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Game Time: Watches

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Watch_GnW_row_ausretrogamer

For those of us born in the 1970’s, we have fond memories of Gunpei Yokoi’s wondrous Game & Watch series – from the various handhelds to the wrist watches that had mini versions of Nintendo games. The games on these watches were a pared down version of their console or handheld counterparts, but hey, who cared, they looked cool on your wrist.

Fast forward to the present, and these watches still attract attention. Their nostalgic value is not measured in currency, but in smiles from onlookers. The conversations that these watches generate are a sure fire way to meet interesting people, from retro gamers to the curious diner sitting at the next table.

Watch_GnW_SMB_Zelda_ausretrogamer

If the Game & Watch wrist watches are too child like for you, then perhaps the Fossil ‘Atari Asteroids’ limited edition is more up your alley. These watches had a limited run (5000 to be exact) and are therefore getting harder to source. Unfortunately, the ‘Asteroids’ game is not playable on these watches, it merely serves as a demo for this contemporary time piece.

Watch_Asteroids_ausretrogamer

If you are into watches of the video gaming kind, then these time pieces are a cool way to tell the time and provide some gaming relief (excluding the Asteroids watch!) if you are stuck on the road without your handheld or smartphone.

 

Top 5 Games Charts: May 1987

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Back in May 1987, Mannequin was released and Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was rocketing to number one on the music charts. On the video games front, the Spectrum, C64 and Atari XE/XL computers were lavished with quite a few awesome games.

These were the top five games on each platform for the month of May 1987:

 

C64 1) Park Patrol (Firebird)
2) BMX Simulator (Codemasters)
3) Gunship (Microprose)
4) LA SWAT (Mastertronic)
5) Micro Rhythm (Firebird)

 

ZXSpectrum48k 1) Leaderboard (US Gold)
2) Bomb Jack II (Elite)
3) Paperboy (Elite)
4) Olli and Lissa (Firebird)
5) Gauntlet (US Gold)

 

atari_xe 1) BMX Simulator (Codemasters)
2) Colony (Bulldog)
3) Green Beret (Imagine)
4) Gun Law (Mastertronic)
5) Silent Service (Microprose)

 

Sonic Reaper: The Sega Pluto

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Sega_Saturn_Pluto_front

Over at the forums on Assembler Games, an interesting thread caught my eye, ‘The Real Sega Pluto’ – posted by forum member and ex-Sega employee, Super Magnetic.

In the post, Super Magnetic unveils a deep dark secret from his days at Sega – the Pluto console, a Saturn with a Netlink built in. A great post accompanied by great photos of the prototype Sega hardware. I am glad this ‘inside information’ is available to us all in the public domain. Without this kind of sharing, we would have been blissfully unaware of Sega’s Pluto endeavour.

Top 5 Games Charts: August 1985

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While Madonna’s “Into the groove” was rocking the number one spot on the music charts in August 1985, there were some awesomely great games in the charts of that month for the C64, Spectrum and Amstrad. Here is a hit of nostalgia:

 

C64 1) The Way Of The Exploding Fist (Melbourne House)
2) Elite (Firebird)
3) Hyper Sports (Imagine)
4) Frankie Goes To Hollywood (Ocean)
5) Tour De France (Activision)

 

Amstrad_CPC464 1) Dun Darach (Gargoyle Games)
2) Beach Head (US Gold)
3) Red Moon (Level 9)
4) Alien 8 (Ultimate)
5) Knightlore (Ultimate)

 

 ZXSpectrum48k 1) Frank Bruno’s Boxing (Elite)
2) Hyper Sports (Imagine)
3) Jet Set Willy 2 (Software Projects)
4) Spy Vs Spy (Beyond)
5) Glass (Quicksilva)

 

 

Silicon Legends: Video Gaming Chips

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Have you ever wondered what is ‘under the hood’ of your favourite video gaming system? I was curious and embarked on finding out just what kind of silicon was at the heart of our favourite systems – from home computers, consoles to handhelds. Some of this silicon horsepower has even become as famous as the systems they run. We pried open a few machines and checked in their engine bay.

Chip:

SID – Sound Interface Device
Systems: CBM-II, Commodore 64 / 128 and Max
Function / Features: The legendary sound chip created by MOS Technologies for Commodore’s home computers / systems.

 

Chip:

VIC-II (Video Interface Chip – II)
VIC-II (Video Interface Chip – II)
Systems: Commodore 64 / 128
Function / Features: The VIC-II graphics chip was created by MOS Technologies for Commodore’s highest selling home computer, the C64 and its bigger brother, the C128. The VIC-II could display a whopping 16 colours!

 

Chips:

Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
System: Atari Jaguar
Function / Features: The Jaguar’s infamous pair, Tom and Jerry (no, not the cartoon characters!) processors  are responsible for the graphics and sound respectively. Tom also controls the Object and Blitter processing smarts, whereas joystick control is Jerry’s responsibility.

 

Chip:

TIA
TIA (Television Interface Adapter)
System: Atari 2600
Function / Features: The Television Interface Adapter (TIA) is at the heart of the Atari 2600. It is responsible for creating the sights and sounds of your favourite (and not so favourite) games.

 

Chip:

Mikey and Suzy
Mikey and Suzy
System: Atari Lynx
Function / Features: Mikey is the custom central processing unit (MOS 65C02 CPU) and sound engine of the Lynx. The luscious visuals on the Lynx are all due to Suzy, the graphics processor.

 

 

Video Games Graveyard

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Survival of the fittest or just plain bad business decisions. Just as Betamax was left in the wake of the VHS behemoth,  the video games market is strewn with carcasses of systems and games that just never made it.

Jaguar

Some of history’s most spectacular gaming console flops come from two of the industry’s heavy hitters, Atari and Sega. The hardware manufacturing death knell was getting quite loud at Atari – they decided to throw in the towel and quit making games consoles after the Atari Jaguar was caught in the crossfire of the Sega versus Nintendo battle of the 1990s. The Jaguar was rushed to market and suffered the consequences. Selling fewer than 250,000 units just wasn’t going to cut it. Perhaps Atari should have done the math (get it!) before they embarked on the Jaguar.

dreamcast-console_arg

A few years after Atari ceased making hardware, it was Sega’s turn to wave the console making white flag. Once a pillar of the video games console industry, Sega’s Dreamcast was met with initial enthusiasm but Sega also abandoned making consoles after the Dreamcast was smashed by the new kid on the block, Sony’s PlayStation 2.

Atari_ET_arg

As for gaming flops, Atari’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial takes the gong. The game was rushed (it took 5 weeks to develop) to retail stores for the 1982 Christmas season but was such a disappointment, that millions of unsold game cartridges ended up in landfill in the New Mexico desert. Atari ordered more E.T. cartridges to be made than there were installed Atari VCS 2600 units! Again, Atari should have DONE THE MATH.



Top 5 Games Charts: March 1981

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Let’s rewind back to March 1981, dead smack in the middle of a thriving arcade age and a killer home console scene. These were heady times for Atari – they were dominating the arcades and the home video games market.

To find out what we were playing as youngsters, here are the top 5 games from March 1981 for the Atari 2600, Arcade and the venerable Game & Watch.

 Atari2600 1) Dragster (Activision)
2) Pele’s Soccer (Atari)
3) Video Pinball (Atari)
4) Fishing Derby (Activision)
5) Golf (Atari)

 

 galaga_arcade_machine 1) Pac-Man (Namco)
2) Missile Command (Atari)
3) Battlezone (Atari)
4) Defender (Williams Electronics)
5) Space Panic (Universal)

 

 GandW 1) Fire (Nintendo)
2) Manhole (Nintendo)
3) Helmet (Nintendo)
4) Vermin (Nintendo)
5) Flagman (Nintendo)

 

Best-Selling Portable Video Game Systems Of All Time

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GB    Lynx    Game Gear_1

In last week’s Best-Selling Video Game Consoles: 1972 to 2002 post, it was clear that Sony had taken the stranglehold in the consoles market in the mid 90’s. The portable games market is a different beast. From the early days of crude portability with the tabletops, to Gunpei Yokoi’s wondrous Game & Watch series, the pedigree of portable gaming had been set quite early. Once the Game Boy burst onto the scene (another Gunpei Yokoi creation), Nintendo knew they had a winner. Which portable systems gave the Game Boy a run for its money ? Look below, there should not be too many surprises.  [Read more…] about Best-Selling Portable Video Game Systems Of All Time