Speaking of explosive, this video I found on YouTube totally blew me away:

As you may have already surmised from the title, the video features the classic game Star Trek: The Motion Picture for the Vectrex.

The Vectrex? Oh, yeah, you might not have heard of this 80s console. It’s an 8-bit video game console developed by Smith Engineering and distributed by General Consumer Electric and eventually by Milton Bradley Company in the early 1980s. The Vectrex was markedly different from its contemporaries in the sense that you didn’t need to plug it into a television to play games as it had its own monitor.

Going back to the topic at hand, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was one of the first games created for the Vectrex Arcade System. The object of the game is simple: Fly the USS Enterprise through nine space sectors and destroy everything the ship encounters with phasers and photon torpedoes.

It’s a great game, despite its simplicity. But if you have a Vectrex, you might want to check it out. Oh, and to answer your unanswered question, yes, that’s the Enterprise. It looks like a Klingon Bird of Prey, though, or a Romulan Warbird.

Post from: EveryJoe

Woot! Star Trek: The Motion Picture for the Vectrex

Kohler\\\\\\\’s first book, Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, was published by BradyGAMES in September 2004. Kohler completed the research for Power-Up as a Fulbright scholar to Kyoto, Japan. He graduated summa cum laude with highest thesis honors from Tufts University. He has contributed to books such as Gaming Hacks for O\\\\\\\’Reilly and High Score! Second Edition for McGraw-Hill.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nAll that aside, he would most like to be remembered as having starred as the first guard after Vulcan Raven in the Easy mode of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes for Nintendo GameCube.

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nNow, who wouldn\\\\\\\’t be interested in taking a gander at Retro Gaming Hacks? It\\\\\\\’s chockful of retro gaming goodies, such as guides on how to buy and run old consoles like the Atari 2600 and the Nintendo Entertainment System, and how to play classic games on contemporary consoles and platforms, like from Arcade to PC and Macintosh.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nLet me just shut up and give you a summary of the book in a few paragraphs:\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n

Maybe it was the recent Atari 2600 milestone anniversary that fueled nostalgia for the golden days of computer and console gaming. Every Game Boy must ponder his roots from time to time. But whatever is driving the current retro gaming craze, one thing is certain: classic games are back for a big second act, and they\\\\\\\’re being played in both old and new ways.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nWhether you\\\\\\\’ve just been attacked by Space Invaders for the first time or you\\\\\\\’ve been a Pong junkie since puberty, Chris Kohler\\\\\\\’s Retro Gaming Hacks is the indispensable new guide to playing and hacking classic games. Kohler has complied tons of how-to information on retro gaming that used to take days or weeks of web surfing to track down and sort through, and he presents it in the popular and highly readable Hacks style.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nRetro Gaming Hacks serves up 85 hard-nosed hacks for reviving the classic games. Want to game on an original system? Kohler shows you how to hack ancient hardware, and includes a primer for home-brewing classic software. Rather adapt today\\\\\\\’s equipment to run retro games? Kohler provides emulation techniques, complete with instructions for hacking a classic joystick that\\\\\\\’s compatible with a contemporary computer. This book also teaches readers to revive old machines for the original gaming experience: hook up an Apple II or a Commodore 64, for example, and play it like you played before.

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nWhat are you waiting for? Go grab the book and enjoy 502 pages of pure retro gaming goodness.

Post from: EveryJoe

Retro Gaming Hacks by Chris Kohler: Highly recommended

\r\n\r\nSo who hasn\’t heard of The Three Stooges? You know, Larry, Curly and Moe? No? Doesn\’t ring a bell? Well, if you have no inkling who the three are, then you probably don\’t belong to the generation that watched the original black and white series or their voluminous re-runs.\r\n\r\nI watched a few seasons on the boobtube when I was younger, even the ones with Shemp in it. Yep, before Curly, Shemp was the one taking the beating from Moe, and sometimes Larry. Hmmm, before I go on to the gist of the story, let\’s take a closer look at The Three Stooges. Who were they and what did they have to do with television and video games?\r\n\r\n

The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid-20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. They were commonly known by their first names: \”Larry, Moe, and Curly,\” and \”Moe, Larry, and Shemp,\” among other lineups.\r\n\r\nThe act originally featured Moe Howard (played by Harry Moses Horwitz), brother Shemp Howard (played by Samuel Horwitz), and longtime friend Larry Fine (played by Louis Feinberg). Shemp was later replaced by brother Curly Howard (Jerome Lester Horwitz) in 1933. When Curly suffered a stroke in 1946, Shemp rejoined the act.\r\n\r\nThe Stooges\’ hallmark was physical slapstick comedy (yes, the ones where you see guys hitting one another) punctuated by quickly delivered one liners within outrageous storylines.

\r\n\r\nSo you see, they were more than ripe for the picking for video game developers wanting a shot at bagging part of the legacy left by The Three Stooges.\r\n\r\nCinemaware and Activision won the rights and released in 1987 a video game entitled, well, The Three Stooges, for the Amiga. Later, the game was ported to different systems, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Gameboy Advance. I played the game on the PC, a version released much later.\r\n\r\nThe game involves Moe, Larry and Curly playing mini arcade games derived from classic Stooges films. The goal is to raise enough money, $5,000 to be exact, to save an old widow\’s orphanage. The Three Stooges, according to many industry experts, was quite advanced for its time, featuring sampled speech (yes, the characters talk using the voices of the actors), and multiple endings.\r\n\r\nTo raise the dough, The Three Stooges need to play through several mini-games such as throwing pies at rich restaurant customers, competing in a cracker-eating competition, and pitting Curly against a giant of a man in a boxing match.\r\n\r\nI tried playing the game in a licensed online version … and found out that I suck at the mini-games I used to ace. Sad.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Three Stooges: Crazy retro gaming

Oh, I used to enjoy playing it, back when I was, what, 10 years old. I thought I could rekindle the flame by watching a video of Swashbuckler, but no go, unlike other Apple II video games.

The problem: Swashbuckler grew old pretty quickly. Check out this entry in Wikipedia about the reception of the game (emphasis in bold face mine):

Computer Gaming World gave Swashbuckler a glowing review, only lamenting the rollover of the five-digit score at 250 (which was fixed prior to final publication), appended by an editor’s note that, although the graphics were superb and the concept somewhat unique, the players at CGW grew tired of the lack of variety after a few dozen kills.

Not convinced it’s a bad game? If you can sit down in front of the PC for the entire length of the video, Paul might give you a cookie.

Post from: EveryJoe

Swashbuckler: I don’t know why I even played this game

What’s funny about the whole situation is I honestly can’t remember how many video games I played on the Apple II, or what their titles are, for that matter. So every time I come across an Apple II video game, I tick it off in my mental checklist. To date, I’ve written about, hmmm, let’s see, Karateka, Ancient Art of War, Archon, Hard Hat Mack, Operation Wolf, and Choplifter. I have also mentioned in passing Taipan and The Ghostbusters.

There’s still more! I remember playing a game where I took on the role of a robot or cyborg. The objective of the game is to jump from floor to floor or room to room, battle enemy robots with four, I think, different weapons with different properties. Enemy robots also have differing properties, so you have to experiment on which weapons affect them best.

Sigh. Sorry about that. Reminiscing again. Alas, my Apple IIc is gone, thanks to a family of rodents that built a nest on its motherboard. The memories of and experiences with the Apple IIc will, however, live on.

Now, I just have to content myself with watching videos.

Fortunately, I know that somewhere on the World Wide Web there are copies of these Apple II video games and the emulators to play them. Time to start searching.

Post from: EveryJoe

Missing my Apple II and the video games I played on it

For those who are totally unfamiliar with what seems like a Rorschach inkblot test, it is a screenshot from Choplifter, a 1982 Apple II game developed by Dan Gorlin and published by Broderbund. Yes, this image triggered a memory, of playing Choplifter almost 16 hours a day on my old Apple IIc back in the early 80s, and enjoying every minute of it.

In my mind, it belongs up there with other classics like Karateka, Lode Runner, Taipan, and Hard Hat Mack.

Here’s a short overview of Choplifter’s gameplay:

In Choplifter, the player takes on the role of a combat helicopter pilot (yes, that blob of green in the middle of the image above is actually a helicopter). The player attempts to save hostages being held as prisoners of war in territories ruled by the evil Bungeling Empire. The player must collect these hostages and transport them to his base. Of course, the player needs to do these while battling tanks and other enemies.

Not as exciting as today’s collection of air rescue sims, I know, but in the 80s it was the best. It’s really not because of the graphics, but the challenge … now, that was something. Going into enemy territory, busting out the hostages and transporting them to safety aren’t easy, I tell you. Well, actually, that’s the easy part. Getting your chopper to move the way you want to, that’s the real challenge.

Haha! Sorry, sorry. Just a little snippet of memory triggered by Choplifter again. What’s it about? Well, it’s about a ten-year-old boy trying his darned best to keep a virtual helicopter aloft using a two-pound joystick while dodging rockets and machine gun fire.

Sigh. There must be an online version of the game somewhere. Methinks it’s time to look for one. Meantime, why don’t you guys take a gander at Choplifter in all its Apple II glory in this video:

Post from: EveryJoe

Choplifter: Hey, hostages, need a lift?

What? You’ve never heard of Lode Runner? Well, that’s kinda impossible, but for those who aren’t kidding when they say that they’ve never even seen stick man running around brick platforms, climbing stairs and collecting mounds of what seems to be gold dust, here’s a little backgrounder for you:

Lode Runner is a 1983 platform game, first published by Broderbund. It’s one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game’s popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests to see who could build the best level.

The prototype of what later became Lode Runner was a game developed by Douglas Smith of Renton, Washington, who at the time was an architecture student at the University of Washington. This prototype, called (ironically!) Kong, was written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer limited to one building on the UW campus. Shortly thereafter, Kong was ported to VAX minicomputers, as there were more terminals available on campus. The game was programmed in Fortran and used ASCII character graphics. When Kong was ported to the VAX, some Pascal sections were mixed into the original Fortran code.

In a weekend (around September 1982), Smith was able to build a crude, playable version in 6502 assembly language on an Apple II+ and renamed the game Miner. Through the end of the year, Smith refined that version, which was black-and-white with no joystick support. He submitted a rough version to Broderbund around 1982 and received a one-line rejection letter in response to the effect of “Sorry, your game doesn’t fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products.”

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 Broderbund.

And the rest, as they say, is history. I still play Lode Runner, although I must admit that I’m not as good as I used to be, especially when I had been playing the game on my old Apple IIc.

The gameplay is simple. The player controls a, sigh, stick figure who must collect all the gold in a level while avoiding robots (oh, those stick figures going after the good stick figure were robots?). After collecting all the gold, the player must travel to the top of the screen to reach the next level. There are 150 levels in the game which progressively challenge the players’ problem-solving skills and reaction times.

At this point, let me just shut up and make you watch a video of the game:

Post from: EveryJoe

Lode Runner belongs up there with Mario, Sonic and Donkey Kong

Whenever you activate the game Snake on your shiny Nokia phone, have you ever paused to think who programmed the game or if the mobile phone is the game’s first platform? No, I didn’t think so.

Well, I did. Not because of curiosity, unfortunately. It’s because I programmed a game just like Snake in Basic language back in the early 80s on my rusty Apple IIc.

“Wait! You mean to say you’re the creator of the first Snake game?”

Duh, no. What I mean is, “I was around 10 years old at that time, and I had been studying how to write different programs on Basic. One of the programs listed in the book I had been using as a guide was Worms, the original title of the game.”

“Really?” Yes, really.

Here’s a short history lesson, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Snake is a video game that came out in the late 1970s and has maintained popularity since then, becoming somewhat of a classic. The player controls a long, thin creature, resembling a snake, which roams around one a bordered plane, picking up food (or some other item), trying to avoid hitting its own tail or the “walls” that surround the playing area. Each time the snake eats a piece of food, its tail grows longer, making the game increasingly difficult. The user controls the direction of the snake’s head (up, down, left, right), and the snake’s body follows. The player cannot stop the snake from moving while the game is in progress.

Wait! Before I post more about Snake’s history, let me point out that in my Basic version of the game, pressing a key in an attempt to make the snake move in the opposite direction kills the snake as it also, technically, counts as bumping into its body. Anyway …

The Snake variety of games originated with the arcade game Blockade, released by Gremlin in 1976. The first known microcomputer version of Snake, titled Worm, was programmed in 1978 by P. Trefonas on the TRS-80 computer, and published by CLOAD magazine the same year. This was followed shortly afterwards with versions from the same author for the PET and Apple II computers.

So next time you activate Snake on your mobile phone, remember that the Snake was once a Worm.

For more retro gaming goodness, keep reading Re:Retro. Those interested in mobile phones, their accessories and applications, try browsing through Cellphone9, another quality technology blog from b5media.

Image shows Kurt Russel reprising the role of Snake Plissken, the protagonist in the film Escape from L.A. by John Carpenter.

Post from: EveryJoe

When Snake was still a Worm

It’s the Tomy Digital Derby, and I’ve scoured the web for pictures and videos of this jellopy right after rediscovering its name. I have, however, settled on posting a video of how the Tomy Digital Derby works:

The reason why I put the word video between quotation marks is because the Tomy Digital Derby isn’t really digital, meaning it’s not a real video game, but a mechanical game. The left lane on the screen moves constantly, while movement of your plastic car on the right lane is controlled via a gear shift. The wheel, on the other hand, moves the little car sideways to simulate overtaking.

Sigh. Memories. Talk about blast from the past.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tomy’s Digital Derby: My first handheld ‘video’ game

I also remember that the different Shakey’s branches in this little tropical country I call home had different video arcade machines, ergo, different video games.

The most memorable, though, is Night Driver, a 1976 arcade game developed and released by Atari Inc. Its claim to fame is that it is the original first-person racing game, and is touted to be the first published video game to display real-time first-person graphics.

Like today’s generation of video racing games, Night Driver requires you, the player, to drive your car along a road at, obviously, nighttime without crashing into the sides of the road, as indicated by roadside reflectors (yeah, those dots on the side of the road are actually reflectors).

Despite its claim to fame, however, Night Driver’s car isn’t composed of bits and bytes on a computer screen but just a printed plastic insert laid under the screen. Yes, it’s the background that moves.

Alas, the ban imposed by then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on video games in public places put an end to that era when video games can be had while eating juicy slices of pizza (and swigging frothy mugs of beer).

Post from: EveryJoe

Playing Night Driver while bands rocked Shakey’s