pattern. Surely that would not have been too hard to program and would make the game more interesting long term....

     

    That's the main thing I don't like Kaboom. I don't want repeated patterns. You can't keep from memorizing certain patterns, even if you don't want to memorize them. As I've said about a billion times before, many Activision games are pretty to look at, but too many of them seem to be devoid of randomness.

     

    The thing I really like about Random Terrain is that he is random about anything except his defense of randomness as it comes to playability -- in that area, he is very consistent :) (that is genuinely meant as a compliment, RT - I respect consistency of purpose, and standing up for what you believe in, and you do both)

     

    The thing I really like about Kaboom! is the exclamation point. Beyond that, I love the look of the game - it was the first Atari game I ever owned that was great looking and great playing, and wasn't a "looks almost as great as the arcade" kind of great -- it was great standing all on its own, and it was the ultimate best version of the game.

     

    The other thing I really like about Kaboom! is that it plays better on real hardware, as opposed to an emulator, than any other game. The fast twitch action of a (working and well maintained) VCS paddle playing Kaboom! has yet to be replicated anywhere.

     

    Lastly, I really like how it is a really tight game - single purpose, only 2k code size, easy to figure out, easy to learn, hard to master (yes, even without total randomness :) ). Also, the lack of total randomness gives some reward to sticking with the game and practicing - it still gets so hard so quickly that even knowing the patterns doesn't give a massive, original arcade Pac-Man sized, level of advantage.

    Pac-Man Collection with POKEY sound

    in Atari 7800

    Posted

    This may belong in the 7800 Hacks forum, but I thought it deserved a little more visibility, so I'm posting it here. I've always been impressed with Bob's work on Pac-man Collection, with it's excellent game play, but I've haven't been quite satisfied with the sound. I think Bob got everything he could out of the TIA chip, but I kept thinking it could sound better if it used POKEY. So I decided it would be a fun little project to change the sound to work with the POKEY chip.

     

    This is the result. I'm still tinkering with it a little but I'm pretty satisfied with it. I copied the Ms. Pac-man sounds note for note from the 8-bit computer version. The Pac-man sounds are also based on the 8-bit version but I made improvements were I could. Most of the change was to the Introduction and intermission tunes. The music still doesn't have that sound of the arcade machines, which used wavetable sound synthesis, but I think it's pretty good. I might work on it a little more in the future, but for now, I'll use my little free time to just play it.

     

    Bob has actually been helping me out by providing feedback and play testing. Thanks Bob! :) I've tested this with the ProSystem Emulator as well as in hardware with a modified Ballblazer cart. Unfortunately, my Ballblazer cart is acting flaky so I've only been able to do limited hardware testing. Hopefully any you with CC2's or other POKEY carts can test it out for me and let me know if you find any bugs. I also welcome any feedback that would help me improve the authenticity of the sounds.

     

    Regards,

    Perry

    Wow! I'm loading this on my CC2 when I get some free cycles. What should I use for the CC2 settings file?

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