Monthly Archives: April 2008

atari 2600, quiz answers

Atari 2600 MEGA Sound Quiz Answers

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I cannot begin to tell you of the deluge of letters I have received urging me to reveal the answers to my recent Atari 2600 MEGA Sound Quiz, as I have not received any letters regarding it.

Still, what the heck, I’ll post the answers now anyway.

Sound 01 – Adventure

Adventure was my absolute favorite game for the Atari 2600. I don’t care that the dragons looked like ducks, or the sword was a left-pointing arrow. It was just a great game. When I got tired of playing the three levels of difficulty, I would then play around and get eaten by a dragon, then wait for the bat to come by and fly me around the world. Good times.

Sound 02 – Superman

This was a fun game, too. There was Lex Luthor with a helicopter backpack, flying pieces of Kryptonite, Lois Lane (who would kiss you to give you back your superpowers if you were hit by a piece of the Kryptonite), pieces of a blown-up bridge you had to assemble, etc. Being the naughty gamer that I was, there was a trick my brother and I would often pull at the end of the game. After you put all the bad guys in jail and restore the bridge, you return to the phone booth and change back to Clark Kent. You then have to walk to the Daily Planet to end the game. If you did it just right and got hit by Kryptonite as Clark Kent, then walked into the Daily Planet just as Ms. Lane was moving to give you a kiss, the game would end with both figures standing in the same place. The back of Lois Lane’s dress would appear to be Clark Kent’s erect penis (heh heh heh heh)

Clark Kent with a boner

Sound 03 – Haunted House

This may sound silly to you, but this game is pretty scary. You hear the wind pick up and you know there’s death in your future. It’s a good, tense game.

Sound 04 – Combat

I don’t know if this was the case for everyone, but when we purchased our Atari 2600 console this game was included. I spent many a frustrated moment getting my ass kicked by my older brother.

Sound 05 – Airlock

I’ll admit that this game did not have the best graphics or sound effects. Still, I had a fun time playing it. You had to escape a sinking submarine before the water drowned you. There just aren’t enough games out there whose gameplay centers around drowning, are there?

Sound 06 – No Escape

Ah, the first appearance on the quiz by a game made by Imagic! Imagic games always had nifty multicolored sprites. In this game, you had to destroy various creatures by shooting tiles in a Roman temple so they would fall and crash on them. There are a variety of songs in this game, and they are all exceptionally groovy.

Sound 07 – Demon Attack

Another great game from Imagic. The creatures you needed to shoot would move all funky and erratic, as if they didn’t want to get hit. Silly creatures!

Sound 08 – Pac-Man

A universally despised port of the celebrated arcade classic. The sounds are particularly annoying. I know the Atari had memory limitations, but how hard would it be to include the beloved “wakka-wakka” sound, anyway?

Sound 09 – Dodge ‘Em

Fun, fun, fun driving game. One car tries to eat up all the dots, while the other car(s) try to crash into the car to stop it. You could play two-player on this game as well – with one person doing the dot-eating and the other person doing the car-crashing.

Sound 10 – Swordquest: Earthworld

The crappiest game I have ever played on the Atari 2600. Terrible.

Sound 11 – Pitfall

Finally, an Activision game makes an appearance on the quiz!

Activision made some great games for the Atari 2600. I also really appreciated their design aesthetic, even at my young age. Their cartridges were always a solid color, with bold white lettering spelling the title of the game. For some reason, it was just cool.

I would sometimes get angry at the Pitfall game, because there was a twenty minute time limit on the game and I could never finish it. I don’t know if the game was completable or not.

Sound 12 – Chopper Command

Another game by Activision, where you pilot a helicopter that shoots airplanes and other helicopters in order to protect a truck convoy. A fun game. The helicopter’s lasers (yes, you pilot a laser-shooting helicopter!) have a really nice sound to them.

Sound 13 – Megamania

Yet another game by Activision, and probably my favorite of theirs. Another Space Invaders descendant, except this time you shoot tires, cookies, bow ties, and hamburgers. I love the sounds of this game.

Sound 14 – Dragonfire

A reasonably entertaining game from Imagic, which consisted of a couple different scenes. It was kinda fun jumping over and ducking dragon fireballs, I guess.

Sound 15 – Yar’s Revenge

Awesome, unique game. Great sound effects, great pulsating music in the background.

Sound 16 – E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Programmed by the same person who made Yar’s Revenge. Hated throughout the land, primarily because of annoying holes that E.T. falls into, and falls into again, and falls into again, and…

Sound 17 – Vanguard

A nice port of the arcade game. Am I the only one who knows about this game? Oh, and my apologies to SamuraiFrog, who thought this was Flash Gordon. I said I didn’t think there was a Flash Gordon game for the 2600, but there is (but I have never played it).

Sound 18 – Berzerk

The voice synthesizer from the arcade game is missing here, but it’s still a very faithful version.

Sound 19 – Bowling

Sounds like it might be boring, but it’s a fairly enjoyable game.

Sound 20 – Ms. Pac-Man

I am not really a fan of any of the Pac-Man games (in the arcade or on the Atari) but this version is infinitely better than the Pac-Man port.

Sound 21 – Donkey Kong

Unlike Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, I actually liked playing Donkey Kong in the arcade. This version was a bitter disappointment.

Sound 22 – Fantastic Voyage

This was one of the best cartridges I played on the 2600. It was produced by 20th Century Fox, who also produced the 1966 film. This game had so many neat features (no Raquel Welch, though) — the heartbeat of the patient to give you an indication of his health, blood cells, antibodies that would attack you when you brushed up against arterial walls, etc. It’s a game that probably a lot of people never got to play, which is a shame.

Sound 23 – Dolphin

Another game from Activision, and one which I had not played until recently. It was programmed by friend of the blog Matty Boy!

Sound 24 – Fast Food

Not the best game in the world. For God’s sake, don’t eat the purple pickles!

Sound 25 – Spider-Man

I remember seeing commercials for this and being really bummed out I never got my hands on the cartridge. After playing it through an emulator, I don’t regret so much its absence from my youth. It’s an okay game, but not great.

Sound 26 – M.A.D.

Sort of a ripoff of Missile Command, but I like it a lot better. I really like the low bass tones this game generates. I can’t recall another 2600 game with sounds as deep as this game.

Sound 27 – Boxing

Another game from Activision, this one a little more sparse than their other cartridges. It’s pretty addictive though, and you get a good feeling every time you land a punch on your opponent’s stupid head.

Sound 28 – Warlords

A wickedly fun game. You could play four players at once, which was pretty amazing to me as a kid.

Sound 29 – Laser Blast

One of my least favorite Activision cartridges. But, the lasers looked cool at least.

Sound 30 – Frogger

A very decent translation of the popular arcade game.

So, if you are feeling the need to actually play any of these games, do what I did:

1) Download Stella, the wonderful Atari 2600 emulator. They currently have installations for Windows, Mac and Linux.
2) Each link I provided in the above answers takes you to an Atari Age page for the game. Look for a “Download ROM” link and save the zip file. Save off all your ROMS into one place, and when you start up Stella, point it to the folder containing your ROMS.
3) Enjoy yourself, you crazy minx, you!

a peek into the exciting life of splotchy, movies

I Am Going To Make A Movie

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I am going to make a movie. It sounds strange to me. I have a BA in Cinema from Southern Illinois at Carbondale, but I never really wandered too far down that path.

But I have written the script for a short film, and I plan on filming it this summer.

I have a couple actors already lined up. I have a cameraman who has his own equipment. I have another cameraman lined up as well. I have a makeup person lined up. I have shooting dates scheduled.

I still have much preparation to do.

  • Finish my 3rd draft of the script
  • Storyboard the script
  • Scout locations
  • etc. etc. etc.

Still, I am going to make a movie. I’m not going to go into the details of the plot at this point, but I might upload a couple pics from the storyboard-in-progress to tantalize, enchant and frighten you with.

I’m very proud of the script, and I think it could be a great short film, but it’s all in the execution, folks. It’s all in the execution.

We’ll see. More to come.

poll

A Poll For Those Too Intimidated By My Recent MEGA Quiz

4 Comments

I am considering laying down some cash to an actor to record my blogged musings in their own voice.

I’m not sure whether the purpose is for podcasting, a service to the blind, or simply to hear my own words repeated back to me in something other than my uncannily Muppet-like voice.

I have narrowed my choices to a handful of people, but I’m looking for your input as to who I end up contacting. Please refer to the poll on the top of my right sidebar and vote for your choice.

Thanks for any feedback.

atari 2600, sound quiz

Atari 2600 MEGA Sound Quiz

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Here’s a doozy of a sound quiz for you. I have collected thirty sound samples of games made for the Atari 2600 video game console.

Your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to identify the games by the sounds and clues I have given you.

Sound 01
The standard to judge all other Atari 2600 games by. And it even has an easter egg! The winning game sound at the end of the clip is probably my favorite sound effect from the 2600.

Sound 02
A fun game where you can fly around and grab bad guys who are stuck having to get around via the subway. My brother and I used to compete with each other to see who could finish the game the fastest. I think I got mine under a minute, but I can’t remember for sure.

Sound 03
I like the spooky sound effects and the music bits on this game a lot. It’s probably the most nerve-wracking game I have played on the 2600.

Sound 04
I would say that very few 2600 console-owners went out and purchased this game, but paradoxically, most of them played this.

Sound 05
Probably no one will get this one. I can’t remember where we got this game. Maybe we got it used — I don’t remember buying it in a store. It wasn’t made by Atari or the other relatively big game-producers (Activision, Imagic). It’s got pretty crude graphics and sounds, but it’s still fun to play.

Sound 06
This is a lesser-known title, I think. It’s a great game, with nice sound effects, and awesome, awesome music.

Sound 07
This game is a descendant of Space Invaders. It’s much more fun, too.

Sound 08
When Atari 2600 gamers brought this game home, they tasted the bitter disappointment of a poor translation of a popular arcade game to the home console. You can occasionally hear the sounds of this game in TV shows and movies, where it’s used for sound effects when someone plays a videogame. In fact, I just heard it in a TV show a couple months ago. I don’t know what’s so special about the sounds that it gets reused years after the game came out.

Sound 09
A great driving game, and the sound played when you finish a level (at the end of this sound clip) always gives me a jolt of happiness.

Sound 10
Atari tried doing a big fancy contest, and planned a series of games around a fantasy concept. This was the first game in the series (which was later abruptly ended after the second title tanked). This is an awful, awful game, and I’m sorry for purchasing and playing it.

Sound 11
Let’s go from a reviled game to a revered one. I would hope that many people would recognize this game, as it has some very recognizable, pleasant sound effects. There was a twenty minute time limit on this game — I always wondered whether it was possible to win this. I played a sequel of this game on the Commodore 64 which did have a definite ending, and was very fun to play.

Sound 12
A nice flying-and-shooting game, a little similar to the arcade game Defender.

Sound 13
Another interesting variation on Space Invaders — at one point you shoot red bowties! This game has some of my favorite sound effects heard on the Atari 2600.

Sound 14
A relatively obscure game. More swords ‘n sorcery. It’s sort of fun, but don’t cancel any vacation plans to play it.

Sound 15
One of the classics. Addictive, exhilarating and entertaining.

Sound 16
I believe this was designed by the same guy who did Game #15. This is a pretty reviled cartridge among most gamers. If you can stop falling in those damn holes, it really isn’t that bad.

Sound 17
This was a nice translation of an arcade game to the home console. It’s a flying game where you can shoot up, down, left and right from your ship.

Sound 18
Another well-done arcade game translation. The death sound effect (near the end of the sound clip) is really jarring, just as it is in the arcade.

Sound 19
It took me this long to get to a sports game? Yeah, I guess so. Hopefully the sound effects should give a clue as to what sport it is.

Sound 20
Yet another arcade to console translation. Apparently Atari learned from their mistakes made on Game #8 (this game is a sequel to it), as this was done much better.

Sound 21
I regretted getting this arcade game translation. It sucked, and it sucked even more to see a really well-done translation of this game on the ColecoVision.

Sound 22
I’m not sure how many people played this. It was loosely based on a 1960’s science fiction movie. This was one of the most enjoyable games I played on the 2600. It was really great.

Sound 23
I only recently played this on an Atari 2600 emulator. Of course, I had to include it, as it was a designed by a friend of this blog. I played it without first reading the instructions, but I still did reasonably well before dying.

Sound 24
Another obscure game, possibly. The character you move around is a mouth. That’s it — a mouth.

Sound 25
I remember seeing the ads for this on TV when I was a kid. Oh, I wanted this game *so bad*! But I never ended up getting it. It’s kind of like Crazy Climber, with a superhero twist.

Sound 26
This is sort of a Missile Command ripoff, but an enjoyable game nonetheless. It had some great sound effects, too.

Sound 27
No music, no cutesy bleeps — just wall-to-wall punching.

Sound 28
A great, hyper game where you could play with up to four players. Probably the only game using paddles (as opposed to joysticks) that I enjoyed playing.

Sound 29
A nice spaceship game with some decent graphics and sound effects. One nice twist was that when you got shot out of the sky you could still destroy your enemy by piloting yourself into them.

Sound 30
An arcade to home console translation, done relatively well. Still, nothing can hold a candle to the sweet, sweet original arcade game.

UPDATE:

Answers posted!

movies, two buck schmuck

Juno I Spent $3.50 To See This

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So this was my first trip back to the LaGrange since the ticket prices were raised a staggering seventy-five percent. Having only three single dollar bills in my wallet, I reached for quarters out of our change jar (okay, I had a twenty dollar bill too, but I didn’t want to break it).

With the stakes raised so high now, what were my choices tonight?

Untraceable – Looks like another crappy torture porn movie. Plus, it wasn’t playing tonight at the 9:00pm show, because Theater 2 was featuring “Live Comedy”.

The Bucket List – You’re not expecting me to sit through this, are you?

27 Dresses – When I was contemplating seeing a movie last week, I would have chosen this over Untraceable — which honestly isn’t saying much.

Juno – Woo, an Oscar-winning “indie” comedy!

It was nothing but the best for Juno — Theater 1, in all its curvy splendor. Live Comedy had to suck it in Theater 2 tonight.

So, I actually sat down for this movie with some trepidation. Was there a Diablo Cody backlash still in progress? Would I be another screeching voice in the anti-Diablo chorus if I criticized the movie? Or had the backlash recoiled already, and we were in the midst of a backlash to the backlash — a Diablo Cody resurgence, a Diablo Cody Renaissance?

I didn’t know, but I felt like I should be sensitive about the crap I would be saying. Then several minutes into the movie, this line is uttered by a cashier played by Rainn Wilson:

“This is one doodle that can’t be un-did, Homeskillet.”

Thank you for this shitty line of dialogue, which completely absolves me of any snarky thing I spew about this movie.

It’s not like the script was awful or anything. It just wasn’t good. The dialogue really ventured into overcutesy unrealistic pop culture nonsense from time to time. And there was a really terrible scene where Juno gets an ultrasound, where the technician makes some out-of-the-blue ridiculously offensive statements and Juno’s stepmother responds in an unrealistic diatribe that would never be uttered by a person on this planet.

I’ll say that Diablo Cody deserved an Oscar for the screenplay in the same way that Crash deserved its Best Picture Oscar a couple years ago. They both deserved the awards because the Oscars are in no way an indicator of excellence. I’m sorry if I’m being unfair to Crash — I did see only a few minutes of it, a horrendously acted scene between Brendan Fraser and Sandra Bullock. Perhaps all the other minutes of Crash were manna from heaven.

Anyways, I’m happy to report that the screenplay, which again wasn’t awful, and which again wasn’t remotely good either, was not the most annoying thing about Juno.

Oh lord, the music. The music wouldn’t stop. And they used so much music I liked. “I’m Sticking With You” by the Velvet Underground; The Kinks’ “A Well Respected Man”. They used some Belle and Sebastian songs, a Buddy Holly song, even an Antonio Carlos Jobim song. These songs were UNEARNED by the filmmakers. Because you have a boring movie where little happens does not give you the right to paste over every goddamn transition with a catchy song. You didn’t earn it. You didn’t EARN it.

I was actually hostile to the lesser-known songs of Juno, just for the fact that I felt the songs that I *did* know were treated so shabbily. Now see what you did, Juno? You turned me against indie rock! For shame, Juno. For shame.

lyrics, word fun

Misheard Lyrics, Vol 5

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This installment of Misheard Lyrics belongs to my five year old daughter.

We were playing R.E.M.’s album Document this morning. My daughter really likes the song “Exhuming McCarthy”.

As we were riding in the car later, she started singing it out of the blue.

R.E.M. – “Exhuming McCarthy”
Actual Lyrics
Exhuming McCarthy
Exhuming McCarthy

What She Sings
Exhuming my car key
Exhuming my car key

sacred spaces

Sacred Spaces: Zen Buddhism

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I am tentatively starting a new feature on I, Splotchy.

I am going to interview practitioners of different religions to ask them specific questions regarding the existence, purpose, making and unmaking of sacred spaces.

I have two people I have reached out to thus far. To better explain the intent of this feature, I’ll include the spiel I relayed to them prior to asking some questions.

  *****

A few months back, I was working in a neighborhood Chicago arts center, helping my friend shoot a movie. This arts center used to be a Lutheran church. I spent a lot of time there, in different rooms, including the main cathedral (is cathedral the right word?). It was kind of weird being around all the pews, etc., but knowing that the place wasn’t a church any longer — it was strictly an arts center, and had no religious affiliation whatsoever.

It got me thinking about:

What makes a space sacred?

Did they initially consecrate the church where I was now standing? How did they do that?

Did they deconsecrate the church where I was now standing to stop it from being a church? How did they do that?

I realize that the sacred can be everywhere, and that’s an important concept to keep in mind. I know very little about Islam, but it’s my understanding that several times a day Muslims pray towards Mecca, and they do this from work, from home, etc.

Yet, there are also mosques. Are mosques imbued with some kind of holiness, which differentiates them from praying in one’s home?

I know places of historical significance can have great sacred meaning to people, but I was thinking more along the lines of sacred spaces that are part of a person’s immediate environment — a local synagogue, a church, a mosque.

I see the sacred as representing a kind of pathway to a Divinity or a higher power of some sort, and sacred spaces somehow tie into it (at least in my mind).

I want to know how a space becomes sacred. I want to know how a space stops being sacred.

How is the pathway, the conduit, to divinity/spirituality/awareness opened? Through what mechanism(s)?

  *****

I had an email conversation with Ed Russell (father to Tim), where he was gracious enough to answer some of my questions, which are included below.

First, some background information:

  *****

Ed: I have been interested in Buddhism since the early 70s. I began formal practice (at a Zen Center with a teacher) in 1999. I was ordained in 2001.

In Buddhist circles I would be Ed Mushin Russell (Mushin being part of my Dharma name).

[My responses] reflect my own opinion and I cannot speak for other Buddhists.

  *****

Splotchy: What religion will be talking about?

Ed: Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism

S: In this religion, is there a concept of sacredness? Of the holy?

E: Strictly speaking, no. In the 6th century CE a famous Buddhist monk (Bodhidharma) traveled from India to China. The emperor heard about it and sent for him. When asked what his teaching was, Bodhidharma replied “Vast emptiness, nothing holy.” The emperor was not thrilled with this answer, but that’s another story.

On the other hand, there is nothing that is not sacred and holy. When asked what the essence of Buddha’s teaching was, an ancient Zen master replied, “Drinking tea and eating rice.”

S: Is there a concept of a sacred space? A location that that has been imbued with some properties of holiness?

E: In keeping with the ambiguity of my previous reply, yes and no. The holy place is always right here now. There are, however, places such as monasteries, temples and zendos which can be more conducive to Buddhist practice. People spend time in these places to focus and strengthen their practice. But our life, just as it is and right where we are, is the place that Buddhism always exists, whether we are sitting on a cushion in the temple or sitting on the toilet in a gas station.

S: How is a space imbued with holiness?

E: Because that is where you are.

S: Are there instances where a sacred space is deconsecrated, where its holiness is removed?

E: Yes.

S: How is a sacred space deconsecrated?

E: When we are caught up in our ideas and beliefs about what and where we should or shouldn’t be, we are no longer right here now and turn the sacred into the profane. Greed, anger and delusion poison our life and turn the freedom that is always ours into a prison of our own making.

  *****

Thank you very much to Ed for answering my questions.