From the Archives: Electronic Games

Cracked open a box, and found video tapes and old video game magazines.

The videos I'll watch later in bed, but here's a sample from the magazines:

Electronic Games (ISSN 0730-6687), published by Resse Publishing Company, Inc.

The issue: July 1982, Volume One, Number Five. Cover price: $2.95, full color throughout.

Here's the cover, which is why I picked it.

And the Table of Contents, with masthead.

Let's see... there's a two-page profile of Alan Miller, one of the original programmers of the Atari 2600, and a founding member of Activision. A four-page article discusses the early history of penny arcades and amusements.

"Strategy Session" discusses how to win at K. C. Munchkin (Odyssey), Adventure (Atari), and Match Racer (Gebelli Software). Old school gamers (such as myself) will remember that Atari/Namco sued Odyssey for copyright and trademark infringement, one of the first lawsuits involving videogames.

This is followed by the cover story, "The Coming of... TRON". Six pages of production stills, with the article discussing the movie and the various merchandise game tie-ins.

"Insert Coin Here" covers "Kickman" (Midway), "Space Duel" (Atari), Mouse Trap (Exidy), Zaxxon (Sega-Gremlin), Barracuda (Coinex), and Alpine Ski (Taito).

"The Player's Guide to Summer Sports Videogames offers eight pages of sports games.

"Games Library", reviews videogame guides, while "Arcade America" profiles the Westworld arcade located in Westwood Village, California. "Passport to Adventure" reviews "The Prisoner", based on the television show and designed for the Apple ][. "Mini-Arcade Gallery" profiles programmable stand-alone games. (The ancestors of today's PSP and GameBoy.) The best known games featured were Coleco's Total Control 4, which used cartridges containing the game screen, and Milton Bradley's Microvision.

Four pages then discuss displaying videogames on projection screens, such as the Sony KP-5000. "Programmable Parade" reviews Space Fortress (Astrovision), Trickshot (Imagic), Galactic Invasion (Astrovision), Boxing (Intellivision), and Haunted House (Atari). "Coin-Op Classroom" discusses Atari's Tempest. "Computer Playland" reviews Mousattack (On-Line), Crossfire (On-Line), Hockey (Gamma Software), Sammy the Sea-Serpent (PDI), David's Midgnight Magic (Broderbund), and Ceiling Zero (Turnkey Software).

"Stand Alone Scene" reviews Parker Brothers' Reflex, Coleco's Quiz Wiz Challenger, and Mattel's World Championship Baseball. Mattel's game is a pricey $65 (in 1982), but seems quite worthwhile, as it allows players to create a roster, and is housed in a chic case.

Here's the rankings presented on page 12.

San Diego Sunday

Okay... rambling today... not much rhymer reason, just some cool geek goodness from the West Coast:

First, The Examiner has the trailer for Tron: Legacy. Looks cool, even without sound, at credit card size. I think the set design will gain an Oscar nod, as will probably the score. After you watch the YouTube file, there are seven other video links underneath. Nothing much to see. Oh, did I mention it will be Disney 3-D? In IMAX? Yeah... Hope they clean up the original and show that first.

Today's photo montage comes from the New York Daily News... goats outshine a giant rabbit, an awesome eclipse in Asia gives a shout-out to Heroes, Lady GaGa upsets Sesame Street and PETA simultaneously, and I-don't-know-how-to-describe-it.

Here's another cool video... a game called "Ratchet & Clank" involving time travel recording to solve puzzles. Just watch... pretty cool idea. You play with yourself. (No, not that way...geez...)

And another, more fanboy centric photo gallery. Lots of cheesecake, some terrible photography. (Really... you've got a digital camera...you can see the result instantly. If it's out of focus or blurred, take another.)

There are lots of cool exclusives available at the Con, but the coolest is from Gentle Giant. A bubble-gum pink Darth Vader helmet! From their site:

A pop culture icon, if there ever was one. The classic Darth Vader helmet gets an overhaul, and a new PINK paint job for a very important cause. For every pink Darth Vader helmet sold from July 1 - July 26, 2009, Gentle Giant Ltd. will donate 10% of the retail sales price to Susan G. Komen for the Cure® with a minimum guaranteed donation of $5,000, in support of Komen's promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

This reminds me of another "limited edition", when Kenner ran one hundred of the Darth Vader Collector's Case through the assembly line to see if the gold coating for the See-Threepio (C3-PO) Collector's Case would work. Yeah, it looks cool.

Geek Dad, over on Wired's website, didn't go to Comic-Con this year, and posts ten excuses. Even better, 100 things today's kids will never experience. The comments list is worth reading.

(Bad thought... slash fiction featuring Quinto Spock/Nimoy Spock.)

I hereby dub Comic-Con International: San Diego 2009 "Cherry Con". So many "Geek Gods" attended for the first time: Peter Jackson, James Cameron, John Lasseter, Hayao Miyazaki, Tim Burton... as well as actors like Tom Welling.

Many noted the "Revenge of Moore" squids off the coast of San Diego. A few days later, I discovered a similar news item of a shark in Miami, which reminded me of an early Astro City story.

And while I'm using Google News, here's the earliest citation I can find for a mention of the San Diego Comic-Con: a UPI dispatch from August 4, 1974. Whatever happened to "Captain Sticky"? His obituary.

And remember all that fuss about how Twilight and girls were ruining Comic-Con? Here's an AP article about a (then) young female fan from Washington State.

It was at the San Diego convention where she purchased her most valuable book, a copy of of the first issue of Spiderman [sic], which sold in the early '60s for 10 cents. She paid $75 for her copy.

"I couldn't pass it up for that price," she said, adding that it will be worth a couple hundred dollars someday.

It originally cost twelve cents. According to Heritage Auctions, a 2/10 rated issue is worth $2400. You can buy one here.

Okay... it's 5:45 PM, and I'm calling it a day... nothing new on Google News.

San Diego Comic-Con 2009

Two years ago, I read about the craziness surrounding Hall H at the San Diego Comic-Con (I expected the Red Cross to show up with relief supplies). Last year, like this year, I avoided the Con because it was too crowded, I had no business to discuss, and there were other, more local conventions to attend. Also this year, like last, while working, I periodically updated Google News ("san diego" comics) to see what was new and exciting. (I'll repeat my other strategy, of using the money saved on airfares and hotel rooms to purchase swag on eBay without having to fight for Con exclusives, next week.)

Here are today's interesting points:

• Tim Burton next movie will be "Dark Shadows".
• Tron: Legacy (AKA TR2N) will be in 3-D.
• Google is offering an incredible array of comics themes for iGoogle. (They are also sponsoring Wi-Fi for the Con, and had Jim Lee do this cool logo.)
• The Comics Riffs blog at the Washington Post ponders over a nickname for Comic-Con International: San Diego. I offer a few suggestions.
• Wired Magazine's Underwire page covers Comic-Con, as well as other cool pop culture thingamajigs.
• Robert Zemeckis discussed the possibility of a sequel to Roger Rabbit during the Disney 3-D panel (his next film will be "A Christmas Carol").
• And the coolest news, Jeff Smith will draw new Bone stories for Scholastic!