Is Pitfall Harry the Mario of the 2600?

[kisrael]

I'm definitely on the "didn't see a Pitfall!/Indiana Jones connection" wagon.

Amazing! If you were very young in 1982, I guess I could understand that. Every teen and near-teen I knew saw the connection. Back then Indiana Jones was adventure guy no matter what happened in the movie, especially since many of us never even got to see the movie until years later. All we had were commercials and hype to go on. In September of 1982, the Indiana Jones buzz was still strong and it looked to most kids like Activision was trying to cash in on that buzz just like everybody else.

I dunno... I was 8, third grade... I had an Indiana Jones graphic novel and what not.

 

I still think of him as more of a Nazi Fighter, Temple guy than someone in a jungle.

For starters, Pitfall Harry didn't look like Indiana Jones in terms of outfit... in fact he didn't look like much of anything, just....a guy. That might be one of the problems with him as a potential mascot, he was pretty much a blank. Even on the box art he looks more like a lap technician than an adventurer.

Could it be that Activision didn't want to get sued?

It doesn't feel like a "business decision" to me... I think Crane just wanted to make a generic guy with better running animation than had previously been seen.

 

(Isn't there a story where the thing was almost had a drug reference, something like "Mayan Gold"? )

 

When did the whole Jungle King / Jungle Hunt thing happen, with the guy getting changed from Tarzan to a generic "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" kind of guy.

Plus, you didn't see the same character in multiple games...

The Yar was in at least three games: Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Yeah, but as hidden Easter Eggs, right? Mario's cameos were usually less hidden, like being the ref in a sports game.

 

Yar's Revenge.

You're in danger of getting your Atari nerd license revoked. That's Yars' Revenge not Yar's Revenge.

Hey, with a homebrew 2600 game under my belt, I don't think it's going to be revoked because of some little grammar error.

 

And if it is "YARS'" revenge, as in the YARS, plural, that makes an even worse case for a single "Yar" as a mascot. Besides the way he doesn't *look* like something you'd use in game after game. (I think that's hust by the original box art, it kind of looks like the rocket heading towards him is part of his hand or something.

[+Random Terrain]

It doesn't feel like a "business decision" to me... I think Crane just wanted to make a generic guy with better running animation than had previously been seen.

You know, it's possible that they weren't trying to ride the coattails of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the effect was the same. Millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure.

 

 

Hey, with a homebrew 2600 game under my belt, I don't think it's going to be revoked because of some little grammar error.

Oh yeah, I forgot that you made the legendary game that found a way to remove the fun from both Joust and Pong.

[kisrael]

It doesn't feel like a "business decision" to me... I think Crane just wanted to make a generic guy with better running animation than had previously been seen.

You know, it's possible that they weren't trying to ride the coattails of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the effect was the same. Millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure.

I'll have to take your word for it. A skinny green guy running through a jungle doesn't scream Indiana Jones to me. I guess the vines are a little bit like him making it across the chasm in the first film, though even then they seem to be playing up the Tarzan angle more.

Hey, with a homebrew 2600 game under my belt, I don't think it's going to be revoked because of some little grammar error.

Oh yeah, I forgot that you made the legendary game that found a way to remove the fun from both Joust and Pong.

Jeezie petes, that's a bit harsh, innit?

 

I prefer to think of it as one of the best deathmatches that can be played with a single pushbutton.

Edited August 3, 2006 by kisrael

[+Random Terrain]

Hey, with a homebrew 2600 game under my belt, I don't think it's going to be revoked because of some little grammar error.

Oh yeah, I forgot that you made the legendary game that found a way to remove the fun from both Joust and Pong.

Jeezie petes, that's a bit harsh, innit?

 

I prefer to think of it as one of the best deathmatches that can be played with a single pushbutton.

I saw the chain hanging there and I just had to pull it.

[kisrael]

I prefer to think of it as one of the best deathmatches that can be played with a single pushbutton.

I saw the chain hanging there and I just had to pull it.

Yeah, well, Yars' vs Yar's revenge is still pretty petty, especially for someone who knows that Yar is that way because it's Ray backwards.

Edited August 3, 2006 by kisrael

[the 5th ghost]

I'll have to take your word for it. A skinny green guy running through a jungle doesn't scream Indiana Jones to me. I guess the vines are a little bit like him making it across the chasm in the first film, though even then they seem to be playing up the Tarzan angle more.

 

Very true! Not to mention the sound when Pitfall Harry swings (kinda like a Tarzan yell)

[pocketmego]

I'm definitely on the "didn't see a Pitfall!/Indiana Jones connection" wagon.

Amazing! If you were very young in 1982, I guess I could understand that. Every teen and near-teen I knew saw the connection. Back then Indiana Jones was adventure guy no matter what happened in the movie, especially since many of us never even got to see the movie until years later. All we had were commercials and hype to go on. In September of 1982, the Indiana Jones buzz was still strong and it looked to most kids like Activision was trying to cash in on that buzz just like everybody else.

 

 

For starters, Pitfall Harry didn't look like Indiana Jones in terms of outfit... in fact he didn't look like much of anything, just....a guy. That might be one of the problems with him as a potential mascot, he was pretty much a blank. Even on the box art he looks more like a lap technician than an adventurer.

Could it be that Activision didn't want to get sued?

 

 

Plus, when did we ever see Indiana Jones do any kind of jungle running? He seems to spend more times in caves, temples /ruins, and the desert than out in the jungle...

As I said above, back then Indiana Jones was adventure guy no matter what happened in the movie, especially since many of us never even got to see the movie until years later. All we had were commercials and hype to go on.

 

 

Plus, you didn't see the same character in multiple games...

The Yar was in at least three games: Yars' Revenge, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

 

 

That was a cool video (was it a commercial? Or a PR thing) with the guy "constructing" Yar's Revenge. I was going to say it was a little dishonest showing such 3D graphics, but I guess not any more so than fanciful box art.

You've never seen or heard of that before? It's been on the Internet for years and there was an article about it in Atari Age magazine that you might want to check out:

 

http://www.atariage.com/magazines/magazine...;CurrentPage=20

http://www.atariage.com/magazines/magazine...;CurrentPage=21

http://www.atariage.com/magazines/magazine...;CurrentPage=22

 

I saw the article back in 1983, but I never got to see that movie theater commercial until I got Internet access.

 

 

Yar's Revenge.

You're in danger of getting your Atari nerd license revoked. That's Yars' Revenge not Yar's Revenge.

 

I was fortunate to see the spot when it ran in Movie Theaters. When I saw it again on the Internet I was just as impressed. I assumed my me mory was giving it more oomph then it actually had all these years. but, no, it is a tremendously impressive piece of work.

 

I was very young when Raiders came out (the first movie my parents let my brother and I see alone in the theater). So that is why I never made the connection. All of you are of course right in that being an Activision character Pitfall harry can never be a true Atari Mascot, so yes, Yar would win by default. Also, until you pointed it out, I never noticed itwas Yars' Revenge.

 

Yar did appear in any game made by HSW, however he differs from mario who starred in the games he appeared in (more or less) prior to SMB.

 

I also want to mention that I like Flap Ping. Even though its hard as hell and makes me want to throw my machine out the window. But, there are those who believe this is the sign of a GREAT game.

 

-Ray

[supercat]

I prefer to think of it as one of the best deathmatches that can be played with a single pushbutton.

 

Until I actually played it, I had zero interest in FlapPing. It just sounded like a really dorky idea. But then I tried it and was quite impressed.

[NovaXpress]

Pitfall Harry would never have been created without inspiration from Indiana Jones. RT is right, older players knew immediately that Pitfall was a "Raiders" experience. Activision sure knew how to sell games.

[Adventure_Knight]

Pitfall II is much more ''Indiana Jonish'' than the first one.

[kisrael]

Pitfall II is much more ''Indiana Jonish'' than the first one.

What about Romancing the Stone?

[+Random Terrain]

Pitfall II is much more ''Indiana Jonish'' than the first one.

What about Romancing the Stone?

Although they were talking about making Romancing the Stone for many years, it just seemed like one more Raiders of the Lost Ark rip-off to most kids and besides that, most kids would rather be Indiana Jones than Jack T. Colton. It's hard to picture any kid yelling, "Look at me! I'm Jack T. Colton!" as they played Pitfall II.

[kisrael]

I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey.

 

Or without that nazi guy, the one who gets the medallion burnt into his hand... 'cause I look *exactly* like him in the right light.

[+Random Terrain]

I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey.

Just remember that you were barely old enough to wipe your own butt back then, so you must have missed out on the general feeling of the time. Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark were huge. Even people that never saw the movies were affected by them in some way. For most gamers, just about every space game had an instant connection to Star Wars. I'm sure many kids weren't simply playing Asteroids, they were Han Solo or Luke Skywalker trying to blast their way out of an asteroid field. They weren't playing Starmaster or Star Raiders, they were in their own Star Wars movie or at least an episode of Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century which were tied to Star Wars because that's how most people are.

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the adventure guy movie. Forget details like hats, whips, Nazis and giant rolling testicles, it's the spirit of the movie that stuck with people. If there was a guy on the hunt for treasure and adventure, you could bet money that people would automatically think of Indiana Jones. So when you play games such as Pitfall!, Pitfall II, and Tutankham, think of Indiana Jones and you might feel what it was like to be part of the collective consciousness in the early 1980s.

[NovaXpress]

When I think of "adventure" I think of Remo Williams.

[supercat]

...they were in their own Star Wars movie or at least an episode of Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century which were tied to Star Wars because that's how most people are.

 

It's funny that Buck Rogers was seen at the time (well, by me, but probably many others as well) as being an offshoot of Star Wars despite the fact that the Buck Rogers comic strip debuted a LOOOOONG time before (about half a century I think).

 

I remember thinking it anacrhonistic when the characters in Hogan's Heroes would be talking about Buck Rogers, when the Buck Rogers show had only debuted in the last few years. I hadn't realized that all the episodes of Hogans Heroes were made years before I'd seen any of them, and so for the show to be that anachronistic the producers would have had to have been clairvoyant.

[pocketmego]

When I think of "adventure" I think of Remo Williams.

 

And you think alone...

 

 

Just kidding.

 

Fred Ward's Remo movie would not see the light of day until the later part of the 80's.

 

However, Pitfall makes me think of Doc Savage and Race Bannon, who was of courser inspired by Doc. I am sure some of Indy's repoirte comes from Doc as well, especially considering what uper sci-fi nerds both Lucas and Spielberg were when growing up.

 

The fact is that Harry might have been in the Indy mindset for the generation upon which he was born and I don't deny that a part of that success was most definately derived from Indiana Jones. It is the same reason some of the ships in Star raiders look like Tie Fighters, because they most certainly were supposed to.

 

-Ray

[kisrael]

I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey.

Just remember that you were barely old enough to wipe your own butt back then, so you must have missed out on the general feeling of the time.

WTF, dude, why do you have to put things in the most insulting ways possible?

 

I was in like third grade. I had a graphic novel adaption of the movie, I was even old enough to be interested in the picture of what's-her-name back as she changed into that dress the nazi guy brought her.

 

Maybe the problem is I didn't get an atari for a few years.

 

Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark were huge. Even people that never saw the movies were affected by them in some way. For most gamers, just about every space game had an instant connection to Star Wars. I'm sure many kids weren't simply playing Asteroids, they were Han Solo or Luke Skywalker trying to blast their way out of an asteroid field. They weren't playing Starmaster or Star Raiders, they were in their own Star Wars movie or at least an episode of Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers in the 25th Century which were tied to Star Wars because that's how most people are.

I sometimes used games in playacting with some of my frieinds, Star Wars, and "Jr. A-Team" (yeah yeah I know) and what not, but each universe was...well, it's own universe. Only in games with minimal graphics could I really do a crossover like that.

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the adventure guy movie. Forget details like hats, whips, Nazis and giant rolling testicles, it's the spirit of the movie that stuck with people. If there was a guy on the hunt for treasure and adventure, you could bet money that people would automatically think of Indiana Jones. So when you play games such as Pitfall!, Pitfall II, and Tutankham, think of Indiana Jones and you might feel what it was like to be part of the collective consciousness in the early 1980s.

How old do you have to be?

Star Wars and to a much lesser degree Indiana Jones was a big influence, but probably not as big as the stuff that came later... like ESB/ROTJ was more of a thing for me, GI Joe and Transformers. So maybe a few years older and any guy running in a jungle would be Indiana Jones-y.

 

At least Tutankham gave the guy his hat.

[G.Whiz]

I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey.

Just remember that you were barely old enough to wipe your own butt back then, so you must have missed out on the general feeling of the time. Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark were huge.

 

What's with the attack? You have admitted yourself that you didn't see the movie until many years later, yet you calling down someone else because they were too young to understand... Which is kind of hypocritical since if you were too young to see Raiders (of all movies), who was wiping your butt when Star Wars came out? Still, you are implying that you were part of the "huge"-ness of that movie too.

 

Kisrael is telling you that you have a right to your opinion and has given pretty good proof that he does in fact know what he is talking about when it comes to his own viewpoints. Yet you can't let it go. You keep coming at him as if he is "wrong" and you are "right".

 

Raiders of the Lost Ark was the adventure guy movie. Forget details like hats, whips, Nazis and giant rolling testicles, it's the spirit of the movie that stuck with people. If there was a guy on the hunt for treasure and adventure, you could bet money that people would automatically think of Indiana Jones. So when you play games such as Pitfall!, Pitfall II, and Tutankham, think of Indiana Jones and you might feel what it was like to be part of the collective consciousness in the early 1980s.

 

Again, how can you claim that you were part of this "collective consciousness" and Kisrael wasn't when you didn't see the movie at that time either? As Kisrael pointed out, the only thing similar between the movie and the game is the two minutes of jungle scene at the beginning. And yes, I believe the details like the hat and the whip are key if you are claiming (as you have) that Pitfall was a ripoff.

 

I think these personal attacks on Kisrael are out of line. Yeah, it's a free board, free speech, and whatever freedom you want to claim. But I believe that any validity in your arguments must be in question when (1) you hadn't even seen the movie, yet ridicule others for not seeing it either, (2) you imply that anyone who can't spell "Yars'" on a bulletin board shouldn't be listened to, and (3) you believe that there is any remote connection between Toto's "Africa" and Indiana Jones.

 

Let it go. Everyone has their own opinion, and if you are going to debate the merits of someone else's arguments, you'd better have a solid basis for your own.

 

~G

[vdub_bobby]

This is my favorite part of his argument:

Every teen and near-teen I knew saw the connection.

And.

Millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure.

Who knew that RT had so many friends when he was a teenager?

[+Random Terrain]

I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey.

Just remember that you were barely old enough to wipe your own butt back then, so you must have missed out on the general feeling of the time.

WTF, dude, why do you have to put things in the most insulting ways possible?

 

I am required by law to use at least one of the following words (or their cousins) in every post: butt, ass, poop, pee-pee, or scrotum. It can be hard to fit one in without being offensive. I thought I wasn't too offensive or insulting this time. If you said you were four or five years old in 1982, I would have said that you were barely out of diapers. You could say that I don't speak with the correct fork. I don't speak like I have my pinky in the air. Tact is often insincerity in disguise. I don't usually spend time judging the rudeness level of others. All I care about is how I can benefit from their message.

 

 

. . . but each universe was...well, it's own universe. Only in games with minimal graphics could I really do a crossover like that.

That's called creativity constipation.

 

 

So maybe a few years older and any guy running in a jungle would be Indiana Jones-y.

So now you get my comment about you barely being old enough to wipe your own butt. You weren't quite old enough to be part of the collective consciousness of the time, but with your creativity constipation, even if you were older, a video game character would probably still need a hat, a whip, and few Nazis chasing him for you to pretend that he was Indiana Jones. If a character swings on a vine and does a Tarzan yell, it has to be Tarzan, right? But why couldn't it be Carol Burnett? Oh wait, there were no boobs, no dress, and no ear pulling, so it couldn't be her. Are we sure I'm the one with Asperger's Syndrome here?

 

[kisrael]

Tact is often insincerity in disguise. I don't usually spend time judging the rudeness level of others. All I care about is how I can benefit from their message.

Tact is a form of human kindness.

. . . but each universe was...well, it's own universe. Only in games with minimal graphics could I really do a crossover like that.

That's called creativity constipation.

I'd say the opposite. Why was your imagination so limited that you had to borrow the characters or scenarios from someone else's fictional world?

So maybe a few years older and any guy running in a jungle would be Indiana Jones-y.

So now you get my comment about you barely being old enough to wipe your own butt. You weren't quite old enough to be part of the collective consciousness of the time, but with your creativity constipation, even if you were older, a video game character would probably still need a hat, a whip, and few Nazis chasing him for you to pretend that he was Indiana Jones. If a character swings on a vine and does a Tarzan yell, it has to be Tarzan, right? But why couldn't it be Carol Burnett? Oh wait, there were no boobs, no dress, and no ear pulling, so it couldn't be her. Are we sure I'm the one with Asperger's Syndrome here?

Yes, I was conceding your point a bit.

 

I still like the idea of Pitfall Harry being a bit more of an Everyman... playing with the idea of what would YOU do if you were stuck in a 'gator infested jungle? is more compelling to me than saying "hey look at me I'm Indiana Jones! Watch me jump!"

 

And take your concept of creativity constipation and shove it up your ass. Please.

Edited August 4, 2006 by kisrael

[+Random Terrain]

What's with the attack?

What attack? I'm just letting him know what it was like since he wasn't old enough.

 

 

have admitted yourself that you didn't see the movie until many years later, yet you calling down someone else because they were too young to understand...

Calling down as in "censure severely or angrily"? When? Where? I was just trying to be as clear as possible.

 

 

Which is kind of hypocritical since if you were too young to see Raiders (of all movies), who was wiping your butt when Star Wars came out? Still, you are implying that you were part of the "huge"-ness of that movie too.

I never said I was too young. I was too poor.

 

 

Kisrael is telling you that you have a right to your opinion and has given pretty good proof that he does in fact know what he is talking about when it comes to his own viewpoints. Yet you can't let it go. You keep coming at him as if he is "wrong" and you are "right".

He said this in his post right before mine:

 

"I'll take your word for it then. Without the hat, or the whip, or anything but the jungle setting, it bears no resemblance for me, but hey."

 

All I did was repeat what I already said in a slightly different way so that he might see why others saw a resemblance. I didn't say he had to see it that way. I was also trying to jiggle his imagination a bit. I have trouble with rigid thinking and it looks like he has a similar problem.

 

 

Again, how can you claim that you were part of this "collective consciousness" and Kisrael wasn't when you didn't see the movie at that time either?

1. I was older than he was and was able to comprehend more.

 

2. I went to school and heard what kids were saying (whether I knew them personally or not) and I got a lot of info from magazines and TV (shows, interviews, and commercials). I probably even saw behind the scenes footage if there was a special on about it.

 

 

As Kisrael pointed out, the only thing similar between the movie and the game is the two minutes of jungle scene at the beginning. And yes, I believe the details like the hat and the whip are key if you are claiming (as you have) that Pitfall was a ripoff.

That just means you have a hard time "thinking outside of the box" too. Yeah, I know that's so overused that it's painful to even read, but it still applies. I often get trapped inside of the box and need someone to break me out of it when I can't do it on my own.

 

 

I think these personal attacks on Kisrael are out of line.

Personal attacks? I can be overly sensitive sometimes, but come on, are you serious? There is not one real personal attack from me in this thread. I gave him a little poke with a stick when he tried to puff up his feathers a bit, but it wasn't an attack.

 

 

(1) you hadn't even seen the movie, yet ridicule others for not seeing it either. . .

I have not ridiculed anyone for not seeing the movie. That's all in your head.

 

 

(2) you imply that anyone who can't spell "Yars'" on a bulletin board shouldn't be listened to. . .

Can you not recognize when someone is kidding around? Do I have to post 20 smilies next to each place where I am kidding before you will see it? I thought one was enough, but I can add more if you need it.

 

 

(3) you believe that there is any remote connection between Toto's "Africa" and Indiana Jones

Oh gee whiz, I wonder how anyone would ever make that connection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq-95_xhVko

 

And it would be totally insane to see a connection to Duran Duran's Hungry Like the Wolf:

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

 

 

Let it go.

Let it go? I thought we were just having a conversation where he was trying to explain where he was coming from and I was trying to explain where I was coming from. Saying things like you were barely old enough to wipe your own butt is a long way of saying you weren't old enough to completely understand yet, it's not an attack. If you think things like that are an attack then you've never been attacked.

 

 

Everyone has their own opinion, and if you are going to debate the merits of someone else's arguments, you'd better have a solid basis for your own.

Everything I posted seemed pretty solid to me unlike what you've posted here.

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

This is my favorite part of his argument:

Every teen and near-teen I knew saw the connection.

And.

Millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure.

Who knew that RT had so many friends when he was a teenager?

Ever hear of observation, listening to kids you don't even know? Ever hear of TV? We haven't been cavemen with no access to the outside world for a long time. At school, at the mall, at the arcade (I used to walk around and watch kids play when I could), TV news and more gives you an idea of what the average kid of a certain age seems to think about a specific subject if you pay attention. I also need to remember to include the word seems more often. such as "It seemed that millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure."

 

This doesn't need changing though:

 

"Every teen and near-teen I knew saw the connection."

 

I didn't say I was close friends with every kid I heard or talked to. The bus ride to school from 8th grade to part of 11th grade was over an hour long one way using two buses. That's over two hours a day riding with two different buss loads of kids. If you just count those kids without counting things I heard at the other places I already mentioned, you can see that I didn't need to be close friends with any of them to hear their views on games and many other things.

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Tact is a form of human kindness.

When you don't tell people what you really think, you are not being kind. People cannot change and grow if all they get are insincere niceties.

 

 

I'd say the opposite. Why was your imagination so limited that you had to borrow the characters or scenarios from someone else's fictional world?

I didn't say that I pretended to be Indiana Jones, but it was the Indiana Jones vibe that attracted me to the game for a short time until I found out that the game had zero replay value.

 

 

I still like the idea of Pitfall Harry being a bit more of an Everyman... playing with the idea of what would YOU do if you were stuck in a 'gator infested jungle? is more compelling to me than saying "hey look at me I'm Indiana Jones! Watch me jump!"

That's pretty much how I played, for the short time I did play, but I know that many kids thought of themselves as Indiana Jones in a new adventure.

 

 

And take your concept of creativity constipation and shove it up your ass. Please.

Well, as long as you said please. Exactly how do I shove a concept up my ass? Do I write it on a piece of paper, feed the piece of paper to a hamster, then insert the hamster? Or is there an easier way?

 

Since people thought we were arguing and it seems like we're done discussing it anyway, I need to go work on my web site. I have many changes to make to over 180 pages and that's one of the reason why I have been posting more lately. I've kind of been procrastinating a bit, working off and on, but I need to force myself to get this stuff done.

Edited August 4, 2006 by Random Terrain

[kisrael]

All I did was repeat what I already said in a slightly different way so that he might see why others saw a resemblance. I didn't say he had to see it that way. I was also trying to jiggle his imagination a bit. I have trouble with rigid thinking and it looks like he has a similar problem.

 

That just means you have a hard time "thinking outside of the box" too. Yeah, I know that's so overused that it's painful to even read, but it still applies. I often get trapped inside of the box and need someone to break me out of it when I can't do it on my own.

Actually I rather don't, but thanks for playing armchair analyst for both of us.

 

HINT: just because someone doesn't agree about the strength of a specific connection between two tangentally related things in popculture, doesn't mean they're lacking in "slippery" thinking skills.

 

Personal attacks? I can be overly sensitive sometimes, but come on, are you serious? There is not one real personal attack from me in this thread. I gave him a little poke with a stick when he tried to puff up his feathers a bit, but it wasn't an attack.

(2) you imply that anyone who can't spell "Yars'" on a bulletin board shouldn't be listened to. . .

Can you not recognize when someone is kidding around? Do I have to post 20 smilies next to each place where I am kidding before you will see it? I thought one was enough, but I can add more if you need it.

 

You came up with this inane insult about "nerd street cred" for a minor typo or point of grammar, then rip into my labor-of-love game when I use it as a jokey kind of defense.

I wouldn't call your comment an attack per se, but I think you were being a bit of an ass.

 

Tact is a form of human kindness.

When you don't tell people what you really think, you are not being kind. People cannot change and grow if all they get are insincere niceties.

I disagree. You shouldn't think that you're doing some kind of public service by being an ass online, some sort of Johnny Appleseed of human growth and change.

 

People can disagree in more polite ways, and it creates more light than heat that way.

 

Which is why I didn't say: YAR'S vs YARS'? Are you F'in KIDDING me? Yeah, I guess compared to you, I am but a pale shadow of your majesty as you struggle to the throne King of All Anal Retentive Poorly-Socialized Grammar-Nazi Nerds...

I'd say the opposite. Why was your imagination so limited that you had to borrow the characters or scenarios from someone else's fictional world?

I didn't say that I pretended to be Indiana Jones, but it was the Indiana Jones vibe that attracted me to the game for a short time until I found out that the game had zero replay value.

Sorry, I thought that when you said "You know, it's possible that they weren't trying to ride the coattails of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the effect was the same. Millions of kids saw the connection and bought the game to feel like they were Indiana Jones in a new jungle adventure." that you were standing with those millions, not above them surfing on the vibe. Mea culpa.

And take your concept of creativity constipation and shove it up your ass. Please.

Well, as long as you said please. Exactly how do I shove a concept up my ass? Do I write it on a piece of paper, feed the piece of paper to a hamster, then insert the hamster? Or is there an easier way?

Well, you know. it's a metaphor. It's a way of expressing a sincere sense of irritation with a request to stop accusing others of lacking creativity because they don't think the way you do on this subject.

[NE146]

Hey, I'm one old approaching 40 bastard who WAS wiping his ass pretty handily during all these times along with playing my Pitfall cartridge (although probably not simultaneously *ahem*).. and I'll say my somewhat lucid 13 year old mind at the time never associated Pitfall with ROTLA at all... not even in concept. I just always thought of it as boring

 

Nice graphics though