Did you play Tempest and Star Trek, too? Or is this less about how it was vector, and more about how it was a quasi-flight simulator?
--Patrick
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
You're thinking of the 1984 Star Wars Arcade game, which I was terrible at because I was 5. It was one of my Dad's favorites though.
I was talking about the 1994 version:
GasBandit
Staff member
I got that game in MAME, and let me tell you, it's not the same without the arcade yoke, even if you do have a joystick.[DOUBLEPOST=1422573516,1422573440][/DOUBLEPOST]
It's the same reason why the PS2 and earlier consoles looked great on tube TVs but like ass on LCDs even though it's the exact same picture delivered at the same resolution.
Not merely that, motion graphics that incorporate empty space actually do "look more futuristic" to your brain because it is your brain's natural inclination to fill in gaps with its own extrapolated content, and nothing looks as awesome as what your brain imagines while it's working in overdrive.
It's the same reason why the PS2 and earlier consoles looked great on tube TVs but like ass on LCDs even though it's the exact same picture delivered at the same resolution.
GasBandit
Staff member
That also has some to do with it, in motion, but even in still frames there is a noticeable difference.
The nature and shape of the pixels made for a lot more actual empty space between each point of light on the old glass TV screen, and your brain unconsciously filled in the gaps with interpolated data. When the same "real" data is displayed without gaps for your brain to interpolate, it looks worse. Also, depending on the resolution of the LCD, there's also some aliasing issues, but as LCD resolution has increased that isn't as much a factor as it used to be.
News station weatherman handles temperature glitch with class and hilarity.
MAN I loved that game! I got so good at that, I'd beat it on a single credit (like the video, but also beating Vader). Arcade that I went to once had a day where all the fighting games had a tournament going, but the owners also made a tourney for that game. You got 1 run and about 4 credits worth of tokens to use in order to get the highest score you could. I was up first and posted the #3 score on the machine for my run (#2 was also me, never could surpass the person at #1 though). At the end, one of the other people waiting to play it went "Oh, you're THAT MDB!" and promptly walked away. I won $50 in tokens.
GasBandit
Staff member
I'd like to think there was one fat disheveled slob who took one sip and said "this is tang."[DOUBLEPOST=1422642757,1422642660][/DOUBLEPOST]
I hear ya man. There was one of those machines in the corner of the basement cafe at my university, every day at lunch I'd pop in 50 cents (cause this was after the standard credit moved up from 25) and beat the whole thing start to finish in about half an hour.
figmentPez
Staff member
And how many of them gave what they thought was a good sound bite, in hopes of being on a commercial? Some people will say anything if they think they're going to be on TV.
GasBandit
Staff member
MASK was, unfortunately, very short lived, along with other such experimental shows as Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, Spiral Zone, Pole Position, and Kidd Video.
The MASK toys were pretty sweet though. I had the motorcycle that turned into a helicopter and the jeep that turned into (or rather, opened on a hinge and ejected) a boat, but I had one friend who had the iconic big-rig with the missile launcher in the sleep cab, and another who got Miles Mayhem's helicopter that turned into a jet... they were rad.
Apparently it wasn't enough, though... they tried to retool the series in its second season, changing it from a crimefighting/espionage show into a "wacky races" clone but without the humor. It didn't work out. I know my friends and I all promptly lost interest.
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, you're in for a treat then, the same guy who did the MASK cover did Pole Position as well.I never got into M.A.S.K or The Centurions, but I LOVED Wheeled Warriors, Pole Position and Kidd Video, and their 80's power-ballad theme songs."Pole Positioooonnnnn...!"
Pole Position wasn't bad I suppose, but OH MY GOD Tess's 80's hair.
GasBandit
Staff member
Even kid-me was done with that show, when I saw the episode where the guy was dancing at a party and didn't realize he was transforming into the car and KEPT DANCING, the car's front bumper in the air, wobbling to-and-fro on its rear bumper as people screamed and ran for cover. I mean come on, how was I supposed to maintain suspension of disbelief THERE?
GasBandit
Staff member
I'm pretty sure it was the coccyx.
It's a shame Kidd Video didn't go further, or get optioned for a movie (like some people). Most of the rest of the era of Glorified Toy Commercials was pretty silly, though. Visionaries, for instance.
--Patrick
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Your... parents... banned saturday morning cartoons?!
I'm starting to understand you a little better, I think.
