One of the first games I was introduced to on the 2600 was River Raid, back in 1982. I remember it vividly, as I was at my cousin David’s house, who was older than me, and he’d “baby sit” me so the adults could have some adult time hanging out in the dining room. We’d sit in the family room playing 2600, mainly River Raid.
This is an Activision game, and was later ported to Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, C64, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum, and MSX. The player controls an airplane in a top-down view over a river and gets points for shooting down enemy planes, helicopters, ships and balloons (for versions after the Atari 2600). By flying over fuel-stations, the plane’s tank can be refilled. The player can shift side to side and change the speed of the plane. Sections of the river are marked by bridges.
The game was highly acclaimed for its ability to stuff tons of map into small amounts of space. The map was huge and it fit on the disk because it’s randomly generated using a common starting seed, basically, imagine some of the Diablo dungeons…they’re randomly generated but the starting seed which starts the random process is also ‘random.’ (probably based on clock time which isn’t too uncommon). Atari, rather than try to make a random level each time used the level random generator to build a procedural based level rather than drawing it and saving it into the cart. GENIUS.
A more highly randomized number generation system was used for enemy AI to make the game less predictable.
Germany consider this game harmful to children, indexing it on their list of games “harmful for children” along with the game Speed Racer. It remained on their list until 2002 (since 1984) when developers petitioned it off the list before the PS2 launch of Activision Anthology (otherwise they’d not be able to put it in the game)
Some of the Germany reasons: Minors are intended to delve into the role of an uncompromising fighter and agent of annihilation (…). It provides children with a paramilitaristic education (…). With older minors, playing leads (…) to physical cramps, anger, aggressiveness, erratic thinking (…) and headaches (wikipedia)
All in all, a great game! To hear all the details on River Raid and our opinions, checkout TD Gaming Podcast Episode 78.
Hmm, ARPANET was supposed to survive atomic warfare, and you tell me a forest fire can cause issues? Me thinks not.
@EA adopts “no class action” clause in Terms of Service
Sony created a precedent, and none of its clients punished it via their wallets. I guess EA considered it as a green light.
On the other hand, to be completely fair, there is another precedent: the MIT open source license.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License
@Bethesda denied Fallout MMO injunction
Jonah, let’s not be hasty with the “gobs of money from microtransactions”. From what the people at EA’s Battlefield Heroes say, increasing conversion rate is not that easy.
@Bioware considering Mass Effect MMO?
I guess once a game universe is detailed enough, MMO is the right way to go. Thing is there are plenty of technical issues and financial strategy issues that make MMOs tricky. Best of luck to them.
Tomshardware and Tomsguide are owned by the same people.
How am I famous? For what? Just curious, ’cause I definitely don’t see a limo at my front door 😛
@Onlive will be last dedicated console platform
If you ask me, OnLive got cocky. I think it is far too soon to say that no other console is in development. If the new XBox remains compatible to XNA, there is no need to update the SDKs.
@QOTW:
In terms of input devices, my strongest impression is related to switching from a mouse using the ball to an optical one, in 2003. It translated in Quake 3 to switching from the rocket launcher to the rail gun.
I still use that mouse today.
Yes, you actually called me a bastard! Thank you!
Anyway,
@Bioware considering Mass Effect MMO:
I think it’s better if they just see if The Old Republic is still successful after a year after release before they instantly rush into a new MMO.
@OnLive will be last dedicated platform:
I don’t understand what gap OnLive really fills, because anyone that spends more on internet connection is probably already a gamer who has invested in consoles and PC. Also, I don’t really see the appeal of not actually owning a game, but instead it’s just on some server that will shut down if the company stops. The only area I could see cloud-based gaming succeed in is the demo service, and I’m not willing to pay the price just for that.
@QOTW:
Just because I’ve only started gaming seriously for about 2 or 3 years as I’m still fairly young, I don’t have much experience in terms of different input devices, but I will say that from what I have tried, I’m most comfortable with the wireless keyboard and mouse configuration.
And yes, I do think that you’re the best gaming podcast to my knowledge.
Actually, Nintendo have said numerous times that they DO view Apple as a threat, a bigger threat than Microsoft even. They’ve also said that they view anything “consuming peoples interest, time and energy” as their competition.
@QOTW
For most genre’s, I prefer the precision of a mouse and keyboard. As far as console controllers go, however, I find the Xbox 360 controller the most comfortable, it’s shaped perfectly for my hands. I’ve always found the Playstation controllers to be a bit awkward and uncomfortable for my hands though.
By the way Jonah,
I remember you talking about Age of Empires Online quite a bit before it was released, so I’m curious to know what you think of it now that it’s out.
I’ve been playing it a bit, and while it has some problems that need to be addressed, it’s still a fun, fresh take on an RTS and takes me back to the days of playing AOE2 (a game that still holds up amazingly well today).
have you tried dead island coz its cool but kinda buggy and btw do you guys have a minecraft account coz i really neeed one coz im broke
Ps im 13 years old not 16
And i think paul is cool and friendly but he gotta stop asking for hatemail coz its kinda annoying
no offense
@qotw the mouse is the most convinient thing i appreciate today
Add me on Facebook ,i think i already added paul my fb name is oliver lance de leon
Alright Paul, so you say I have low standards for saying that Microsoft is doing everything right with the Xbox. Please inform me what they are doing wrong. I would love to hear you feedback so feel free to leave your comments at my blog entitled, “I don’t give a shit, whatever you say is wrong.” Honestly I think the console as a whole is very well handled, and after many sleepless nights of tossing and turning, thinking about how Paul disagrees with me, I still fail to see how they have done something wrong.
Seriously though, I’d like to hear what they have done wrong.
If you want more hate mail, I shall give more, but give me time. I will try to think of something good. What you read above is not hate mail, so don’t get too excited Paul.
QOTW – I loved the N64 controller. Don’t know why, all my friends hate it, but it felt so comfortable.
Hi guys,have you missed me? 😛
Been a little while since I last posted a comment,so I guess Ill drop in and say hey to my friends;)
@What level I know in my head..man GREAT question..I guess Super Mario bros 1 world 1 level 1 qualifies..could play that one blindfolded..Duke Nukem 3’sD first level as well..those tw0 pops off the top off my head..
QOTW -My favourite controller has to be a dead tie between the several itterations of the PS dualshock controller,but I really love my Xbox 360 controller(s) now..the fact that I can use them both at my xbox and my PC is a big plus,I actually forget sometimes that im playing PC,cause its hooked up to my LCDTV via HDMI(no you dont need VGA jonah:P)
Paul you keep begging for hate mail,so ill give it a whack
“Paul you stupid flat top/or mullet wearing midget,we all know your mom still picks out your clothes for you and I am starting to suspect that all your hate mail craving is a weird fetish you acquired for erm….sexu..uhm private reasons:P,stop being such a big crybaby and man up and embrace the love of your followers..even if you ultimately have to discuss this with your therapist” How was that huh..happy now?
(Now I never even seen a picture of Paul or even dislike the guy,but whatever floats your boat brother;) ) you wanted hate mail right,you didnt say it had to be sincere..:P
Regards to all of you,until next time..your friend..*snaps fingers* Max Dominic:)
onlive works at 720p in uk easily , i live in a really rural area using a BT(british telecom) unlimited. phone line and i get 12mb 1.2mb/sec download speed. unlimited bandwith is standard here limitations are only implemented if you use free broadband services from the likes of SKY. in the city avg internet speed is 20mb 2mb/sec also fibreoptic connections are available for companies. onlive requires 500kbps to stream 720p. the uk can potentially stream 1080p. but onlive looks horrible. the games look either marginally better than console or worse.
Surprisingly well-written and inforimavte for a free online article.