Sorry, no episode this week. News too slow, and everyone needs a break.
No Episode This Week
Categories:
Related Post
Episode 418: Potter RageEpisode 418: Potter Rage
This week’s episode runs pretty long as TJ Denzer returns from his bowling trip. Scott goes ballistic over the Harry Potter franchise with Twilight, and other than that, a lot of pop culture discussion.
This week’s news includes:
- Nintendo deletes every stage by prominent Mario Maker speedrunner
- Telltale’s take on Batman will be M-rated, launches this summer
- Original Diablo design docs show it was to be a classic turn-based rogue-like
- 30 launch titles for Oculus Rift revealed, each with “Comfort” ratings
- Mass Effect developer wore new IP on T-shirt, says no one noticed
This week’s Question of the Week, “What game editors have you used?”
Episode 669: Quick Pre-PAX ShowEpisode 669: Quick Pre-PAX Show
Jonah’s heading off to cover PAX Unplugged on Thursday morning, so this week’s podcast has been a quick, sub-40 minute show, even with a Gaming Flashback of Infamous 2, a game that former co-host Jordan Lund is probably far more familiar with.
This week’s news includes:
- Report suggests Microsoft soon to offer concessions in Activision deal
- Two Point Campus goes boldly into space for brand new expansion
- Pokemon Scarlet & Violet sells 10 million units in three days
- Monster Hunter Rise reportedly heading to PlayStation and Xbox in January
Let us know what you think.
Gaming Flashback: Lode RunnerGaming Flashback: Lode Runner
Lode Runner, a game many of us logged hundreds of hours upon. Lode Runner has a great deal of replay value thanks to its great map editor. The game was first published by Broderbund in 1983, but was first prototyped by Douglas Smith, an architecture student at the University of Washington.
The Lode Runner prototype was called Kong and was originally written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer on campus, but shortly after it was ported to the VAX minicomputer. Originally programmed in FORTRAN and utilized only ASCII character graphics (the most basic of characters).
In September of 1982 Smith was able to port it to the Apple II+ (in assembly language) and renamed it to Miner. In October of that same year he submitted a rough copy to Broderbund and he’s said to have received a one-line rejection letter, “Sorry, your game doesn’t fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products.”
The original title had no joystick support and was developed in full black and white…not exactly exciting. So, Smith then borrowed money to purchase a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game, now renamed Lode Runner, to four publishers and quickly received offers from all four: Sierra, Sirius, Synergistic, and Brøderbund.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download