scottobear: (2 - santa scotto)
scott von berg ([personal profile] scottobear) wrote2005-12-13 06:01 am
Entry tags:

8006 - Tuuuuuesday the Thirteenth!

GeotargetNew Sam & Max game! I love those guys.. the TV cartoon really did them no justice.



Showing my age... I remember getting the Atari 2600 for Christmas. Combat Rocked, adventure was fun, but not nearly so much as tanks or planes duking it out. 1978 was a good year. I was 9 years old, Star Wars had come out recently, and I was still high off of living in Richmond, VA... Visiting the Smithsonian as well as other museums and and historical monuments was a regular event... maybe twice a month or so. That Atari was durable... lasted a good decade of regular use. Even at 18 I still liked to drag it out and play asteroids or moon patrol. I got into the consoles a bit, but the intellivision and colecovision didn't do it for me. They had better graphics, but worse gameplay. By the time the first nintendo came on the scene, I was more interested in hanging out with my buddies than Mario or Luigi. Probably one of the most durable investments in a holiday present ever.. $200 in 1977... well worth the $20 a year for entertainment, not counting the extra carts. (I tended to buy an additional game every 3 months or so, plus Christmas/Birthday got to be easy for a while.) I'd guess that I had about 50 cartridges by the time I was through, and I'd estimate 47 of them were well-played and loved. (I was not fond of the E.T., Sneak'n Peak or Indiana Jones games... but they were the rare exception to the rule. Yar's Revenge, Ms Pac-man, and Joust more than made up for them.



Moment of Lyric - mp3

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad




1 year ago - I discover that Romanian pop tune (OZONE - Dragoste din tei) before the weirdo kid cam sings it around the world, Oceans 11, pollo tropical makes me sick

2 years ago - the secret message, Bro & Danny visit, lizards in the tummy, truck surfing, riddle, some reference

3 years ago - nightmare, balloon hats, fudge and dinosaurs, Danny and I win a Tomato Recipe contest!

4 years ago - nice dreams, flesh eating robots, wacky day, SOP

5 years ago - coffee, hello kitty murders, village blacksmith, books to read, I get a Sigmund and the sea monsters tape!

[identity profile] weezeroni.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
That's so funny. My nieces have asked for the O-Zone CD for Christmas, and yesterday Naomi (6) sang the whole song to me in Romanian. It IS catchy.

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
'Allo! Picasso!

[identity profile] acoolsecretary.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I KNEW YOU were Santa!!! I just knew it!!! (should I send my "Christmas Wish List" to you?)

WOW! Waking up with my coffee and Tony Bennett is the very best. Thanks!

Pong, now that's dating oneself!

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 04:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, I'm not really santa... just a close relative.

happy to spread the holiday cheer!

[identity profile] eryx-uk.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 02:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I loved the old Sam and Max game. Sheer fun. Didn't know there was a cartoon of it though. I shall have to keep a look out for this.

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
The cartoon was dumbed down quite a bit for the kiddies... though the comic books are the all time best.

[identity profile] graypumpkin.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I never had the 2600, had a friend that own an Intellivision, we had fun with it playing football, baseball, Pitfall and the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Cloudy Mountain games.

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Pitfall is pretty universally fun... I really disliked the disc controllers that the intellivision had. I *do* remember being a bit jealous of the AD&D cartridge!

[identity profile] juliabee.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 06:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I had the Odyssey 2 by Magnavox:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Odyssey-2-video-game-system-boxed-14-games-complete_W0QQitemZ8242895987QQcategoryZ62054QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It came out after Atari, but before Coleco & Intellision if I remember correctly. It didn't catch on in the same way the Atari & Intellivision did. I have to wonder if it had to do with pricing? People called it a "fancy atari", "smart atari", etc. It had colors that the Atari didn't have...seemed to play smoother & the keyboard console was keen for its time. You could play games with the keyboard...and they had a copy-cat Pac Man called "K.C. Munchkin" & "K.C's crazy chase. I loafed them.

I played with my dad's Intellivision about 16 years ago, and thought it sucked. So I'm curious as to why the Odyssey didn't catch on.

[identity profile] juliabee.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Also - Wow, I didn't know Atari was so expensive back then!

... Visiting the Smithsonian"

That's awesome that you got to do that. I still want to go there!
Did you go with school often or you parents?

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 09:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, we got an odessy 2 as well! Monkeyshines was a hoot!

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
also, the carts had a little handle, and boxed games were more fun!

[identity profile] blackhellkat.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
I used to love the sound Yars Revenge made (although for some reason I can't remember EXACTLY how it sounded) but my favorite game to play was probably the haunted house game.

I just got rid of my old Atari last year. :P

[identity profile] scottobear.livejournal.com 2005-12-13 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
woo! haunted house... that was awesome, too.

I love the googly eyes.