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Christmas Carol in Revival


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We just have different points of view. If my favorite Intelli game gets a 9 it doesnt mean that the scale is from 1 to 9. I never played one single Intellivision game which I would call perfect. On every game I played myself I found some things I want to be improved. Like I told you, the only game which I called perfect when I saw the credits was FF IX. Epic story, wonderful graphics, awesome soundtrack and gameplay.

 

So 9 is nearly perfect and right now there is no perfect Intellivision game for me (I know, its blasphemic, but its my opinion ;) )

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We just have different points of view. If my favorite Intelli game gets a 9 it doesnt mean that the scale is from 1 to 9. I never played one single Intellivision game which I would call perfect. On every game I played myself I found some things I want to be improved. Like I told you, the only game which I called perfect when I saw the credits was FF IX. Epic story, wonderful graphics, awesome soundtrack and gameplay.

 

So 9 is nearly perfect and right now there is no perfect Intellivision game for me (I know, its blasphemic, but its my opinion ;) )

 

I think you misunderstood me. I don't think any Intellivision game is perfect. Most definitely not.

 

What I feel is that there are very good Intellivision games, classic and home-brews. When I classify them myself, I give the best the highest mark.

 

I do the same with the music in my collection. To me it is meaningless to have a bunch of 4-out-of-5 songs without a single 5-out-of-5. That means that I've just limited my scale from 1 to 4. I take the best ones, the ones I like enough to listen over and over, and mark them as 5. Does that mean they are perfect? No way! It just means those are the ones I like the best. If I listen to a new song, I then compare it against the range. That allows me to have a more granular range, where "4" represents "very good" and "5" represents "great!"

 

(Likewise, a score of "1" is a song that I dislike so much, that I wouldn't miss it if it didn't exist.)

 

I judge video games the same way. Actually, I judge them in various criteria, such as story, sound, music, graphics, game-play, and handling controls.

 

If I grant the realities of game development and understand that a perfect game is very unlikely to exist because we are human with varied tastes and experiences, and also because this is a hobby that requires huge commitments in time and effort; then I discard "perfection" from my scale and set "10" to represent "The Best In Class."

 

Nonetheless, if by chance I ever live to see a perfect Intellivision game--unlikely as that may be--I would have no qualms in acknowledging so, and granting them an 11-out-of-10 score. What the heck, after all, perfection blows the curve. :)

 

-dZ.

Edited by DZ-Jay
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Its the music / sounds that does it. Did Joe program that?

 

Joe programmed the Snowman's howl and "boom-boom" walking sound, and a few other sound effects. Oh, he also did the "tinkling" sound when Carol dies.

 

dZ.

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@ DZ

 

I get your point and I can understand why you think that way. :) Ratings are always a very complicated theme, because everyone has a personal scale. Its always a bit confusing for people if I say "5 out of 10", they often think its a crap game for me, but it isnt. 5 out of 10 means its an average game, not very good, but also not bad. In every case, the final score is pretty useless without the review. Maybe some of you know Deadly Premonition for PS3 and XBox360? Its a game you cant give good scores because of the pretty poor graphics and slow downs, but its a game which impresses with story and atmosphere. Its always important to read why a rating isnt perfect or near to it, often the review reveals that this doesnt mean the game isnt worth to play it.

 

So I wont derail this thread anymore, just to close with the topic: Til today Carol is my favorite homebrew on the Intellivision and its very hard to push it from the throne (Defender of the Crown is a serious contrary, but we will see). Thats the reason I said in another thread that Carol is a must have in the shelf. The ROM isnt enough for such a good game, everyone who likes the Intellivision should realy buy (and support) games like that. For myself, I try to get every homebrew, but I never would say they are all must haves, so Carol is a special one for me :thumbsup:

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I view perfection as an unattainable limit that serves as an inspiration for continuous improvement. You can get infinitely closer and closer, but never reach it. If you ever think you reached it, then you incorrectly defined it initially and need to raise the limit....kinda like the 4 minute mile. Applying this concept to video games means that no game will ever be perfect, as nothing can ever really be perfect. You rate a game on how close it gets. Rating a game anything under ten is realistic and takes into account it's inability to reach perfection. Rating a game 10/10 (or 11/10) is more of an emotional response. It's like saying, "Screw perfection, This game rocks!" It's not calculated, and you may change your mind later, but for now you love it enough to shower it with the highest honor.

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@ DZ

 

I get your point and I can understand why you think that way. :) Ratings are always a very complicated theme, because everyone has a personal scale. Its always a bit confusing for people if I say "5 out of 10", they often think its a crap game for me, but it isnt. 5 out of 10 means its an average game, not very good, but also not bad. In every case, the final score is pretty useless without the review. Maybe some of you know Deadly Premonition for PS3 and XBox360? Its a game you cant give good scores because of the pretty poor graphics and slow downs, but its a game which impresses with story and atmosphere. Its always important to read why a rating isnt perfect or near to it, often the review reveals that this doesnt mean the game isnt worth to play it.

 

I agree, and for what it's worth, I wasn't arguing about your or anybody's personal rating... that's up to the individual. It was more a rant against magazine reviewers that rate games on impossible or unreasonable standards, which is useless. At the end of the day, an unreasonable or arbitrary rating will not help me decide whether the game is worth buying or not.

 

So I wont derail this thread anymore, just to close with the topic: Til today Carol is my favorite homebrew on the Intellivision and its very hard to push it from the throne (Defender of the Crown is a serious contrary, but we will see). Thats the reason I said in another thread that Carol is a must have in the shelf. The ROM isnt enough for such a good game, everyone who likes the Intellivision should realy buy (and support) games like that. For myself, I try to get every homebrew, but I never would say they are all must haves, so Carol is a special one for me :thumbsup:

 

Wow, I'm truly honoured. :):):):)

 

-dZ.

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I view perfection as an unattainable limit that serves as an inspiration for continuous improvement. You can get infinitely closer and closer, but never reach it. If you ever think you reached it, then you incorrectly defined it initially and need to raise the limit....kinda like the 4 minute mile. Applying this concept to video games means that no game will ever be perfect, as nothing can ever really be perfect. You rate a game on how close it gets. Rating a game anything under ten is realistic and takes into account it's inability to reach perfection. Rating a game 10/10 (or 11/10) is more of an emotional response. It's like saying, "Screw perfection, This game rocks!" It's not calculated, and you may change your mind later, but for now you love it enough to shower it with the highest honor.

 

It is plainly clear that it depends on the individual. As can be seen among this and other fora, review ratings are pretty much subjective, and the scales are arbitrary. Some don't treat 10 as "Perfect," which is unattainable, while others certainly do.

 

Like ignorama said, the review description provides the context.

 

Interesting points all around! :)

 

-dZ.

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Rating a game is akin to critiquing a piece of art. One incredibly valuable lesson I attained in art school dealt with how you can keep working on something forever, always adding, removing, or just changing things. At some point, you need to step away from a piece and call it finished, or you will obsess over it eternally. With this in mind, I believe games can receive a ten out of ten, not because they can be labeled by some abstract word such as "perfect," but due to the fact they are well rounded games which offer enough brilliant facets to be considered the highest rating. Going back to my critique analogy, you can obsess over what it could be, but it only detracts from enjoying what it is. I have learned how to finish a piece of art I'm working on and also how to give a ten out of ten rating on a game (neither being an easy accomplishment).

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That revival mag is $35. Pricey, but I kinda want it. Someone sell me on it...

 

That's just the version with the CD game bundled, there's a version without the game that's the regular price. RayXamber, 16/32, AtariAge and Good Deal Games all sell ReVival AFAIK, although I think there's a backlog of updates waiting to be added to the AA store.

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Thanks DZ-Jay for this post! You game is very great! :)

The price of the last ReVival English issue is around 35 dollars but it is will a biggest issue AND an exclusive Super CDRon 2 NEC PcEngine/TurbografX-16, in order for celebrate the 50th French issue of the magazine.

The game is made professionally like Mysterious Song or Pyramide Plunder TG-16.

Also Revival Chase includes a multiplayer mode (up to 5!) and two hidden little shoot'em up games (ozma wars pcengine edition and RT2A, a caravan-type style), revealed in the next issue and real audio music!

 

But, of course, for those who don't want to buy the NEC game, the magazine can be bought separately (but not the game, sold only with the magazine). You can buy it from Good Deal Games, Fury Unlimited and 16/32 Systems. Concerning AA, Albert doesn't seem to want to purpose the most recent issues. Perhaps he has no time enough to take time for that? But there are the other three sites to order Revival :) And don't forget the free issue you can download from our website (but the layout has really changed in the last issue as the scan of DZ-Jay shows that)

 

The score of each game in our review is subjective, as any review and, if it was only my point of view, I'd rather never put any score and let the reader makes his own opinion by reading the full review.

 

ReVival, from the start, has reviewed all Intellivision home-brews (and near the same for other systems) and we continue to do that with the other releases. And ReVival is devoted to homebrew games, and exclusively them. Magazine is only made (and translations) on our spare time but we love to play, test, discuss with people behind these superb games. Guys like you DZ-jay, Kevin from Reboot, French guys found of Colecovision (youki, bfg, crapahute, ...) and more, are very representating of the spirit of homebrew games. So, congratulations for making such good games!

 

Concerning Intellivision, for me, the best homebrew game is Stonix! ;)

 

PS: and sorry for my English: be sure that all translations in ReVival are not made by me! ;)

Edited by RayXambeR
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Thanks for the detailed info, RayXambeR! I'll probably pass on the game, but as for the issue itself, I'm sold on buying ;-)

 

The interview with Howard Scott Warshaw itself is worth the price. It is very interesting and candid.

 

dZ.

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