When playing games on the Amiga transparency seems to be your friend

There seems to be a slight trend in the Youtube retro gaming community of late whereby people discuss and demonstrate the gaming peripherals of their youth: the good, the bad and the ugly as it were. Continuing the trend and putting my own spin on it is an overview of two most excellent joysticks from the Amiga era.

I got my first computer in the late '80s it was an Amiga 500 and in hindsight I do not know how my parents afforded it. The retail price back then was £400 (if memory serves) which equates to over £800 in today's money (according to very rudimentary internet research). Whilst I think one of the main reasons that my parents bought this machine was because of its potential as an educational tool; its vast library of games is what kept me hooked long after Fun School 3 had been lost (read hidden) by me under my bed.

My parents didn't mind me playing games. In fact, the first Christmas that I had the machine I remember that they bought me Batman: The Movie,  Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and Time Machine. Whilst I could never get past the first few screens on Time Machine (something to do with interacting with a blue gemstone encased in a rock), the first two games were very good and I believe that Batman: The Movie stands up to scrutiny even today. Based quite faithfully on the plot of Batman (the feature film of 1989), gameplay spanned both platforming and driving/flying levels. Yes, you got to both drive the Batmobile and fly the Batwing. If I remember correctly, unless a game specifically required keyboard inputs - for example, flight sims etc, there was very little in the way of controller configuration and certainly none of the extensive keyboard mapping that one engages in when playing PC games of both the era and now. I never have quite worked out why that was the case.

Given this information, it would be very difficult/impossible to play a broad range of games on the Amiga without a joystick. Indeed, the first peripheral that was bought by many Amiga (and I presume ST owners) was a joystick and the market was absolutely saturated with different variants. Almost all of which were also compatible with the Atari ST. As an indicator of how many different models of joystick there were, out of my twenty or so friends that either had Amigas or STs, not one of them had the same joystick as anybody else and I was no exception.

As you most likely know if you were an Amiga/Atari user during the 80s and 90s, other than price being a fairly good indicator, joystick buying was a fairly hit and miss experience. This was a time pre-Internet remember. The Youtube review was decades away. Yes there were several machine specific periodicals on the market that dealt with game and hardware reviews: CU Amiga; Amiga Format and Amiga Power to name but a few. However, despite being an avid reader of at least two of these publications, I cannot remember joysticks ever being placed under any critical scrutiny. Indeed, if I remember rightly, I never saw a review of any joystick in  these magazines. Consequently, I consider myself quite lucky as my first joystick (again purchased by my parents) stood the test of time admirably. Admittedly, I don't own it now...it did eventually break irreparably and was discarded. However, it lasted for approximately six years before that happened.

The Quickjoy Topstar in all its glory. Picture
taken from www.richardlagendijk.nl

The joystick I am referring to is the Quickjoy TopStar (at least that is how Richard Lagendijk refers to it on his website. However, I am not convinced that marketers penchant for joining words together and capitalising them in this way was popular back when this was released. For that reason, I shall hereafter refer to it as the Quickjoy Top Star). Again, this was purchased by my parents and it was, if memory serves a relatively expensive piece of equipment coming in at the equivalent of £40.00. My parents bought it for me solely because it had a transparent base and they thought that I would probably like to "see how it worked". Perhaps this was an adroit move on their part, if I could see inside it, why would I want to take it apart and risk breaking it (I had been known to do this before...and since!)? They didn't know this at the time but it was a very high quality piece of hardware, fully micro-switched with a robust yet comfortable feel. Its only weakness was the trigger button which after months of hammering would come loose from its spring mount and not make contact with one of the aforementioned micro-switches. That said, unlike many of its cheaper competitors, my Dad actually managed to take this apart and fix it relatively easily. Ok, it only meant hooking the switch back onto the spring mechanism but so many other more cheaply made joysticks couldn't be repaired like this.

 

 

 

 

I don't think I "needed" to replace this joystick. Yes, after a good few years the trigger button fault did occur more frequently and this did become  an annoyance (by this stage I too had learnt to repair it); instead, I think it was more a case of "I have birthday money to spend and I am going to spend it". Thus, when the opportunity arose, I found in a local branch of Electronics Boutique (now defunct)  an arcade stick which was in some respects an even more versatile gaming implement than its predecessor. The QJ Megastar (QJ denotes Quality Joystick but the branding on the stick only included QJ) was, in hindsight a fantastic piece of equipment. Like the Topstar it was fully micro-switched and the fire buttons laid out in arcade style next to the stick as opposed to on it had a very definite, responsive feel to them. Another "feature" that I found or invented was the ability to hook one's finger around the metal shaft of the stick [minds out of gutters please] and force the stick in the direction required. I don't know why I considered this a feature but I think it took the strain out of playing certain games that required character movement that involved moving the stick one way or another for a long period of time. Also, its form factor was small enough that I could arch my hand under the stick in a cradling motion and yet still access the fire buttons whilst operating the stick with my other hand. Alas, it didn't need to be suction-cupped in line of sight between me and the TV!

 

So, "what on earth has all this got to do with the rather cryptic sounding headline of this piece?" I hear you cry [well actually murmur as this blog doesn't have that many followers yet], well the main feature that both of these products had in common was their transparent cases. Now I assume that much like eyes are the windows to your soul, transparent joystick cases are a window to their internal mechanisms. Thus, even the least observant consumer could spot cheap construction and those with a bit more knowledge could pinpoint poor soldering or cheap component use. Therefore, my rule of thumb would be if you want a good joystick of the period one potential indicator of quality is whether the manufacturer has been bold enough to build their product into a see-through case.

 

Please feel free to comment below and provide details of any of your gaming hardware related experiences.

Does realism always have to become tedium?

It seems that since the dawn of video gaming, with each evolution in technology a key benchmark used to measure success has been the graphical power of the machine in question and ergo how realistic or lifelike the games or peripherals released for each system are. However, is this relentless pursuit of realism a flawed ideal?

 

As a general disclaimer I would like to state that I do not intend to précis every single piece of videogame or computer hardware and software whose designers have promised either explicitly or otherwise that their equipment will produce a lifelike gaming experience, nor do I expect people to necessarily agree with my opinion. That said, I hope that this article provides scope for debate on the concept of realism in games. Caveat concluded, on with the post:

 

Tomy's Top Shot Pilot in all its glory

My earliest memory of playing a videogame purely for pleasure was around a neighbour's house at about the age of eight or nine. He had inherited an Atari 2600 "woody" from his stepdad, along with quite a large selection of games. Prior to this, I had access to Systema style LCD handheld games and Tomy's Top Shot Pilot & Turnin' Turbo Dashboard. The former I tired of quite quickly as the LCD display and limited gameplay restricted their long-term appeal. The latter faired slightly better as the ability to turn the key or flick the throttle control before grasping the steering wheel or flight stick (albeit that they were crude approximations) enabled me to cling onto the idea that I actually was driving a car or piloting a plane. That was until I asked my grandfather how both of these machines worked and he proceeded to tell me that the road or sky was not computer generated at all and that they were just constructed out of a continually rolling picture held on rollers. Dream smashed, these too were put to one side.

The Turnin' Turbo Dashboard (also by Tomy) dissected to
show how it works...thanks Granddad.

Even to this day at the "mature" age of 31, I still face such crushing disappointments. Being a big fan of Star Trek and especially Deep Space 9, when watching a making of documentary I was saddened to realise that the set wasn't actually a full size mock-up of the station that the actors walked through and acted out their parts in and that instead, each set was isolated from the others and was therefore quite small scale. All rather silly really but food for thought.

 

All of the information above, apart from providing a clear indicator of the fact that I want to live in a fantasy world, provides a paradox which I am sure is experienced by many game players. Most people, I assume, play games to escape reality for a while and engage in activities that have no consequence or significance in the real world; yet they want  their game playing environments in many respects to mirror their real world counterparts. This is most clearly evident when we consider games such as the later iterations of Grand Theft Auto that are modelled on real world cities. Naturally GTA does provide scope for the player to behave in ways that would get them seriously hurt/killed/arrested in the real world and this goes some way to explain the appeal: to be able to behave in a totally reckless way with total impunity, but why people enjoy conducting these activities  against the backdrop of a loose replica of their own urban environments is something that intrigues me. I am not casting aspersions about people that do it; I too am guilty of it but the inanity is amusing...I come home from work on a an underground train and then I ride on one in GTA! 

I guess the key here is realism, if it is realistic or believable it would appear that game developers are in many ways likely to be onto a winner. That said, is this pursuit of realism likely to become tiresome?

 

In an effort to answer this question, I am going to attempt to re-become my eight year old self in early '90s England. I don't mean by farting in the bath and laughing or running away from bees (...wait I still do that) but by remembering what systems, games or experiences captivated my interest, both at home and in the arcades (or anywhere else):

 

 



The Sega Video Driver distributed in Europe by Tyco

My first port of call is my grandparents' living room (incidentally their spare room still houses the aforementioned Tops hot Pilot and Turnin' Turbo Dashboard). When my parents were working over the school holidays the task of babysitting often fell to them. When it did, once I had exhausted all other avenues of entertainment, I would spend quite a lot of time in-front of the TV watching western or war films and perusing from cover to cover the Argos and Index catalogues (for those of you from America, these were the equivalent of the Sears catalogue). I would always gravitate towards the computer or videogame section and over various years both catalogues would sell Amstrad CPCs; Atari STs; Commodore 64s; Nintendo Entertainment Systems; Super Nintendos; Master Systems etc, etc. However, none of these interested me as much as the now rather obscure and mostly forgotten about Sega/Tyco Video Driver. I have never to this day seen one in the plastic and the only thing that fuelled my desire to own one was the description and small picture of it in the aforementioned catalogues and television advertisements that relied heavily on the VHS racing tapes provided with the system to sell it. To be fair, not taking into consideration the limited technical aspects of the system and poor levels of interactivity, no matter how dated and hammy the tapes may look now, to an eight year old child lacking the ability to separate fact from fiction in commercials, being told that you will drive the cars depicted which by their very nature were realistic (it was real video footage after all) was enough to make me want one.

 

Obviously, having never owned one at the time, I cannot tell how impressed or disappointed I would have been if I actually had the opportunity to play with this. That said, I guess that I would have enjoyed the first few goes on it and as long as my grandfather resisted the temptation to tell me that my moving of the plastic car stuck in-front of the TV had no real bearing on the cars or people driving them on the video tape (for a breakdown of what the product looks like and how it works, see the video to the left). However, I know full well that if I had it to hand now, I would be utterly disappointed with it. The same is true of the Action Max. Having never owned one at the time and only being vaguely familiar with it as a consequence of taking one apart with a friend when I was about 16 (it was in a box of junk and wasn't connected to a TV in either my or his presence), it was Retro Gamer VX's video review of the system that in many respects provided me with the impetus create this post. In any case, if I was aware of this product at the time it was sold, especially if it was marketed as well as the Video Driver I would have been sure to of wanted one because they appeared realistic.

 

My pursuit for realism wasn't confined to my home either. Whenever I went on holiday and happened upon an arcade, I would gravitate towards games that had cabinets I could sit in or on. Indeed, any interactivity would grab my attention even if the game itself was poor, the fact that I was sitting within the cabinet made me enjoy the experience all the more than if I were playing the same game standing up. However, in hindsight perhaps this wasn't due to realism but because I enjoy playing games in private. Perhaps being encapsulated in such an immersive environment fuelled my enjoyment. Similarly, at around the same time, if the opportunity arose to travel on a real roller coaster or sit in a simulator ride of one, you can guess which option I chose. Even now, if I had the money and space I would buy one of these. They just look cool. A cross between the Runabout in Star Trek and a space shuttle, the anticipation as I climb inside, strap myself in and watch the door slowly and automatically close never gets old, even though I am fully aware that in effect I am watching a video and being moved up and down in time to it. Virtual Reality has always been in my (metaphorical) peripheral vision. Having always been a geek, I have waited with anticipation for developments in this era. Perhaps this is because I grew up on a diet of 2001: A Space Odyssey; Star Trek; The X Files and The Lawnmower Man. That said, until this point, any experiences I have had with consumer equipment that could be described as VR based has always ended in crushing disappointment...whether it be donning one of those massively cumbersome VR headsets in the arcades or purchasing the Aura Interactor virtual reality vest which makes for both a loud and painful gaming experience. That said, the Oculus Rift and Sony's VR offering seem very promising indeed. However, if these are simply going to be used to heighten the realism of already quite realistic gaming environments found in games such as GTA and Call of Duty, how long will it be until this becomes boring in itself? There are already murmurings from the game playing community that with each iteration of our favourite franchises we are presented with more of the same, how long will it be until we get bored with virtually walking down the streets of Los Santos or virtually walking through a battlefield. Indeed, surely one enticement for gamers is the fact that it is a fairly sedentary activity? If I want to take some exercise I go outside for a walk and similarly, if I want to walk around a battlefield shooting at people pretending to be 'ard, I'll go paintballing!  

The Interstate series

Possibly now fading into the distant collective memories of those that have played these games, Interstate 76 and a majority of its sequels and spin-offs definitely deserve a revisit.

This image served as the cover-art of the game
jewel case and  instruction manual.

There are three main games in the Interstate series and one spin-off entitled Vigilante 8 which was developed for the Nintendo 64; Playstation 1 and Gameboy Color. However, the main focus of this post will be the first game: Interstate 76.

 

The genre of the game can be defined as vehicular combat but this classification alone does not do it justice. Yes, ultimately you do drive around in cars attacking other vehicles but the game is so much more than that. Indeed, when one considers that it was released in 1997, the level of interaction with both the environment and the car you drive, combined with a fantastically immersive storyline and sound track make for a truly emotive gameplay experience.

 

Synopsis

The year is 1976 "the economy is in the throes of a deep recession. Flames of riot rule the cities. Gas[oline] is expensive and scarce. Crime is rampant. No one seems to care". No one that is except for you, Groove Champion, a rather apathetic individual it would seem who reluctantly gets involved with a group of vigilantes. Their mission is to prevent various gangs from disrupting the petrol supply and generally terrorising towns in the south-western states of America; yours is to avenge the death of your sister, Jade "Vixen" Champion.

 

The game plays out in a very cinematic way right from the opening credits which look like a cross between Dallas and The A Team backed by a big funk band sound composed and played by (amongst others) Arion Salazar who would later achieve fame in his band Third Eye Blind. Each character (although clearly drawn in a cartoon style) is represented as though they are played (read voiced) by an actor and indeed they are. Also, each mission is preceded by a cut-scene which is equally cinematic in style, often situated in a parking lot outside a truck stop or at the side of a road.  This is by no means a strange thing today. However, for my fifteen year old self this was a mind-blowing concept. Also (and this is something I will keep repeating), this was published in 1997. No "full motion video" was used yet this was a far more realistic and engrossing gameplay experience than anything produced for Sega's MegaCD at the time.

 

So, after watching a cut-scene which provides the back-story and rationale for your character getting involved in the action (your sister has been murdered by a mysterious aviator wearing villain called Carlo DeFungi) you are introduced to your friend Taurus, an afro sporting African-American funk stereotype of the era...think a more philosophical and less volatile Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction and you are there. He tells you that your sister was a vigilante as well as a good amateur racing driver. It is a shock to you that your sister had bolted guns to her Picard Piranha (a fictionalised version of the Plymouth Barracuda) for the purposes of crime fighting and it appears that she has been living somewhat of a double life. At first you don't want to join the cause thus replacing your sister. However, Taurus attempts to convince you by saying that is why on her death Jade gave you her car. In an attempt to get some headspace you say that you "think better on the road" before driving out of the parking lot and along the interstate. Cue a brief cut-scene and you are seamlessly placed into the first scenario which serves as the training mission of the game. 

 

Gameplay

The Plymouth Barracuda: the real world inspiration for the
Pickford Piranha that you drive for most of the game.  

The game plays out from mission to mission in a linear yet immersive story mode in which you engage in various activities including escorting school buses; protecting buildings and civilians and sometimes racing. It is almost certain that at some point in each mission you are going to have to engage in a fire fight with local villains who drive often equally well armed and armoured vehicles as yours. This may sound predictable and samey. However, as discussed above, the storyline, use of in-car equipment (you have a CB which you use to keep in contact with your crew, a damage indicator, weapons selector and radar) and ability to control almost every function of your car as if it were real (for example, you can manually turn headlights on or off, use the ignition and honk the horn amongst many other things) make for a truly atmospheric and immersive experience. Nothing seems rushed. For example, quite often you have to drive from a given point some distance away from where your primary mission is based and use a map to navigate without computer assisted waypoints or indicators. Thus, you often drive for what seems like just the right period of time to get to where you need to be. You find yourself frantically scanning the radar in the top left of your screen and listening out for the crackle of your CB to give you some indication of what is going on. If you couple this game with a steering wheel and pedals, the experience becomes all the more magical.

 

Graphics/presentation

From left to right: Taurus; Groove Champion &
Jade Champion who is murdered before you take to the road
in her car.

Obviously this game is (at the time of writing) seventeen years old. It is not going to look like GTA IV. That said, it plays very well and has an artistic style all of its own. I believe that from a technical standpoint the graphics were not top drawer even back then, the characters are drawn in what I can only describe as an elongated polygon style which for some reason seems to prevent facial features such as mouths being evident on all of the characters. Indeed, sometimes, when the characters are supposedly engaged in dialogue they are expressionless - even Postman Pat had an inane smile on his face when conversing with the characters of Greendale. That said, this does not detract from the overall experience. Yes the characters look unrealistic, but so to is the premise of the game. Everything else about the characters is of the era, sun glasses, open necked shirts and medallions, cigarettes and suits to name but a few.

 

Replayability

Unlike Knightrider (the TV series), this game has aged well and is definitely worth playing again and again, as is its immediate sequel/expansion pack: Interstate 76: Nitro Riders. It is available for download (legally) from a variety of places but it does have graphical glitches when run on modern (XP and above) systems. This is more of an annoyance than something that prevents enjoyment of the game. That said, the best way to experience it is to dust off an old Windows 95 machine, connect up a steering wheel & pedals and hit the road.