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Super Mario Bros: The Human Limit

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Re: Super Mario Bros: The Human Limit

#41
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's complicated. Keyboards are almost certainly 'better' in the abstract if they're good enough (low activation threshold, not a lot of bus latency on whatever you're using to connect it, etc) because it's easier to press complex sequences of buttons when you're not holding the thing you're pressing them on ('fat thumb') or you can choose the layout of the relevant keys (vs. 'claw' or 'piano' gripping a controller).…

>A lot of games do require controllers that are at least no more capable than one that came with the console though. An example of this would be if the original controller won't let you press both left and right at the same time, and being able to do so gives an unfair advantage due to the way the game was programmed (I think Castlevania SOTN is one of these.)

Fun story: when I worked in videogame QA ~20 years ago, there was a specific Nintendo rule about games not doing anything weird when both left and right were pressed on the controller at the same time (this would have been Nintendo DS, I think). This wasnt possible on a normal console, so how was it tested? We had a special unit that someone had cut the Dpad in half down the middle with a Dremel tool.

Re: Super Mario Bros: The Human Limit

#42
post #6

I loved the story telling of the video. To tell the truth, the story telling was even better than most movies that I watch for entertainment.

I enjoyed the video, but I have to disagree. For me, the storytelling was the worst part. I feel like they said “the problem seemed insurmountable, and the community needed a little help. [x months/weeks/years] later [clever person] decided to give it a go” about 4 times.

I suppose, from a certain perspective, repetition can make good storytelling, and the actual real life events of course restrict the storyline to an extent, but they could have at least phrased it differently

Re: Super Mario Bros: The Human Limit

#43
My teenage son is currently 223rd in the world in Super Mario Bros with a sub-5 personal best. He's explained just bits and pieces of the SMB speedrun subculture to me (frame rules, etc.) and it's just fascinating.

At under 5 minutes, it seems like it's the ideal length for practicing as well - if you screw up a full run, you at most have lost 5 minutes of time, you just start over again.

No-warp runs which go about 20 minutes are way more painful when you make a dumb mistake in 8-4.

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