Picked up Breakout tonight

[Gigabyte]

Paid 3.25, slightly more than I'd pay online but no biggie. It's nice, but I prefer Super Breakout. I think Breakout might have better sound effects, but I like playing the mode where the bricks fall down in SB. I saw on wiki that some guy wrote an autobiography about getting obsessed with the game:

 

"Pilgrim in the Microworld

Pilgrim in the Microworld is an autobiography by David Sudnow detailing his obsession with Breakout. Sudnow describes studying the game's mechanics, visiting the manufacturer in Silicon Valley, and interviewing the programmers.[11]"

 

And the citation link:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/books/when-television-marries-computer-by-howard-gardner.html

 

What a bizarre story, I want to read his book. Has anyone read/heard about it? Breakout clones often feel cheap and boring, but Breakout/Super BReakout have an almost hypnotic effect, and their best incarnations are without a doubt on the 2600. The same for Warlords.

 

On a sidenote, I played my first 4-human game of warlords on the 2600 tonight, won the most games, but only slightly, and everyone had a blast. These guys don't really like Atari, but everyone was really into the game and we played for over an hour. Later, when buying Breakout at the arcade/gamestore, I played Warlords on the arcade multicab for the first time... I think I prefer the 2600 version.

[Gigabyte]

Something really interesting from that article, dated March 27, 1983:

 

"He avoids any systematic comparison of the games to other microworlds, any intricate analysis of how they fit into our computer society; those are reflections that might have illuminated a contemporary phenomenon. His book, unfortunately, is tied to the intrinsic interest of video games, which figure to go the way of the hula hoop, Rubik's Cube and the pinball machine." (emphasis mine).

 

I guess the public (or some of it) really did perceive the video game crash as a passing fad rather than the "fluke" the last 27 years have proven it to be. Maybe this book is much more relevant than the reviewer gives it credit for? I'm going to order this book through Interlibrary loan when Fall semester starts.

[tz101]

Best version of Breakout available is Arkanoid on NES with the Vaus controller.

 

Warlords is a blast with four human players.

[fiddlepaddle]

I think Arkanoid is a better game, but any version requires a paddle controller for the game to live up to it's potential. Also, I believe the original arcade version of Breakout exhibits finer control of the angle of deflection when the ball hits the paddle, more like the original Pong (perhaps due to the hardware-oriented nature of the game).

 

I put lots of quarters into Breakout and Super Breakout at the arcades in the 1970's. By the time the Arkanoid coin-op came out, I considered it very derivative, which it is, but I still played it quite a bit; it's still fun.

[tetrode kink]

I think Arkanoid is a better game, but any version requires a paddle controller for the game to live up to it's potential. Also, I believe the original arcade version of Breakout exhibits finer control of the angle of deflection when the ball hits the paddle, more like the original Pong (perhaps due to the hardware-oriented nature of the game).

 

I put lots of quarters into Breakout and Super Breakout at the arcades in the 1970's. By the time the Arkanoid coin-op came out, I considered it very derivative, which it is, but I still played it quite a bit; it's still fun.

From reading your post, I know you meant "derivative" in the best possible sense. I would just watch how I use the word "derivative." Of course you mean Arkanoid derives its basic premise from Breakout, but adds all sorts of fun power-ups, random hazards, etc.

 

But sometimes the word "derivative" can have a negative connotation. I believe this is because many times people have used the word "derivative" when they either meant "dilute," when the follower was somehow less exciting or fun than the original, or "one-dimensional," when the follower used only one element of the original.

 

Yes, in a pure technical sense, Arkanoid was derivative. But it was the exact opposite of the latter two adjectives: It didn't dilute Breakout, it enriched it. It didn't subtract dimensions, it added them.

 

I know that's what you meant when you said, "derivative."

 

Because I already liked Breakout, Arkanoid totally blew me away when it came out. One of my favorite coin-ops ever.

 

-tet

[Zoyx]

I prefer Super Breakout/Progressive myself.

 

Arkanoid is fun, it would be cool if someone made a version for the 2600.

 

Try Fireball. That is a game made for the supercharger. Very well done, in my opinion.

.

 

Of course the obligatory... if you like Warlords, you will love Medieval Mayhem. Me and friends playing a match below... way fun!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdxyM8IWJKs

[fiddlepaddle]

...Of course you mean Arkanoid derives its basic premise from Breakout, but adds all sorts of fun power-ups, random hazards, etc.

Yes, but it's more than just the premise; it's the exact same basic gameplay. Arkanoid is essentially a Super- Super Breakout.

 

By the way, Warlords was also one of my favorite arcade games, especially with three or four players. It'd be interesting to see a "progressive" version of that, or a version that is arkanoidified. Haven't tried Medieval Mayhem; maybe that's it.

[RJ]

No one ever mentions NES Arkanoid's 3rd level is unnecessarily damn near impossible to beat, making the game unplayable.

 

Give me the SNES sequel Doh It Again any day.

[BrianC]

Also, I believe the original arcade version of Breakout exhibits finer control of the angle of deflection when the ball hits the paddle, more like the original Pong (perhaps due to the hardware-oriented nature of the game).

 

This may a bit late, but there seems to be some confusion over the angles in different versions of Breakout and Super Breakout. All of the home versions of Breakout and Super Breakout I have played (including A800, 5200, and Video Pinball) have fixed angles that change at different times. I may be wrong about this, but from what I checked with Atari 80 in 1 and Atari Anniversary Advance, the arcade Super Breakout seems to have fixed angles as well. The A800 and 5200 versions even have the angles documented in the manual.

 

No one ever mentions NES Arkanoid's 3rd level is unnecessarily damn near impossible to beat, making the game unplayable.

 

It's not mentioned much because it's not near impossible. The word "unplayable" seems to be thrown at a lot of tricky or hard games that aren't unfair or unbeatable. There are a few videos on youtube showing round 3 being beaten (and I beat it multiple times). Arkanoid is definitely beatable.

Edited June 16, 2011 by BrianC

[Syntaxerror999]

warlords is my sh##! I love that game, there is a more modern homebrew version out called mideval mayhem that you can buy off this website. It resembles the arcade version... but Im not pleased with the way it does the angle shots, I still perfer the origional.

 

Im not super big on breakout/Super breakout... mostly cause i suck at it.. but crappy skills aside they are good games and to answer your question, I like SB more.

 

On a side note... the origional arcade ver of breakout was engineered (older arcade games didn't use programable microprocessors, so the games were strictly hardware) by Steve Jobs... quite a career to go from a well known video game to one of the most popular computer companies today... [apple insult edited out for fear of flame ims from douchebags ]

[Hatta]

On a side note... the origional arcade ver of breakout was engineered (older arcade games didn't use programable microprocessors, so the games were strictly hardware) by Steve Jobs...

 

Most of the design actually came from Woz. Jobs just got the contract. (typical) A number of design decisions in the Apple II were made in order to make it capable of playing Breakout. E.g., the Apple II has analog joysticks because the joy port is really designed for two paddles.

 

 

Personally, on the 2600 I like Breakout better than Super Breakout. Not sure why. But better than either is Circus Atari.

 

 

Since Arkanoid was mentioned, I'll point out that there's a fantastic port of Arkanoid on the IIgs. It controls perfectly with an ordinary ADB mouse. Graphics are gorgeous on that little RGB screen too. Simply one of the finest arcade ports I've ever seen.

[Zoyx]

Yep, Wozniak did the programming for the original Breakout. Steve Jobs is a brilliant marketer. Programming ... no so much.

 

Someone should do an Arkanoid for the 2600. Some liberties would need to be taken, but I am sure a fun version could be done.

[AtariLeaf]

 

Give me the SNES sequel Doh It Again any day.

 

Everyone keeps mentioning games I've reviewed

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ0YI0-_dZE

[fiddlepaddle]

...there seems to be some confusion over the angles in different versions of Breakout and Super Breakout... I may be wrong about this, but from what I checked with Atari 80 in 1 and Atari Anniversary Advance, the arcade Super Breakout seems to have fixed angles as well.

Well, you may be right; after all, it's probably been over thirty years since I've played it.

 

Now I've got this question hanging in the air until I can find an arcade Super Breakout and try it out again: are the angles purely due to timing or are they more controllable by where the ball hits the paddle (after the first 12 times, or so)?

[BrianC]

...there seems to be some confusion over the angles in different versions of Breakout and Super Breakout... I may be wrong about this, but from what I checked with Atari 80 in 1 and Atari Anniversary Advance, the arcade Super Breakout seems to have fixed angles as well.

Well, you may be right; after all, it's probably been over thirty years since I've played it.

 

Now I've got this question hanging in the air until I can find an arcade Super Breakout and try it out again: are the angles purely due to timing or are they more controllable by where the ball hits the paddle (after the first 12 times, or so)?

 

I have to check. I know the number of hits when the angle changes is different between the 5200/8-bit and 2600 versions of Super Breakout.

 

Edit: Here's a PDF of the arcade manual. It has an explination of how the ball behavior works. I also found a pdf of the arcade manual of the original Breakout here. It seems I was wrong, the angles change based on number of hits for all versions, but in the arcade Breakout and all versions of Super Breakout the paddle is divided into four sections where the angle varies depending on where the ball hits the paddle. 2600 Breakout actually has 5 sections of the paddle, according to the manual. It has an extra middle section where the ball jumps if it hits it.

Edited June 17, 2011 by BrianC

[fiddlepaddle]

...Here's[/url] a PDF of the arcade manual.

Thanks for the link... so much detail about game play! A programmer could probably duplicate the correct game behavior from the manual alone...

 

Looks like there are 4 different angles, for each of the 4 speeds that the ball could be travelling; total of sixteen different possible angles. That must be why I had the impression that it was analogue (although from reading, I see there were only 4 possible angles at any given time). I also used to wonder if the speed at which the paddle is moving had any effect on the direction of the ball (it doesn't, according to the manual).

[Epyx_Fail]

Anybody max out Breakout yet? I did. Played until my eyes bled and I could hear the beeping in my sleep. Check it:

 

[Schizophretard]

I like Arkanoid but I wish it had a black background like the Breakouts. It makes it hard to follow the ball.