Short Shots

Last Update: 08/01/2003

Videogame and Computer Short Shots

The new full-motion video (cartoon style) CD-I game Kingdom, previewed in a late 1994 EGM², bares more than a passing resemblance to the revolutionary Thayer's Quest. This little seen arcade game was heralded as a major improvement in Laser-Disc game interactivity, featuring keyboard controls and supposedly making Dragon's Lair feel like Pong in comparison. The EGM² preview made mention of Kingdom's unusual role-playing style play mechanics, and unlike as in late 1984, the potential for this kind of interaction may finally be realized. One reason that Thayer's Quest failed at the time was that it was too little too late; the genre was at the point of no return by its release. The Halycon home Laser-Disc machine (forerunner to today's black boxes), which played Thayer's Quest, among others, was also doomed, mainly due to its $2000+ price tag. A sort of reincarnation of this system is the LaserActive, which is a quarter of the price, but does little more than overlay graphics (with say the Sega module) over video (like the old arcade games Astron Belt and Mach 3). This is more of a regurgitation of old technology that nobody is really asking for than pushing the gaming envelope any further. Here's a reprint of part of an Electronic Games (January, 1985) article (pages 78-81) on the Laser-Disc subject:

"What's left? Well, computer hobbyists can purchase interfaces from such companies as Video Visions Associates and Digital Research, Incorporated that allow one to hook a Laser-Disc player up with a personal computer. That assumes, of course, that the user wants to go to the trouble of writing a program to control the player. It also means that one has to use whatever disks are available off the shelf. While that option opens up a lot of opportunities (imagine participating in a space battle that uses the dogfight sequence from "Star Wars"), using regular disks in an interactive system is nowhere near as good as using a disk that was specially prepared to function as a game."
The above paragraph sounds like what many publishers have wrongly turned the CD-ROM format into. The CD-ROM is no doubt the logical successor of the Laser-Disc game format and therefore has inherited many of its full-motion, little interactivity, duds. However, maybe developers can now take the cue and follow the Thayer's Quest (Kingdom) lead, as it's early enough in today's gamers criticism of full-motion games to do something about it and actually make an impact. Besides, CD-ROM isn't going anywhere, so there should be time to get it right.

The portable gaming situation can be looked at from the perspective that it's not necessarily the power of the system that makes it a success, but the company backing it. The weakest system, the Nintendo Game Boy, was backed by a strong company and was a huge hit for many years. It's now floundering and some desperate attempts are being made to save it, but, like the NES, time has finally caught up and its inadequacies are hard to overlook. The powerful 16-bit Atari Lynx never really caught on because it was poorly marketed by a weak company. The loyal following that any Atari system produces saved this system from obscurity, but it could have been so much more. The Sega Game Gear is basically a portable Sega Master System (SMS), and it's weak first titles (converted SMS games) didn't show the promise of the system. The fact that it is a SMS at heart though, made it easier to program for (experience) and it actually was a powerful, if underrated 8-bit system. It's initial weak launch would have doomed the system to the Lynx's low profile, save for the fact that it was backed by the powerful Sega (with it's Genesis success) and the games eventually became extremely impressive. This has made the Game Gear the only current portable system with a foreseeable future. Again, a strong company makes up for a system's weaknesses, but in this case a strong company was paired with a strong system. The Turbo Express never had any portable games made for it, though a very impressive unit, and was stuck with the limited supply of TG-16 cartridge games. Like the Lynx, it's a powerful system that was supported by a weak company. What's next? Well, it looks like the ultimate portable system may be coming soon from Nintendo. What does a powerful, portable 32-bit Virtual Reality system from a strong company mean? Maybe the same thing that the Game Gear is doing to the Game Boy right now.

Here's a reprint of an article from the March, 1985 edition of Electronic Games entitled Nintendo's Final Solution:

"Known for arcade classics like Donkey Kong and Punch-Out in the U.S., Nintendo has built its reputation in Japan as the leading manufacturer of home videogame systems with its Advanced Video Entertainment System (AVS). Having sold more than 2.5 million AVS units there, Nintendo has decided to distribute the AVS here, perhaps as earlier (sic) as this spring.
Considering that the videogame market in America has virtually disappeared, this could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part. Described as similar to Atari's never-released 7800 system, and as an improvement over the ColecoVision, the AVS features a Nintendo arcade games "hall of fame" series and a "light wand" that is intended for target-type games. The joysticks are wireless and no other cartridges are compatible with the AVS. A keyboard may at some point be sold as an accessory."
An interesting tidbit to say the least, but what an understatement. The AVS was released as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in this country (with slight variations from the article descriptions) and single handedly revitalized the videogame industry. The 7800 was eventually released as an attempt by Atari to cash in on some of Nintendo's success, but it never caught on.

Do we really need all of these so-called "secrets" in today's videogames? Take NBA JAM and its sequel NBA JAM: Tournament Edition, for instance. The programs give you fully stocked (2 players to a team) NBA teams in a fully functioning game environment. That's great, but wait, there's more. If you input the proper code you can add "secret" players or give yourself extra special abilities. Have you heard about this? Of course, we all have. What's the point?

It's unfortunate that many of today's players will spend more energy trying to find all of a game's hidden characteristics than actually skillfully playing the game. There's no reason for a game like NBA JAM to be loaded with secrets that everyone will find out about eventually anyway. Does it really add anything to the game? I say no. What it does do is sell more magazines, hint books, and 900 numbers. This is unfortunate, but an integral part of today's gaming environment.
If you play the Game Gear version of NBA JAM you won't get any speech samples (part of the original's appeal), but you will get the hidden characters and abilities. That's the important thing, right? If they even squeezed in two good speech samples at the expense of the "secrets", it would have made the game a lot more enjoyable.
Why not take it one step further? In the inevitable NBA JAM 3, they should force the player to input a code just to be able to start the game. This way the whole game will be one big "secret" and everyone will be happy. Let me tell ya, Atari created a monster when they hid that damn little wizard in Adventure.