Is there a new 2600 cart with Ian's book Slow Year?

[Godzilla]

Is there actually a catridge to go along with this? Or is it 'art' meant to look like something running on a real 2600?

 

http://www.opentexture.com/products/aslowyear/

 

and the only way to get a cartridge is $500?? OOOFF???

 

http://www.opentexture.com/products/aslowyear/limitededition.aspx

 

thoughts? (sarcasm) see, ebert, video games ARE art, pretentious and overpriced! (/sarcasm)

[accousticguitar]

"A Slow Year resurrects an abandoned platform"

 

Really?

[Godzilla]

I know, heck, I think there are platforms out there now that get less support than the 2600 (like the psp, for example. )

[Tubular Gearhead]

I think it is very interesting, but $500 is too much for the cartridge.

Also, I am pretty sure the 2600 is alive and well and is not in need of resurrection from this alone...

[godzillajoe]

Pretty good racket. Some completist will shell out the dough for it.

[BigO]

Pretty good racket. Some completist will shell out the dough for it.

The site says 25 were made and 18 remain. Maybe there's more than one completist out there. Or maybe that's some form of Haiku that I don't get?

Edited November 24, 2010 by BigO

[Miss 2600]

I've never seen this before.

 

So, the "games" just show scenes for each season and you read poems and reflect while observing the screen?

[+LS650]

What a joke! $500!!

[ibogost]

I've never seen this before.

 

So, the "games" just show scenes for each season and you read poems and reflect while observing the screen?

 

No, they're really games. They're all playable. There's a trailer on the page. The poetry is meant for context, and to draw game and poem closer together. It's high concept, to be sure, but it's also very real.

 

I think it is very interesting, but $500 is too much for the cartridge.

Also, I am pretty sure the 2600 is alive and well and is not in need of resurrection from this alone...

 

It's not just the cartridge, it's a rather elaborate set, that includes the cartridge. Photos will be coming, you'll see.

 

The "resurrection" term is in one of the endorsements. It's not meant to suggest that I'm alone, but it is true that the game returns to the Atari, and it's also true that the vast majority of people out there have no idea that it's still viable or desirable to create works for it.

 

I wasn't sure if this community would or wouldn't appreciate what I'm doing with this project, but hopefully my record of writing about and making for and teaching on and generally supporting the system precedes me. I'm not going to justify any of my choices, but I do realize they may not make for the usual AtariAge fare.

 

Surely there's room for many ways to use and publish work on the Atari.

[potatohead]

Coupla nice lessons there Ian.

 

One is a whole different crowd will give this consideration, just because it is $500. If I were you, I think I would have offered a system set though, so the few that jump in without gear, have something way cool to show off.

 

That aside, the beauty of the VCS, IMHO, is there being just enough to game on. Every visual is a luxury, and context means a lot, given that. Game play dynamics are pure too. Often there isn't enough for distractions, and to me personally, that's one of the best flavors the system has. When people do something really new, it is noticed on that basis, because there really isn't much else!!

 

Cheers, nice project.

[ibogost]

One is a whole different crowd will give this consideration, just because it is $500. If I were you, I think I would have offered a system set though, so the few that jump in without gear, have something way cool to show off.

 

Right, indeed. To the OP's point, playing on the art world's terms is one way of getting their respect (if indeed we want it). Although, that's still an uphill battle.

 

I thought about including a system, so I do take your point. That said, those who are interested but don't have one haven't been shy to ask, and it's easy enough to help them. It's also true, for better or worse, that some of my limited edition customers are more interested in the art object than in the game... it's another common art world view, and perhaps even one of the reasons why games often feel so incompatible with that world. Then again, I suppose the same is true of certain videogame collectors.

 

That aside, the beauty of the VCS, IMHO, is there being just enough to game on. Every visual is a luxury, and context means a lot, given that. Game play dynamics are pure too. Often there isn't enough for distractions, and to me personally, that's one of the best flavors the system has. When people do something really new, it is noticed on that basis, because there really isn't much else!!

 

Very true. I try to address some of these factors, and my perspective on them, in the book that accompanies the game. We may know all this stuff intuitively by now in this community, but among the broader public (game playing or not), it's not obvious.

 

Cheers, nice project.

 

Many thanks!

[potatohead]

Well, if they are asking, like you say, that's easy enough.

 

"video games as art"

 

Yes. They are, however, that's not generally recognized outside the community of gamers, who appreciate it above and beyond entertainment. I thought your "Zen" type game, with the balancing pad was a great example of that actually. Still kind of want to build one

 

There is a lot going on in indie gaming that reminds me of the great elements of retro. Games as stories, puzzles, even just statements that are interactive, with the goal being beauty, or understanding. Those efforts are pushing one edge.

 

(a good one, in that we get some innovation that way)

 

However, at the most basic level, the art of things isn't widely recognized yet. I see projects like this advancing that front. I find it most instructive to talk with friends, who may be technical, but not game oriented. They pick up on the acumen required to squeeze something great out of something modest like a VCS, or a micro that has limited resources. Things like Breakpoint (demo party) can speak to them, and they see that part of the art technically.

 

This is good, but...

 

It's very difficult to communicate the other impressions that are mixed in there. A few colored pixels on a screen can be beautiful, in how it feels, suggests, moves, teases, etc... and actually conveying those simple, human things, through such a interactive medium is something I find hard to quantify, and am left with, "I know it when I see it", which isn't much at all.

 

Honestly, having the real art people enter that discussion would be a very good thing. It would bring a higher brow element that many would find not pleasant, but then again, their influence could do a lot for gaming in general, if anything, teasing that out for some greater consumption. Of course, that could be bad, in that things go some extreme, one way or the other too, leaving us in a different rut, that's cool for a time, but in the end, just another rut.

 

I find it stale right now. Retro is fun, because it's pure, basic, and within the scope of one, or a few people to entertain for the sake of it. Beautiful thing. Micros are fun too, because they have similar limits, and with that come the kinds of expectations that can gestate art.

 

Modern gaming, with a few exceptions is just all kinds of ugly to me, largely because the art is forced, more than it isn't, though the "art" in terms of technical wizardry remains intact, but hidden where ordinary people can't see it.

 

Since I am one of those ordinary people, like the blind then, I move to those things I can see and share. If more of the non-code part of things were in play, then it would be different, and probably more interesting. Don't see that happening anytime soon in the mainstream gaming arena. Perhaps indie and retro can compete on that basis, and the legal uglies force a niche, and if so, good then, so long as it's open enough to enjoy on all levels.

 

Anyhow, some idle thoughts on turkey day.

 

Edit: Somehow, gaming and radio connect for me right now. Perhaps it's a bit of wine. Anyway, radio in it's classic retro form connects. There is a vibe that runs from the studio to the person, and a loop is closed. This is not unlike a good story, or play, or book, where a conversation happens, and when things are seen at that level, I find that very compelling.

 

Gaming is not unlike radio, where it's gone formula based, and in all of that effort to quantify, and solidify, the simple conversation is lost...

Edited November 26, 2010 by potatohead

[nofrills100]

Nice concept Ian... I love it... and very much in admiration that you went ahead and made it actually happen.

As a fellow artist I totally relate to the idea of bringing your hobbies / collections / obsessions into your art practice...

And some very interesting philosophical discussion in this thread

[jahfish]

And some very interesting philosophical discussion in this thread

 

To collect or not to collect ... that is the question!

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous classified ads,

Or to take arms against a sea of ebay sellers.

And, by buying, end them. To die, to sleep

 

No more – and by a BIN to say we end

The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

That collecting is heir to – ‘tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To display, to store

To store, perchance to collect dust. Ay, there's the rub,

 

For in that game room what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off our paypal balance,

Must give us pause. There's the respect

That makes collecting of so long life.

 

 

Edited November 26, 2010 by jahfish

[ibogost]

To collect or not to collect ... that is the question!

...

 

LOL.

[potatohead]

...to experience or not to experience!

[nofrills100]

nice work Jah!

[raskar42]

rarity?

[+save2600]

A fool and his money are soon parted. There's some poetry for 'ya!

[Crazy Climber]

Yeah, I remember this guy had a Yoga style game for sale at the MGC that was limited to 10 copies I think? It was really expensive also ($200-$300, can't quite remember) but in his defense you did get a few cool things with it like an A/V modded system, yoga mat and a joyboard IIRC. $500 seems a bit excessive for a higher production run (25) and far less goodies but if they don't sell the price will drop sooner or later, unless he wants to eat them Out of curiosity when/if the unlimited versions sell out is there going to be a standard unlimited run made for the $20-$25 or so homebrews usually sell for or is this the only option?

[homerwannabee]

The problem is that in the Atari 2600 world you can get a ton of cool rare games for $500. I could get a boxed Berenstein Bears, and a boxed Rescue Terra I game for that kind of money. This is just a homebrew, whether you title it as art or not.

[potatohead]

Isn't that only a problem, if you think it is?

[ibogost]

Yeah, I remember this guy had a Yoga style game for sale at the MGC that was limited to 10 copies I think? It was really expensive also ($200-$300, can't quite remember) but in his defense you did get a few cool things with it like an A/V modded system, yoga mat and a joyboard IIRC. $500 seems a bit excessive for a higher production run (25) and far less goodies but if they don't sell the price will drop sooner or later, unless he wants to eat them Out of curiosity when/if the unlimited versions sell out is there going to be a standard unlimited run made for the $20-$25 or so homebrews usually sell for or is this the only option?

 

Actually there are more goodies this time, and the whole package will really be something special, I just don't have photos yet. I wanted to get the standard edition (which is $20) out, and I have enough interest in the limited edition that it seemed safe. I'll post more photos very soon.

 

This will be the only cartridge edition of the game.

[ibogost]

Isn't that only a problem, if you think it is?

 

Right, it all depends on what sort of work you value. For some, its rare collectibles. For others, maybe, it will be new work.

 

FWIW, that's also why I don't use the word "homebrew" to describe my work.

[ibogost]

Modern gaming, with a few exceptions is just all kinds of ugly to me, largely because the art is forced, more than it isn't, though the "art" in terms of technical wizardry remains intact, but hidden where ordinary people can't see it.

 

Lots of good thoughts in your long post above, but this bit above is the one I want to underscore. The truth is, games never allowed their technical merits to seep beyond their surfaces, allowing and even teaching players how to read the gameplay and visuals and sound and so forth in relation to the hardware and software systems that underlie them. Nick and I tried to do some of this work in our book Racing the Beam, and I talk about some of these issues in A Slow Year too, but we have a long row to hoe before the everyman thinks of the medium videogames as a part of their aesthetics, like one might think of the medium of paint or marble.