Saturday, May 24, 2003

Ain't No Ho Just found out that my Blogwhore Quotient is only 25%.  Bet my mom is proud.  If you run a blog, or if you look like Wilfred Brimley, you should check your Blogwhore Quotient and check it often.  No reason not to. Related links: blogwhore 2:  the revenge of the blogwhore Why do you love Wilfred Brimley? Why do you hate Wilfred Brimley? 8:56:15 PM     |

Speaking Of Atari One of my favorite old games was Breakout.  That game and its many clones never grows old for me. For fans of the genre, here's a nice Flash version called Smashing.  Enjoy. 2:39:49 PM     |

10:18:39 AM     |

I Want One I never had an Atari 2600 (vintage ad).  Back when it came out in the late 70's, some of my friends ended up with one under the Christmas tree, but I never did  (I did end up with a kickass Boba Fett for Christmas 1979, though, worth a few grand to collectors today if I hadn't opened that box).  So if I ever wanted to play Asteroids or Centipede, it was a trip to the arcade with a pocket crammed with all the quarters I could dig out of the cushions of the couch.  Not a completely unhappy ending to this story;  I did get an Atari 5200 in 1982.  Didn't have nearly the popularity of the 2600, but at the time, it was an amazing machine. But just recently it has become possible to relive some of the magic by getting ahold of an Atari 10-in-1 controller.  Checking on Amazon.com and ThinkGeek, it appears the item is no longer currently for sale, but will be again soon, and therefore soon to be in my possession.  Sure I can download an Atari 2600 emulator and play the games on my computer, or buy an Atari nostalgia game pack for the PS2, but both would lack the look and feel of the original controller.  This 10-in-1 thingie is going to be a time machine in my hands, taking me back to the days when I was sitting at a friend's house playing Missile Command wishing I had one for my own.  All this is difficult to understand for someone under the age of 25, I'm sure.  Looking at screenshots from those early games must envoke the same reaction as looking at dinosaur fossils -- you understand that they existed, but can't picture them come to life.  In the early 80's, though, those games were truly magical, addictive as hell, and some still surpass even the most technically complex games of today for sheer entertainment value.  For instance, a couple of students in my first period are fanatical about playing a Pac-man clone on my computer during any free moments they have after class.  They play it with just as much joy and energy as I did when I was nine.  That says a lot for a game that is over twenty years old. And the fact that I'm going to buy that Atari 10-in-1 controller says a lot for a game system ten years older than some of my students. Related links: Atari 2600 Video Computer System Legacy Atari Historical Society All About Asteroids Missile Command Explodes 9:49:01 AM     |

© Copyright 2005 Alex L. Mauldin.