How did the guys up at Arthur’s Hall come up with the idea of giving the world such a list of video games? Shatner (yes, after William Shatner), Arthur’s Viking Assistant, gives us the details:

I had a discussion with Arthur the other day regarding the question, “Are video games manly?” While wasting your life away on a couch playing video games isn’t quite as manly as killing small animals for food, or going to war against the forces of tyranny, we decided that in the end, video games are a manly form of entertainment.

Here’s how I went through Arthur’s Hall’s list:

Pro Wrestling on the Nintendo Entertainment System … check. Counter-Strike on the PC … check. Double Dragon on the NES, in the Arcade, and on the Sega Master System … check. Street Fighter II on multiple systems … check. Ikaruga on the Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo GameCube … what the hell’s Ikaruga? Tecmo Bowl on the NES … never played it since American Football is a very alien sport in my country. Metal Slug on the Neo Geo … check. Custer’s Revenge on the Atari 2600 … yeah, saw it when I was younger but didn’t understand the object of the game (which was to order General Custer to, uhmmm, ravish a young Indian girl). Mike Tyson’s Punch Out on the NES … check. And finally Contra on the NES … perfect!

Then I thought, “Waitaminute! Where’s Leisure Suit Larry?

Leisure Suit Larry is the series of adventure games written by Al Lowe (hail to the chief!) and published by Sierra On-Line from the 1980s to the present. The character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing “loser” in his 40s who spends much of his life trying, usually unsuccessfully, to seduce attractive women.

Undoubtedly, Leisure Suit Larry is the manliest game of all time … that is, if Larry is a bit more manly looking. But where’s the adventure in playing a good-looking, hunky guy in his 40s with the goal of chasing, always successfully, nubile young and attractive women?

Here’s a short overview courtesy of Wikipedia:

Leisure Suit Larry originally stemmed from ideas of Sierra’s first adventure game Softporn Adventure created by designer Chuck Benton. The Larry games were one of Sierra’s most popular games series during the genre’s heyday when it was first released in the mid 1980s. As such, they remain well-known among fans of the type today. The series stands out among Sierra’s catalog in that they are the only games the company produced that contain significant sexual themes.

In general, the games follow Larry’s escapades as he attempts (and mostly fails) to convince a variety of young nubile women (rendered with increasing sophistication throughout the series) to have sex with him. A common link between the games are Larry’s explorations of luxurious and cosmopolitan hotels, ships, beaches, resorts and, more commonly, casinos. One of Larry’s trademarks is his manner of introducing himself: “Hi, my name is Larry; Larry Laffer,” a reference to James Bond’s introduction style, “My name is Bond; James Bond.”

Because of the nature of the games, the first and third episodes of the series featured an age verification system, which consisted of a series of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. However, many of the questions were United States-centric and this frustrated some non-U.S. gamers. Also, the multiple-choice questions did little to deter adolescents with some patience and a notepad.

Post from: EveryJoe

10 Manliest Video Games of All Time: What, no Leisure Suit Larry?!?

\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

For those who have no inkling of what stop motion animation is, here’s a short description from Wikipedia:

Stop motion (or frame-by-frame) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved by small amounts between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames are played as a continuous sequence. Clay figures are often used in stop motion animations, known as claymation, for their ease of repositioning.

Well, now we know that clay isn’t the only good medium for stop motion animation. There’s also Lego, patient men and women, and just about anything you can get your hands on as this video proves:

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Retro games in stop motion video

Look, ma, no hands! It’s strange seeing Pac-Man land blows on the diminutive Mario without flailing arms and legs. It must be his, er, its big mouth.

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Pac-Man pwns Mario

Oh, for those wondering what Mugen is, here’s a brief description:

Mugen is a freeware 2D fighting game engine designed by Elecbyte, written in C with the Allegro library. The engine was originally released in July 1999. Beta versions of it were made to work on DOS, Linux and Windows platforms, distributed through their website. The engine allows users to insert created characters, background stages, and other game objects through interpreted text files, graphics, and sound compilations to create a functioning fighting game similar to commercial games.

Post from: EveryJoe

Mario versus Sonic on Mugen

This video is a classic. Made by Guillaume Reymond of the Gameover Project, the video is no laughing matter as it uses stop-motion photography and a dozen or so men and women. Yes! Live human beings!

Go check out the video and tell me afterward if it doesn’t command respect:

Actually, Guillame Reymond and the Gameover Project aren’t the only ones who uses live humans to test weird ideas, such as emulating an old popular video game like Tetris. The Japanese are probably way ahead of them in terms of entertainment and ingenuity as this video proves:

Post from: EveryJoe

Tetris, according to Guillaume Reymond

Here’s the description that came with the video of the World’s Largest Tetris:

Take a Linux computer, a joystick-frequency radio, 10,000 Christmas lights, a building, and you have the biggest game of Tetris in the world. Here is the largest Tetris game made with lights in a building. Amazing!

The author of the video neglected to tell us how much they spent on their electricity bill.

Well, without further ado, I present to you (what else?) the LARGEST GAME OF TETRIS:

Check out Re:Retro’s other postings on Tetris.

Post from: EveryJoe

Playing Tetris on a building facade

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?

Creative, yes, but the idea of Tetris blocks raining from the sky and sowing terror is preposterous. Not that I don’t like the images. I especially dig the one entitled “The Geometry Revenge” featuring two plus-sized chicks ducking in fear of getting hit by L-shaped Tetris blocks.

Well, if you’re looking for creativity in using Tetris as a medium, here’s probably the most creative video ever:

Tetris: The Movie anyone?

Images courtesy of Eduardo! on flickr and Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins on Penny Arcade.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tetris: Fear those blocks

Of course, compared with today’s generation of pinball simulation games, Raster Blaster looks crude, with only a handful of bumpers, slingshots, and targets. We have to hand it to Bill Budge, writer and designer of Raster Blaster and its successors, though. He, and not Raster Blaster, paved the way for more elaborate and accurate pinball simulations.

So what made Raster Blaster such an accomplishment for Bill Budge? Well, for its time, the 1981 game featured full-screen high-resolution display of a real pinball game table. It actually resembles the classic Firepower table. The Apple II also wasn’t designed to support fast graphics, but Budge found a way to go around this such that Raster Blaster ran at such speed that it overshadowed other arcade-style video games in its generation.

So whatever happened to ol’ Bill Budge? Here’s the lowdown from Wikipedia:

Electronic Arts was formed in 1982 even as Bill Budge had been having problems running the business of writing video games and marketing them. Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins was so impressed by Budge’s titles that he invited Budge to join the initial group of EA developers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Too bad I wasn’t able to get my grubby hands on EA and Budge’s Pinball Construction Set. Now that would’ve been a blast (pun intended).

Image downloaded from Wikipedia and modified by Joel. The copyright to Raster Blaster and images pertaining to it belong to Bill Budge and BudgeCo.

Post from: EveryJoe

Mindless fun with my first pinball sim