The Eighties to the Ninties - Task Three

In my last blog I covered the introduction into gaming and the birth of home entertainment evolution. In this blog I will briefly continue the timeline and pick out the key points in gaming history that helped achieve what we now consider "good gaming".

The eighties ... this age saw the last days of arcade classics mentioned in my previous blog but also saw the arrival of a wave of consoles such as the Commodore 64 and the Spectrum ZX! Although these were milestones in home entertainment I think they took a backseat to hand-held consoles known as LCD Handhelds. The whirlwind craze was triggered by Nintendo who developed their "Game and Watch" line. The Game and Watch consoles were basically one-game handhelds with a simple, mobile and effective layout and an additional alarm and clock system. Nintendo produced 59 Game and Watch titles, including the Donkey Kong we all know and love and other classics such as the Legend of Zelda.

The mid-eighties to the ninties saw the arrival of life-changing consoles and games alike. Consoles such as the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and the Sega Master System were developed and released. In my mind the Nintendo and the Sega systems were arch-rivals! I've always considered Gaming to be a very competitive industry. Back in the mid-eighties it was the NES vs. the Master System, as time went on Nintendo upped the ante and challenged Sonys Playstation with the N64 and then the Playstation 2 with the Gamecube, etc etc. My point is that games production is very much like wrestling ... or not!

Games also played a vital role in the development of modern day gaming. For example Squaresoft dazzled the Japanese gaming culture when they released their roleplaying game; Dragon Quest in 1986 and then continued to please the gaming audience as they released the first Final Fantasy title (modelled after Dragon Quest) in 1987. Games started to branch off into unique genres after the mid-eighties and demanded a lot more input from the gamer lighting the fuse for a world-wide phenomenon as a result. Metal Gear was released on the MSX2 which required the gamer to use an element of espionage to defeat the game. My favourite genre, the "survival horror" genre, saw it's birth as Capcom released Sweet Home in 1989.

The eighties was a key stage in Gaming Development and was the catalyst in becoming one of the most popular forms of home entertainment. In 1988 Nintendo released their first issue of Nintendo Power, one of the first ever gaming magazines, this to me is evidence that gaming was becoming an extremely popular and profitable market. I feel that I have picked out the key points between the eighties and the ninties and this gives you a fairly clear indication of what heights the gaming market was being taken to.

"Cannot we not live in peace" .-Task Two-.

The quote is of course from the legendary "Command and Conquers Generals" and I thought what better way to open up a gaming related topic than to use a funny little quotation that some little rebel worker bellows as you send him to construct A GIANT SCUD LAUNCHER TO RAIN TOXIC DEATH ON YOUR ENEMIES!

Ahh ranting over and that feels great. Hopefully with that release the information to follow should be delivered in a somewhat normal and less agressive manner . . . but maybe not.

I'm sure that at least one time this week one of Mr P's generously supplied links have crashed once or twice. I've been reading through a few people's blogs and it appears different sources consider "what the first game was" differently. One source will reveal that the first game ever designed was in 1946 and was a missile simulation program. Another source will state that the digitalised "naughts and crosses" ( I can never win at naughts and crosses ... many people say I aven't got ze brains ... that hurt me :( ) in early 1950's was the first game to be created. All these sources but who do I believe? Now I was momentarily hood-winked for several weeks when one of my old multimedia lecturers informed me that Tomb Raider was actually the first game ever. Damn him! *shakes fist*

I am kidding with that last part, I never actually believed Tomb Raider was the first video game. I can imagine if I didn't insert this little snippit then i'd get to lessons on Tuesday and Mike and Joel would be standing infront of me pointing at the door I just entered through saying "Just go Matt, just ... go". Truth is I was getting bored of myself typing so I decided to add a little comedy piece ... I'm sure it made no one even smile ... I'll get back to typing

The most realistic would probably be the missile simulator so i'll go into a little bit of detail about that. The CRT (Cathode Ray Tube / Missile Simulator) was rumoured to be designed between 1946 to 1947 by a couple of legends that go by the names of Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. It's scary to think that maybe if the CRT wasn't developed then maybe in some alternative dimension, I wouldn't have World of Warcraft in this era! *shocks* I don't like thinking that, onwards! The patents for this blessed device were filed on January 25th 1947. The CRT used eight vaccum tube and simulated a missile being hurtled towards a target. Adjusting knobs was the only real input the player had with this game but i'm sure, at the time, it was addictive as Warcraft (World of,) although that's extremely hard to imagine...

Thomas: Coming out for a couple down the tavern Estle, me ol' mucka!
Estle: No mate, I need to hit this target a couple more times, this. is. so. addictive!
Thomas: ... ... ...
For legal reasons: this conversation never actually took place! Just so you all know that!

A couple of questions currently occupy my mind while writing this. Wait! Before you scroll down and skip this paragraph ... it relates to the task questions!! Still there? Good! *ahem* It's the year 1946 and the second World War has just ended. So why then did Thomas and Estle decide to release a war-based game as a form of entertainment? Surely after such a horrific war the last thing you want to do is simulate starting another by launching a stinger at some unsuspecting country?! That confuses me, mainly because I don't have an answer for it. "76, thus simulating destruction or explosion of the object which may be represented as an airplane, for example." That was quoted directly from the patent they filed in 1947. "destruction or explosion?!", "which may be represented by an airplane?!?". Oh boy! The media is all over violence in video games corrupting the minds of the innocent! They were raised on video game violence!! Rant over, let's move on!

I've spoken a little too much already so until the next major link in Gaming History I promise to be brief! Between 1947 and 1969 (when the first console was created) games were usually sotred on university mainframes, programmed by bored users in their spare time. Another strange point, the development of computer games came around because programmers were "bored". I think now would be a good time to point out that although I have done my research ( ... >.> ... <.< ) I cannot guarentee that this information is 100% correct ... so don't blame me if I try to feed you a pack of lies.

In 1969 the Magnavox Odyssey was released. A man called Ralph Baer developed the console so he could hook it up to a television set so he could play his favourite bat-and-ball games with extreme graphics. The prototype was bought by Magnavox and sold as the first ever video games console.

It was around this time that the GOLDEN AGE of video games sprang to life. I guess it was kind of like the Golden Age of Comics but with a lot less boring superheroes ... and no comics. Scratch that, it's nothing like the Golden Age of comics. The Golden Age of games saw the arrival of classic arcade games like Computer Space/Spacewar! (hmm... yet another war-based game!), Pacman, Asteroids and Space Invaders. A quote from wiki that makes me laugh relates to Nolan Bushnell who founded Atari. He was attending a demonstration of Magnavox's Odyssey and he played the game, Ping-Pong "but found it uninteresting and unimaginative". After this he went on to create Atari and released arcade classics such as PacMan and Asteroids. Like most "golden ages" in our history this one lost it's flare and the audience began to lose interest around the mid-80's. The end of the golden age seems to be a good point to leave this blog since I think i've talked too much rubbish already.

I'll end it with a quote since I'm weak topeer pressure and I enjoyed my last one! Wait!! I've already quoted! Except it was at the beginning ... Awww well ... I was kinda looking forward to this :(. Second part of the task will arrive shortly!

Wanton Destruction -.Task One.-

Second post in and you've all probably read the title and are now geared up for an exciting, or at the very least interesting, blog. To save disappointment later on I'll tell you now, it isn't ... you'll be bored! Move your cursor up a little bit and click the "close button" or just hit "back" a couple of times because this post is really only for one person... a very special person in my life (for the next three years anyway). Yes he is special because it's up to him whether I pass or fail this course ... scary stoof!

Okay ... Here's the blog I've decided to review for this weeks task. I don't really have any specific reasons for picking this blog but I do love the Chris Moyles so I decided to go with it. I first discovered about the unholy power of the Radio One blogs after listening to the respective station one Sunday whilst at work. I checked into it because, well, I like the way radio presenters speak. Radio presenters are talking all the time and they're shows are something like a blog in audio format. They speak, they spill their thoughts and opinions to an invisible audience and receive feedback through angry phonecalls and threatening texts. The reason I like Chris Moyles is because he really doesn't care about what his audience thinks of him. In theory this should be chaotic, he's not caring for the needs of his audience so technically they should hate him!! But this carefree style works in reverse, the audience love him and worship him like a role-model! Anyway ... yeah ... *exit trance* ... that's the reason I picked this blog.

Well OK ... the blog isn't by Chris Moyles BUT let's face it ... Moyles without Comedy Dave is like Ant without Dec, it just doesn't work! Now ... where did I put those questions?! Hmm ...

[Who's writing, and how do you perceive them to be?] Well I'm assuming, but don't hold me to this, that this blog has been written by the legend that is Comedy Dave! I make this assumption safely because just by reading his entry you can tell its his style of communicating. You can read the words and almost hear them coming out of the radio in his voice. Although this could be a clever ninja technique. Just from reading his blog you can pick out his characteristics, he's funny, he has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, and above all he's carefree like his partner in crime. I say he's funny because well ... he is! But this goes hand in hand with a higher level of intellect, because to be intentionally funny you need to be smart and sharp. To be intentionally funny you need to think about how you construct everything you say and how everything works, and even though his humour may not appeal to everyone there is no denying that he is somewhat humorous. Its this witty, sarcastic humour that reflects through his blogs and draws me to the conclusion that he is a funny character.

[How often do they write, what do they write about?] Well I won't lie and say they are totally, 100% devoted to blogging but the Radio One team do a pretty good job of keeping the site updated, posts of personal thoughts and slander are posted at least once a week which brings me to the next part of the question, what do they write about? The team cover personal topics but alot of their text seems to cover events that they do for the Radio One show, understandable really, and to fully understand what they're on about in some cases you need to tune in and listen ... which I don't think you can do around Leicester .. :'(

[Does blogging strike you as objective or more personal?] In this case I will say blogging is objective, the main reason being that I have been set a task, an objective in this case, and here I am detailing my answers to asked questions. But my honest opinion is that blogging cannot be totally objective and it cannot be totally personal. Most blogs have an objective, whether it's to talk trash about something on television that's annoyed you or to detail how you've got a crush on a girl in your class and will never be able to swoon her because she's dating the captain of the baseball team. Blogs have objectives!. That is my opinion and I expect people to disagree with me but I cannot see how a blog can not be objective, even if I talk about nothing the post still has some form of objective. A strong input to blogging is personality and feeling, which leads me to assume that you cannot have an objective without personal feeling and thoughts. For example I'm writing this objective blog but my personality and thoughts have a strong influence because I'm using my feelings and thoughts to create answers! Simple? Or not ... ? I've confused myself :(

[How do you see yourself using a blog? Do you feel comfortable writing for an invisible audience for example?] As long as I'm on this course, I'll be blogging :) ... short and sweet but straight to the point. Joking aside, to be honest if it wasn't for the course I'd probably never be blogging. I've never seen the attraction before, people write a diary-like entry and people write what they think about it, big deal. But in cases like mine they are exxxtrreeemeeleey helpful. Writing about what I like, what I hate etc and receiving feedback from my tutors and peers is a sure-fire way to improve my understanding of subjects and the way I perceive things. Does that answer the question? I guess so, but a more straight forward answer would be that I can see myself using blogs to get a collected opinion on a topic that plagues my mind at the time, just so I can get a better and wider understanding on it. I feel more comfortable talking to an invisible audience than real-life people. For example I much prefer talking over MSN than over the phone or face-to-face! Result of too much technology or a sheltered childhood? Who knows?! I don't know why but I prefer it so naturally blogging is going to appeal to me ... try getting me to talk this much in person ^_^

Well everyone's doing it so I'd thought I'd end the blog with a personal touch! A quote!! This one may tie in with my blog title ... but don't tell anyone >.> ... <.< ... >.>

The quotes from an old school game called Sam and Max: Hit the Road. It's an oldie but one of LucasArts finest! This quote in particular made me chuckle!

Max: another confused census taker?
Sam: Actually it was the Commissioner with another idiotic and baffling assignment.
Max: Does it involve wanton destruction?
Sam: We can only hope!

"Real Life" or "AFK"?!

You're probably thinking from reading my account title that I'm another anti-governmental figure with a grudge against the system, well. It gives me great pleasure to tell you ... you've hit the nail on the head with that assumption. I'm kidding ... and talking crap at the same time, hugely popular combination. Back on topic, I like discussing politics and the likes to any poor soul that happens to pop up on MSN but the truth is I know nothing about the subject*snigger* ... but it scares people so I win in the end. [cheapattempttomakefriends]Add me to MSN and you'll find out what I mean![/cheapattempttomakefriends]

Now that's over what do I talk about?! Since it's my first blog I should ... in theory ... talk about myself a little. Well i've just started University, studying Game Art Design, and that's why i've set up this blog. It's scary ... it feels like a diary ... but it can't be! A diary is kept hidden in my room (if I had one ... I don't >.>) but this isn't!! Crazy! It's broadcasted across the wHoLe WoRlD! Some guy in New Jersey could be reading this RIGHT now and be thinking "Jesus so this is where England's going ...". My point is Blogs are powerful, powerful tools. If given a choice i'd steer clear of them but since I don't, I won't!

Agh! The power of blogs have poisoned my fingers and now I can't stop talking/typing/drinking this damned tea! More about me ... yes ... urhm ... I'm a quiet guy if I don't know anyone and i'm completely the opposite if i'm with close friends! It's why I can't get my head around this "going out every night thing!" I mean ... I will/have but I don't enjoy it as much as I do when I go out with my mates back home!

I guess that's about it for the time being. I've probably already freaked most of you out, and for those of you who aren't completey spooked don't worry ... my next blog will follow shortly! Our slave-driver ... urhm ... course leader ... *cough* has recommended 200-300 words per blog and this one has hit 391 no ... wait ... 398! Agh! It's confusing! Yea ... >.> ... anyway! For those of you in my class, see you next week, for those of you who don't know who I am ... i'm sure you'll never visit this page again!