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chrisbid

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Posts posted by chrisbid

  4. Posted

    the problem with letter grades is that there is no specific criteria used in determining them

     

    The xbox had a successful launch, and Halo is the biggest reason why. So it should obviously get at the very least a passing grade... a C

     

    But if you're going to give letter grades to console launches, the basic criteria would be to judge it against other machines. The best launch of the 00's was the Wii. It surpassed expectations and rocketed the console to the number 1 position. Therefore it gets an A. The Xbox launch did well, but it did not push the machine to number 1. It battled Nintendo for the number 2 spot, while the PS2 enjoyed its lead througout its generation.

     

    With that logic, a B is a fair grade.

     

     

    but again, when magazine rate things, they never have specific criteria. the letters and numbers are simply pulled out of the editors asses.

  8. Posted

    My friend and I host the Now You're Playing With Podcast. On our last episode, we interviewed Ben Mullen, a world class NES Tetris player featured in the just-released documentary Ecstasy of Order.

     

    The podcast has a fanpage on Facebook. We are looking to get a few more "Likes" on the page, so we are running a contest.

     

    Like our fanpage, and Like the contest thread on the page to enter for a chance to win a copy of Ecstasy of Order on DVD. The drawing will take place on Sunday, August 5th.

  10. Posted

    that period for Atari along with INTV corps run on the Intellivision post Mattell are interesting to me as well. I like the inexpensive business approach, and despite the small scale budgets, both companies put out incredible games for their respective machines.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted · Edited by chrisbid

    I guess the base definition of a killer app is any software title that pushes hardware sales. Of course, defining a particular killer app will always be subjective as there aren't any user surveys asking consumers which game titles were most influential in their console purchase. One can only look at sales numbers of software and hardware to find a loose link.

     

     

    But even with inflated/dodgy numbers, big leaps like the VCS in 1980 should be obvious. In the case of the 16 bit era, I do not trust a Nintendo number vs a Sega number (which company sold more), but I would trust a Nintendo (1991) number vs Nintendo (1994) number (more machines were shipped in 1994 than in 1991).

     

     

    But back to the 2600, it would be interesting to see the rise and fall of the industry, and see how the 2600 jr era fared compared to the 1982 peak.

  12. Posted

    I am trying to dig a little deeper into the idea of a "Killer App" in video games. Space Invaders for the 2600 is widely regarded as the game that boosted the VCS over the competition in 1980. Wikipedia has this quote about the game

     

    The first generally agreed example of a "killer app" in gaming is Space Invaders, released for arcades in 1978 and ported to the Atari VCS (Atari 2600) console in 1980, quadrupling sales of the then three year old Atari 2600 platform.

     

     

    That quadrupling stat is intriguing, but like anything on Wikipedia the documentation is lacking. Is there a year-by-year sales chart for the VCS?

  14. Posted

    thats good to hear MJ. I like your youtube stuff. i also like the hosts of all gen, but i hate it when people pretend history began in 1985.

     

     

    and to SJ, thanks for the kind words on that thread about my show Now You're Playing With Podcast. More shows are on the way... we are a monthly show.

  17. Posted

    i preferred the wii version over the 360 for the controls. the wii mote + nunchuk was as close to real pinball controls (including nudging) one could get out of a standard gaming platform. i was not planning on buying a wiiU unless there were at least a dozen good unique games for the system... pinball arcade titles will be unique title number one for me.

     

    so nintendo only has to deliver 11 titles now

  19. Posted

    im not going to argue that the terms arent unfair, and that modern atari isnt a bad company. im not going to argue that this contest isnt bs. all of this is given.

     

     

    but modern atari indeed holds the ip for pong, and they can do whatever they see fit with the ip. its not as if programmers are singing away original IPs to atari to enter this contest.

  24. Posted · Edited by chrisbid

    i understand why people dislike him, but the first minute of this video shows me that he 'gets it'

     

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AknyR-kRvLc

     

    youll have a hard time finding a more eloquent description of the 2600. he also gets bonus points for being a bit too young to remember the 2600 in its heyday. making a movie about ET and including HSW in the production seals the deal. he is treating the material with far more respect than he was expected to.

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