rolling thread of stuff worth reading on videogames

brief twitter threads worth reading

every quarter, some of my students are familiar with the first video game easter egg. (warren robinett's name hidden in an extremely difficult-to-access room in 1980's Adventure for the atari vcs.) none of them know the connection it has to labor rights.

— ☽ anna anthropy ☾ (@adult_witch) October 22, 2018

http://videogamesdensetsu.tumblr.com/post/180100803290/designing-2d-graphics-in-the-japanese-industry

cool stuff

the insularity of jp devs' middleware extended pretty much all the way up until the past several years where they're now starting to adopt unreal engine en masse which is an interesting development

Great article, thanks for that

i can't recommend this series enough. very heavy on images.
Tracing the Influence: Stolen Images in Games

for example:

https://i.imgur.com/P3nF4yM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4Jrg5yk.jpg

great find!

https://gamehistory.org/simcity/
With soundtrack, sprites and 1991 prototype NES Sim City ROM!

that is really cool!

Yeah that was awesome!

this guy's obsession with fitting all the Mario universe games into a coherent timeline is entertaining

https://tay.kinja.com/tag/warped-pipes

Great stuff !

“Firstly, did the brothers actually even go on this journey together? Unlike its predecessor, The Lost Levels does not have a multiplayer mode and instead has players choose which character to play as at the start of the game. Also to the same point, the Princess specifically says “Our only hero” in the game’s conclusion. Is it possible that both brothers undertake this journey but separately and that only one succeeds in actually saving the Princess? Or are there even more timelines at work here then we realize? This will definitely be something to ponder moving forward.”

if he hasn't figured out the Four Marios theory then he's gonna run into problems

MUSHROOM KINGDOM HAS 4-CORNER SIMULTANEOUS 4-PIPE MARIO CUBE

Enjoyed this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlLPbLdHAJ0

i know there are no good podcasts but suspend disbelief for a second...

are there any ‘ good ‘ gaming podcasts

thats pretty broad, what in particular are you interested in?

like news vs reviews vs analysis/deep dives into games

hardcoregaming101's top games of all time series would be great deep dives if they would only let the people talk who are good at podcasting and at playing with others.

the only gaming podcast i ever listen to is three moves ahead which is a strategy podcast that mostly talks about strategy video games but sometimes board games too. it's... ok.

the only gaming podcast i ever listen to is three moves ahead which is a strategy podcast that mostly talks about strategy video games but sometimes board games too. it's... ok.

argh dreaded doublepost

i used to listen to one shot which is a tabletop podcast but the RPG wasn't particularly good and the improv wasn't particularly funny. i'd like to follow something like three moves ahead but for tabletop/RPGs

ive been meaning to check this out http://electricunderground.io/podcast/
based on the blog posts ive read on the site, it looks to be a very in-depth podcast about shmups

that being said, this is worth reading: http://electricunderground.io/is-low-latency-emulation-cheating/

i am also interested in the subject of gaming podcasts, i have never heard a good one

tho i find pretty much all books/film/media convo/review podcasts incredibly tedious

yeah thats my general feeling as well

like the 'personality-driven' review/podcast outlets like giant bomb or easy allies are real popular, but ime none of them are particularly insightful enough or share my taste enough to be worth my time

Pretty into the GI cast these days, although I mostly watch it on youtube. I see it as more of a workplace comedy than a podcast, per se.

the sad thing is that anybody who REALLY knows enough, and can put it together well enough and with interesting enough takes, to justify a podcast, should probably be doing something more lucrative with those skills. i'd love to know what longworth of "you must remember this"'s work week looks like --- does she make enough off of ad reads to justify all the reading the show implies, not to mention the work of writing a proper documentary script? most conversational podcasts would be way better as edited transcripts or just essays, but that's a lot more work and i'm not paying anybody so...

GI?

xpost i don't know her figures but i'd be shocked if you must remember this doesn't make pretty good money. but that's a globally known, hit podcast. you're right that there are easier ways to make a buck. particularly if you're starting from scratch.

yeah I mean I bet she's doing good with it now but it's more like, how do you put that much work into it for so long while building that audience?

Game Informer

https://youtu.be/iZT6JEOC3D8

I am not playing videogames for Presidents Day but watching videos of other people playing videogames.

Blindfolded, that is.

That is what you call irony.

https://retrobitch.wordpress.com/2019/02/12/pac-man-the-untold-story-of-how-we-really-played-the-game/

https://i.imgur.com/fRRY8YT.jpg

Hahah wow, I mean that's a fun read and the pics are beautiful, but she writes it like she's expecting a pulitzer for it.

Reminds me actually, Martin Amis's Invasion of the Space Invaders: An Addict's Guide to Battle Tactics, Big Scores and the Best Machine got republished towards the end of last year and it's so great, definitely worth picking up (if you can stomach buying anything of his these days).

Wonderful, joyous read that.

Thanks KM, good one

“May all your quarters be red ones” lol

“she writes it like she's expecting a pulitzer for it.”
Otm, tho still enjoyable!

Really like the idea behind the pac-man piece, the physical interaction and the real world signs. Like how you see a keyboard with worn WASD keys and you know the owner plays online shooters.

I'd never considered the imbalance of pac-man till now - trying to think of other coin-op games outside the pac-world that were one-handed. Was the atari Star Wars booth a single joystick?

I think it was more of a steering wheel with fire buttons on it?
QBert was one joystick, Marble Madness had one trackball.

oh Frogger as well!

I think it was more of a steering wheel with fire buttons on it?
QBert was one joystick, Marble Madness had one trackball.

― ( X '____' )/ (zappi)

it was a pilot's yoke, anyway you held it with two hands

berzerk had two joysticks, one to move and the other to fire, which i found wonderful

there will be loads of other top-down games that are joystick only. Mr Do for instance. Arkanoid is almost spinner-only?

Back it up bro, Mr Do had a weapon

Berzerk didn't have two joysticks, that was Robotron

i was a little bit confused with this article at first, then quickly realized that it was because i always keep my idle hand close to the gaming hand when playing a one joystick game. wouldn't feel right to have it up on the side of the machine.

TIL that.. I have always confused Robotron with Berzerk!

classic blunder

xp oh yeah wow you're right, I'd completely forgotten he could throw his ball thingy