Amazing work! Thanks very much for this OP!
Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
31–40 of 42 posts
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#32The vector graphics are why I always seek this game out first in any arcade.
Also the spinner. The physical spinner is key (but unacknowledged or at least underappreciated)
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#33Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#34If you’re looking to play an official Tempest 2000 where some money (presumably) makes its way to Jeff Minter, then Digital Eclipse have published an “interactive documentary” bundle of his games and the surrounding history, available on pretty much every current platform: https://www.digitaleclipse.com/games/llamasoft
(It unexpectedly went on sale in the PlayStation store today with 2/3rds off.)
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#35Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Video game history is littered with cool peripherals that were only supported by less than a handful of games. NES R.O.B., SuperScope, etc.
How I longed for that Power Glove, though in retrospect it's an incredibly stupid interface.
"Its so bad..." Oh how right he was.
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#37That's so cool. I remember loving this game in the arcade but then being annoyed when I had to also buy a paddle wheel to play it on my 2600, which was then useful for exactly 0 other games.
Wait. Did you never play Kaboom? Kaboom was awesome!
Kaboom! and Tempest...a perfect combination!
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#38The vector graphics are why I always seek this game out first in any arcade.
I once got in a huge argument about the superiority of vector graphics displays around 2010. The idea that LCD could match what Tempest had was silly to me, but the kid I was arguing with had never seen a Tempest cabinet and just assumed old meant bad...
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#39The vector graphics are why I always seek this game out first in any arcade.
I once got in a huge argument about the superiority of vector graphics displays around 2010. The idea that LCD could match what Tempest had was silly to me, but the kid I was arguing with had never seen a Tempest cabinet and just assumed old meant bad...
Vector vs. raster isn’t about superiority. Each technology can do unique things that aren’t matched by the other.
The dichotomy hasn’t gone away, though. Vector plotters may still be running in certain print shops or scientific settings.
PostScript, PCL, TrueType fonts incorporate vector technology. SVG is a very popular graphics file format for both writing and reading. I know several artists who specialize in SVG and contribute them to Wikimedia Commons.
Re: Tempest vs. Tempest: The Making and Remaking of Atari's Iconic Video Game
#40The vector graphics are why I always seek this game out first in any arcade.
Also the spinner. The physical spinner is key (but unacknowledged or at least underappreciated)
It was weighted and solid, like from an old stereo. You let it spin and stop it to move a longer distance quickly instead of doing multiple turns.
My family had multiple (various) machines in an arcade and we kept this at home for some time. I often think of this specific example piece of hardware versus everything plastic today.