Expressionist renderings of classic arcade games by Brock Davis.

Donkey Kong

Dig Dug

Missile Command

via

Ein weiterer Arcade-Klassiker ist im Anmarsch: Missile Command (oder ursprünglich auch Armageddon) von Atari. Bereits 1980 erschien das Spiel und wurde sogar noch bis 2005 weiterhin auf insgesamt 24 Plattformen veröffentlicht, zuletzt auf dem Nintendo DS in einer Atari-Klassiker-Sammlung. Es erschien in der sogenannten goldenen Ära der Computer- bzw. genauer gesagt, Arcade-Spiele und gilt selbst darin als eines der erfolgreichsten überhaupt. Indiz dafür ist beispielsweise das Auftauchen im Action-Film Terminator 2 und in der Nerdserie Chuck wurde dem Spiel sogar eine ganze Folge gewidmet.

Ziel ist es Städte bzw. Raumbasen, welche am unteren Bildschirmrand auf einer Art Mond oder Planet stationiert sind, zu beschützen. Dafür stehen einem drei Abwehrraketensysteme zur Verfügung, die jedoch auf jeweils 10 Schuss begrenzt sind. Man muss pro Level also mit insgesamt 30 Raketen auskommen, um die von oben herabfallenden feindlichen Geschosse zu zerstören. Als weitere Schwierigkeit fliegen ab und zu Bomber und Satelliten über die Basis hinweg, welche ebenfalls mit Raketen ausgerüstet sind und die Stützpunkte dementsprechend angreifen. Diese Raketen gilt es mithilfe eines Fadenkreuzes anzuvisieren und zu beschießen, um die Städte bzw. die Abwehrbatterien zu beschützen. Aufgrund der Bewegung der Geschosse gestaltet sich das natürlich schwieriger, als man zuerst denken mag, aber mit etwas Übung hat man die Winkel schnell raus. Schafft man es allerdings nicht rechtzeitig einer der Raketen abzuschießen, muss man sich leider von einer Stadt bzw. Raketenbasis verabschieden und somit geht einem, zumindest bei letzterem, wertvolle Munition verloren. Am Ende eines Levels kommt der Beschuss zum Erliegen und die übrig gebliebenen Städte und Raketen werde zum Punktekonto addiert – bleibt nichts stehen, ist das Spiel vorbei. Beim Erreichen von 10.000 Punkte erhält man eine neue Stadt und dadurch auch ein Leben mehr. Jedoch bleibt auch der Schwierigkeitsgrad nicht unverändert: Die Geschosse fallen schneller herab und auch für andere Gemeinheiten ist im weiteren Verlauf gesorgt.

Im Gegensatz zur Urversion braucht man im Flashspiel nur noch mit der Maus über den Bildschirm fahren und klicken, wenn eine Abwehrrakete gezündet werden soll. Damals musste man sogar noch für die drei verschiedenen Abwehrbatterien den jeweils richtigen Knopf drücken und gesteuert wurde mit einem Trackball. Eine moderne Fassung namens Lunar Command findet ihr hier. Und zu guter Letzt natürlich noch das Video:

Pour changer, deux arrivages ATARI ! Le dernier pack US qui me manquait, le Communictor II, et deux costumes Halloween (ASTEROIDS et MISSILE COMMAND) sous license ATARI. L’un complet en boite avec le masque, l’autre en loose sans boite, ni masque, mais donné par le vendeur (toujours sympa).

]]> http://blackheartindustries.com/2009/09/03/trackball-part-9/ Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:47:49 +0000 blackheartindustries http://blackheartindustries.com/2009/09/03/trackball-part-9/

 

Trackball part 9, originally uploaded by Black Heart Industries.

Finally finished. The thing that slowed me down was whether I should add a wheel, roller, or knob to scroll web pages. I decided against it. An aluminum bracket and a piece of phenolic resin was made to mount the circuit board. The case is made of 5/8″ thick white oak, with brass screws. It measures 11″ x 11 5/8″ x 4 5/8″. The only other thing that may need adjusting is the height of the ball. It could go higher. Now I need to load Missile Command into MAME and play it the way it was meant to be played, with a gigantic trackball. For full history of this project click “Trackball” link to the right.

So a while back it came to light that somebody, for whatever reason, thought that Asteroids would make a good movie. Now I could have sworn this already happened with Michael Bay’s explosion-and-anachronism sandwich known as Armageddon, but I guess someone thought that having one rock pales in comparison to having many rocks. Knowning Hollywoood they’ll probably get Shia LeBoeuf and his stammering to headline such a picture. But really. What in the world is the plot going to be? Many rocks threatening earth? Many rocks threatening a space station? Considering that the threadbare plot of the game was that your ship basically got trapped in an Asteroid field with UFOs by accident, it doesn’t exactly leave much to work with other than “Independence Day meets Armageddon”

That being said I can think of 5 other arcade games from the early 1980s that would make a better film than Asteroids, so here we go, in no particular order

Sinistar: How can you not think about making a movie out of Sinistar? It’s possibly one of the most intimidating games of its time. For the uninitiated, Sinistar is a freescrolling space shooter built by Williams with a bit of a twist. See the enemy ships are trying to construct Sinistar, which is a mix somewhere in between of the Death Star and Unicron. It eats planets. It also taunts you while it chases you about the map. Relentlessly. With phrases like BEWARE, I LIVE, and RUN, COWARD!. And you cannot beat it by conventional means. In fact it’s pretty much impossible to stop it from being built. What you have to do instead is mine crystals to get homing weapons known as Sinibombs which are capable of destroying Sinistar. It takes 13 of them though and that means a whole lot of mining in between running away. So you pretty much have a story here wherin an evil empire has set its sights on Earth, preparing to unleash Sinistar on it. This leaves one hero (or even a group) to find a way to take it down. You could even add more tension by a plot twist where Sinistar, once activated, instead turns on its creators (because seriously, I don’t think you can control something like that). But the important part is to make it about the chase and the idea that this is a cosmic horror that one might not be able to stop.

Defender: Defender is another game created by Williams, this time it’s a sidescrolling shooter set on a planet where you have to defend the inhabitants from being abducted by aliens. If they get abducted they get turned into mutants that then cause even more problems for the populace. Simple concept that could transfer to film. You could even show what exactly the aliens are doing to the people they take, and why. Eventually things would work their way back to the ship in charge of the whole invasion, if not the aliens’ home planet itself.

Robotron 2084: Yes, another Williams game. In it you play a superpowered human trying to save the last family on Earth after the Robot Apocalypse. So it’s a lot like Terminator except you’re facing overwhelming odds and can shoot in a different direction you’re running in. (yes, this was cutting edge for its time). Again this is pretty easy to translate into movie form, especially since it’s kind of already been done before. You might have to alter some aspects. For example making it the last few hundred humans instead of just one family, but that’s just details at this point. Really all you’d need is a lot of robots getting exploded repeatedly with them trying to come up with other methods of doing away with the hero and/or directly threatening some of the few surviving humans.

Missile Command: Missile Command is both easy yet difficult to realize as a movie, but stick with me here. Imagine a world where the cold war went hot. In the initial fusillade of missiles communications are cut off as a result of EMP bursts, thus leaving every ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) base to fend for itself and the area it’s protecting. The movie would focus on one such base, defending against incoming missiles and doing what it can to replenish weapon stocks while the crews continue to have idealogical discussions as to whether there’s anything worth defending anymore. So yeah it’d end up being like a lot of Twilight Zone episodes but I think it could be done well with the right crew and the right amount of dramatic tension. As to how it ends? Well let’s be honest, I have no idea. Hell the last show about nuclear apocalypse (Jericho) didn’t even have a definitive ending.

Dig Dug: Turn this into a horror movie about miners being attacked by eldritch abominations from beneath the Earth’s surface and you have something I’d actually want to see rather than something stupid like “The Descent”. Admittedly this is my weakest idea but I still think it’s better than Asteroids as a movie concept.

So yeah, none of these are particularly awesome, and I wasn’t expecting them to be. I was thinking with B-movies in mind because really, they’re still just arcade games from the 1980s.

by Brandt Krueger, Geek Dad since 2007

Much has been made about the geektitude of our current president, from his use (and correct pronunciation) of Superman lore, to his insistance on keeping his BlackBerry, to his ability to properly give the vulcan hand sign of “Live Long and Prosper.”  So when I found out that there was a website where a mere mortal like myself could buy the President’s watch, I had to check it out.  Needless to say, I was a looking for something a little more geeky than what I found.

I don’t know, I guess I figured the GeekDad in Chief would have something like an original Casio CA53W.

You know, for tackling those pesky budgets and figuring out how to pay for universal healthcare without raising taxes.

Don’t get me wrong, the watch he wears is a nice watch and all.  It has all your standard geeky dials and dates, but I can’t help but feel like he might be neglecting an important presidential accessory.  And so I present to you,

The Top Five Watches the GeekDad in Chief should be Wearing:

5.  LED Binary Watch

Basic, and self explanatory to even low-level geeks.  Baffling to the non-geek.

4. Casio Telememo 150

Ok, so the calculator watch is still an option.  I was surprised to see that Casio was still pumping out these babies, updated for the new century.  And what does almost 30 years of calculator watch get you over the CA35?  Semi-permanent EEPROM memory of 150 “pages” consisting of 8 letters and twelve numerals per page.  Perfect for the POTUS to keep track of his schedule, and to be alerted he’s got an important “MEETIN” to go to (see photo).

3.  Missile Command

When I ran across the title for this watch in my searches, I was really hoping it would look like this:

No such luck.  Apparently Atari didn’t cash in on the Missile Command franchise in the watch department.  You gotta admit, though, that would have been pretty cool.  Still would.  Somebody get on that.

Anyway, even though it looks like this…

…this watch is still worth an honorable mention, and the President is, after all, the ultimate Missile Commander for our country.

2.  25th Aniversary G-Shock

The G-Shock is the gold standard for geek watches.  Nobody’s sure why, as most of its functionality is based on athletic pursuits (something geeks are not generally known for).  Nonetheless, the watch became so popular for so long, Casio released the 25th Anniversary edition in white and gold, perfect for those fancy White House dinner parties with foreign dignitaries.

1.  Nixie Tube Watch

A favorite of “The Woz”, the Nixie Tube Watch is the perfect mix of geek chic and old school tech.  Nothing says “I represent change!” better than a ridiculously over-sized vacuum tube watch.   Press the button and the two digits flash the hours, minutes and seconds.  I love the fact that the inventor has a detailed history on his site of how he developed it from breadboard to production.  Click on the photo to check it out!

So snap to it, Mr. Prez, and embrace your inner geek!  I want to see one of those watches on your wrist before the August recess…

It appears that on July 1st, Warner Bros. will assume control of the company currently known as Midway Games.  This will be the THIRD time that Warner will have control of the old Atari properties and also marks the end of an era for both Midway and the brand once known as Williams.  This article outlines a history of these four companies as they relate to each other. 

TIMELINE

1972: Atari is founded by Nolan Bushnell.

1973: Midway and Williams enter the arcade video game industry.

1976: Warner Communications acquires Atari.

1984: Atari splits into two: the consumer division is sold off as Atari Corp while Warner keeps the arcade division, Atari Games. 

1986: Atari Games becomes independent.

1988: Williams acquires Midway.  RIP MIDWAY

1990: Warner again acquires Atari Games.

1996: Williams acquires Atari Games from Warner.

1998: Midway becomes independent, taking all of Williams‘ intellectual properties with it.

2001: Midway closes its arcade division.

2003: Midway closes Midway Games West.  RIP ATARI

2009: Warner acquires Midway.

NOTES

Williams and Midway were fierce competitors in the pinball market before and after their entry into the video game world.

The 1984 split of Atari was really weird, as the intellectual properties were similarly split (for example, Atari Games could make Centipede games in the arcade and Atari Corp. could make Centipede games for consoles/computers).

When Williams acquired Midway in 1988, they only retained the services of two Midway game designers.  Although Williams kept the Midway name alive and used it even more than the Williams brand, the original Midway basically died with this acquisition.  This wasn’t really a huge loss, though, as the original Midway was really much better at importing Japanese games than creating games of its own.

Williams decided to leave the video game business in 1998, turning over all of their original intellectual properties to Midway and then spinning Midway off into an independent company.

Midway’s decision to close its arcade division in 2001 is significant from an Atari Games perspective, as the arcade was the only arena in which Midway/Atari Games had the rights to use pre-1984 properties (although they never really used them, anyway).

NOTABLE GAMES

Atari (1972-1983): Pong, Breakout, Warlords, Asteroids, Centipede, Battlezone, Missile Command, Star Wars

Midway (1973-1987): Wizard of Wor, Rampage (also imported Space Invaders, Galaxian, Pac-Man)

Williams (1973-1987): Defender, Blaster, Robotron 2084, Joust

Atari Games (1984-1995): Marble Madness, Paperboy, Gauntlet, Pit Fighter, Rampart, KLAX, Primal Rage, Area 51

Williams-Midway (1988-1998): NARC, Smash TV, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Cruis’n, NFL Blitz, Revolution X

Atari Games (1996-2003): Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, San Francisco Rush

Midway (1999-present): Hydro Thunder, Ready 2 Rumble, TNA Impact

Prendete il caro vecchio Missile Command, portatelo nello spazio e rendetelo semicircolare. Fatto? Aggiungete potenziamenti e miglioramenti della vostra base stellare. Fatto? Bene, ora avete un’idea di cosa sia Vector Boom.

Il gioco è semplice: avete una base spaziale da divendere da una serie di flotte nemiche, piene di navi di diverso tipo. La vostra unica arma è un congegno esplosivo comandato con il mouse. Cliccate in un punto dello spazio, tenete premuto per decidere l’ampiezza della detonazione e rilasciate per vedere il missilino che parte, arriva e conflagra, distruggendo tutto quello che si trova nel suo raggio d’azione. Sempre che la potenza dell’ordigno sia sufficiente.  Se non bastasse, la bomba usa energia e questa si ricarica non proprio all’istante.

Le astronavi che vi vengono incontro, come moderni zero giapponesi, sono pronte a speronarvi pur di distruggere la base. Ogni tanto, quando farete fuori numeri sufficienti di nemici, compariranno dei potenziamenti da colpire e utilizzare. Uno offre potere illimitato per un breve lasso di tempo, un altro funziona come una gigantesca calamita e porta tutte le navi su schermo nello stesso punto. Un altro ancora vi fornisce temporaneamente di scudo.

Tra un’ondata nemica e l’altra, poi, con i soldi guadagnati potrete migliorare la vostra base, dandole più resistenza, più potenza di fuoco, delle armi supplementari automatiche o riduzioni ai tempi di ricarica dell’energia.

Tutto sommato un giochino divertente che vi terrà impegnati quel paio d’ore!

clicca per giocare

This article features the best console-based compilations of classic arcade games. The included collections were selected based partially on quantity of games and especially on quantity. Most of these compilations include around twenty games each but this article focuses only lists games of NGR-level quality.  Video game publishers love to milk their classic games with re-release after re-release, often spreading games from a single series across different retro collections.  The compilations buck this trend to some extent and provide the best overall value.

Capcom Classics Collection (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
There are only six NGR-worthy games in this collection but they’re of very high quality and rather lengthy by arcade standards.

1942
1943: The Battle of Midway
-1943 Kai
Final Fight
Ghosts ‘n Goblins
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts
Street Fighter II
-Street Fighter II’ Champion Edition
-Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting

bonus: Rounding out the Ghosts ‘n Goblins package, the collection includes a the followingg SNES release:
Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts

Taito Legends (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
This compilation boasts a long list of games and enviable variety.

Bubble Bobble
Rainbow Islands
Rastan
New Zealand Kids
Zoo Keeper
Super Qix
Volfied
Plump Pop
Jungle Hunt
Phoenix
Space Invaders
-Space Invaders Part II
Return of the Invaders

Taito Legends 2 (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
Although not quite as strong as its predecessor, this collection features several great but relatively unknown games.

Majestic Twelve: Space Invaders Part IV
Space Invaders DX
Space Invaders ‘95
Qix
The Fairyland Story
Don Doko Don
Liquid Kids
Bonze Adventure
Bubble Symphony (Xbox only)

Atari Anthology (PlayStation 2, Xbox)
A fairly comprehensive release featuring all of the classic pre-1984 Atari games that one would expect to see.

Asteroids
-Asteroids Deluxe
-Space Duel
Centipede
Millipede
Pong
Super Breakout
Battlezone
Missile Command
Warlords

bonus: Dozens of Atari 2600 releases are also included, with ports of many of the above titles, plus the following highlights:

Adventure
Yars’ Revenge

Midway Arcade Treasures (PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
In spite of the title, all of the best games in this collection were originally released by Williams and Atari Games, companies that were later absorbed by Midway.

Defender
Stargate
Robotron 2084
Blaster
Joust
Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest
Smash TV
Marble Madness
Rampart
Klax

Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (Xbox 360)
This collection is rather comprehensive for Pac-Man and Galaga fans with the only glaring ommission being Gaplus.
Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Super Pac-Man
Pac & Pal
Pac-Mania
Galaxian
Galaga
Galaga ‘88
King & Balloon
Dig Dug
Dig Dug II
Mappy

bonus: The non-arcade content in this compilation is really impressive, including three update/sequels originally released in Namco Museum Battle for PSP as well as three sequels that debuted in Xbox Live Arcade.

Pac-Man Arrangement 2005
Dig Dug Arrangement 2005
Galaga Arrangement 2005
Pac-Man Championship Edition
Galaga Legions
Mr. Driller Online

Notes: With the exception of Atari Anthology, none of the Xbox releases are compatible with Xbox 360.

From the day Cain slew Abel there was enmity between man.  Brother turned against brother, tribe against tribe, nation against nation, and so the cycle continued for over 6,000 years.

And then the aliens came.

United by a common threat, Cain put down the stone, flowers in his hair, and joined hands with Brother Abel.  In a space plane.  Together, they became E.D.F: Earth Defense Force.

E.D.F: It'll take a planet of billions to hold us back.

That’s the most interesting introduction I can give to a game that generally isn’t.  Earth Defense Force (sic) is unfortunately not a Missile Command clone.  It’s a paint-by-numbers shoot-’em-up (pbnshmup).

A smorgasbord of FAIL.

Press start.  Select a weapon: Vulcan, Explode, Laser, S. Laser, Atomic, Photon, Homing, or Grenade.  Why is there always a weapon called ‘Vulcan’?  There’s too many weapons, only two of them work well within the game – S. Laser and Homing – and here’s why: they’re the only weapons that can shoot behind.  Your spaceship is a square peg in a round black hole.  You can only face right, you can only shoot right.  Meanwhile your enemies can fly and shoot wherever the hell they freakin’ want.  Like these two annoying bastards here:

That's me dying in the bottom-left corner. Again. Argh.

I made it past these cheating bastards once.  I blew up the mid-level boss, only to be killed by some two-bit thug moments later.  And when I died, a continue screen appeared.  I pressed start and appeared at the beginning of the level again.  That pissed me off.  I replayed the first level about ten times and gave up.

Earth can save itself.

Screenshot of Missile Command

Missile command screenshoot via http://www.evilmadscientist.com

Skirt designed upon the game

Missile Command circle skirt via http://www.evilmadscientist.com

For instructions here.

About the game.

Here you can play.

MISSILE COMMAND
original platform
arcade
developer/publisher
Atari
key personnel
Dave Theurer

Missile Command is an innovative game deeply rooted in the society and times in which it was made, playing on Cold War tensions and fear of a nuclear attack.  Dozens of enemy missiles rain down upon six cities that the player must defend with a stockpile of defensive missiles.  As the game progresses, the intensity of the attack increases and players are forced to make sacrifices, letting some cities go until eventually all of the cities are destroyed and all hope is lost.

Missile Command was inducted on April 7th, 2009.

Return to the National Game Registry to view more inductees.

“Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer”

Season Two, Episode Five

Airdate: October 27th, 2008

Entering into its second season, the expectations for Chuck were low. A smart show that never got beyond its initial 13-episode order in its first season thanks to the writers’ strike, its return was unheralded: by NBC, by critics, and by viewers.

But slowly but surely things started to change: critical praise of the season’s first few episodes proved more than warranted, NBC ordered an additional nine episodes before the premiere aired, and a fairly devoted set of fans emerged to herald the show’s quality. While good in its first season, the consensus was clear: it was downright great in its second.

And while there are a number of episodes that I wanted to select here (Not picking something out of the Jill arc feels especially false, and the execution on “Chuck vs. Santa Claus” was perhaps the best of the year), I polled the group over at the NeoGAF thread about the show and their thoughts coincided with my own: while the season has been extremely solid thus far, there is no better example of the show’s sophomore surge than “Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer.”

The reason is quite simple: the show, before this point, had never felt so confident. This wasn’t a show treading lightly with its myriad of video game references, or one where the writers room shot down the Zune joke for being too obscure for a mainstream audience. The show had certainly featured its supporting players in key roles before, but even I had no idea how much I wanted to see Jeff let loose to pass out, get lost, and create hilarious stalker videos of co-workers.

While other episodes in the season felt more important to the show’s broader trajectory, and certainly did more to build the show’s characters, “Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer” is nonetheless my favourite thus far. It has Sarah in a Nerd Herd uniform for the sex appeal, a “King of Kong”-inspired final sequence for the nerd audience, and nonetheless embodies one of the season’s real breakthroughs: no longer just a means to an end, Chuck here is at the very center of the threat against Los Angeles, and he is very much responsible for its safety while commanding this missiles.

While I believe that anyone not yet on the Chuckwagon should start from the beginning, even if the 1st season isn’t quite as good as the 2nd, I nonetheless might sit them down in a room, pop on this episode, and give them a sense of what they have to look forward to. Other episodes were more emotional, or even funnier, or perhaps even more accomplished, but there was none that better embodied, in my mind, why Chuck is the season’s greatest success story.

Related Posts at Cultural Learnings

• Review: “Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer”
• Cultural Learnings’ Coverage of Chuck

[For more details on the Cultural Learnings 2008 Television Time Capsule, click here!]

The wife and I had an all day Chuck-a-thon to open the new year.

We both like NBC’s Chuck, but it seems to always get pushed to the back of the line when its time for some TV viewing.  However, with everything in reruns or bad reality shows, we took the opportunity this week to catch up on the 9 episodes of Chuck sitting on the old DVR.

My favorite was the episode titled “Chuck v. Tom Sawyer.”

Why?

I’m an 80s geek, born and bred.  This one had Atari, Rush and Missile Command and a whole lot of geeky 80s goodness.

The end sequence where Chuck tries to get the high score on Missile Command and unlock the fabled “Kill Screen” is an all time classic.

Well, it is if your an 80s geek like me.

Enjoy kids.

This list last updated December 25, 2008.

AtariWriter
Basic
Choplifter!
Computer War
Defender
Deluxe Invaders
Frogger
Hardball!
Jumbo Jet Pilot
K-Razy Shoot-Out
Memory Manor
Missile Command
Pac-Man
Pole Position
Q*Bert
River Rescue
Soccer
Star Raider
Video Easel

Current game count: 19

I have had a particular interest in the history of computer gaming, and love reading about the developments and how one game led to the creation of a genre, such as Dune2 starting the whole Command and Conquer phenomenon (which incidentally also led to Warcraft), and early games like Wolfenstein 3D tht is now the first person shooter etc.

A great (online) TV show is called Play Value, and is a very well produced, short (10 minute episodes) look at the whole game development, hardware, software, personalities behind the scenes etc

Currently hosted by On Networks (I pick up episodes through iTunes)

If you are interested in computer gaming, and are interested in how we have gotten to where we are today, this is definitely worth a look.

A book that may also be of some interest (if only for the various game screen shots), is called “High Score!”

This is not to be mistaken for the documentary “High Score” made back in about 2005, where Bill Carlton attempted to break the 80 million point record for “Missile Command”

The documentary byline reads “One Quarter. Two Days. No Pause Button” Hopefully the documentary isn’t as long as the game lasted!

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Moving Pictures (1980).

The other night on the show Chuck, Rush was described as “the music of the universe” (which enabled our hero to defeat Missile Command and get secret codes–thereby saving the lives of millions.  I have taken this as a sign that geeks have totally taken over the world.  They played “Tom Sawyer” 3 times during the show.  It was pretty awesome.  And my 13 year-old self would have been so excited, it might have been too much for me.

Since about 8th grade, I’ve been a huge Rush fan. And, yes, I do play bass guitar, thank you for asking.  I’m still a fan, although not nearly as rabid as I was back in the day.  Nevertheless, it’s pretty exciting to see these guys making inroads into pop culture, and it has only taken some thirty-four years after their first record.

Having said that, everyone knows Side A of this record (“Tom Sawyer”, “Red Barchetta”, “YYZ” and “Limelight”).  So, I’m not even going to mention it.  Rather, I’ll focus on Side B (how quaint am I with this terminology?).  I think the overexposure of Side A led me to really investigate Side B.  And, for my money, Side B is the more enjoyable side.

“The Camera Eye” starts it out with a wondrous eleven-minute epic.  It has different sections, it has repeating motifs, and it’s probably the most overlooked song in their catalog (their other epic tracks were usually A sides which meant more notice).  It doesn’t have a lot of the drama of Rush’ other ten-minute-plus songs, rather, it’s a meditative look at life in the city.  And yet, all of the parts are essential, with a few minutes of little bits and pieces throughout the track.  And then suddenly you’re eight or so minutes in and totally hooked.  I’ve always has a soft spot for this song.

“Witch Hunt” has such a fantastic drum opening.  My friend Joe was the drummer with whom I jammed to Rush back in the day.  Now, no kidding, Neil Peart is an amazing drummer, but sometimes you have to really listen to a song through the ears of a drummer to hear how amazing he is.  The opening drum motif is so complex, it’s amazing that one man could play it.  And then he throws in a cowbell to boot!  It also has some fantastic lyrics that I find myself singing a lot lately when I think of rabid right-wingers: “Confident their ways are best. The righteous rise with burning eyes, of hatred and ill-will….”  “Those who know what’s best for us, must rise and save us from ourselves….”"Ignorance & prejudice and fear walk hand in hand….”

As “Witch Hunt” has a crazy opening drum motif, “Vital Signs” has a great guitar intro.  The guitar chords aren’t terribly complex, but Alex Lifeson plays the chords in a different pattern during alternate lines.  Boy is that fun to play.  This also features one of the great early keyboard workouts for Geddy Lee.  The keyboard riff in “Tom Sawyer” is pretty memorable, but in “Vital Signs” it’s intense.  The two main sections of the song don’t seem like they should fit together, but they segue nicely with drum fills and a smooth and fun bass solo.

It was in listening to the the Snakes and Arrows live CD recently that I was reminded how much I love “Witch Hunt” and what a great song it is.  My only regret is that I never got to see that one live.

[READ: October 31, 2008] “Don’t Cry”

I was introduced to Mary Gaitskill’s writing about a decade ago.  I really liked her short stories.  It’s been a while since I’ve read her work, and I basically forgot what her main themes were.  So it surprised me to find that this story was set in Ethiopia.

It made more sense once it was divulged that the main character and her friend Katya were in Ethiopia to adopt a baby. (Katya didn’t get pregnant when she was younger and wants a baby now).  The secondary plot line is that the narrator’s husband died a few month ago and she is really not over the loss yet.  So, while they are traveling, she keeps dreaming that her husband is in their current scenario.

Katya gets taken to many orphanages where she is routinely turned down (amidst scenes of starving and dying children and adults).  There is no one she can talk to about adopting a baby.  In fact, her repeated attempts to get the Host to give her the appropriate paperwork fail miserably.

It is only when a woman does not return to pick up her son from the hospital that Katya is called for a possible adoption.  She picks up the child, and immediately falls for him.  Soon, however, the mother returns.  After a brief struggle, both internally and externally, a decision is finally made.

The story was quite moving, going in unexpected directions, and posing a lot more drama that one might expect.  The writing was also very strong. Generally this isn’t the kind of story I would choose to read, but I was really caught up in it.

“Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer”

October 27th, 2008

With some shows, enjoyment is just enough.

Chuck is in a unique position this season, already given a full season order even while its ratings are struggling. That NBC was willing to shell out a back nine for a show based on quality alone does, indeed, say something about its rather dire pilot situation, but more importantly it says something about the show’s quality: in the early part of this season, Chuck is perhaps the most “on” series of all.

So while I haven’t been dissecting each individual episode like I have been with Mad Men, know that I’ve been spending the past few weeks enjoying the wonderful world of Chuck Bartowski. With “Chuck vs. Tom Sawyer,” it’s a much smaller world than we’re even used to: it takes place almost exclusively in the Buy More (Outside of one particularly stimulating excursion), it features no fancy new identities, and has nothing cluse to what you might call stuntcasting.

However, it has everything else: it has tension between Chuck’s two lives, it has some great integration of the Buy More crew, it has the emphasis on Sarah being placed into attractive costumes and shown in slow motion, and ends with moments of meaningful (and awesome) moments of character achievement. I don’t know what kind of frequency Chuck is operating on this year, but “Tom Sawyer” is as good a choice as any.

Truth be told, I would have been completely ignorant to the genius of “Tom Sawyer” (the song by 70s Progressive Rockers Rush) if not for the joys of Rock Band, the music video game that features a cover (and, later, a master copy via Download) of the track. But here, it plays the perfect role of something that would be just complex enough rhythmically to exist within this conceit. The idea that the code could be hidden in the video game is a bit far-fetched, and Atari hasn’t existed as a corporate entity for years now, but what makes the story work is that there’s something just plain cool about the idea. It integrates music (already a key theme this season, and used with great focus throughout the episode) with the story itself, and eventually gives Chuck to save the world through a very Chuck-like medium.

What’s made Chuck work so well this season is its ability to slow down. Both of Josh Schwartz’s shows (this and The CW’s Gossip Girl) are in a period of transition, but with Gossip Girl everything goes from 0-60 within a single episode. Here, we get a slow introduction to the new Assistant Manager (played as an intelligent rendition of Buster Bluth by the awesome Tony Hale), who isn’t immediately this super villain figure within our storylines. Similarly, the first few episodes haven’t used Chuck’s lack of direction as a crutch, but let (after the intersect was destroyed) him get settled before Sarah raises the concern here and, eventually, it is settled in a highly satisfying fashion.

It’s like the entire show is a pay-off for things we didn’t know we wanted: did we know that Jeff would serve as such a genius comic device, whether through his hair, his drunken passing out in Chuck’s Apartment (“You take the brunette, I’ll take the blonde, *falls on floor*”), his “I’m Lost” card, or his eventual return to the glory of Missile Command in the episode’s final coda? And, were we really hoping for a “King of Kong” inspired montage of 40-something nerds all descending on the Buy More for an epic stage-twirling showdown organized by “4-time Mamma Mia! roadie” Morgan?

The episode was a great collection of little moments that felt more in vein with the show’s M.O. (Sarah in the Nerd Herd outfit is perhaps the finest example, Captain Awesome’s “wang” line being another) and then this totally out of left field collection of fantastic ideas. I guess we should get used to this: greatness is no longer some surprising improvement over an uneven first season, but a consistent reminder that Chuck may well be the most fun you can have this season.

Cultural Observations

• There was some good use of Chuck as Interesect tonight: the flashes moved the plot along without the need for any big moments, and while it could have limited the impact of the near-world-ending satellite issue I think that the smallness (mostly for budget reasons) felt justified within the story of the episode. I do wonder whether the intersect really works as it did when Chuck flashed on the TV station (I know he just got it updated, but that seemed to be on-the-fly information) through the TV, but I’m willing to go with it.
• The show had a lot of fun with a lot of the little things in this episode: Jeff’s amazing Anna-stalker video (lame use of musical montage, Tony Hale? I think not!), Anna’s hula outfit, plus the great little introduction to the episode where it appears that there was a mission we didn’t get to see. The fake moustache/cover identities bit was really neat, as it gives us a sense that there’s things we’re not seeing.
• And yes, it was impossible to look Captain Awesome in the eye knowing what he did when he was on Mad Men on Sunday night (No spoilers for those who haven’t watched the latter yet, but Ryan McPartlin shows up in a key guest role).
• I can’t believe I (at first) forgot to mention the joke that made my tech geek side laugh the hardest: the Zune/iPod line was executed with sheer brilliant timing, and with a sense of geek culture so strong that I don’t know if this show can be topped in that department.

Back in the early 80’s, I had a buddy who had an Atari game system. My family had a “Pong” game, and I was AWESOME at it (it was the first game I ever beat my Dad at!), but the Atari had different games and was really cool! So I would spend hours over at Sean’s house playing 1-on-1 basketball and Space Invaders and Pac-Man and all kinds of fun games!

Now let’s flash ahead to 2008. This past weekend, my lovely sister brought for me an Atari game system console called the “Atari Flashback 2″, all PRELOADED with about 30 or so games! Yahoo! How glorious was this?!?! I could play Atari ALL DAY and never have to change a cartridge or anything! Just sit downstairs in my underwear drinking juice boxes and eating Doritos and laughing and having my fun while the kids and my wife listened from upstairs, all concerned that maybe daddy has lost his mind a little bit. Oh what fun!

So I plugged it in, all set to hunker down and play some Centipede or Missile Command or Dig Dug or whatever else was on this thing and I flip it on and start playing with that controller gizmo that has one arm and a red button and I realized something…

It ain’t 1983. This stuff SUCKS! The graphics SUCK! The controller SUCKS! The silly console that it came in SUCKS! There is a reason why we have progressed to where we are in the gaming world and it’s because Atari basically SUCKS! Oh…don’t get me wrong…it was AWESOME back in the day! But now? It doesn’t even compare to a Wii or a Playstation. I tried to play one game and it was so slow I thought maybe it was broken! So I tried another…same result. So I started flipping through the games. It was cool seeing all the different titles that were on it, but I had no interest in wasting anymore of my time. I packed it back up and stuck it in the box. I then promptly hooked the Wii back in and played a round of golf and bowled a 215.

Ah…the good old days! I miss them…but I don’t miss them THAT much. Thanks for the memories Kathy! But some things you can NEVER go back too…and that includes an ugly pink, cutoff t-shirt and the ability to do the “caterpillar”.  LOL

Since there’s only one game on side 1, I am combining both sides into one post.

Picnic Paranoia

It’s Picnic Paranoia! And the bugs are after your food! You play as “George,” a diminutive picnic guard with a flyswatter that’s about half as big as the bugs you are swatting. Your job is to keep the ants away from your food, but oddly enough, you can’t walk on your own picnic blanket/tables (the yellow area in the screenshot), so once an ant gets on the yellow it’s out of reach for poor George. Once enough ants get behind a piece of food they start dragging it away. Fortunately, once they get off the table/blanket you can swat ‘em again and push the food back onto the table. Good luck with that, though, for as the levels go on, the ants get faster and more numerous. In addition, jumping spiders create webs you’ve gotta swat through, and every so often, a wasp appears that is bigger than you that can sting you and leave you out of the action for a few crucial seconds.

Picnic Paranoia is a fun little game. The graphics are decent, although it’s just one screen, and the sounds are suitably annoying for bugs (especially the wasp). There’s also a “night” mode, where you can’t see the ground or the yellow tables/cloths, but for some reason can still see the bugs (must be those bio-luminescent ants). Add to all of this the title screen sequence, featuring the song “Flight of the Bumblebee,” and you’ve got the frenetic recipe for Picnic PARANOIA!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Obligatory accordion performance, uh, remix

Claim Jumper

Well, howdy, pardners! Y’all’ve moved West lookin’ fer gold in them thar hills, but yer neighbor’s shootin’ from the hip! OK, I’ll stop. Claim Jumper involves two cowboys, fashionably dressed in green and, um, pink, wrasslin’ for money in the Ol’ West. The entire game takes place on one screen, where the two cowpokes race for a piece of gold and take it to the assay office. The assayers then give out a stack of money, which a cowboy can then take back to his bank. The trouble is, obstacles such as cacti, snakes, and blobby-things (tumbleweed?) are blocking the way, and every time a player touches an obstacle that is not his color (or anyone touches a cactus) he gets stunned for a few seconds, at which time the other player can grab the gold or money and skedaddle. The blobs and snakes move around the field pursuing the opposite-color player, but don’t worry: a player can poop out eggs or, um, brown things, to get a snake to change into a blob or vice versa and chase after the opponent.

The best part of this game, though, comes from shooting each other. Each player’s got a gun, which can be used to either shoot a snake or blob (either killing it or turning it into the opposite type), or each other. When a cowpoke gets shot his hat flies off and an ignominious “wah-waaah” plays, after which the player us moved to one of the two “hospitals” in the corners. You can even bank shots off the corners of the hospitals in case your opponent is way ahead of you and heading for his bank. Yee-ha!

Once a player fills up his bank, he gets a new house, not to mention 20,000 points. Since the object of the game is to get to 25,000 points, and you get points for every blob or snake you convert, usually filling up the bank with ten stacks of cash signals the end of the game. Different game options include a “head start” mode, where one or both of the players start with five bills already in the bank, or a “buy bullets” mode, where you get a limited number of bullets and must buy more if you run out. This mode was never popular in our house, as the main point of the game for us was to shoot each other as often as possible.

Claim Jumper is an infectiously fun game, and definitely among my very favorites for the system. It’s a rare Atari game where both the players play at the same time (most early games featured the old “alternating” faux-2-player system). Was this game the precursor to more modern FPS multiplayer modes? Could be, but instead of having to deal with n00bs and l33t-sp33k, you can just grab a real-life friend and duke it out among blobs and pooped-out eggs. And by gum, it’s fun.

Once again, highly recommended, pardners!

Zaxxon

Zaxxon employs the completely unique gameplay of “you’re in a space jet, blowing stuff up that scrolls past.” The difference in this game is that the stuff comes at you in an isometric perspective (apparently the first use of the isometric perspective in video game history). Your mission is to destroy the Zaxxon defense force. This mission consists of three stages. First, you must fly through a fortress-type area, where tanks are shooting at you and there is the ever-present danger of flying into a force-field or wall. Your job is to blow up fuel tanks to somehow refill your fuel before it runs out, and destroy grounded enemy aircraft. The aircraft you don’t destroy comes back in the second stage, apparently with reinforcements, and you must destroy them all to proceed to Zaxxon itself. I don’t know what that part entails, though, since I’ve never gotten past the second stage! That’s right, folks, Zaxxon is a game I never really got good enough at to be able to see the whole thing. You only get three lives, and the collision detection is spotty at best, especially during the second stage, where you can’t really tell where the enemy aircraft are in relation to the ground and they are constantly shooting, with little room and time to maneuver around their shots.

Zaxxon can be fun, and the graphics were certainly groundbreaking, but if you want to be in a plane shooting stuff the concept is better implemented in other games. Or, you could also pick up a copy of Zaxxon for a different system, hoping the graphics aren’t as confusing as they are in the Atari 8-bit version. Either way, good luck!

Defender

Another in the line of “spaceship/jet shooting stuff that scrolls by” games, Defender has you flying over looping mountainous terrain, defending your homeland (which consists of little flag-things) from abducting aliens. You’ve got a high-tech laser that you use to destroy the invaders, of which there are six types: Landers (small green aliens like in the screenshot that kidnap your flag-people), Mutants (when a Lander reaches the top of the screen with a human and, like in checkers, gets more powerful moves), Bombers (box-things that lay mines everywhere), Pods (slow-moving star-shaped aliens that when blown up transform into Swarmers), Swarmers (pie-shaped aliens that move fast, shoot fast, and come out of Pods), and Baiters (annoying, Evil Otto-type flying saucers that hunt you down if you take too long). When all enemies are destroyed on a level (except Baiters), the wave is complete and you advance to the next, where there are more and faster enemies.

The controls take a bit of getting used to, since whenever you turn around the screen shifts rapidly and you actually end up sliding a fair distance backward, but the gameplay is smooth, the difficulty level is high without being frustrating, and the explosions are fun to see fill up the screen. Plus, if things get too hectic, the player is armed with three “smart bombs” that immediately destroy everything on the screen. Defender is quite a fun shoot-’em-up space game, and I recommend it for anyone just looking to ’splo some stuff up.

Obligatory remix

Missile Command

Ah, another classic. In Missile Command you play as the defender (hmm. . .a trend is developing. . .)of six cities under constant missile threats. The missiles streak down the screen as flashing dots, occasionally splitting, MIRV style, into several missiles, as they streak inevitably toward the populace. The only deterrent is your anti-missile battery, which can fire missiles to stop their missiles from missiling the cities. Some missiles are dropped by flying aircraft or UFOs (worth bonus points if destroyed), and some are “smart bomb” missiles that can change direction to avoid your missiles.

If you’re looking for a game with a higher concentration of the word “missile” in its description, you’d be hard pressed to find one (eleven in the previous paragraph). The gameplay was more than just point ‘n click, since due to the delay of your missiles firing your timing had to be just in front of any missile paths to successfully destroy one. Also, you had limited ammo, and once you ran out (or the missile battery itself got blown up), you could only watch helplessly as the enemy missiles obliterated your thriving metropolises. Did I mention that, after every level, it sped up until it was running at an inhuman speed?

Missile Command was simple, yet fun, and an enduring game. In fact, it has been ported to an enormous variety of consoles and computers, and, in fact, they’re still doing it (a version is out for the Xbox 360 right now). Give it a “shot,” and save our cities from missile annihilation!

Well, that finally does it for Disk 5. Coming up next: Disk 6, featuring Buck Rogers, Joust, Kaboom, Popeye, and BC’s Quest for Tires. Until then, folks!