Does Not Compute

Jason Bean — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:59:48 +0000

I’ve been a self-taught, figure-it-out, just-do-it technology lover. I’m not sure when it was that I decided I loved working with computers. I remember having a TRS-80 that I would write little programs for and save them on the cassette deck. The programs were just a glorified screen saver, but they were pretty cool at the time. However, that didn’t really grab my attention.

Image Source: sxc.hu

In grade school I always enjoyed the limited time I was able to play on the Apple IIe and other computers we had available. I had a few friends with Commodore 64’s and Commodore 128’s, as well as getting my taste of compuer graphics with the Amiga we had in art class in high school. College gave me more exposure as well as my first class in computer science, which I quickly dropped after the first class covered how to turn on the machine.

So what is it about this thing called the computer that’s grabbed my world? Is it just the computer or has it been due to the Internet?

What do you love about these things? Is it the device itself that you enjoy and the different things it can be programmed to do, or is it just because it’s one of the easiest and most useful ways to connect to the World Wide Web.

Since you’re reading the “Computers” section of this website, what are you really interested in? One thing? Both things? or just about everything?

Let me know.

Post from: EveryJoe

Does Not Compute

Kojima’s Inspirations are from Another World

Nadia — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:01:50 +0000

I’m always interested in the events and objects that inspire a creator, which is why I find this article, Five Games That Matter In Hideo Kojima’s Life, so interesting.

(Poof! Now you find it interesting, too.)

The list includes obvious picks like Super Mario Bros–everyone remembers how Snake came to be in Super Smash Bros Brawl–but I am especially pleased to see the inclusion of Another World, known to North Americans as Out Of This World, known to the entire world as “Oh God, this game is psychotic.”

Psychotic, yes. You (as scientist Lester Knight Chaykin) are suddenly left to fend for yourself on an alien planet after a failed experiment and you very much feel abandoned and helpless. Everything wants to eat you, poison you or at least imprison you and none of the hulking grey aliens speak anything close to English. They also seem apathetic and stoic to the point that your hot fleshling bod does not distract them from their militant lifestyle. They don’t much care about learning about you, but they’ll blast you if you sneeze. If any one game ever had a challenge level perfectly suited to its environment, it’s Out of This World.

Hideo Kojima, I applaud your love for stark, ash-strewn alien worlds.

(Image copyright Eric Chahi)

Post from: EveryJoe

Kojima’s Inspirations are from Another World

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Does Not Compute

Kojima’s Inspirations are from Another World