tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49373127066447458602024-03-13T12:37:08.815-07:00Pixel PompeiiSifting through the rubble of the electronic games industry, going over artefacts of nostalgic tech detritus with a fine-toothed comb.Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-11226081199925959282024-03-13T12:36:00.000-07:002024-03-13T12:36:11.262-07:00Christmas 2023: the last gasp?<p>This blog is basically sunsetted, but once a year I shake off the dust and leave it idle in a different position. <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2023/01/video-games-for-christmas-and.html">Every year since 2015, more or less</a>, I like to take a look at video game and computing related materials that I was given for Christmas. Over the years, there has been a natural rise and fall to this pattern -- initially, I received nothing in said categories, then as my preferences became known to generous persons, I started recieving more and more of it, as my benefactors would nab relevant specimens throughout the year while on expeditions to thrift stores, garage sales and flea markets. (I was never the semi-pro thrifter that my gift-givers are, but even I have memories of gradually piecing together Nintendo NES and Sega Genesis units -- twice, after I donated the first units to Video In / VIVO's "Video Games Orgy" all-night vintage games parties! -- from pieces encountered by chance on the cheap in a Value Village basement, fingers crossed that they a) worked and b) wouldn't fail in such a way as to kill the rest of my setup! But it has been many a long year since I have acquired any NES or Genesis parts from a baggie on a thrift shop wall -- you just don't see them anymore, those goods left their initial homes, went into thrift shops once already, and have long since disappeared down the black holes of collectors' vaults while the prices were good! ... and even if you do somehow stumble upon a missing period system component, now it is priced according to what those scarcity-surfing collectors are trying to sell it for on eBay.) (I have related positions to share about people who sell used video games for eBay prices at garage sales , but this digression is already too long.)</p><p>I mentioned a rise and fall: first I was given some, then I was given a lot of it! -- my gift-givers found lots of it to give, and they were generous with it. But in recent years, they have been giving less of it simply because they have been finding less of it to give. No more years of "<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOc6v7gBtKs/">six copies of Donkey Kong</a>", to be sure. Up until recent generations there's been a naturally replenishing ecosystem of games and game materials in the secondhand market -- with every passing year, you would see fewer and fewer artifacts of the very earliest gaming systems (eg. I never saw anything Odyssey-generation at all, only items from the Atari 2600 / Intellivision / Colecovision years) but in their place you would see more and more artifacts from recent systems. In short, PlayStation 2 came out and everyone couldn't be in a big enough hurry to throw out all their old PlayStation 1 junk at rock-bottom prices. PlayStation 3 came out and ditto for PS2 goods. But this slowed down a bit when we reached the PS4 and I think here at PS5 the wild flight has stalled, and maybe will crash. Is this because people are hanging on to their games and systems for longer? (Definitely "this looks like a game from ten years ago" is no longer the obstacle that it was when I was ten in 1989.) Is it because collectors have driven up the resale value of old games? (Partly, but that's just a wart on the back of -- ) Digital game distribution, I think, is the main driver of this imposed scarcity.</p><p>* (Also, due to pandemic years, less secondhand shopping has been going on overall. But regardless:)</p><p>Growing up in the era of games that you went to the store and bought off the shelf, carefully brought home and whose fragile media you fed into your machine... if that was ever your standard experience, it necessarily feels timeless and, basically, instinctively correct. Of course, in the era of games shipping on multiple discs and requiring gigs of patches before they're able to run at all, it's a silly and very time-consuming way of going about doing things. Save yourself the trip to the store -- just buy the game online and have it install itself (and update itself) overnight without needing to worry about smudging the discs with your fingerprints. If your machine breaks in a flood or house fire, you can buy a new console, log back in and download all of your games again without buying them a second time! And as a funny side benefit, downloaded games are tied to one user's account and cannot be transfered to a new owner. Magically, the secondhand market evaporates before your eyes! I can't say that this phenomenon has inspired me to pay full price for new games (really, now that I have achieved peak game ownership, I have the least amount of game-playing time in my life, and with it, the lowest possible motivation ever to buy a new game at full price) but I'm sure that some corporate accountant is very satisfied with this closure of an imaginary loophole depriving their overlords of imaginary income.</p><p>In conclusion, as anticipated, these Christmas gift hauls are getting more and more meagre (no shade on the people giving to me! I own over 1500 physical games, and probably that number again digitally -- if I die without ever being given another game, I will only have made a tiny dent in a minuscule portion of my collection!) and probably I will eventually need to stop making these posts annually because there won't be adequate grist for the mill. That said, I've managed to get a few paragraphs of preamble rolling here and I haven't yet shared even a single photograph, so perhaps I'm mourning this tradition prematurely.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIML0MwjdbPBBvOMPZzLrvdBGoYo_ODn-y3ogCgmaq_6L-JdcIYdX7ZTJYD9hhfX2aoV-ebmZUNZvJYjkEI7wK3O47cmDJmuJW3bzbzGlMhB_9O7vdlht8jUWpPvgPj5xjz9y0KSq8j1xEuDgcjN4zSWanTzRO4lJRH5Que0gJSMULJcr5jdpKWNh2fQp/s4080/20231225_155317.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiIML0MwjdbPBBvOMPZzLrvdBGoYo_ODn-y3ogCgmaq_6L-JdcIYdX7ZTJYD9hhfX2aoV-ebmZUNZvJYjkEI7wK3O47cmDJmuJW3bzbzGlMhB_9O7vdlht8jUWpPvgPj5xjz9y0KSq8j1xEuDgcjN4zSWanTzRO4lJRH5Que0gJSMULJcr5jdpKWNh2fQp/w480-h640/20231225_155317.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />It's not a ton of games, I think maybe a dozen. A game can also feel more underwhelming when you just have it on tiny SD card media rather than a big impressive box. The NES carts were actually slated for my wife's resale concern when I noticed them and asked if I could cut out the middleman and acquire them without having to go through eBay. (Grousing over receiving a dozen games seems a bit of sour grapes, but my being perhaps underwhelmed is more understandable when you understand that I have copies of most of the gifted games in my collection already. I had to start keeping excellent records about what I'd already hoovered up to avoid spending more than I could afford on duplicate copies of games I already had.)<br /><br />One mug has a pixelart-style snowman on it, and the stainless steel one is of a local company that boasted that it "built the Internet". (As much as any contractor can be said to have done so, I looked them up and their claim appears to be reasonably valid.) The microcomputer mug is period authentic (a spin on the AT&T advertising slogan "Reach Out And Touch Someone", in use from 1971-79) and part of a line of low-effort products their manufacturer cynically threw at the wall during the microcomputer boom to see if anything stuck, then moved on from.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHB2RbWd0xrk9bjxc3JLlNB2zwwlWWl1TfeA2wHFA__qmlgKbmzQKN4Y4DRWmMJLO1_odRbFUcVgtTtpyrOVDdCCX6POsmmi5TWmH8hnMKk0e0jJiDei6d1T6PuRmZy1SpAo0Tk2pov4Y0DpzsCVCShrZ02p8SZIrolZpahRaNfkI03C2G6HFAVGIlH5zO/s4080/20231225_160032.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3060" data-original-width="4080" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHB2RbWd0xrk9bjxc3JLlNB2zwwlWWl1TfeA2wHFA__qmlgKbmzQKN4Y4DRWmMJLO1_odRbFUcVgtTtpyrOVDdCCX6POsmmi5TWmH8hnMKk0e0jJiDei6d1T6PuRmZy1SpAo0Tk2pov4Y0DpzsCVCShrZ02p8SZIrolZpahRaNfkI03C2G6HFAVGIlH5zO/w640-h480/20231225_160032.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>"But wait," my wife said, "I forgot, I got a box of Skylanders in the garage for you!" I have a love/hate relationship with these little buggers -- I love the developers Toys for Bob, and the "use your toy to unlock content in the game" conceit is a kind of genius, but there's just not that much fun to be had there in the games themself, and these toys were never cheap -- acquiring them by the pound makes me feel for the families who originally shelled out hundreds of dollars for these grim plastic gremlins. It feels predatory, even if the intended prey are whales who can afford to buy a complete collection of dolls so as to experience the complete game content. Maybe they just hit home a little too hard for the collector.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtyor7er1kGfiJ0QK8MDTcCLfrnbNLv4-70bwJInZqVC_-jp6FjW-jXFqA5YCv1egHEijyKpUzwDlrxPzr0BaS1pmBKqFwzpsiH4Npv7X3iCXdIVM0p3T92AFs2AKSAhqseCOEtk-ycCaTiZvRZvtm3DqOKiSxvjwgsZz3h6SjmGkJJ84U6hThkgoFu7E/s4080/20231225_160400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtyor7er1kGfiJ0QK8MDTcCLfrnbNLv4-70bwJInZqVC_-jp6FjW-jXFqA5YCv1egHEijyKpUzwDlrxPzr0BaS1pmBKqFwzpsiH4Npv7X3iCXdIVM0p3T92AFs2AKSAhqseCOEtk-ycCaTiZvRZvtm3DqOKiSxvjwgsZz3h6SjmGkJJ84U6hThkgoFu7E/w480-h640/20231225_160400.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, hey, an NES Classic Edition! Er, NES Mini. Uhh, some clone or knockoff of the officially licensed miniature NES emulator for nostalgic nerds, without the ability to sideload your own roms into it. But that's fine, let's see what it comes with on-board...</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMQAYdfEG44jsYy-e72SQ0WtHh_lUDuyzvlI6ibkMHt5ZqtLks7b72izxxzw9pa9qZ4oY87B3LddDNlsllY9Mc-_HYQaDmiBXpA0FLPR4lwWfJ87EWWDSvxnPPm_jqSF_YAiaCz3_umsmjBcw_Mdo0f0PXrojDrc9gheyjrlZBgwkXS1FU_Yby27kGAmd/s4080/20231226_164139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMQAYdfEG44jsYy-e72SQ0WtHh_lUDuyzvlI6ibkMHt5ZqtLks7b72izxxzw9pa9qZ4oY87B3LddDNlsllY9Mc-_HYQaDmiBXpA0FLPR4lwWfJ87EWWDSvxnPPm_jqSF_YAiaCz3_umsmjBcw_Mdo0f0PXrojDrc9gheyjrlZBgwkXS1FU_Yby27kGAmd/w480-h640/20231226_164139.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>620 in one, you say! There only were ever 677 games released to the North American market, so if legit and not filled with garbage romhacks, this would constitute a pretty complete collection! But that's a big "if". Hey, Super Mario Bros. 6, that's my favorite one in the series! Let's go check it out!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxMU_Aumk56FY6uxSWzJDZQrlwD2YrH6Uhb3k3uj8ckDBKcH9rdktbv1eKq6ox0erAMGRgZM3xIeJBengtIN26Hrv1gk4-DaccgmBR1vePlczL7g9VUNh9-7FML_rmLxwbQbCpvFpuSH-0TUJPT8rQbVVEbwZR8n9g8uKYlIjo6F7SOp9JnnibY4eyA4u/s4080/20231226_164615.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxMU_Aumk56FY6uxSWzJDZQrlwD2YrH6Uhb3k3uj8ckDBKcH9rdktbv1eKq6ox0erAMGRgZM3xIeJBengtIN26Hrv1gk4-DaccgmBR1vePlczL7g9VUNh9-7FML_rmLxwbQbCpvFpuSH-0TUJPT8rQbVVEbwZR8n9g8uKYlIjo6F7SOp9JnnibY4eyA4u/w480-h640/20231226_164615.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yeah, there's that classic start screen I'll never forget! I recall this one took some liberties with the classic platformer gameplay... spoiler warning, <a href="https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Bros._6">it's a reskinned Tiny Toons game with Mario sprites</a>. That's rather the opposite of what I was hoping for.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzS92R8MB9S86wE4UboEhGEzGNIRMfiHQuE89ymfOat0xFOs7xpM5qfHuQO1G7yKblp_peomV62H-qnqLoFhzwOjfcdoee3gqZcecvP5gmSRbVKKg_W5eTH2BhKyyvu_RFSWGgm5tsfwHkn4zuxgBvhggo6YTFs7s-mj2fiIMCRXgL_F0k9tKqSYi_YsX/s4080/20231226_165844.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguzS92R8MB9S86wE4UboEhGEzGNIRMfiHQuE89ymfOat0xFOs7xpM5qfHuQO1G7yKblp_peomV62H-qnqLoFhzwOjfcdoee3gqZcecvP5gmSRbVKKg_W5eTH2BhKyyvu_RFSWGgm5tsfwHkn4zuxgBvhggo6YTFs7s-mj2fiIMCRXgL_F0k9tKqSYi_YsX/w480-h640/20231226_165844.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Then again... when will I ever get another opportunity to play Angry Birds on the NES? <a href="https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Angry_Birds_(Famicom)">Apparently this port exists exclusively in this marginal ecosystem</a>, possibly further research is warranted. But since it's recent nonsense rather than classic, it doesn't have the warm fuzzy glow about it that Action 52 and the Cheetahmen do. (It may look like it does, but that's just my combination of a bad display and a lousy camera.)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ23bkyjTdheLqy57MG8xJmohFHbyeHYyTzrzzRSKKeRsM9edsIgK_qt_ir3RghIWjZU8rYJHQC3FUCVmvjhJAAyLVnMtuxlAoiFtEkWnz8ednt8lXJtNt4QC2Pf_64NPq6B-OIlZyx7YHZSQGql-jYPfh9Z3g3scW-msPSWUDabwbuLRVPByhNHQkIot/s4080/20231229_110216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQ23bkyjTdheLqy57MG8xJmohFHbyeHYyTzrzzRSKKeRsM9edsIgK_qt_ir3RghIWjZU8rYJHQC3FUCVmvjhJAAyLVnMtuxlAoiFtEkWnz8ednt8lXJtNt4QC2Pf_64NPq6B-OIlZyx7YHZSQGql-jYPfh9Z3g3scW-msPSWUDabwbuLRVPByhNHQkIot/w480-h640/20231229_110216.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>My kids are big fans of the dance genre of video games, getting you moving your body in sync to the action on the screen -- sometimes to a soundtrack recent enough that its selections have actually been experienced as songs out in the world independent of video games! So in a sense there are gifts from me to them rather than gifts for me... but they are new to our household. (Unfortunately, our rumpus room layout is just a little too shallow to make the most of Kinect sensor technology, but they still get a lot of fun out of putting it through its paces! I was really excited to see where this tech was going to go with the next generation once I got my hands on an Xbox One and its respective camera, only to be very disappointed in the future we ended up with once I got caught up with the rest of the world. Consequently of all the generations of Xbox we have on tap, the Xbox 360 retains its position of primacy on the main television's HDMI splitter.)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEmI9TIgaCNI3OXobFBA_xBcia7BbONoJI0XW7-yYwq9alfPrf1bmWTEt3fP0mKASLCDFoF1Dj9VIM9kUl-qJRoj1GjZbRfKtc5ffl5m1-wqMmfSJDnunHUxKTDXznrLleqHZsxZLTuStx49mmbREMEhcmlUCEQ7iIdKXLJeHSv2W6uJDzvPd9bJYNBge/s4080/20240108_003243.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEmI9TIgaCNI3OXobFBA_xBcia7BbONoJI0XW7-yYwq9alfPrf1bmWTEt3fP0mKASLCDFoF1Dj9VIM9kUl-qJRoj1GjZbRfKtc5ffl5m1-wqMmfSJDnunHUxKTDXznrLleqHZsxZLTuStx49mmbREMEhcmlUCEQ7iIdKXLJeHSv2W6uJDzvPd9bJYNBge/w480-h640/20240108_003243.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Yeah, he's just going to pretend that he didn't just photograph that giant Skylanders strategy guide twice. I guess if you're going to have all those toys stinking up the room, you may as well have some of the literature needed to sort out which sets they belong to. But really Compute's unauthorized 1990 guide to defeating the first two NES Legend of Zelda cartridges is quite a bit more exciting. Speaking of exciting, I didn't even know that the PlayStation 2 had a remote control! But what could actually be more exciting than a mystery floppy diskette? That's right, <i>nothing</i> is more exciting than that. And someday, when I find my USB disc drive, I'll have a report to make!</p><p>Happy holidays 2023, here's hoping that 2024 has some fun in store!</p>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-53185546394042210352023-01-11T11:08:00.001-08:002023-01-11T11:31:50.966-08:00Video games for Christmas and represented at the local drugstore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iQsxg51P7XCg6gw-E9mYAFJYpBJNP8_spDKDAICBRr1lqnjGv0nMoXIKmSJB8_SLVvI5_7pGcSO2xF1Ubh531YOLgbC8lsWhOOYG6NsVDfvjPTZJV36u57QRaXW2mV_xaaVIdPX0bHIJwlj3jWaz3s1nAWMBhy3UZSBV2VUTUgx3zwi9Jqv1g3GbHw/s1675/my%20haul.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="1675" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4iQsxg51P7XCg6gw-E9mYAFJYpBJNP8_spDKDAICBRr1lqnjGv0nMoXIKmSJB8_SLVvI5_7pGcSO2xF1Ubh531YOLgbC8lsWhOOYG6NsVDfvjPTZJV36u57QRaXW2mV_xaaVIdPX0bHIJwlj3jWaz3s1nAWMBhy3UZSBV2VUTUgx3zwi9Jqv1g3GbHw/w640-h492/my%20haul.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Many years (<a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2016/01/christmas-2015.html">2015</a>, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-christmas-haul-2016.html">2016</a>, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2018/02/better-late-than-never-christmas.html">2017</a>, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-christmas-2018-video-game-haul.html">2018</a>, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-christmas-2019-video-game-haul.html">2019</a>, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2021/01/christmas-2020-some-games.html">2020</a> ... <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2022/03/winter-gift-giving-expansion-of.html">2022</a>) I make an annual blog post about all the nutty and wild antique and near-contemporary video games and vintage computing kit I'm given for Christmas, but three Christmases into a pandemic (this one the most lethal of the three thus far!) my extended family of secondhand shoppers strangely still don't feel safe venturing out into their beloved flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores etc. as they did up through 2019. So while the "here you go, 18 pairs of tube socks" portion of my Christmas haul remains constant, this fun, bloggable segment has been wildly diminishing. (That's <i>fine, </i>I have more than enough games to last me through the rest of my natural lifespan (indeed, I made $400 over the holidays selling unwanted duplicates cluttering up my games shelf!), it's just a curious transition to observe, a thriving ecosystem dwindling to a blasted heath.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As I move through the world, when I see games I don't yet have at the right price point (mine is $5), I hoover them up, so I did well enough for myself even if I'm just filling gaps in the collection rather than scoring hotly-sought titles I've been wating years to try out. So all of these pictured games (and the Singstar microphone, my youngest kid is into singing -- they actually received a dedicated karaoke station for Xmas, but this is more along those lines) I bought for myself. So in the opening photo here all I was given over the holidays was the Pac-Man lamp and the 10-in-1 Atari TV game (these are all a little underwhelming, this one especially in light of the recent release of the Atari 50 collection, but it's a convenient way to play a little 2600 Adventure or Missile Command when you're in the mood! I gather these kinds of Plug N Play TV Games are themselves becoming more collectable, so ... OK no, I'm not going to be actively seeking them out anytime soon. But I won't snobbishly spurn them!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq5fgzF82l7NEvy_t1pmjVhGTnhXxCgadC5k7bLEdsl0pHOEwy33c9hMKvTPT0yvUXLqXswWBA07TlXm68-frTZTVDGsd07ocMBhyNlGVTN4F9b8brVmHChBCGNqQ5qhMcLYJTyXBK2FVI3LWXJsKANaj0SCZFPMTTYDDOLmKZciJ5zszwtqp5o-QF7Q/s1841/IMG_1945.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1437" data-original-width="1841" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq5fgzF82l7NEvy_t1pmjVhGTnhXxCgadC5k7bLEdsl0pHOEwy33c9hMKvTPT0yvUXLqXswWBA07TlXm68-frTZTVDGsd07ocMBhyNlGVTN4F9b8brVmHChBCGNqQ5qhMcLYJTyXBK2FVI3LWXJsKANaj0SCZFPMTTYDDOLmKZciJ5zszwtqp5o-QF7Q/w640-h500/IMG_1945.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You don't get a good look at the games in the opening photo and that's just fine, there's nothing there that would excite anybody. But if you have kids in the house, having an unpretentious cooking simulator or horseback riding game at your disposal can be just the thing to give you a quiet afternoon! (I'm pretty sure however that whoever paid $30 for that Miniclip game got a bad deal. I think these were a quarter each if I bought ten of them, the hard part was finding a tenth game on the shelf that wasn't just an empty case, a plague of thrifters. NHL 09 is I guess the middle ground between a wanted game and an empty case, it turns out.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(I don't even want a quiet afternoon if we can ideally find a way to make games a family activity, something difficult to achieve when the games are played at the Teletubbies level. I was hoping to <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm8Cze7rxpv/">get my kids through Monkey Island 2</a> over the holidays, freeing me up to go out and buy the recent sequel, knowing that we'd all be up to speed, but ... it's a long game!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PupSsM4xZL-C6FtI_hNRRSKvOtHCZrRShVks6NnPMik92GW8PtY5gOCwMrwT8foe_keI9KoQXdUPoxN6K4ictitotPN6684ECyB0YHgeCM9jfjtQv0sj-2IIj3Pa3-2P_bO0nq_ojeLXKpYNVDzv02ywB0ezvNDRjh2aMWX8ZR-IveZ4h0-zIj8P5Q/s2731/IMG_1952.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2731" data-original-width="1932" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PupSsM4xZL-C6FtI_hNRRSKvOtHCZrRShVks6NnPMik92GW8PtY5gOCwMrwT8foe_keI9KoQXdUPoxN6K4ictitotPN6684ECyB0YHgeCM9jfjtQv0sj-2IIj3Pa3-2P_bO0nq_ojeLXKpYNVDzv02ywB0ezvNDRjh2aMWX8ZR-IveZ4h0-zIj8P5Q/w452-h640/IMG_1952.jpg" width="452" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">OK, I've had my N64 long enough, time for me to start winning its games! I can't pass up these thrift store finds at thrift store prices. There's a whole other blog post I could make about the literary niche carved out by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Rovin">Jeff Rovin</a> in the '80s, writing encyclopedias about movie monsters and the first major manuals about how to defeat NES games. Could he have had the best career in history? (But then there was that weird episode where he appeared on TV character assassinating Hillary during the closing days of the Trump campaign, so maybe not. <i>BUT</i> I digress...)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdlByTzRGBIsDhl8dijx2N6hJMlVTHm52ETfQ_ZKrTJx6Uar2VpzJdF8gFRQKFBqLFXHWkgQCH7cy1C_k5RzqiR0UMpdilaZqWmfToSh0H_G6I8mjzSL-XZSd17b7vdAuQG9Q_TIe9qj5UgUqvEtApkEB0jZzLfNuGDvYNJdsfsEjJ4ObEXiwCcTGIA/s2663/IMG_1946.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2663" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqdlByTzRGBIsDhl8dijx2N6hJMlVTHm52ETfQ_ZKrTJx6Uar2VpzJdF8gFRQKFBqLFXHWkgQCH7cy1C_k5RzqiR0UMpdilaZqWmfToSh0H_G6I8mjzSL-XZSd17b7vdAuQG9Q_TIe9qj5UgUqvEtApkEB0jZzLfNuGDvYNJdsfsEjJ4ObEXiwCcTGIA/w556-h640/IMG_1946.jpg" width="556" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A friend stopped by over the holidays and bequeathed a small wrapped package to me. I said "hm, about the size of an Atari 2600 cart, but I hear things moving around inside, it must be chocolates. Thanks, here are some chocolates for you, too!" Only later did I open it and find these NES cart-themed coasters -- for people who are still kids at heart, but old enough to not want water stains on their hardwood tables. (Emphasis is on the distinctive NES "Black Box" art, intended to show buyers what they'd be seeing on the screen, as opposed to Atari 2600 box art which had to lean heavily on misleading "here's what you should be seeing in your imagination while you're playing, which will look like three squares on the screen" imagery.) I think this was peak game gift this year, hats off! Sorry for the cruddy photography -- the camera on my phone smashed its glass and basically I have smartphone astigmatism now. But wait, he's already done tabulating his gift haul and yet there's still quite a bit more to the post yet to go, what's up here?</div>
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQAsXC-DASDj298nKwc6FaBdINuQOvY1_2wyM_jzkBvPxzI-AzuavGPyZHrHRcBEkEZIatI3IkI0h1GzYR8-jGYuPfd2vtQHEuklJddIrRJlM9sUg7UKtOnm6zguHpTyMJv66T3E7psT9RvuyY0ZqRbB_4iaWlX1wrCeS1WTw1rWfdQV0nEIUxcbpXw/s3182/galaga%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3182" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQAsXC-DASDj298nKwc6FaBdINuQOvY1_2wyM_jzkBvPxzI-AzuavGPyZHrHRcBEkEZIatI3IkI0h1GzYR8-jGYuPfd2vtQHEuklJddIrRJlM9sUg7UKtOnm6zguHpTyMJv66T3E7psT9RvuyY0ZqRbB_4iaWlX1wrCeS1WTw1rWfdQV0nEIUxcbpXw/w608-h640/galaga%201.jpeg" width="608" /></a></div>
<p>While I was attempting to source some unrelated goods at London Drugs, I like to amuse myself by sliding down the toy aisle and peep in on just how many of the toy lines of my youth are still staggering along on fumes today. I also like to investigate just how completely video games are infiltrating even the lowest echelons of the toy biz, and the answer this year seems to be impressively a lot!</p><p>This specimen above seems like a misstep on a few levels. You can tell yourself that everything of a certain vintage is necessarily classic and in demand and children of all ages will thrill to it, but with the exception of Nintendo and a couple of other companies with deep histories and long memories (maybe Capcom and Konami?) I think most video game properties of the early '80s vintage are just old and played-out, unlikely to delight any child receiving its mascot in stuffed form in their stocking Yes, Namco, Pac-Man has "got it". But if you genuinely think that Galaga's Gyaraga has it too, you've drunk the Kool-Aid. (I prodded in vain trying to determine what kinds of noises the "Talking Plush"es made, presumably some classic sound fx.)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQBwFVDBZ2D3673cFOmwGXECkbOhZfC3t2LYfofSX1vc939lqsZVrDCX7jStawVbPZsCU2cl-NIJc_cyQDGS86ONPkGdYXI9Byf1iMpQcMljsBiyAFZQ667OSnkY2dtx_zoctIPg_Rqgsxj_hEJdBbM4rij6-C6BdZqbMbLhFxBl-0gzIoNaSVjidNw/s3566/sonic%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3566" data-original-width="2232" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQBwFVDBZ2D3673cFOmwGXECkbOhZfC3t2LYfofSX1vc939lqsZVrDCX7jStawVbPZsCU2cl-NIJc_cyQDGS86ONPkGdYXI9Byf1iMpQcMljsBiyAFZQ667OSnkY2dtx_zoctIPg_Rqgsxj_hEJdBbM4rij6-C6BdZqbMbLhFxBl-0gzIoNaSVjidNw/w400-h640/sonic%201.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Sonic the Hedgehog is of course evergreen, and probably would be appreciated by people young enough to know him primarily as a movie star, who might never have been alive when a Sonic game worth playing was on store shelves! (Just kidding, that's an old Sega curse that I understand dissipated at last with the release of Sonic Mania six years ago. OK, I suppose many of those youths actually have spent their entire lives in a world without that curse remaining in effect. Time marches on!)</div></div>
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KRpYdT8RIjbbc1Mi1-qbrXeFV-0T3Zb4QM26907ClBqBBhzcaKLcH5XD7VTIqR5Q5RnEr1Y0ruue8OmNFdcCHOucRWXRbsIi06OjFBALFiw4B3fNYWYdFRmytGwu3QLJ-HMK2Nte2Id4TfMDzNyLAAsNixNkhPPBKBn-Nf4hALvtt6dJcSaOtXQxGg/s3410/pokemon%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3410" data-original-width="2560" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KRpYdT8RIjbbc1Mi1-qbrXeFV-0T3Zb4QM26907ClBqBBhzcaKLcH5XD7VTIqR5Q5RnEr1Y0ruue8OmNFdcCHOucRWXRbsIi06OjFBALFiw4B3fNYWYdFRmytGwu3QLJ-HMK2Nte2Id4TfMDzNyLAAsNixNkhPPBKBn-Nf4hALvtt6dJcSaOtXQxGg/w480-h640/pokemon%201.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pokemon also is one of those concerns that just gets more and more valuable over the years, making even some rather dry stationary supplies worth stocking in the toy aisle. (no, Einstein, that must be a binder specifically for storing your Pokemon trading cards in for the IRL card game based on the video game series!)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BP6XJT2p6uqhhGpZHSM-uurEun25Y8NMaTaQURjkla8jbFqavIBRZeEbAhemEbti8NZcCKiEBc_US-Vlr6ejtE395ySI3WgoTPn_LXr2bEy7VCle4MdavWd-b-9EjY0TYAulYOqsnACTWVETe43oY3NFjplHv0dWQ8ImxVKylY4FI3J9NQypAX132g/s3116/minecraft%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3116" data-original-width="2735" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1BP6XJT2p6uqhhGpZHSM-uurEun25Y8NMaTaQURjkla8jbFqavIBRZeEbAhemEbti8NZcCKiEBc_US-Vlr6ejtE395ySI3WgoTPn_LXr2bEy7VCle4MdavWd-b-9EjY0TYAulYOqsnACTWVETe43oY3NFjplHv0dWQ8ImxVKylY4FI3J9NQypAX132g/w562-h640/minecraft%201.jpeg" width="562" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Feels like Minecraft merch will be with us always, returning on Microsoft's investment of billions, but let this be a cautionary tale to you to not succumb to hubris: it doesn't feel like that long ago that Angry Birds was in that boat too, but today despite their, uh, slingshotting to the big screen, their assorted angry avian mascots go entirely unrepresented in today's toy aisle. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVhlZI_OifUo8r2re85IXGCRL4GX2SKKvRR-VyjdT-hec2jM1eXCMJB_ftbW3Blbm86WcOopscYzR5qTv7GAzcm3_m9GisC5g1CG6lTX9ykWPg17gc5TqR0wrIodOm8mGKbP0m70xTz0hFe2wcova4r4KOHaRZFq-uc_2hYCRuZUQYApcHrlYGJwZPA/s3400/fortnite%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3400" data-original-width="2432" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFVhlZI_OifUo8r2re85IXGCRL4GX2SKKvRR-VyjdT-hec2jM1eXCMJB_ftbW3Blbm86WcOopscYzR5qTv7GAzcm3_m9GisC5g1CG6lTX9ykWPg17gc5TqR0wrIodOm8mGKbP0m70xTz0hFe2wcova4r4KOHaRZFq-uc_2hYCRuZUQYApcHrlYGJwZPA/w458-h640/fortnite%203.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Now this is where the action's at! I don't know if Fortnite is the happening-est, most in-demand brand for Christmas presents this year, but definitely it's the one the store was keenest to shove the widest variety of merchandise down your throat about. (That's a very special sentence structure there, Rowan!)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJ8wkTVTmLvUtn3homOWmPRJQTkiCcuviVBbkxmcNtqA9GUoNFNm4hoJEuN36e6DBkJfCCQGzG1OdudfzSbLRJNy71jw23ToFe5gt4G-ds3JW3Y_Sgc7_xVaCh0UhX9S51moOcSCNYu1hW7JyJep0ARXxrdRUxHVj2SFQ-UvYgNy04kSQCgJQZPHDRQ/s3468/fortnite%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3468" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggJ8wkTVTmLvUtn3homOWmPRJQTkiCcuviVBbkxmcNtqA9GUoNFNm4hoJEuN36e6DBkJfCCQGzG1OdudfzSbLRJNy71jw23ToFe5gt4G-ds3JW3Y_Sgc7_xVaCh0UhX9S51moOcSCNYu1hW7JyJep0ARXxrdRUxHVj2SFQ-UvYgNy04kSQCgJQZPHDRQ/w558-h640/fortnite%201.jpeg" width="558" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>The Wall Of Fortnite, the single game most represented here, reminds me of a very special One Minute Play in one of my early visits to the ArtsWells Festival, where different members of the Victoria Poetry Slam community conducted a brief but enthusiastic conversation consisting entirely of the word "Facebook" in different inflections. Truly these shelves are prepared to vend a Fortnite tie-in for every season. It's a wild culmination of the company I still mentally file as the ZZT / Jill of the Jungle / Jazz Jackrabbit concern. First impressions are tenacious!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40Yjbp-v5h65dQLC1ZM9wXtWsTFxghY8DsyM4o6A-P_HWPMN6zG9wJl1STs3OMxiHJg4llHy_QjSGWLf7g6TOG2wVwn4jQItdT85Kmw1CNKRAAt4nnzWWLdFTjqBg0HYGTUjmnuY1eJNx0omQ7nBXAEp-D67iSoOt9VxXsiMlORViVbtYZWyPyI_fLg/s3024/fortnite%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1914" data-original-width="3024" height="406" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg40Yjbp-v5h65dQLC1ZM9wXtWsTFxghY8DsyM4o6A-P_HWPMN6zG9wJl1STs3OMxiHJg4llHy_QjSGWLf7g6TOG2wVwn4jQItdT85Kmw1CNKRAAt4nnzWWLdFTjqBg0HYGTUjmnuY1eJNx0omQ7nBXAEp-D67iSoOt9VxXsiMlORViVbtYZWyPyI_fLg/w640-h406/fortnite%202.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>I don't even know what these are -- handholds you attach to your phone to make it feel more like a game controller? -- but I briefly saw the word "Fortnite" on the packaging and lumped it in here.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIKza1aivcmJL5hkqf8R5vxXiXpXUJH_IOTHrWKxUXvIeXrsbRFQk3wTXCVV_i-Gz8edW_AT9HwapPWV0qykW-GHAHCIzrI65P53wJ90z9l6ywaUWCUTAVGBSywX28NY0czaLUUAvUNgWx-oIqEt5gBBSJAAW2E36eKF_rGxQFhg5sqqKc8FKPzY-pA/s2963/fnaf%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1938" data-original-width="2963" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIKza1aivcmJL5hkqf8R5vxXiXpXUJH_IOTHrWKxUXvIeXrsbRFQk3wTXCVV_i-Gz8edW_AT9HwapPWV0qykW-GHAHCIzrI65P53wJ90z9l6ywaUWCUTAVGBSywX28NY0czaLUUAvUNgWx-oIqEt5gBBSJAAW2E36eKF_rGxQFhg5sqqKc8FKPzY-pA/w640-h418/fnaf%201.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>I must confess I was not expecting to see Five Nights At Freddy's served up to kids for Christmas but then perhaps the little ones today are made of sterner stuff than I was.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7EKHuGD-Sy3VOinewv9DlKyE-YlFXsEokNDa97QpgAns4XrRhbat8JPVN90J6pojBglotWB5D1LOmKSJQOTsUxZffsVUqMC6jnz-PYue3gko_dyzzscrgsfwSZ-8Wqk86ZjfBpvhyJE2twFE-JljRqaLY8w5xqQXAI7QDgNzgmYqVIjmuNvZp1yWyg/s3629/mario%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3629" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_7EKHuGD-Sy3VOinewv9DlKyE-YlFXsEokNDa97QpgAns4XrRhbat8JPVN90J6pojBglotWB5D1LOmKSJQOTsUxZffsVUqMC6jnz-PYue3gko_dyzzscrgsfwSZ-8Wqk86ZjfBpvhyJE2twFE-JljRqaLY8w5xqQXAI7QDgNzgmYqVIjmuNvZp1yWyg/w534-h640/mario%202.jpeg" width="534" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>And of course, the unavoidable GOAT OG triumphant video game mascots, now and forever, who proceed to do a victory lap of sorts.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnQ1FEjBeHHAKk-2k-ARlBpYZjCWO0MnCHUVy71gO8zIWeNCoCgN-dMhJSRS4aU22aBF8PvJSNBv2vq0JL606Xd0cZTcvAODKBFncdoSKrEq80ZMXatzP_Etvs1KxxpTM6fFMx_S2BoUIfBtClu5BAoDW8uIbD00YCVRS5NhuWaivUl7m94oQy7nE2A/s3353/mario%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3353" data-original-width="2474" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWnQ1FEjBeHHAKk-2k-ARlBpYZjCWO0MnCHUVy71gO8zIWeNCoCgN-dMhJSRS4aU22aBF8PvJSNBv2vq0JL606Xd0cZTcvAODKBFncdoSKrEq80ZMXatzP_Etvs1KxxpTM6fFMx_S2BoUIfBtClu5BAoDW8uIbD00YCVRS5NhuWaivUl7m94oQy7nE2A/w472-h640/mario%203.jpeg" width="472" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Fortnite may be hot stuff today, but you don't see them effortlessly achieving synergy with the world's biggest toy brand. Me, I'm not sold on the Super Mario Lego, but I can report that it excites a lot of people!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAUb_AMo3ZhsDns-GIB3_FJ_1GjRw2beIVFZe6d2XXa1WMfhYg-1kWl7oC7Kw4NZuPVt-NhLMtJgOIfW0EpchJOP2xJwX1LKaJWXMu8H_bi0YvPGwiVpuMwjORm98MifhyI6gvAOmIOPfK5HekzmZmBZXOGNg-3ZbXh5X_dF9dAyfiiaCfhwSbXi7tg/s3495/mario%207.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3495" data-original-width="2592" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRAUb_AMo3ZhsDns-GIB3_FJ_1GjRw2beIVFZe6d2XXa1WMfhYg-1kWl7oC7Kw4NZuPVt-NhLMtJgOIfW0EpchJOP2xJwX1LKaJWXMu8H_bi0YvPGwiVpuMwjORm98MifhyI6gvAOmIOPfK5HekzmZmBZXOGNg-3ZbXh5X_dF9dAyfiiaCfhwSbXi7tg/w474-h640/mario%207.jpeg" width="474" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Here's a closer look at the pouches. Does this one bag really contain everything needed to make all of those characters? 29 pieces, 10 characters, averaging ... 2.9 pieces per character? Some of the little guys are variations on a theme, perhaps the sum of the pieces provided allows you to reproduce all configurations depicted here, but not all of them simultaneously? My cynical first impression was that this was a gatcha pouch that would include only one of the enemies (or, er, penguins) pictured, but I can't see anything here that would require the 29 included pieces indicated on the packaging.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESWwPPmDrDLaSs4VZ80HhEgrJBzc5fdxnil7NzeE_h2YM6-86_7e-j46UgVqxuoWDKw3ZIaoCgVs3Eat-A_McGPzgXdnGY-CGrdtfUK_oin8pVmgy01aRqgYLgM2vrW0LTR1TJCPi52H6LWk0kq0O2NDDj4onaUCRDN2yCxi_k4oZzdzzOp0o1PCKYw/s4032/mario%206.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2398" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgESWwPPmDrDLaSs4VZ80HhEgrJBzc5fdxnil7NzeE_h2YM6-86_7e-j46UgVqxuoWDKw3ZIaoCgVs3Eat-A_McGPzgXdnGY-CGrdtfUK_oin8pVmgy01aRqgYLgM2vrW0LTR1TJCPi52H6LWk0kq0O2NDDj4onaUCRDN2yCxi_k4oZzdzzOp0o1PCKYw/w380-h640/mario%206.jpeg" width="380" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Look out, Sonic, Mario is coming for your crown in the "blue action figures sold at London Drugs" category.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEv_WftFv92tQUU4S3JIqD4e0Aq3EHA2DuP2Cc8Yzu23qG9BNLEPXmUNo1RhU2OX9GY__HO_2aTf4y3YSvM7ar1eqI08IwJN_vswkHH-BakI19FS-UheXBlDcNoo7PZuD2zeQwt0CpZtPSGX8ml6WkfoQMgdNhvGuAzlnG7WPI-S9qj1RjZUBOAMrkA/s3585/mario%205.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3585" data-original-width="2688" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEv_WftFv92tQUU4S3JIqD4e0Aq3EHA2DuP2Cc8Yzu23qG9BNLEPXmUNo1RhU2OX9GY__HO_2aTf4y3YSvM7ar1eqI08IwJN_vswkHH-BakI19FS-UheXBlDcNoo7PZuD2zeQwt0CpZtPSGX8ml6WkfoQMgdNhvGuAzlnG7WPI-S9qj1RjZUBOAMrkA/w480-h640/mario%205.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Are these just playsets or does the "Link System" denote greater gameplay possibilities? (If so, I suspect the possibility is on the "this set clicks together with other sets" end of the spectrum rather than the Amiibo end. (Ok, I did the heavy lifting and Googled it. Seems that the extent of the <a href="https://supermario.epochtoys.com/en-uk/linksystem/">Link System</a> is that the pieces are compatible with the different sets?)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhNVChZHPmrmagf5RxIonzHrSt74MLhwlJ5_Ggo-Vzb1JC8VdjVqegucVMhb-MfTGaE2DITEwnSRrT06zB6GMzOZUMrRW7ddVh3Uj_4Hs1olP243SaTfCMG3IvsDhDwqyFX4DfKUPbTIsR2OudeVWP4k5csjpeO6I3VrF31iFyjSXqwkS9ulHhZp0Eg/s4032/mario%204.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2393" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNhNVChZHPmrmagf5RxIonzHrSt74MLhwlJ5_Ggo-Vzb1JC8VdjVqegucVMhb-MfTGaE2DITEwnSRrT06zB6GMzOZUMrRW7ddVh3Uj_4Hs1olP243SaTfCMG3IvsDhDwqyFX4DfKUPbTIsR2OudeVWP4k5csjpeO6I3VrF31iFyjSXqwkS9ulHhZp0Eg/w380-h640/mario%204.jpeg" width="380" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>More of the same, but it does raise the question of what effect Mario's position has on Boo's ability to approach when pointed at 90 degrees away from him, still able to surveil the ghost out of one eye. (This question has almost certainly been addressed since sometime back in the N64 days, but darned if my tired noggin retains anything anymore.)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsD5B5h5I6yoi17B2U3tyALILuxrjTWFBw18R6AiBRM7M9-1SVm06g6hN2k5kWu4xsvy6vUS-aafktVVoFEi3ENmzye8GfzaXqHKs2tJ5bpjanFGr0zKBBosgCGV7lkHwQhQX5Ez_d1Wu4nDWGUKvokgpFTz_gMz7LT5o6fr64WVRUjiEjzBmxue_HUA/s3024/mario%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1724" data-original-width="3024" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsD5B5h5I6yoi17B2U3tyALILuxrjTWFBw18R6AiBRM7M9-1SVm06g6hN2k5kWu4xsvy6vUS-aafktVVoFEi3ENmzye8GfzaXqHKs2tJ5bpjanFGr0zKBBosgCGV7lkHwQhQX5Ez_d1Wu4nDWGUKvokgpFTz_gMz7LT5o6fr64WVRUjiEjzBmxue_HUA/w640-h364/mario%201.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>More of these Link System playsets, these ones on the grander side. The breathless descriptors hint at some actual gameplay with these ones! But this wraps up our extended trip to the Mushroom Kingdom in the toy aisle. Thank you, Mario, but our princess is in another castle!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI3nrVPX1-rjMF6HHGZwdOlHc1wJiQl0xG2ZOUTiBZmDMxG_PauJ6kAaaeDBmbqV4-DwW503YnN2i7U7Jdvz8_2QcJUw3iqImDdKJOqrONMSxFzFfycgpbf5RWmyxJzm3xUF8_oFsGHcJjezORqBaUeY16YkW-zmTFzRJuteFEIt475R3YebhpeB79Q/s3690/memory%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3690" data-original-width="2883" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsI3nrVPX1-rjMF6HHGZwdOlHc1wJiQl0xG2ZOUTiBZmDMxG_PauJ6kAaaeDBmbqV4-DwW503YnN2i7U7Jdvz8_2QcJUw3iqImDdKJOqrONMSxFzFfycgpbf5RWmyxJzm3xUF8_oFsGHcJjezORqBaUeY16YkW-zmTFzRJuteFEIt475R3YebhpeB79Q/w500-h640/memory%201.jpeg" width="500" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>One more callback to one of the most classic titles of electronic gaming -- I wasn't able to confirm for certain, but the sense my brain is making of what my eyes are telling it is that this is a new, unlicensed form factor for Ralph Baer's 1978 memory game Simon!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQyL7Bp1WTTxNfAQQCsDdo44Gv976FSlSmGbTkuGwIdQmTvZV4lBd5O8kbQFDj7fXi3tjMXIW76xjgKmn_6kpznkCJJVycn9IYiQtQMJr2j1ZPK5FpmtR2PvtS0NzB5TjxnhfhuhsV_-TK02upnLFS0XTM09YvyIoB4SLGowk3S_Qsnz67f4jH8kvyg/s3334/lol.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3334" data-original-width="2839" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMQyL7Bp1WTTxNfAQQCsDdo44Gv976FSlSmGbTkuGwIdQmTvZV4lBd5O8kbQFDj7fXi3tjMXIW76xjgKmn_6kpznkCJJVycn9IYiQtQMJr2j1ZPK5FpmtR2PvtS0NzB5TjxnhfhuhsV_-TK02upnLFS0XTM09YvyIoB4SLGowk3S_Qsnz67f4jH8kvyg/w544-h640/lol.jpeg" width="544" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Here's an overtime bonus: goods found in the toy section that are not licensed or cloned from classic video games, but whose brands could not exist in their specific forms without ... Internet culture, broadly speaking. Measuring the sprawl of Internet culture into the mainstream culture, if you will. Imagine a child raised in a home without a computer, trying to make sense of the invisible realm of cyberspace from these brief and contextless glimpses through the veil. In this case I have learned that "LOL" does not stand here for "Laughing Out Loud" (or even "Lots of Love") but rather "Lil Outrageous Littles", a line of gatcha dolls. What do they have to do with headphones? (Probably about as much as Dr. Dre does.)</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3zw_wo8OT48vnL751AxN--MsPLkItvfw18uwNV6sSnX2uKyY1MJCe5uhnh_5njWCU5dacQ6CGWkyed12aUb3L2eCNvh3mCX65JbCsWdPpwMfgSfnwnISrpyaJ7u--3LW978fPgTud0tLETRORBkCp4IKQ28_6gp9TGOKamCNGNBnr3CyvK6n4pEEzA/s3572/gif%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3572" data-original-width="2536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3zw_wo8OT48vnL751AxN--MsPLkItvfw18uwNV6sSnX2uKyY1MJCe5uhnh_5njWCU5dacQ6CGWkyed12aUb3L2eCNvh3mCX65JbCsWdPpwMfgSfnwnISrpyaJ7u--3LW978fPgTud0tLETRORBkCp4IKQ28_6gp9TGOKamCNGNBnr3CyvK6n4pEEzA/w454-h640/gif%201.jpeg" width="454" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>OK, what's an Oh! my GIF? (I'm of a very narrow demographic segement whose mind always goes to <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/the-patent-history-behind-gifs-and-the-fight-to-make-them-free-of-fees/">the Unisys patent fiasco</a> where GIFs are concerned, but surely they were not involved here.) So, if I have this right, an <a href="https://www.moosetoys.com/our-brands/oh-my-gif-brand-page/">Oh! my GIF</a> is a little ... toy... that includes a code that you can scan with your phone, allowing you to use a digital version of the toy in your personal correspondence. Would you pay $15 for three of them when there are plenty of emoji you aren't using for free? Unclear.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqHTdvTY3Hi8BFMDJ1THxAHEYByJdcmnNs3y8g3RtsjzvAZVzfrDaDJWG-jtSnNULOC4Nd6P-LD3n61tZbarsD89Ym0ZRSH_WqQ8b7QSTJvJC0joczlisIopetQ6fTrpIEMtp_awUOn5gLPYEn-zZ6M7Ph8LzSmvtR7zCQbcQzbLXU0ncan4CeuzJHQ/s3528/fgteev%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3528" data-original-width="2171" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqHTdvTY3Hi8BFMDJ1THxAHEYByJdcmnNs3y8g3RtsjzvAZVzfrDaDJWG-jtSnNULOC4Nd6P-LD3n61tZbarsD89Ym0ZRSH_WqQ8b7QSTJvJC0joczlisIopetQ6fTrpIEMtp_awUOn5gLPYEn-zZ6M7Ph8LzSmvtR7zCQbcQzbLXU0ncan4CeuzJHQ/w394-h640/fgteev%201.jpeg" width="394" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>FGTeeV? WTF? It seems the toy aisle here is being infected by the world of influencers, judging from the logo ones involved in the games sphere: it turns out the abbreviation is short for The Family Gaming Team, a popular YouTube games review channel. How you get dozens of characters and three "season"s out of game review videos is a question I would have to do a lot of watching to achieve a better understanding of, but you know what... I'm good with what I have already learned, thanks.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMA3dI06-5o3Dq0pbUuY7R8xGTpprEGvGvfRe60yZ0d2YapXRP6Kj05iEOTUQyJolLESWxhoiidYoNWxBFR_JunGsKPTxmtI_vO4l8yI9JtTFNPEdQzSLfxhMqT8Eg9vsz1epGGGFFcOrESXjzGYurEa9R5F7afoZoIMosAO59mE58WVNCEPKuPwHAQ/s3980/digi%20dood%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3980" data-original-width="2745" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMA3dI06-5o3Dq0pbUuY7R8xGTpprEGvGvfRe60yZ0d2YapXRP6Kj05iEOTUQyJolLESWxhoiidYoNWxBFR_JunGsKPTxmtI_vO4l8yI9JtTFNPEdQzSLfxhMqT8Eg9vsz1epGGGFFcOrESXjzGYurEa9R5F7afoZoIMosAO59mE58WVNCEPKuPwHAQ/w442-h640/digi%20dood%201.jpeg" width="442" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Hey, I'm a Digi-Dood! But on first glance I'm sure I already know this guy, surely it's just an unlicensed Tamagotchi clone, a throwback to that toy's 1996 launch, now styled as a "virtual reality pet".</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbttw89APgc0Rq4fao5t1fd3UEZyxUq-9EhaGULQsW-cJ3Q6ddy7Vfy5eT4T0lN2Ltq_OiENh3Dw09kw97fMEjzjyOUTZh26MuQfOLmBZm6UovGYYJwe9rergCyXqBXV_4twprhQn_yAGaOr9ODqC8cpWeaRI2MqjtRqE5rr0AmxS_0gzBHLR3h2dEDw/s3024/baby%20shark%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2579" data-original-width="3024" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbttw89APgc0Rq4fao5t1fd3UEZyxUq-9EhaGULQsW-cJ3Q6ddy7Vfy5eT4T0lN2Ltq_OiENh3Dw09kw97fMEjzjyOUTZh26MuQfOLmBZm6UovGYYJwe9rergCyXqBXV_4twprhQn_yAGaOr9ODqC8cpWeaRI2MqjtRqE5rr0AmxS_0gzBHLR3h2dEDw/w640-h546/baby%20shark%201.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div>Pinkfong is selling Baby Shark toys? Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Tragically, this song remains the number one YouTube video by a wide margin (even if it were toppled, #2 is "Despacito", so out of the frying pan, into the fire), so we are likely to be stuck with it for years yet to come.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9kTWNRILC-2C3BfLA5y5eQaF9n4czJUSA9cee_-bux348UlkaXe5VPiBJhyXWjBya5Au8G-pQQaD9X9ciO8ioL4BfD9MEWVy4dWl_srPSMMwm8apw9KExiiWq6hGDP-HZ_6I9shXNY-cIUvB3eHHm21IFKRTOhfF290Z-f6LyFzq8BjO8X-7UYSk1g/s2973/wtf%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2973" data-original-width="2119" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9kTWNRILC-2C3BfLA5y5eQaF9n4czJUSA9cee_-bux348UlkaXe5VPiBJhyXWjBya5Au8G-pQQaD9X9ciO8ioL4BfD9MEWVy4dWl_srPSMMwm8apw9KExiiWq6hGDP-HZ_6I9shXNY-cIUvB3eHHm21IFKRTOhfF290Z-f6LyFzq8BjO8X-7UYSk1g/w456-h640/wtf%201.jpeg" width="456" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">University games: "WTF" does not stand for "What The Fish". WTF! Such a weird footing to make the basis for your game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LHGZppBZ84VXdEqqcT9MciOol7-w4KfinCT8V_axhn4gy4A0iUgRJg69xYxMO0rNRAfr1ItrM-OnyyNEmdx_zHLQe5V0nCZ4IqqYEjmb_QEqhh3pUTN5xAdu5NtxCh6nL_En_gUFLfrYSWPXYlGvxLuTgd4pV26lqi-KCUUS5830b5EBc0lyGUroNg/s2423/IMG_1985.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="2423" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4LHGZppBZ84VXdEqqcT9MciOol7-w4KfinCT8V_axhn4gy4A0iUgRJg69xYxMO0rNRAfr1ItrM-OnyyNEmdx_zHLQe5V0nCZ4IqqYEjmb_QEqhh3pUTN5xAdu5NtxCh6nL_En_gUFLfrYSWPXYlGvxLuTgd4pV26lqi-KCUUS5830b5EBc0lyGUroNg/w640-h258/IMG_1985.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Ok, that's it for this year's holiday roundup post! And, who knows, that may the only post this blog sees all year, we'll see how it goes. (I know you were all curious to see how the Pac-Man lamp held up in the dark. Not too shabby, but I instinctively bristle at devices that only run off of batteries -- though with LEDs, probably it lasts for a good long while. If they'd really been committed to the bit, this lamp would reverse the situation when flipped around, turning into a power pill'd Pac-Man chasing three frightened blue ghosts, but then it probably would have cost a couple dollars more.)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-87966530665047324802022-03-22T14:45:00.003-07:002022-03-22T14:48:56.184-07:00winter gift giving, the expansion of collections and the future of games parties<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSKQj1mdBZ9xJNTcCJ-v2ksjsvXOzu7oEOmmIh_XavYZQkYCJ_3tmhaTYv_zhKW05L7MJVsMog6kKNvD5pPGIv_N-L2Wn0SjTSJwtVs4K6Q4FHYobxR1UuKpfGS7z9VfKGN34inf2XyysuaRtwa5C5kJ63ZYy0qjhI6Zh4FoS5hI_ZZhaAgEVuDyUs8A=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgSKQj1mdBZ9xJNTcCJ-v2ksjsvXOzu7oEOmmIh_XavYZQkYCJ_3tmhaTYv_zhKW05L7MJVsMog6kKNvD5pPGIv_N-L2Wn0SjTSJwtVs4K6Q4FHYobxR1UuKpfGS7z9VfKGN34inf2XyysuaRtwa5C5kJ63ZYy0qjhI6Zh4FoS5hI_ZZhaAgEVuDyUs8A=w480-h640" width="480" /></a>Greetings, everyone! This blog is basically on life support save for annual Christmas present reviews, only... I took photos but failed to actually make a post this time around. Unveiling small piles of video game related goods is really an entirely different creature following years of pandemic precautions putting the screws to freewheeling summers of secondhand shopping, compounded by well-compensated tech workers doubling down on expanding their collections in a time when other collectors' incomes are curtailed by pandemic restrictions and they find themselves selling at any price, but to the highest bidder. There are many sales, but where are the deals? Even if this phenomenon interferes with the obscene inflation of my own collection's size, at least every game I own seems to be skyrocketing up in value. But I digress. Still it seems there is some game stuff out there for the taking, so let us continue the look back. First off, thanks to my brother- and sister-in-law for the stylin' t-shirt, undoubtedly the piece of game swag I will get the most use out of this 2022!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqFC0vzk5RUiY7m_AK22MM5mmtLg0q56XJXQDkz6FTQ8Asm6quIJi--KgncIyW5_w6dpAXh4RqK3nanO6bYanVvHzDI9mbbJB1yd6gg4S1CjStgzYxIKe1nHF9ACVGnYtdcfi-q2LF2g0ShSD4R8kxndLveRsla3Hj_7JOXJ9ObmZZqykTzhqyfIE-5A=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqFC0vzk5RUiY7m_AK22MM5mmtLg0q56XJXQDkz6FTQ8Asm6quIJi--KgncIyW5_w6dpAXh4RqK3nanO6bYanVvHzDI9mbbJB1yd6gg4S1CjStgzYxIKe1nHF9ACVGnYtdcfi-q2LF2g0ShSD4R8kxndLveRsla3Hj_7JOXJ9ObmZZqykTzhqyfIE-5A=w480-h640" width="480" /></a>Here's the birds'-eye-view of The Goods: not only swag, but also some games. (Spoiler warning: the mound of games was fortified by some Facebook Marketplace listings I took advantage of in order to ensure some winners among this holiday season's influx of all game goods not nailed down.) I have never touched a PSP, but it's a nice stuffie!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixXdEQrkRY-Py4Zks2FVBYhCUAUrSuQj6vFCK8KhskcT5JenpUo9CAS9JKnEhbBVmmvHIjPoLwWmp--y0OWaKCCc_07ldWXoML4NpKET30IBzITbGvNohSdZI-cAr8TxQ2CPZQTmn9B8nB-w9tbCtMs-CLtjDbkiz2mGZ1sCQf6YLnKcbxGnf86suQog=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixXdEQrkRY-Py4Zks2FVBYhCUAUrSuQj6vFCK8KhskcT5JenpUo9CAS9JKnEhbBVmmvHIjPoLwWmp--y0OWaKCCc_07ldWXoML4NpKET30IBzITbGvNohSdZI-cAr8TxQ2CPZQTmn9B8nB-w9tbCtMs-CLtjDbkiz2mGZ1sCQf6YLnKcbxGnf86suQog=w300-h400" width="300" /></a>This is handy! Nintendo DS games in a carrying case! You could store a thousand of the things in a shoebox, but finding any given game using that filing system would be a real needle in a haystack scenario. This allows you to sequester a decent subset of your collection for regular play -- I believe it may store up to 16 of them, which is enough for any respectable road trip back seat. And let me just say, Pac-Man mugs are evergreen. Nothing says "I was technically alive in 1980" quite like that yellow dot with the slice taken out.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlUT87gOWKvGTCYpglU_vywtsBF6uF25bn8atSOpdsHTOgq3yAgrr7vyzKn9EP86Xl6qZ4TPJWObyV00kNcUDA5pVh2NvDy_VXu_aWp9HtACMWuUy5utKxdKKGUT8rI15V89maCRpgEZKNHyeUBtljUg_uHsYKDWW0YsbXLl6jtFF9z-91OVYzvq5MOg=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlUT87gOWKvGTCYpglU_vywtsBF6uF25bn8atSOpdsHTOgq3yAgrr7vyzKn9EP86Xl6qZ4TPJWObyV00kNcUDA5pVh2NvDy_VXu_aWp9HtACMWuUy5utKxdKKGUT8rI15V89maCRpgEZKNHyeUBtljUg_uHsYKDWW0YsbXLl6jtFF9z-91OVYzvq5MOg=w300-h400" width="300" /></a>Let's get a close look at those delicious 8-bit micro chocs. Almost every year I receive "old video games"-themed candies and snacks and treats and never, ever eat them. You'd think I'd have an entire cupboard of them at this point, but no... I suspect there is a fifth column in my home misallocating these confections. In the background there is the box for the Mario Checkers game, which is ... just checkers. (Did You Know: I never learned how to play checkers?) Mario Chess is an incredible set of toys for use as chess pieces, but Mario Checkers is just checkers. (There's a joke here somewhere about <a href="https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Nintendo_playing_cards">Nintendo playing cards</a>, but I've got to keep moving!)</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxatwqEEv78OBO85-iMpTea726_RprzD21HXHssouoXhXEq40JY794O6qMZl-wT20xh8ZgKk4ebblEjivptjEtMMPGJXGBe-Ro7yA8iBFPdhmnZFIonmW1SQuUw5MdDhUGLO0sEbxr75oWotrnRZf2P4XZxIlAjwCC_76sUgiEIkpXShtTqHxzyFNtrg=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxatwqEEv78OBO85-iMpTea726_RprzD21HXHssouoXhXEq40JY794O6qMZl-wT20xh8ZgKk4ebblEjivptjEtMMPGJXGBe-Ro7yA8iBFPdhmnZFIonmW1SQuUw5MdDhUGLO0sEbxr75oWotrnRZf2P4XZxIlAjwCC_76sUgiEIkpXShtTqHxzyFNtrg=w300-h400" width="300" /></a>Then we start getting a little further afield in regards to this theme. This is just about the easiest theme to pursue if you ever wanted to make a paint-by-numbers set. Surely after I get warmed up with this book my ANSI art will be whippin' the llama's ass in no time!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8QYa8AxnC4jHW8lgRJSmQYfFOstgHU7huzocOOQuLhmFNfCskJ5lpGnItt3Z40YIAJzbb57EgRb75EBpdjXKyRzbwARqu6aosEFbJkuURVXhQpblTUmbcAwvKWCy3Gs6GB9XJApXMrjbIe-di-IGoQDML_FzHn9b-vmW42yIzXrKKhqmD8TaaMFTwYw=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi8QYa8AxnC4jHW8lgRJSmQYfFOstgHU7huzocOOQuLhmFNfCskJ5lpGnItt3Z40YIAJzbb57EgRb75EBpdjXKyRzbwARqu6aosEFbJkuURVXhQpblTUmbcAwvKWCy3Gs6GB9XJApXMrjbIe-di-IGoQDML_FzHn9b-vmW42yIzXrKKhqmD8TaaMFTwYw=w300-h400" width="300" /></a>Cross stitch! One more pixelart predecessor (mostly textile in nature, but see also mosaics) in the world of arts and crafts. I really dig the demonstration art on the front cover!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkO5Q6fLfy3poGI-wNck4HWmz1UezLNJDJbcBAmq0qenYjXm3AB09P5YSL-BNiZodzxyTHlTsAeVHLrJk8EIjTKt2Izo433gYLEDBO_fojIW9p7of2KaLNhfrVH9y-ccmp5PD2HYcqhEbH15hySRCMZVBAz--GEHWxb1En8mONGoxMU3WsQ89PzXUq-w=s1160" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1160" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhkO5Q6fLfy3poGI-wNck4HWmz1UezLNJDJbcBAmq0qenYjXm3AB09P5YSL-BNiZodzxyTHlTsAeVHLrJk8EIjTKt2Izo433gYLEDBO_fojIW9p7of2KaLNhfrVH9y-ccmp5PD2HYcqhEbH15hySRCMZVBAz--GEHWxb1En8mONGoxMU3WsQ89PzXUq-w=w640-h480" width="640" /></a>This is a special set: the Time-Life series of "Understanding Computers" books, circa 1987. (I thought it was a complete set, but apparently there were some 24 of them!) The diagrams are amazing and it really nails the moment in home computing. Here's an infomercial for the books:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gmybIIAhxGI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and finally... this is just a portion of my regular games collection I hauled out for the first time since moving in here, trying to get my holdings, new additions etc. sorted out a bit. Usually I would get the opportunity to freshen things up and reconcile matters every six months, when I pull out all my games and set my vintage systems up for an old video games party on my birthday (and my anti-birthday), but since the pandemic began I haven't been holding these social functions and the fun goods have been languishing in my uninsulated garage attic, alternately freezing and melting through the long years, unseen and untouched by human hands. Because the one party is always framed as my video games birthday party I like to joke that since I've gone two years without them, I'm still in a holding pattern of age 40, where I've stayed for the past two years.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTqYaQVPjWqhvgNu-qPz-YGqkOIm0T5rp8Ch3tU10GBl_RnlS4S6Ew3qF4X0woooFV_uN9pD8w7UEhl7lj7KZyuorhg9_oE6trsuamt3eW0pg1biXcQstBNpasDl6vDVWu-pEvDM_N2Opq4IsnDoiuFCrY9tvnnQRnkfyoSO66N2f7tDAZQo9kpaTgiQ=s870" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="652" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTqYaQVPjWqhvgNu-qPz-YGqkOIm0T5rp8Ch3tU10GBl_RnlS4S6Ew3qF4X0woooFV_uN9pD8w7UEhl7lj7KZyuorhg9_oE6trsuamt3eW0pg1biXcQstBNpasDl6vDVWu-pEvDM_N2Opq4IsnDoiuFCrY9tvnnQRnkfyoSO66N2f7tDAZQo9kpaTgiQ=w480-h640" width="480" /></a><p>Around Christmas I finally owned the trifecta of an Xbox 360, an Xbox Kinect AND some Kinect games all at the same time, and my eldest had been going nuts waiting for these factors to align so she'd have a chance to try out the Harry Potter Kinect game she saw I'd picked up... we'd finally hit on a TV stand solution we liked enough to commit to, after carving ventilation holes in the backs of several temporary attempts we ultimately moved on from, so I had a place where I could set up three systems on a semipermanent basis (WiiU, PS3 and Xbox 360 -- at least, until I can find an Xbox One) and store games for them... out of sight when not in use. Not as easy as it sounds! Ultimately we determined that our rumpus room is <i>sliiiiiightly</i> too narrow for the Kinect to reliably interpret your movements, but for a little while there we were living in the wild future of 2010. We discovered that my youngest has an incredible affinity for Dance Central! (I can't wait for May 4th to inflict the Star Wars variant on her!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><P>Anyhow, I'm burying the lede here on my blog that no one will ever see, but in a refusal to settle for an endemic new normal I'm now being a bit more creative about the brass tacks of putting on one of these vintage video games parties. Can I get all my friends stuffed into my house, in which we have been residing for a year and a half, which none of them have seen the inside of? Probably not safely. All right then, what can be done to keep them safe? Social distancing and good ventilation. OK then: <i>outdoor video games party</i> it is! We've got extension cords, we've got lawn chairs, and in the event of inclement weather, we've got tarps and canopies and even a gas-powered fire pit. Everyone do some hand hygiene between gamepad swaps (fortunately I don't have any mouth controls for any of my systems) and who knows, perhaps this can even be the opportunity to rig up a console to my old projector and play Katamari 30 feet high on the side of my house that I always dreamed of. Tentative date is Apr 2nd, check in with me that Friday to confirm!</span></div>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-34201164127394368852021-07-20T16:21:00.005-07:002021-07-21T00:14:48.050-07:001981-82 BCIT Computer Systems yearbook<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Covid-19 restrictions are rolling back (possibly temporarily) for the summer, and a vast wave of yard sales that have been held back from their traditional seasonal opening in May is being unleashed upon the world. My wife is always cruising for surprise luxury secondhand goods with good resale value, but as she is well aware of my interests and proclivities, will sometimes snag me materials pertaining to old technology if and when she stumbles across them. </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKYnIwIOqikirOFc6YGj88zMYXBSjHgXZDJbysnJ2V70EvggDdcar5omkH_u8rXER2_LjYO9oNoZaxrfS1VSbz0q8dpgRf-bi5dbFawEKX9JQVKlQZENT-ZcE15DmwBojqvV6wqUbEjZJ/s2048/Doc+0.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1556" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKYnIwIOqikirOFc6YGj88zMYXBSjHgXZDJbysnJ2V70EvggDdcar5omkH_u8rXER2_LjYO9oNoZaxrfS1VSbz0q8dpgRf-bi5dbFawEKX9JQVKlQZENT-ZcE15DmwBojqvV6wqUbEjZJ/s600/Doc+0.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">So here we have the "Computer Systems 81-82" book. (I love the cover art, which dates to the era of "art made ABOUT computers, not made with the assistance of computers." If you wanted to make art for a computer book in 1982, you needed a straight edge to draw lots of perspective lines, and some ziptone to apply for shaded texture. Don't forget your binary digits for flavour!) Apparently people were studying computers locally back at that early date, and just what we might learn about them and their field at that time depends a lot on just what kind of book this is. Is it a syllabus? It is not. Instead... it is a yearbook! Lots of photos of people with unfashionable haircuts being young! I would be very interested in the nuts and bolts of the curriculum, but if, as it seems, I'll be learning about this class as a social history, that's OK also!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">(I can't imagine trying to sell a yearbook -- a printed volume only of any interest or value to those in it, who already have a copy of it -- at a yard sale and expecting anyone to pay even one dollar for it, but I guess I'm the exception that proves the rule.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHS_kKgrPA_4m9qNag8CoP7pjV2W8BRCoO8Gz8EevRO8U5lZtT71bd_YVhLpqOpD0Y2mBXsOUIINWsDidecAThtG2uxWpunkppr04xqrmgQW8hwNwXx-2wevtcqnhgZR5ge__ESw0_Le_/s2048/Document+%25281%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHHS_kKgrPA_4m9qNag8CoP7pjV2W8BRCoO8Gz8EevRO8U5lZtT71bd_YVhLpqOpD0Y2mBXsOUIINWsDidecAThtG2uxWpunkppr04xqrmgQW8hwNwXx-2wevtcqnhgZR5ge__ESw0_Le_/s600/Document+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a><span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-top: 1em; text-align: justify;">There it is, the office of the BCIT Computer Systems Department Head. You can't tell from the angle, but I rather suspect that he (I would say "they", but in 1982, as computing wages had risen and pushed out the rooms full of math whiz ladies formerly known as computers, I think we could quite safely assume that this department head was a "he" ... despite which, you can see the pendulum temporarily swinging the other way, with lots of women appearing in the student body documented here!) doesn't even have anything we would recognize as a computer in his office!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dH_Z2fcBKNAm4FL1dyunkvR9Kks6G7JBqNrXmqF6U4IRKN-mNOYKVQZ_Pxbom7CJ1zao8dPX17aiJqo68mt-upfkO6SP0f5YLM6QZzwpeSWIdfuzXewlenFbbRkWyo5dfdu4AB4na3Fp/s861/Document+%25282%2529+a.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="790" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dH_Z2fcBKNAm4FL1dyunkvR9Kks6G7JBqNrXmqF6U4IRKN-mNOYKVQZ_Pxbom7CJ1zao8dPX17aiJqo68mt-upfkO6SP0f5YLM6QZzwpeSWIdfuzXewlenFbbRkWyo5dfdu4AB4na3Fp/s600/Document+%25282%2529+a.png" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Please excuse the image quality -- not only are my scans weak, it's not like my source images are the original negatives... these were developed into photo prints, then adapted for paper print. (Then, as with this photo, laid out directly adjacent to the book's gutter, the black hole in the middle of the book where the pages are bound together. The only way to get a good scan there would be to undo the binding, and even if I could overcome the shock at book destruction sacrilege (because let's face it, this is a book that no one, even myself, is ever going to want to read again) ... it's a bit too much like work, isn't it? (Anyhow, this is a solved problem. Clearly I should just <a href="http://blog.archive.org/2021/02/09/meet-eliza-zhang-book-scanner-and-viral-video-star/">send this book to the Internet Archive to be processed there</a>.)</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_NeDwh-jccwGd0xQMQ2Xy51r-JcuqMGfizjlcpWmDiQcv6_C9MzjLG2rDLwj0f_z8cRcNSIzAAUoPID55BfxR8laLiHrRvWGhBfjT7vyeXaErVv6fXgRMe5BbdQiu9CuoOJ9-Ng1f4Fh/s1018/Document+%25282%2529+b.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_NeDwh-jccwGd0xQMQ2Xy51r-JcuqMGfizjlcpWmDiQcv6_C9MzjLG2rDLwj0f_z8cRcNSIzAAUoPID55BfxR8laLiHrRvWGhBfjT7vyeXaErVv6fXgRMe5BbdQiu9CuoOJ9-Ng1f4Fh/s600/Document+%25282%2529+b.png" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I admittedly don't have a great deal to offer with this post. I don't know anything about the people in the pictures and I don't know anything about the machines seen populating the background here. I don't know if they are word processors, terminals, or stand-alone microcomputers, but despite radiating nostalgia, they sure as heck don't look at all familiar. Nonetheless I've included every photo from the yearbook -- conspicuously few, all things considered -- including any of the computer technology these students were working on 40 years ago, and if anyone is able to identify any pieces of it, so much the better! Sometimes all I have to offer is the raw data, and we need to crowdsource the expertise.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca9GXOmozFB2hyEb4eizD-PSiXVY1aQlvAuJb05KuF4kuiuRQxD2U67yX4jY0KnzVX_-hRzG9Qfd9FSU2B_4OYrGuA3shWAbSyY2Tpo31p3cKLNU-as7R6fvVED7WLi86uE4tsvIyneo7/s1297/Document+%25283%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1297" data-original-width="589" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgca9GXOmozFB2hyEb4eizD-PSiXVY1aQlvAuJb05KuF4kuiuRQxD2U67yX4jY0KnzVX_-hRzG9Qfd9FSU2B_4OYrGuA3shWAbSyY2Tpo31p3cKLNU-as7R6fvVED7WLi86uE4tsvIyneo7/s600/Document+%25283%2529.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">That awkward photo splice isn't of hardware, but I suspect it is a locker stuffed with crumpled up wads of either paper punch cards or tractor-feed dot matrix printer paper. Either way, a righteous sign of the times -- and a hilarious alternative to shredding or a more secure filing system.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s0qp_Nu4EJ-fqeH5iOz3hB5EuRez7iJb9p6s9mfmVgosVtTHON1aXqM4gkufvVgrvac8GBdqYj0wBwIR6n_3dr8klizfvhvyMB3C63YrQ7gwFSDeEBl0_MuiyM3M62pq7SSbW7vOgM8g/s2048/Document+%25284%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1583" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7s0qp_Nu4EJ-fqeH5iOz3hB5EuRez7iJb9p6s9mfmVgosVtTHON1aXqM4gkufvVgrvac8GBdqYj0wBwIR6n_3dr8klizfvhvyMB3C63YrQ7gwFSDeEBl0_MuiyM3M62pq7SSbW7vOgM8g/s600/Document+%25284%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: justify;">No people or hardware in this photo, but those have got to be some variation on paper punch cards, right? At least, strongly reminiscent of the Scantron forms of my school days. Also, I appreciate the caffeine pills for period flavour. It seems that "crunch time" has been with this industry since its early days!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jefHPIxqp6JSTOLagdUu_guFLq399JvOMRdZBgm4Oyzxlgwkh0AiCaBy4R56ItrV5CAsyAvoXEwBCRlIx7V7q0pJqhyphenhypheniB9EqPa41qD_AwE9lMak26Ru7O_m4SlDfxdtMONTncCXVx_oy/s1351/Document+%25285%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1351" data-original-width="717" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jefHPIxqp6JSTOLagdUu_guFLq399JvOMRdZBgm4Oyzxlgwkh0AiCaBy4R56ItrV5CAsyAvoXEwBCRlIx7V7q0pJqhyphenhypheniB9EqPa41qD_AwE9lMak26Ru7O_m4SlDfxdtMONTncCXVx_oy/s600/Document+%25285%2529.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">I had a chilling "middle-aged" moment receiving this book, because Jen reported that when she bought this book the sale had a distinct "estate sale" ambiance to it. This book dates back to when I was newly born, and my entire lifespan thus far has turned out to be the remainder of someone else's natural lifespan. Were I to enrol in today's equivalent of this course, and it to yield a similar yearbook, by the time my analogue got around to stumbling across and documenting the volume, I would almost most likely be deceased. (This is a problem, because I can't die, as I have far too many more blog posts to write that no one else is going to get around to. Also, it would be a source of great sadness to my family.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Anyhow, by cross-referencing the friendly dedications written inside the front covers of this book, I was able to positively identify it as belonging to Mark Hujanen, pictured above. With that information, I was able to confirm our grim hypothesis -- he didn't leave a huge online footprint (eg. a Twitter account with no posts, likes or follows), but he did leave in his wake the following tribute from his longtime employers at the BC Supreme Court:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /><a 2020.="" 20="" acknowledge="" also="" and="" become="" blockquote="" court="" courts="" creation="" crucial="" day-to-day="" december="" delivery="" department="" developing="" expertise="" for="" have="" his="" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvG5b-ftQqhYKMBA32XYbqDx12CBH77QzlSPJOsogUC9GUlIrjC4SQM5lFl-hVA2G6N5pvwH1EWVxSyuJm5gEiVF3IkcRn2eDKvPX_rPqvY4e36JD7WLxmN_VSoJlzHlOqL5ttO_jNXlaV/s1437/Document+%25286%2529.jpg" hujanen="" in="" it="" judiciary="" like="" manager="" many="" mark="" more="" mr.="" of="" operations.="" passing="" provided="" s="" service="" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px></a> <blockquote>;" superior="" supporting="" systems="" than="" that="" the="" to="" would="" years="">
</a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i>The Court would also like to acknowledge the passing of Mark Hujanen,</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i>service delivery manager for the Superior Courts Judiciary’s IT department,</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i>in December 2020. Mr. Hujanen provided his expertise to the Court for more</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i>than 20 years, developing and supporting the creation of many systems that</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><i>have become crucial to the Court’s day-to-day operations.</i></div></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">As a millennial who struggled for decades in finding even the most meagre employment (pro tip: if you stop looking, it won't find you), I briefly boggled at the perceived generational injustice of this guy taking one computer class in 1981 and getting set on the gravy train until he died, working in his field the entire time. Of course, I have no real reason to believe things went so smoothly for him -- his life is a timeline to me that only reveals an early point and an end point, leaving me to extrapolate everything that elapsed in between. I see that he only worked for the BC Supreme Court for >20 years, leaving nearly another couple of decades during which he could have been lost in the wilderness as I was, or at least taking other computer classes and picking up unrelated side gigs. That boggling isn't informed by realtiy at all, but my own career PTSD. Anyway, Mark, this post is dedicated to you! I hope you're refactoring your legacy code in that great mainframe up in the sky! </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvG5b-ftQqhYKMBA32XYbqDx12CBH77QzlSPJOsogUC9GUlIrjC4SQM5lFl-hVA2G6N5pvwH1EWVxSyuJm5gEiVF3IkcRn2eDKvPX_rPqvY4e36JD7WLxmN_VSoJlzHlOqL5ttO_jNXlaV/s1437/Document+%25286%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="1437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvG5b-ftQqhYKMBA32XYbqDx12CBH77QzlSPJOsogUC9GUlIrjC4SQM5lFl-hVA2G6N5pvwH1EWVxSyuJm5gEiVF3IkcRn2eDKvPX_rPqvY4e36JD7WLxmN_VSoJlzHlOqL5ttO_jNXlaV/s600/Document+%25286%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Do you mind? I'm trying to keypunch this payroll algorithm here, but I can't focus with this camera in my face!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-E-FPGTVgHNeZunW0TXzcp9dE8Oq3iWXC7SRMTY3wxVLHSyXkF_GYt-Gv_LJbEvmOZiIVmQPOjIH6qYw1jPY9lJrLsyxhSRiKA-k5L2BReUhyphenhyphenhvKJ8zfZ_JbdL86y43b1uSRFbQ1aEUd/s1471/Document+%25287%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="877" data-original-width="1471" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-E-FPGTVgHNeZunW0TXzcp9dE8Oq3iWXC7SRMTY3wxVLHSyXkF_GYt-Gv_LJbEvmOZiIVmQPOjIH6qYw1jPY9lJrLsyxhSRiKA-k5L2BReUhyphenhyphenhvKJ8zfZ_JbdL86y43b1uSRFbQ1aEUd/s600/Document+%25287%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">You'll never need to wait in line with a box full of your program -- this state of the art school ensures prompt student access to punch card machines by having rooms full of them.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkaU-Mxxy6gvJhURSLotEz9sM-QxNJmAGV1XSvN79rN15EU9JobIVxX5pvjPoW89kVLjLyMblDwzMoPfBdNraXzwuoGeGYBMXHTHbLwy3XSFs3zQe5AFWuR4I1LIUsg7ZI72WeIpLqgJU8/s842/Document+%25288%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="719" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkaU-Mxxy6gvJhURSLotEz9sM-QxNJmAGV1XSvN79rN15EU9JobIVxX5pvjPoW89kVLjLyMblDwzMoPfBdNraXzwuoGeGYBMXHTHbLwy3XSFs3zQe5AFWuR4I1LIUsg7ZI72WeIpLqgJU8/s600/Document+%25288%2529.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">What's he working on there? Who knows, but check out the obscured swag behind him in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_Data_Corporation">Control Data Corporation</a> box in the corner! "[O]ne of the nine major United States computer companies through most of the 1960s", where Seymour Cray cut his teeth before, for a time, making the world's fastest supercomputers.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKuu_sKNzoCFEqpFlBQ0-y8NvOQ5YYYfc2fzk6IXes3Jh2Ii7JzDEU4cCoSpAFXVv0trb6seWJ8xwHcAEpZ55ikpBCFR49n1wrOfAV8yOKsAl8y5YdLFks_tpg-31FcIl4_Oy1W0Joxoe/s1095/Document+%25289%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="1095" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKuu_sKNzoCFEqpFlBQ0-y8NvOQ5YYYfc2fzk6IXes3Jh2Ii7JzDEU4cCoSpAFXVv0trb6seWJ8xwHcAEpZ55ikpBCFR49n1wrOfAV8yOKsAl8y5YdLFks_tpg-31FcIl4_Oy1W0Joxoe/s600/Document+%25289%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">It's a room full of big iron, but -- correct me if I'm wrong -- isn't he just typing on an electric typewriter there? Or is that some sort ot TTY terminal with keyboard input and printer output?</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="1098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj51BE8_BZzc6fPh6Z-qtO-sB6AMzrwqu3HPYmfPxoQ4RpNMCtO2SMawpEl5tBINpC2MYeq-LjBdXodpRdC7jX5zLWpB8irFG4yQw48aGo2ZxepOmk7Lk-wbvTN30DmdUr2svrEAtpxOyoA/s600/Document+%252810%2529.jpg" width="600" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Finally, Big Blue shows itself! Ironically, I understand that this is the yearbook commitee meeting, and I believe that <a href="https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV3103.html">the 3800 model</a> they are celebrating the arrival of there is just a laser printer component, possibly used in the printing of this very yearbook! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1223" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKEyTBc-8jnV4c4OKwQE_7biCfLoSFxlfDLIrw9CCvBEhlWv1qz1RdkxQYHncyLWeI2qQ47HmuJyt-j46XtE3ZnAH-ZKUlRX-4WtxsVwj37SdkAyqepqYDWM6P5fxbaPs69bfd0A8jhF_/s600/Document+%252811%2529.jpg" width="600" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">After a buch of other group photos, here's a fun filler photo occupying leftover space at the bottom of the page, tagged with a computing joke I had a hard time scanning: "the 'Empty' set".</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QysNAYPndc2W-2sQCGrTBctikh_5VXQqSEFmSKfkdt24J-dRrZHKLQ-cI7jlHCovSc4R52a_Hycf65mpx-2KjxYCEWxfjnC3JeL8GFAHJZ3Bbyu0pD029TzLpJNPWiYZfCTARic6E4LO/s1250/Document+%252812%2529a.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QysNAYPndc2W-2sQCGrTBctikh_5VXQqSEFmSKfkdt24J-dRrZHKLQ-cI7jlHCovSc4R52a_Hycf65mpx-2KjxYCEWxfjnC3JeL8GFAHJZ3Bbyu0pD029TzLpJNPWiYZfCTARic6E4LO/s600/Document+%252812%2529a.png" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Nice work, Computer Operations! Finally, a machine clearly recognizable to me as a computer! There's... buttons! There's a display! There's... well, presumably other components tucked away or outsourced elsewhere. IBM rides again!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ7YOQFVQLeazMyMBHBFeM5DplUN7NgY_MDyyAs_dGy1TBwkriGwknn2pdgNrcp_c17EkT2jNZsh_WbURnJukAwFJkQzzlt87ATH-PpMhIrmy30Ms2IjgKJQUn3W4jitcgRx7thyjuMQ-/s625/Document+%252812%2529b.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="562" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ7YOQFVQLeazMyMBHBFeM5DplUN7NgY_MDyyAs_dGy1TBwkriGwknn2pdgNrcp_c17EkT2jNZsh_WbURnJukAwFJkQzzlt87ATH-PpMhIrmy30Ms2IjgKJQUn3W4jitcgRx7thyjuMQ-/s600/Document+%252812%2529b.png" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">So many of the photos of women in this yearbook have an implied atmosphere of "... do you mind? I'm trying to get work done, here!" to them. Something something male gaze.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjEwheRKTzH2px9Q5a_d0plJC2ksNIjTj88xrG4ZyWbL7Opyt3tIjPZZigY0-bmm76G5zodC9hvcANXpnVvDMYSHbJ-SIR_YQNMSCXFDw_abRWzZQmNLd4Jf3nYB_g_Vkcuyw96ajbIND/s917/Document+%252812%2529c.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="704" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjEwheRKTzH2px9Q5a_d0plJC2ksNIjTj88xrG4ZyWbL7Opyt3tIjPZZigY0-bmm76G5zodC9hvcANXpnVvDMYSHbJ-SIR_YQNMSCXFDw_abRWzZQmNLd4Jf3nYB_g_Vkcuyw96ajbIND/s600/Document+%252812%2529c.png" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">I have no idea what this wall full of machinery is, but it's everything I could have ever hoped to find in this book: right this way to <i>das blinkenlights</i>. (One reader from the Chilliwack Retro-Computing Club weighs in: "<span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">The pic with 3 hp2100 in racks 2 7970 tape drives 2 7906 harddrive and 2 2748 papertape readers, nice</span>". Another one notes, "<span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">I was there from 1992-1994. My Cobol class might have used some of this same hardware as it was ancient even back then</span><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;"> </span></div><span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; display: inline-flex; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="😛" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/tf8/1.5/16/1f61b.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /></span><span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"> Some kind of terminals running off a mainframe. I'm actually curious what we were using, if I knew then, I don't remember now </span><span class="pq6dq46d tbxw36s4 knj5qynh kvgmc6g5 ditlmg2l oygrvhab nvdbi5me sf5mxxl7 gl3lb2sf hhz5lgdu" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; display: inline-flex; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="🙂" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/ta5/1.5/16/1f642.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /><span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: justify;">")</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBh4thoF3_H7ppC0A6OZltDIkXyRn2JgMzuWxvPtYE2g-bcyzCxSMvitxCrJIMr06RAVnJAzCZXtS1fQfyqFESIPzebFPjNwI1MYwIBXzZunJIar8ybjgpNmLPYYHWdxFAnmOdHD-y3-q6/s710/Document+%252813%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="614" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBh4thoF3_H7ppC0A6OZltDIkXyRn2JgMzuWxvPtYE2g-bcyzCxSMvitxCrJIMr06RAVnJAzCZXtS1fQfyqFESIPzebFPjNwI1MYwIBXzZunJIar8ybjgpNmLPYYHWdxFAnmOdHD-y3-q6/s600/Document+%252813%2529.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Again, still another a portrait of a young lady at her terminal with a "Gotcha!" quality to it. Makes me wonder if each one of these photos wasn't immediately preceded with a blast from an air horn.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtdDo_NK1-EVZninmwQgslGV7zgGfagVA2SVAUkpq3sLAR5jTT2qc-9YiBna8h_qBzFPTBciboSrr_ed2o7qRI6oXpw26fswHe7aGuCs8dejgGCBhryW80q1iiqVY3jQcWfwij03Hyovk/s1203/Document+%252814%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNtdDo_NK1-EVZninmwQgslGV7zgGfagVA2SVAUkpq3sLAR5jTT2qc-9YiBna8h_qBzFPTBciboSrr_ed2o7qRI6oXpw26fswHe7aGuCs8dejgGCBhryW80q1iiqVY3jQcWfwij03Hyovk/s600/Document+%252814%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Gentlemen. You know how expensive it is when you knock ofer a can of soda and it spills a puddle around your smartphone? This must have been much, much, worse -- we can't stick these minicomputers in a giant sack of rice to dry them out! Eat in the cafeteria. Don't slurp your soup and sprinkle your crumbs into these electronic marvels. If I was the instructor, that would have been the first rule of my lab!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWjvWVnwQuVzHBjLkHObUyr4pP2ZkdqeeYkFJgdiku3rABDPqzVNt_l0_irjLV594lANXdSXVOlbIykk61kJYuX48hnpH0li0AYbOMKI2Ec5rJOdH7MKq9DmLx0-2cqYF07nCfkrmstBJ/s932/Document+%252815%2529a.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="932" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggWjvWVnwQuVzHBjLkHObUyr4pP2ZkdqeeYkFJgdiku3rABDPqzVNt_l0_irjLV594lANXdSXVOlbIykk61kJYuX48hnpH0li0AYbOMKI2Ec5rJOdH7MKq9DmLx0-2cqYF07nCfkrmstBJ/s600/Document+%252815%2529a.png" width="600" /></a>If you look carefully at the floor between the rows of machines, you can spot either a technician making some adjustments to the equipment or a student having a nap. (Or, possibly, both.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguETvj9OqgTPzJesdyIF25MF8QMshPgz_ZTlxGh-3_2rZgK1bK5A9h401tZeTPq6GQ5Yr7uQqx78OXosHuiu8VrYCIsndVf0qkiugrRmR0uAx1ZlMihuVsRymQgIDpMtoSbkMPACX7rn2i/s932/Document+%252815%2529b.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="932" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguETvj9OqgTPzJesdyIF25MF8QMshPgz_ZTlxGh-3_2rZgK1bK5A9h401tZeTPq6GQ5Yr7uQqx78OXosHuiu8VrYCIsndVf0qkiugrRmR0uAx1ZlMihuVsRymQgIDpMtoSbkMPACX7rn2i/s600/Document+%252815%2529b.png" width="600" /></a>Haven't we all visited this place in our programming preparation at some point? You know what, burn it all down and start over. It's a sentiment that, it turns out, is timeless.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNNl76Z28n032-Y_ftmpI4j8aFnDlSFqm_ahu-iGeE-QIcngQA8eXhHYi-mGcwNRThjQQcCFBSGKmu1JdCjNeZzr1xXQwUCZSvEHtYTP-yNcQY4JvkKbw1my_b2Bu_OyojiFssCk9B45L/s751/Document+%252815%2529c.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="751" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNNl76Z28n032-Y_ftmpI4j8aFnDlSFqm_ahu-iGeE-QIcngQA8eXhHYi-mGcwNRThjQQcCFBSGKmu1JdCjNeZzr1xXQwUCZSvEHtYTP-yNcQY4JvkKbw1my_b2Bu_OyojiFssCk9B45L/s600/Document+%252815%2529c.png" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">You don't hear too much about it anymore, and I bet LCD screens have a lot to do with it, but I have vivid memories a bit before the turn of the century, at about the midpoint between the publication of this book and the present day, of people having significant concerns about the hazards of prolonged exposure to video display terminals. I remember a family friend had their desktop computer setup featuring a seat at one end of the room and the largest CRT money could buy at the other end, with a bowling lane of a desk between them, so as to maximise the view while minimising exposure to the harmful rays. The memory is kind of apropos of nothing, but c'mon, I bet that display is just about big enough for a grown man to crawl down in a music video or horror movie.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zQOIr4OrwdRS7ZuAin7RWA87GRCutr3HjRCvR0t6SC73_V5vs328tliM1tUJ80TK-qcHjv4lqVHydbe5z9oGN4sikwYfhCd5V488G1D_gI3xiTFG_QXP3d2IFOOXY1Kex4XBHBmw8IGF/s689/Document+%252815%2529d.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="635" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zQOIr4OrwdRS7ZuAin7RWA87GRCutr3HjRCvR0t6SC73_V5vs328tliM1tUJ80TK-qcHjv4lqVHydbe5z9oGN4sikwYfhCd5V488G1D_gI3xiTFG_QXP3d2IFOOXY1Kex4XBHBmw8IGF/s600/Document+%252815%2529d.png" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Are they wearing a party hat? And well why should they not be, anytime the numbers crunch as intended is a great moment in history, it should be roundly celebrated. Those barrels off to the left... are they for spoiled <a href="https://www.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/punchcard/impacts/">(folded, spindled or mutilated) punch cards</a>? </div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Rbzx5fXwawP87PwSPrGb1rmeubxeFuo74FbAQDft96U1higVd_9kER4U0pw537T-F6uVeIyk8DEnCksgkYp_wV2K1hFAjsrw3Pvyqg5lrdtGhaYVyPxWVsYVsmuRPJaooekarLSDNsWd/s1063/Document+%252816%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1063" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Rbzx5fXwawP87PwSPrGb1rmeubxeFuo74FbAQDft96U1higVd_9kER4U0pw537T-F6uVeIyk8DEnCksgkYp_wV2K1hFAjsrw3Pvyqg5lrdtGhaYVyPxWVsYVsmuRPJaooekarLSDNsWd/s600/Document+%252816%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">OK, so I have more photos of old computers from this yearbook than I do insightful observations to make about their contents. I don't know which ones are significant and which ones aren't so I'm just aiming to share all the ones including vintage hardware and hopefully my audience finds them interesting enough on their own that I don't need to ice every cupcake with my sparkling commentary.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLT4fopIvyciDi1TodMEWWodZ5r4-f_RESF_GYVBlAudYElJGikSe7YTYDaNPD1dqce8G4CUR5nH2UjD_8_OpgJWd-4rgx4b3dLmV7s-f5VsddL2Fubdx5PH_JcuMcm7AeWidP7lHIaB5A/s774/Document+%252817%2529A.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="738" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLT4fopIvyciDi1TodMEWWodZ5r4-f_RESF_GYVBlAudYElJGikSe7YTYDaNPD1dqce8G4CUR5nH2UjD_8_OpgJWd-4rgx4b3dLmV7s-f5VsddL2Fubdx5PH_JcuMcm7AeWidP7lHIaB5A/s600/Document+%252817%2529A.png" /></a>Another all-nighter?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheagZ6oXF-ikJKiXsBXdY5dSY7DnPJ4X2UmArMqf-gTukII7iEI0PZjI2ZX-62CsIMiGkgzCMUSSV4giYdi09Q5adbU1zaKndqdpD3hNxMZ9AfMJu3IAwGT4eDYSJAqiw-z39eTMB3lNxH/s883/Document+%252817%2529b.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="883" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheagZ6oXF-ikJKiXsBXdY5dSY7DnPJ4X2UmArMqf-gTukII7iEI0PZjI2ZX-62CsIMiGkgzCMUSSV4giYdi09Q5adbU1zaKndqdpD3hNxMZ9AfMJu3IAwGT4eDYSJAqiw-z39eTMB3lNxH/s600/Document+%252817%2529b.png" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Giving a bit of "deer in the headlights" expression, as though he'd been caught in the act computing during someone else's booked time... or just having been discovered staying after hours to play <a href="http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/2/000009/000009.html">Colossal Cave Adventure</a>.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9JhsfQVgkLALeLsQIU-cJKVdGe-jOAMhtqRCtdbujdst-8izn1OkXTN3z0EzyvJeson4N29S_9GoEuAqOgzwJBAmJXgqypp1N6IGpFTQLQtBLhC4h_YPNxmKP-6vZgMympVO0zSNRMHO/s741/Document+%252817%2529c.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9JhsfQVgkLALeLsQIU-cJKVdGe-jOAMhtqRCtdbujdst-8izn1OkXTN3z0EzyvJeson4N29S_9GoEuAqOgzwJBAmJXgqypp1N6IGpFTQLQtBLhC4h_YPNxmKP-6vZgMympVO0zSNRMHO/s600/Document+%252817%2529c.png" width="600" /></a>I'm satisfied, the machines-to-student ratio at this school, as documented in these photos, seems to have achieved pretty good parity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16A7jhaTS5qsAKRZw5hROSz7f8kVTTCYyrFwkWLmviTgWqL2h5HBBkTJS_IkkXIDhdja-zobHLnxO8dfZVrDK_4U6xjmNtYP_s1EdQtDs38uvDkB2iNIdKT_TtAAzjqRGQ2LWynhd89P0/s977/Document+%252818%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="977" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16A7jhaTS5qsAKRZw5hROSz7f8kVTTCYyrFwkWLmviTgWqL2h5HBBkTJS_IkkXIDhdja-zobHLnxO8dfZVrDK_4U6xjmNtYP_s1EdQtDs38uvDkB2iNIdKT_TtAAzjqRGQ2LWynhd89P0/s600/Document+%252818%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">The satisfaction of a routine well invoked. (Almost a little <i>too</i> satisfied, if you ask me. Just what kind of nefarious purpose is this program for, anyhow? Did he just discover "salami slicing" before Superman III mainstreamed it?) (One more comment from the Chilliwack Retro-Computing Club: "<span style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: left;">I'm really curious about the terminal here. It looks like the "Lanpar" terminals I used at UBC around the same time. I think they were Canadian made(?) but I can't find any information about them.</span>")</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3khnnzAgYvFBgY2V6cFNVvbJJ3N_c9sNqXIWa_vhwT1MrCI8YsLZQA8u8dVi0tlIVQ3ohpAT9vYpvdlJwYf6CbZKNuqBb-OIGb0o7AsPgeHALXOnJTt8SEw7MIbNu2Ne69jjVrTPuYTZa/s1256/Document+%252819%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3khnnzAgYvFBgY2V6cFNVvbJJ3N_c9sNqXIWa_vhwT1MrCI8YsLZQA8u8dVi0tlIVQ3ohpAT9vYpvdlJwYf6CbZKNuqBb-OIGb0o7AsPgeHALXOnJTt8SEw7MIbNu2Ne69jjVrTPuYTZa/s600/Document+%252819%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a>Crunch time! Too busy to mug for the camera, busy tyring to figure out why 30 isn't GOTOing 10!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoegQTX5BwJyBz_erBbPMojroFb8EJncuJmtE75XwMpq9W5jce_cJ5ZLfvpak4upBZwoOsg3TnSS5ZssYTTsCVsvLmrtRtIGgs4eLSmue5RXhspnU4f4rtdTUbi4mcgsDiCb9xZLmmXsw4/s1330/Document+%252820%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoegQTX5BwJyBz_erBbPMojroFb8EJncuJmtE75XwMpq9W5jce_cJ5ZLfvpak4upBZwoOsg3TnSS5ZssYTTsCVsvLmrtRtIGgs4eLSmue5RXhspnU4f4rtdTUbi4mcgsDiCb9xZLmmXsw4/s600/Document+%252820%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">No time off for good behavior! I don't care if it is a holiday, you're coming in and crunching numbers! I'm guessing that this photo was taken sometime around Hallowe'en, but wouldn't it be more interesting if it was just another regular day in computer class?</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo17xWPdpgKK72Tb5zjY00A6XdaOPB-nJJqxkYNEkievOwMDxham4sdG0q_8pVmwYKxMM7k6h7utLjTZTmRh49wMSkf11YSwwoDj1QgfbAVs9hYcCEgWMgGjd9DKFkA9yVq7vR1TPozAsM/s2048/Document+%252821%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1566" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo17xWPdpgKK72Tb5zjY00A6XdaOPB-nJJqxkYNEkievOwMDxham4sdG0q_8pVmwYKxMM7k6h7utLjTZTmRh49wMSkf11YSwwoDj1QgfbAVs9hYcCEgWMgGjd9DKFkA9yVq7vR1TPozAsM/s600/Document+%252821%2529.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Due to my literary background, I couldn't resist the inclusion of this computer-school-themed poem found at the back of the yearbook. It's no "<a href="https://www.ubu.com/historical/racter/index.html">The Policeman's Beard is Half Constructed</a>", but it'll have to do. Here, I transcribed it for you:</div></div><pre>BCIT BLUES, by Rob Brown.
Ten happy little programmers,
Coding in a line;
One missed a due date,
Then there were nine.
Nine tired little programmers,
Hacking away till late;
One failed Org Bev,
Then there were eight.
Eight scared little programmers,
Working past eleven;
One crashed the system,
Then there were seven.
Seven worried little programmers,
Coding cobol pics;
One dropped a cad deck,
Then there were six.
Six frantic little programmers,
Feeling barely alive;
One fell asleep in systems,
Then there were five.
Five frazzled little programmers,
Sleeping on the floor;
One listened to a hacker,
Then there were four.
Four spaced-out little programmers,
Wishing they were free;
One took an evening off,
Then there were three.
Three crazy little programmers,
Who didn't have a clue;
One tried an edit program,
Then there were two.
Two burned-out little programmers,
The year was nearly done;
One logged on the HP,
Then there was one.
One lonely little programmer,
Sitting all alone...</pre><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzypbp7dOElw8lb9YDHw6EG2ANi6fvHj4byYy2YHsAA2eME6QWsStWHIPgRmCnYuuZXAo0NB_92ovsh1yer9n4mxyh-py3YZL9hZEN6xuod-O-X1WXyCJxflIO2JwEhnYyOIySleJVEcxQ/s2048/Document+%252822%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1669" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzypbp7dOElw8lb9YDHw6EG2ANi6fvHj4byYy2YHsAA2eME6QWsStWHIPgRmCnYuuZXAo0NB_92ovsh1yer9n4mxyh-py3YZL9hZEN6xuod-O-X1WXyCJxflIO2JwEhnYyOIySleJVEcxQ/s600/Document+%252822%2529.jpg" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">Not apropos of anything technological, but this page stood out so much I had to include it. (Also omitted: a comedic "blackface" photo. Times have changed, but that was already a bad look in 1982.) Some of these costumes look familiar -- it seems that what I took above for Hallowe'en may simply have been BCIT's regional interpretation of the short-lived seasonal holiday "Punk Day". (Itself a replacement for the briefly-celebrated "Disco Day"?)</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXDyp2rCJQZiHosDP87s9LdeG7Jl4HhAlQ38ksyABMPGHclCSi2ydV1YmNKxeYkh0gDdqzxQiO3w5PSEp5xmmg2EodX4eWqPkDdImC13dsG1tE-fCaNaUacswdMp64xegab2-uDI3dsz5/s1403/Document+%252823%2529.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="1403" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxXDyp2rCJQZiHosDP87s9LdeG7Jl4HhAlQ38ksyABMPGHclCSi2ydV1YmNKxeYkh0gDdqzxQiO3w5PSEp5xmmg2EodX4eWqPkDdImC13dsG1tE-fCaNaUacswdMp64xegab2-uDI3dsz5/s600/Document+%252823%2529.jpg" width="600" /></a><div style="text-align: justify;">There weren't a ton of photos like this, but my suspicion is always that most of the programming going on up in 1981 was done like this -- with pencil and paper -- plotting out and debugging your program manually long before it ever got anywhere near an electronic device, because access to the equipment was traditionally rare and expensive, and you couldn't afford any surprises when your turn came up to feed your punch cards into the hopper or you'd lose your money and go back to the end of the line.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This concludes our stroll through the BCIT Computer Systems 1981-1982 yearbook! We expect great things of the class of 1982! Excelsior!</div>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-83997530282577069672021-06-10T14:18:00.004-07:002021-06-10T14:20:12.680-07:00"Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego" comic book series, DC, 1996-1997.<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Wri3nNV7MEBCG9TojbvPQ_ORJUrJSbqdmYgl-p-mSf8_Rmmw6phNf-bGvOth2F00mZlIjPVk8JgOEdPGNB32eSTgqxUPv-PuIQKSonmWrNCtM1j49BY_Ah1KZ4Uf266AskrygRkXcUFg/s2048/IMG_20210610_080636.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="600" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Wri3nNV7MEBCG9TojbvPQ_ORJUrJSbqdmYgl-p-mSf8_Rmmw6phNf-bGvOth2F00mZlIjPVk8JgOEdPGNB32eSTgqxUPv-PuIQKSonmWrNCtM1j49BY_Ah1KZ4Uf266AskrygRkXcUFg/s600/IMG_20210610_080636.jpg"/></a></div>
There was a time <a href=http://videogamecomicads.blogspot.com/>I maintained a blog</a> devoted to advertisements for video game materials, run in comic books. Its circumstances are somewhat murky, but it emerged basically from an impetus of "we have a baby on the way, clear these old comics out of the basement to make room for baby stuff" " -- but wait, there's valuable information about how video games were marketed in those comics! Just let me scan all the ads first, then I can transcribe and analyse them at my leisure!" (I foolishly figured that the basic text of each ad would suffice for scholarship, so failed to document on which pages in which issues of which comic, published in which year, the ads ran, so my massive scanning campaign was of ...limited scholarly value. But it did provide raw grist for plenty of ad blurb documentation and many Tumblr posts by third parties that popped quite a bit more than my posts ever did!)<p>
This blog, which never quite achieved the same oomph behind it, was somewhat broader in scope so as to allow me to discuss and investigate related materials and themes without requiring them to have originated in comic books (or for me to apologise over and over again for sourcing them externally to comics.) It's not at all clear today, now that that (comics-loving!) baby just turned nine years old, why I bothered, since the retired blog has since come back to life in a sporadic and bent sort of way, continuing to document ads for CRPGs and AD&D licensed games, sourced from anywhere, and more recently -- ads for "play-by-mail" RPGs! I'll leave it to its thing and continue my original mandate at a meandering pace over here, at my blog that has otherwise been long since taken over by ANSI art. (That sideline itself slowed down since the main ANSI at gallery at 16colo.rs incorporated tagging metadata, so if you wanted to look at Bloom County ANSI art, you no longer had to hope that I'd put in the hours mining it out for you.)<p>
"But why?" I hear you ask, "you got rid of all your comics a long time ago!" Pretty much, yes. But admire the off-brand little free library we have just installed in front of our new home (Figure 1, the first sunny weekend ahead we should put on a little launch party for this circulation branch, to say nothing of the housewarming we've been pandemic-postponing since October): not only a vital outlet through which we can purge disposable young reader fiction, but as it turns out a two-way street, through which reading material new to us can also arrive to our attention! Recently, it included about a dozen issues of "Impulse" (DC's futuristic teenaged speedster, occasionally described as "Kid Flash"), circa 1996-97. The comic was, ehh, nothing special, but in its pages there was to be found... a great deal of video game content -- not merely in the advertisements, but also in the panels of the comic, as the hero's adolescence is recurringly characterised in episodes spent grinding at a video game console or in arcades. So maybe I'll share a little of it with you here! (I mean, <i>duh</i>, obviously, that's what I'm doing here. But maybe after this one, I might share <i>more</i> of it.)
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<blockquote><big>CRIMENET GAZETTE</big><P><b>GRAND CANYON, EIFFEL TOWER MISSING!<br>Carmen Sandiego prime suspect!<br>V.I.L.E. Henchmen strike again!</b><br>Acme detectives stumped! 12-year-old becomes latest Acme agent!<p>Bimonthly comic to debut in April [1996]!<br>Inspired by the smash-hit computer game!<br>Story by Barry Liebmann<br>Pictures by S.M. Taggart<p><big>Where in the World is CARMEN SANDIEGO?</big></blockquote>
This ad was caught in Impulse #14 from June of 1996. It's easy to forget how big Carmen Sandiego got before the edutainment bubble popped (well, was subject to <a href=https://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/02/18/news/did-kevin-oleary-once-wipe-out-entire-industry>corporate financial malfeasance</a> by Shark Tank and Dragon's Den... what's the opposite of a "luminary"? (yeah, <a href=https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-opposite-of/luminary.html>that'll do</a>) ... Kevin O'Leary) but not only did she have a wildly successful video game series (that never, despite all the multimedia bells and whistles a decade and a half could yield, never substantially progressed from its initial "consult the almanac" design) and a game show on TV (itself boasting one of the most earwormiest theme songs of all time, thanks a lot Rockapella) (who themselves must have a lot to answer for vis a vis the brief moments in the wider cultural zeitgeist enjoyed by a capella vocal ensembles, on par with Moxy Fruvous as elder statesmen of that weird niche) (but I digress) but also apparently also was the subject of <a href=https://www.mycomicshop.com/search?TID=113131>a licensed four-issue comic book series</a>! ('90s comic book speculators: I can see "mint condition" copies of the first three issues, priced at $1.75 1996 dollars ($3.00 in 2021 dollars) selling for about four dollars a quarter-century down the line, so while there is a modest return, I hope you're not expecting your big payout quite yet. Will that dollar cover the costs of 25 years of warehousing?)<p>The big question is whether the comics are any good (granted, they don't have to have much of a story to beat the games), but unfortunately that can't be gleaned merely by scrutinizing an advertisement. (Even though the ad plainly states Just the Facts, Ma'am, the writer is apparently known for their work on MAD Magazine, always a good sign, and the issue plot blurbs seem at least as promising as the issue of Impulse in which the ad appears!)<p>But I must conclude that for Carmen Sandiego bang for your buck, probably you should just stick with the action-packed 2019 Netflix cartoon, which makes up for lost time. (Who is teaching kids about the currencies and landmarks of different countries today? I have no idea, presumably there's an app for that. In my school days we delighted in exploring PCGlobe in the elementary school library, until the librarians decreed that every time someone triggered its blasting an obscure national anthem in all its bleepy PC Speaker glory, everyone in the library had to stand up and salute until it was done playing. I would say "But I digress" again, but there's no thread to return to, I'm just stalling for time here. See you later!)Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-3876412505163075502021-01-15T14:38:00.003-08:002021-01-15T14:38:58.042-08:00Christmas 2020: some games<div>Another year, more video game swag as Christmas presents for the video game fiend in every family. Typically my retired MIL, who under ordinary circumstances habitually haunts such venues of secondhand commerce as thrift shops, garage sales and flea markets, yields a massive haul of genuinely vintage and dubiously curated (heh, remember back in 2016 when <a href="http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-christmas-haul-2016.html">I received seven Donkey Kong cartridges</a>?) game goodies. This year the sweep was markedly subtler, as this entire field of inquiry was dramatically scaled back by nearly an entire year of lockdown and Coronavirus precaution. But she still managed to find some games for me in the first couple of months before the hammer fell, surely for a deal because... I sure hope she didn't pay the going rate for those old GameCube titles, they're really on the collectability upswing again!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Other lots there include a 3-D printed StarMan from a family friend (that my youngest daughter immediately claimed as her own), a charmingly irritating noisemaking 1-UP light, a mini 100-in-one arcade cabinet that manages to be a miracle of technology while eschewing licensing any old games anyone might actually want to play (despite which, my kids find it engrossing enough. It might warrant a post of its own, appears to be an NES-on-a-chip full of bespoke simple NES programs that just don't happen to be any fun... tragically, no apparent way to backdoor it and introduce worthwhile historic game ROMs), and a real curio: Pac-man ghost band-aids! I don't think a band-aid will help you at that point! Or maybe it just signifies feeling wary of the source of the injury. (Of course, Pac-Man ghosts being what they are, in a few moments you should be able to change direction and resume being the threat rather than the threatened. But in any case, I assume you "get it", let's move on.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A cautionary tale: never forget to confirm that the contents of the box match the outside of the box! But I'm sure that this is just as fun as Mario Party 8, right?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here was a thoughtful present from my wife, who I gave roughly her weight in chocolate and tea. But wtf is Silver Tree doing making new "retro" ornaments in the vague shapes of nostalgic '80s microcomputers? Don't Ready Player One me, I don't like the feeling of being a valuable targeted market segment! These things are far more charming when they're authentic period pieces, minting tchotchkes to appease me is creepy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br /></div><div>When I was a kid, after school we'd hit the corner store and have to make a decision whether we'd spend our quarters on penny candy or arcade machines. No longer do you have to choose, apparently, as video game brands and the iconic nostalgic design of their hardware peripherals are now a suitable vessel for the conveyance of sugar! See above and below.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbsAbQO35Q171Z2Zl8LNFTzm0SOJJiMjHJj0aJmVJnUnAQ9jbxahEB5NE8hxtCWzOkGmwW_B9Ajoona63-LwV1lZa1cE_gncCf4MsT3GeOI9l7jXzBRBWbgbGFrVC2hit6Sd5Xbp8-VkV/s2048/IMG_20201227_194941.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbsAbQO35Q171Z2Zl8LNFTzm0SOJJiMjHJj0aJmVJnUnAQ9jbxahEB5NE8hxtCWzOkGmwW_B9Ajoona63-LwV1lZa1cE_gncCf4MsT3GeOI9l7jXzBRBWbgbGFrVC2hit6Sd5Xbp8-VkV/s600/IMG_20201227_194941.jpg" /></a>And that's where the trail ran cold, a dozen games, a couple decorations and some candy. But hold on to your hats, kids, people start cleaning up and clearing things out to make room for unwrapped Christmas presents and one man's trash...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixbsAbQO35Q171Z2Zl8LNFTzm0SOJJiMjHJj0aJmVJnUnAQ9jbxahEB5NE8hxtCWzOkGmwW_B9Ajoona63-LwV1lZa1cE_gncCf4MsT3GeOI9l7jXzBRBWbgbGFrVC2hit6Sd5Xbp8-VkV/s2048/IMG_20201227_194941.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FLAMQWHWJkeIqk1IbmCfIHdSpp-PDVGqWkMjOpCrN94C0_uJ7gjnElBBIPwJ6F9gLC9OZYf_YY5qacFgW07MQM2mjxZj_OQiDvnys7oKCWSsmu6ZYiaoorWzkaN8V2upUt4jJ-q4v5UM/s1600/1609181599097136-0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_FLAMQWHWJkeIqk1IbmCfIHdSpp-PDVGqWkMjOpCrN94C0_uJ7gjnElBBIPwJ6F9gLC9OZYf_YY5qacFgW07MQM2mjxZj_OQiDvnys7oKCWSsmu6ZYiaoorWzkaN8V2upUt4jJ-q4v5UM/s1600/1609181599097136-0.png" width="400" /></a>Sweet hatchi matchi, that's a box of pure gold there! The onetime game purveyor of the FuzzNet OldWarez CD is no stranger to distributing video games, but that was a long time ago! Sir, I salute you. (He also threw in a pile of great DVDs for my kids to enjoy down the road. It's like I got two Christmases! Except...)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-qa0uUMORruDu-K_if8gurtfob4fQOG0fWrzg9P-4zjovLLV3KxizMiBEBHevAXCiA3x3C7qGQJ-CzivYHW467_k2cErsKU-UU08dkNOlb3vv_Xkfck33qs5-AQCB_y_cXrHfQj8NX7h/s2048/IMG_20201230_164455.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-qa0uUMORruDu-K_if8gurtfob4fQOG0fWrzg9P-4zjovLLV3KxizMiBEBHevAXCiA3x3C7qGQJ-CzivYHW467_k2cErsKU-UU08dkNOlb3vv_Xkfck33qs5-AQCB_y_cXrHfQj8NX7h/w300-h400/IMG_20201230_164455.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />That's right, <i>three</i> Christmases! I've been waiting A Long Time to try some of these titles -- the big problem with Nintendo games, especially the first-party ones, is waiting for the secondhand price to dip to reasonable levels. In many cases, they never enter that zone! Typically you only see lots like this -- juicy stacks of desirable games that haven't been pieced out to ebay or Craigslist collectors -- come available when youth leave the nest and go off to college, and their parents remodel the old rec room. In this case I imagine that my other Very Generous Friend upgraded to a Switch sometime this year (I'll be getting on that train no doubt in about a decade). Don't tell her, but somehow poetically, I actually bought my WiiU console used from her ex-husband, so there's something cosmic going on here that I'm not going to explore further. Ironically, her son is now getting interested in collecting the classic games of his youth -- hotly hyped PlayStation 2 era (!) discs. (I think I still have their PS2 and several of their PS2 games that I inherited about three generations ago. Curiously, none of the games that they actually had are titles on his hitlist. The nostalgia grass is always greener on the side of someone else's collection!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">So all in all, thanks to two friends trying to keep their living spaces from becoming the vintage computing museums mine is destined to wind up as, my somewhat relatively meagre stocking stuff (due to pandemic circumstances, I'm very understanding besides which, with over a thousand games on media... no shortage of games to play!) ended up a massive and gnarly Christmas-season haul, tempered only by a growing awareness that as we approach the streaming gaming horizon and the end of games on physical media, the hobby overall is in its dusk. My friend's son's son will almost certainly not collect PlayStation 7 discs in the year 2040. But then what primary documents will he have to vlog about, game trailers and press releases? Hm, maybe not a bad idea...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Anyway, until next year, game on!</div>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-35524249197406704542020-07-28T13:34:00.001-07:002020-07-28T13:34:27.278-07:00Public Domain ANSI Art Spelunking: Superheroes and comic books!Because this month's MIST0720 artpack collection looks at comics, <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2020/07/public-domain-ansi-art-spelunking.html">I recently made a post</a> looking at Public Domain ANSI art illustrations of characters from "Sunday Funnies" newspaper comic strips. Now I continue in my folly by turning the same lens on the subject of superhero comic books! These characters require quite a bit less explanation because they're generally speaking instantly recognizable and still going concerns. A third of the low-hanging fruit we stumbled across are on the same subject, so we open with a little gallery of Batman fan-art.<br />
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I'm not sure what's going on with the light sources in that picture, whether Gotham City really is burning and Batman is at the centre of the explosion, but those questions aside it's not a bad composition, with tasteful use of ASCII box-drawing characters for fine detail in deep shadow. The "Michael" tag suggests to me that this may be an incompletely-captured creation of prolific PD ANSI artist Michael Arnett of "Smile" fame.</div>
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Despite space-consuming use of black outlines in the (ultimately triumphant) underground ANSI art style, Tom Bradford somehow manages to cram in an incredible amount of detail in his Batman's physique, with different muscle groups isolated, utility belt and grapple hook gun clearly shown, the contours of a flowing cape indicated with appropriate use of shadow, etc. It's a pity he exhausted his allotment of detail, because the rest of the scene is drawn in pretty broad strokes, but it definitely tells the viewer where to focus their gaze!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQMo4fz65xGpFAZLdtCUiDfAlhdADSzYz3VE_cyMiVskKv0Spwtyng0dLMEKYmzKHcxRqlXffIO08s8xOrCEp8Hn55lnZrMnPo3vP5VMSZBiIATsVZXGmE2yvyTICWP4N8ZeriYZlKEqd/s1600/DKNIGHT.ANS_640x368.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQMo4fz65xGpFAZLdtCUiDfAlhdADSzYz3VE_cyMiVskKv0Spwtyng0dLMEKYmzKHcxRqlXffIO08s8xOrCEp8Hn55lnZrMnPo3vP5VMSZBiIATsVZXGmE2yvyTICWP4N8ZeriYZlKEqd/s640/DKNIGHT.ANS_640x368.png" width="640" /></a><br />
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The DoLittle gets points for ASCII art bats and reinterpreting the Batman logo with a Yen symbol at its heart, and for leaving the rest of the actual detail to the viewer's imagination.<br />
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Some stark lighting here shows us where you really run up against the limits of single-screen ANSI art portraiture of multiple subjects. Of course, the limiting factor here is height rather than width, so it's not clear whether focusing on an individual face would have granted any additional opportunity for detail... unless they were in a reclining "landscape" position, recumbent on the Bat-bed. Robin's isn't much of a disguise here and his nose, I'm sorry to say, makes me think of a dangling gonad. My apologies, ANSI-Mation! I say what I think. </div>
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Here's Tom Bradford again and I have to say I think he's just the more talented of the two artists, because he manages to cram two faces in to a single screen, with smaller footprints, and at once do a better job at showing both of them. It's a very thoughtful Batman and Joker tableau (well, Batman looks pensive, I don't know if the tableau is) with our first (and last) real Batman logo of the bunch!</div>
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By every metric, this demented ANSI portrait of the Joker fails, and yet in its very offbeat aesthetic choices (not just StUdLyCaPs but each laugh is drawn in a different, yet equally broken, way. And his eyes! And... the apostrophe use for comics there is <i>really</i> mind-breaking!) it helps to convey the fractured psychology of its subject. I give it a pass. And that takes us to the end of the Batman gallery! But what of Bats' chief colleague in the World's Finest?</div>
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Well, yes... in 1992 Batman's colleague Superman was briefly dead at the hands of Doomsday. The bleeding Supes logo was used on the bag Superman #75 was shipped in during Dec 1992. But it's OK, there are other DC heroes still in the eaves, ready to keep the world safe!</div>
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Yes, as you can see, Aquaman was at the ready when called upon to draw an ANSI art logo for his zippy friend The Flash. Just kidding! These are two different logos presumably drawn by two different (and unknown) artists at two different times, but they go together very nicely. By which I mean they're both terrible, but they're about on par with the level of terribility of the other one.</div>
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OK, OK. Enough with the DC comics! Marvel was tearing up the charts in the early '90s, where's all the Public Domain fanart of Marvel superheroes? Well, there's this ... creative tribute to the 50th anniversary of Captain America, which would have taken place ... well, it was issue #383 in 1991, with cover art by later DC publisher Jim Lee. (Its cover art was quite a bit better-executed than this screen, but this has a gutsiness all its own.)</div>
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In the late '80s and early '90s, the X-Men were on fire and their breakout rockstar was the Canadian living weapon known as Wolverine, Bub! If you like drawing symmetrical faces without having to worry about noses (a foreshadowing of a whole wave of Image heroes to come), then his visage is definitely the one to ANSIfy! I wonder why the breaks at the top of his mask's "ears"? Good work, Ron Czarnik!</div>
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In the '60s and '70s, Ghost Rider was on fire. Just kidding, he's <i>always</i> on fire, that's kind of his shtick! This portrait is perhaps our most sophisticated seen so far, with a combination of shading characters used in tandem with the black outlines that eventually defined the underground ANSI art aesthetic (though drawing as early as 1991, the artist is really setting the tone for the successors to follow here.) Tom B? Is that Tom Bradford, as seen above? It seems to be hewing to his high level of quality. Bonus points for effective use of text characters in the eyes and teeth. Hats off, Tom! (Ghost Rider never wears hats... they'd just burn up immediately!)</div>
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Ahh, Peter Parker, I can see that you slept on your tennis racket again. Spider-Man is a character with a brilliant character costume design, but one with a fatal flaw: the damned web all over everything. Try to reproduce it literally and you have already failed. (Granted, given the "potato balanced on burrito" shape of this composition, it was never going to be a winner.) Leppa, I'm sorry, you get points for trying but your example is going to have to stand as a cautionary tale of what not to do.</div>
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Now dig this! There is plenty going on here that shouldn't work -- combining a naturalistic fluid pose with an ASCII-character cityscape (the subtle dots on the near edge of the middle building slay me!), carefully balanced on webs made of slashes, but this screen's artist neatly sidesteps the pitfall of the costume's web pattern by... ignoring it altogether. Excellent use of two-tone shading (the ANSI palette is doing a lot of heavy lifting here), and name-dropping Parker's place of employment really ices the cake. I don't know if it's even possible to fit any more win into a single-screen Spider-Man ANSI tableau!</div>
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OK, we're done with Marvel, but as far as niche cases go, there's still one very important avenue to explore: Mirage Studios' primary export, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ANSI colours don't provide great matches for their identifying bandana-masks, but I'm going to call that one purple, making Stinky's terrapin above Donatello.<br />
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Ninja Turtles, especially this cheerful, Archie-Comics variety, must be Public Domain-adjacent... Doctor Who is an exceptionally PD-style nickname. There's a minimalist elegance to this portrait, which contains everything that it needs to and nothing that it does not. Blue mask =Leonardo</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaFeU3LEclK3lOBWu6SvLVqIOtCqY3fTMsLA6Go8S3gWUtX4w_K48aNLRD4_MFKEDRM-6B94xLLamdXO1kfBPXCz5CrczfJj4HbXuSrdnIB8GIZhO7QQ4R-nnmHQcoF_-XndPvaHpbENQ/s1600/RN-VIS2.MIR.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="632" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaFeU3LEclK3lOBWu6SvLVqIOtCqY3fTMsLA6Go8S3gWUtX4w_K48aNLRD4_MFKEDRM-6B94xLLamdXO1kfBPXCz5CrczfJj4HbXuSrdnIB8GIZhO7QQ4R-nnmHQcoF_-XndPvaHpbENQ/s640/RN-VIS2.MIR.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's an ANSI portrait with a little meat on its bones! You hear about using thick black outlines when drawing underground ANSI art, but in this unusual case, everything that would normally be outlined in black is coloured in, and everything that would ordinarily be coloured in is left in black! It's a curious experiment in negative space. I wouldn't want to see an entire artpack of work in this style, but this piece flies on its own. PS -- weilding dual sai, mask or no it was always gonna be Raphael. Nice work from Ren of Mirage! Don't know how your piece fell in with the PD trove, but it sure helps you to float to the top!</div>
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Finally, here's a fun oddity, an original superhero in the comics style, drawn by the Public Domain hero artist discovery of this post, Tom Bradford. I have no reason to believe he ever went the distance and drew portraits of the other members of the Wild Herd, but it's a fun stupid idea. Congratulations! to Tom for drawing this picture, and to you for making it to the end of another one of these posts! When you get a chance, do please check out our MIST0720 artpack collection for some more underground computer art-style takes on comics subjects!</div>
Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-24611224885169157202020-07-27T10:11:00.005-07:002020-07-28T13:35:25.363-07:00Public Domain ANSI Art Spelunking: the Sunday Funny Pages<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: left;">In honour of the imminent release of the MIST0720 Mistigris artpack collection celebrating computer art takes on subjects from comics -- comic books, comic strips, webcomics and underground comix, etc. -- here's a patented Pixel Pompeii look at how the same territory was covered by Public Domain ANSI artists of the late '80s and early '90s before the rise of the underground computer artscene. (Otherwise put, an '80s examination of the pop culture of the '50s, '60s & '70s, revisited in the '20s.)</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Back in the stone age, we connected over telephone line connections to Bulletin Board Services run on private MS-DOS computers, illustrated only by ANSI art of the Public Domain style. And what was contained in those ANSI art screens? Well, much as print journalism was a larger force in our society, their daily or "Sunday funnies" comic strips proved to be a surprisingly popular subject to use to decorate, celebrate and advertise BBSes -- or just to enjoy as an end unto themselves! I open this post with a suite of comic strip ANSI illustrations made, seemingly by the same -- anonymous -- artist, first rhapsodizing on the life of a computer user then transitioning to specifically singing the virtues of "the Sports Complex" BBS, whose phone number, location and SysOp I have been unable to unearth at bbslist.textfiles.com. (Perhaps not the most effective way to advertise your board, lacking those particulars?) There are some stylistic similarities and some differences among the pieces -- the style is sufficiently crude that it is impossible to conclusively determine whether they were all drawn by the same PD artist with their fists and a copy of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyKn4AVTsEY">TheDraw</a>, or if it was just a comics fiend stealing comics ANSIs drawn by others and graffiting an ad for their BBS all over it (a commonplace practice in the Public Domain ANSI art sphere)... but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwj89oDNmDrgLxBYqflUDFPmf5XsYSh_8d53s02mMK2np1SZCLzy7Y3VSz5ldaIWhPDgoHdeaWTtumMusL0cKzpqq-n38nI7b0GtCgvlLWhyBE_TRf_dbZKi6ZKOlvk1nAXcDtufpwMnR6/s1600/comics10.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwj89oDNmDrgLxBYqflUDFPmf5XsYSh_8d53s02mMK2np1SZCLzy7Y3VSz5ldaIWhPDgoHdeaWTtumMusL0cKzpqq-n38nI7b0GtCgvlLWhyBE_TRf_dbZKi6ZKOlvk1nAXcDtufpwMnR6/s640/comics10.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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This first ANSI screen focuses on Thor, caveman inventor of Johnny Hart's prehistoric comic strip B.C. (running since 1958, uninterrupted even by its creator's death!), regretting that he hasn't yet managed to invent the PC from rocks and sticks.</div>
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In this ANSI art screen it seems that Cathy, the eponymous protagonist of Cathy Guisewite's autobiographical? comic strip, which ran from 1976 through 2010, is returning home from an underwhelming date with Irving. Of course, she would have no more fun online, fielding tiresome "a/s/l?" requests on IRC all night long from thirsty nerds hot to cyber. (Knowing that, what does that say about her mother?)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pZo0z_mA7cZYuMM6t7O5wYtc_NXmPjSxK__xj1wmfDitIMt6HYgHnfDwR1Ixv796TkbV-E_26vtXvb2bu9X2RpZVxS_RY1620SqKHV8M91f-y6wE-hVpO3fWzloBa4sF7_GLX-dFJfTb/s1600/comics5.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4pZo0z_mA7cZYuMM6t7O5wYtc_NXmPjSxK__xj1wmfDitIMt6HYgHnfDwR1Ixv796TkbV-E_26vtXvb2bu9X2RpZVxS_RY1620SqKHV8M91f-y6wE-hVpO3fWzloBa4sF7_GLX-dFJfTb/s640/comics5.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Of all the syndicated comic strips, I've got to say that the Lockhorns (est. 1968) are one I would least expect to be promoting anything modern or high tech. The gimmick is that they fight and squabble (hence their apropos surname) -- perhaps it is only through judicious use of online time-outs (or venting stress by blowing up each others' planets in TradeWars 2002!) they they are able to hold their marriage together.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GEp9DLj2YZuMKW1wb36efMuKuBDAyBe2TmlHaxMwLt0ZpNhbgtLMChHZjhAHdvalP-TMbVThQYW-8AJTGKmCIepCSpYdFhL2F0NCK8t2FOfHpsI0wl5fNPkljDJcBRayteYvW2K0QL_B/s1600/comics6.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GEp9DLj2YZuMKW1wb36efMuKuBDAyBe2TmlHaxMwLt0ZpNhbgtLMChHZjhAHdvalP-TMbVThQYW-8AJTGKmCIepCSpYdFhL2F0NCK8t2FOfHpsI0wl5fNPkljDJcBRayteYvW2K0QL_B/s640/comics6.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Beetle Bailey dates to 1950, enlisting into the Army at the outset of the Korean War. It still runs today -- which is really no less odd than if M*A*S*H were still filming new episodes. The military often enjoys use of technology years before it becomes available at a consumer level, so when everyone else was calling BBSes, Pvt Bailey should have been cruising UseNet newsgroups on the DARPANet! Unlike the previous comic strip subjects, this one has been adapted by underground ANSI artists a few times -- if you like, to help compare and contrast, you can <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/rune0896/SL-TO2.ANS">check</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/rise0295/IM-R0035.ANS">them</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/beetle+bailey">out</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztKKo6HJh8o1yJl44k-2xsF6TN179VSwED1ruA0B47k41T4awjPXgncXFYKdRoWHy2HDSp9cKNlP0ZGy1Yfe2gfGAp1qagmMqZfEx-yY2fboBnOxIiZdmN157bQDMup1tEkxtmchGRXh5/s1600/comics7.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztKKo6HJh8o1yJl44k-2xsF6TN179VSwED1ruA0B47k41T4awjPXgncXFYKdRoWHy2HDSp9cKNlP0ZGy1Yfe2gfGAp1qagmMqZfEx-yY2fboBnOxIiZdmN157bQDMup1tEkxtmchGRXh5/s640/comics7.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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An old friend with excellent ideas proposed a Robotman (comic strip) / Robotman (Doom Patrol comic book) mash-up for the MIST0720 artpack collection, but sadly a lack of time and talent resulted in the impossibility of that fated collision. In the meantime, here's a historical artefact for you, the comic strip incarnation of Peter Shelley's 1985 Robotman licensed character (also used in an unrelated cartoon), keeping the seat warm for Jim Meddick's Monty to take over, starting with his appearance in 1993, culminating in his complete usurpation of the strip in 2001. Trivia: the comic strip syndicate tried to foist the Robotman character off on Bill Watterson as a condition of syndicating Calvin & Hobbes, but as we learned, he had no need for it. Robotman was only engaged once by the underground computer artscene, <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/avpack13/VJ-RBMAN.GIF">appearing here as a rendered 3-D model</a>. (And no ANSI artists, as best as I can tell, gave a fig about Monty.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Y91ZVbIulcBc757f2qTINhIywPBtpXnCwf4D_8mGuRi0g_2efxhrRI9-nGdpxIKVle4fkNTof76LNlZSKhogwTjidQtEvl-1GF_BMh2sGfHjWv1RpiUl349U4rh5tZ8yh1C9EWhpBDx7/s1600/comics8.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Y91ZVbIulcBc757f2qTINhIywPBtpXnCwf4D_8mGuRi0g_2efxhrRI9-nGdpxIKVle4fkNTof76LNlZSKhogwTjidQtEvl-1GF_BMh2sGfHjWv1RpiUl349U4rh5tZ8yh1C9EWhpBDx7/s640/comics8.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Again, these ads are kind of weird, evangelising the plugged-in, online lifestyle to people who are already there, and endorsing a BBS that cannot be called or located due to a lack of any relevant digits. Maybe that's why the Sports Complex doesn't exist anymore, despite these great ads. So, here's Dik Browne's 1973 strip Hägar the Horrible (joining Hagar here is his wife, Helga.) It's perhaps a fun thought experiment to consider what BBSes run by Vikings would have been like -- online Althing parliaments soliciting user input at the voting booth, or gnarly coordinated raids in Barren Realms Elite? Probably somewhere in between. For whatever reason, Hägar proved rather relatively popular in the underground online artscene, and <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/soi-0296/HY-HAGAR.ANS">here</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/esp0496/FL-HAGAR.ANS">are</a> a <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/mad0995/CB-SOE.MAD">few</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/lgc-0493/DS-MTIR.LGC">specimens</a> for <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/bad93-1/BK-HAGAR.BAD">your</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/xide0495/DH-HAGAR.ANS">enjoyment</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGE9y2lJSJsXAFSSBNuee8uKBe0SyH_8witTXGUkUkrWrtFQe81Xap1YDvHycP3Gw42854SAOpGfbKbK6jcVq4sVCh1Bcrq3wOV6fFhWSe8rfZIbGngUBaZCpO4eGeP1GSJEl1cuG4kt0/s1600/PALAD01.ANS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="907" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGE9y2lJSJsXAFSSBNuee8uKBe0SyH_8witTXGUkUkrWrtFQe81Xap1YDvHycP3Gw42854SAOpGfbKbK6jcVq4sVCh1Bcrq3wOV6fFhWSe8rfZIbGngUBaZCpO4eGeP1GSJEl1cuG4kt0/s640/PALAD01.ANS.png" width="508" /></a></div>
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(Bonus Hagar!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItRFGQ0TvON81nN_JlWi6w0790bLVWrjpNAsKv8K_93gdk4kopr2vtODUgY5ZbiGN-pel_JbctNZbXr408tltQr9yoM78fF6dGl5psY1R9kn1r6odQCUWUOQOY-fexYwDoCG5F07hEpwI/s1600/comics11.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiItRFGQ0TvON81nN_JlWi6w0790bLVWrjpNAsKv8K_93gdk4kopr2vtODUgY5ZbiGN-pel_JbctNZbXr408tltQr9yoM78fF6dGl5psY1R9kn1r6odQCUWUOQOY-fexYwDoCG5F07hEpwI/s640/comics11.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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This subject was unavoidable, the titan of 20th century comic strips: Charles Schultz's Peanuts, here featuring Good ol' Charlie Brown, Woodstock the bird and the notorious kite-eating tree. An attempt of mixed success, but boldness points for the extraordinary use of box-drawing characters to illustrate fine sleeve / string details. There's even a shaded block (one, on the back of Woodstock's head), a stylistic hallmark otherwise reserved for artists from the underground PC computer artscene. (Seriously, it's the very first time one such character has appeared in this blog post so far!)</div>
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Yea, Peanuts figures so prominently in the comics canon it doesn't just appear twice in this blog post, but even within this series by the same artist! He was like... maybe I should base an ad on Rex Morgan, M.D. Or I could do another Peanuts strip! Points for the expanding Zs in the snoring word bubbles, the use again of ASCII box characters for hair, fabric and desk details (single-screen small-scale is hard!) and the "close enough" background colour boldly used on the left side of Peppermint Patty's arm, a problem later solved by iCEcolour... and all of them lost, plus more, looking at what they did to Marcie's face. Patty, kill two birds with one stone: write your book report on some classic space opera, then liven it up with episodes from your TradeWars session, dramatized!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xk8a0dMtHWbwaDu_uOUze7rgUVapRxlACsnviUWr9xo14RuOhLnPTZe5sXXa5BlFVgup11XuPg5nEE0rYDjNY_at9yQ8hX7p5AY2hQ_3rZT_u9ZAbIYUEoxrqx0k3NmArUd39-ZC0kVY/s1600/comics4.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9xk8a0dMtHWbwaDu_uOUze7rgUVapRxlACsnviUWr9xo14RuOhLnPTZe5sXXa5BlFVgup11XuPg5nEE0rYDjNY_at9yQ8hX7p5AY2hQ_3rZT_u9ZAbIYUEoxrqx0k3NmArUd39-ZC0kVY/s640/comics4.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Only here do we briefly switch modes into "black outline" style, which while more conforming to later underground ANSI art aesthetics, doesn't do many of these characters any favours. This is Brian Basset's "Adam", which I was floored to learn has been running since 1984. 36 years is a long time to have been raising a six and eight year old. The strip's later online rebranding, "Adam@home", wouldn't even have made any sense that early. (Then again, posing the character as an internet addict in the '80s wouldn't have made much sense because it was somewhat slim pickings for compelling activities to conduct there!) For context, the first version of what would become Outlook was released in 1996, the same year Hotmail launched (before being eaten by Microsoft.) Perhaps in its early years, it could have been named after a Compuserve user ID, but "78736, 5177" wasn't quite as catchy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurtWIEviPdBSJiBNa1ebeb7PHwgO-b98v8BRQO1QmJhhXRkmZIXZ17Gd7pmNgZuTWlBV5FXDo6dvrMZCPc0zrtucx4ZUrIBG5xgdbfypWLfooTRWLxf3NAowbVwg5sMb0muukkNtTr4LN/s1600/comics3.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgurtWIEviPdBSJiBNa1ebeb7PHwgO-b98v8BRQO1QmJhhXRkmZIXZ17Gd7pmNgZuTWlBV5FXDo6dvrMZCPc0zrtucx4ZUrIBG5xgdbfypWLfooTRWLxf3NAowbVwg5sMb0muukkNtTr4LN/s640/comics3.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Which brings us to the unavoidable cultural phenomenon so potent it was uniquely embraced by computer artists underground and Public Domain alike! There was something special about Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, which I have cocktail-napkin clocked as the second-most-ANSIfied single subject of all time, weighing in only behind Todd Macfarlane's Spawn, the slavish fixation bound to the computer underground like a ball and chain. This marks the end of the Sports Complex ads, but here are a few other Public Domain artists' takes on the boy and his imaginary friend:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-KfQZG2OCUu8AStA0i0JmXc2yHIYXwHu1M_P1SyxFDwY8qVSuDuMNYY_copZ0xsiBm5YsMUJijea3aiwT69aZSFwh-gx0cWPzEs6hNjVflHG5jrFSaU1ck4Efe5JZE9LXy68hU4pmPz8/s1600/CAL_HOBB.ANS_640x352.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-KfQZG2OCUu8AStA0i0JmXc2yHIYXwHu1M_P1SyxFDwY8qVSuDuMNYY_copZ0xsiBm5YsMUJijea3aiwT69aZSFwh-gx0cWPzEs6hNjVflHG5jrFSaU1ck4Efe5JZE9LXy68hU4pmPz8/s640/CAL_HOBB.ANS_640x352.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Calvin & Hobbes can't agree which one of them should take the fall for some unstated transgression (I always say: blame the non-imaginary one.) This one is an ad for "The Mist" BBS, which I have to say has an excellent name, a pity they didn't draw a logo for it! (That's a little Mistigris humour, friends.) The typography is a little rough (by which I mean, chunky on the low end) but as you've seen above I always appreciate attempts to squeeze in fine detail using ASCII box characters. Dig that tiger's toenails! Supposing that this screen was drawn by the advertised BBS's SysOp, I have to give credit here to Tom Baddley.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEOQ8U7_YSMNO7zKHEuyG90Y9pulezVVdpWjnZ7AiBLk1iNWb5hsJZQ-xBKn2VJRsW91rh6sbSUVQzkngDlYS7AHYn7qXNApRq36XmTD8fYqquUmVaFWBFg_0NFqZemoMEZY2GZFGvjjB/s1600/calbomb.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEOQ8U7_YSMNO7zKHEuyG90Y9pulezVVdpWjnZ7AiBLk1iNWb5hsJZQ-xBKn2VJRsW91rh6sbSUVQzkngDlYS7AHYn7qXNApRq36XmTD8fYqquUmVaFWBFg_0NFqZemoMEZY2GZFGvjjB/s640/calbomb.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Ah, a throwback to the classic "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheeseface">If You Don't Buy This Book, We'll Kill This Dog</a>" humour kicked off by a National Lampoon magazine cover in 1973. Calvin looks only a little worried -- this kind of hostage situation is a little outside his standard space opera / dinosaur wheelhouse, but he's always got a plan in his back pocket. And the ANSI bomb here is literally a light-the-wick, thrown-by-an-anarchist bomb, drawn using ASCII characters but coloured with ANSI colour and hence described as an "ANSI Bomb". Lots of Blue Wave tagline files had gags about "ANSI bombs will be returned to sender" but I don't know if anyone actually knew what they were supposed to be - I gather it was when Trojan malware would exploit weaknesses in ANSI.SYS to remap certain keys on the keyboard, perhaps eg. changing the code resultant from pressing the Esc key to <tt>echo y format c:</tt>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7n6C6dHT53748O3CHJLdFwvTcZD_VMz4_VYnlT_uC6SbsI9KxWPhjqzVRChMWF2ctu7zokujIZfRFGAUmnI1aZwVC-0SndWl8rXQuax1je1tfaFUiZUslcmLpz9NLjkK90hKe1goRmdM/s1600/tigger.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc7n6C6dHT53748O3CHJLdFwvTcZD_VMz4_VYnlT_uC6SbsI9KxWPhjqzVRChMWF2ctu7zokujIZfRFGAUmnI1aZwVC-0SndWl8rXQuax1je1tfaFUiZUslcmLpz9NLjkK90hKe1goRmdM/s640/tigger.ans.png" width="512" /></a></div>
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With the expanded canvas and the rubbery feline physique, Hobbes really does seem to give you more to work with, as an artist, than Calvin does. This extraordinary screen appears to be taller than 25 rows, meaning that its pre-ACiDDraw artist would have had to perform some contortions -- like drawing the top and bottom halves separately, then joining them after the fact with <tt>copy top.ans+bottom.ans=hobbes.ans</tt> -- in order to generate it. (Look out, I'll use any excuse to pull out old neglected MS-DOS commands! This is apparently the process whereby period ANSI art superstar Eerie would make all of his masterworks.) This is just the drop in the bucket as the metadata-tagging project goes at the pace of volunteers, but there really are literally mountains of <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/calvin">Calvin</a> and <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/hobbes">Hobbes</a> ANSI art renditions made by underground computer artists if you'd like to see more of these, likely executed more successfully.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhfalCA0ms9q_qKnzxBAhLjDF1yeK-yiJvwbZ5SDWAoyYVH1nl5KHpqsTPUM1-JfnpfIqqCxFOenpWPLkaNHRItQJlxnm_08E2GopcjqVPsiD9ZyQv55FDtHuRM9kopsoqCo-NFGRDdvU/s1600/CALVIN.ANS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhfalCA0ms9q_qKnzxBAhLjDF1yeK-yiJvwbZ5SDWAoyYVH1nl5KHpqsTPUM1-JfnpfIqqCxFOenpWPLkaNHRItQJlxnm_08E2GopcjqVPsiD9ZyQv55FDtHuRM9kopsoqCo-NFGRDdvU/s640/CALVIN.ANS.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Bonus Calvin, by The Catt!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-X04lWExDYBP39fEjtK8IxPhp44C-vVk7YejNTSRM2YMsClkCKFqJaZPTvP5x3RjvTUTn0jpuF6Rka2v6wiHsIovuSkiJxYSK_lXY30Hvz9gA5zRhqakeVHk8XLwCA-us9BG5-5nqQt1/s1600/inans33.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-X04lWExDYBP39fEjtK8IxPhp44C-vVk7YejNTSRM2YMsClkCKFqJaZPTvP5x3RjvTUTn0jpuF6Rka2v6wiHsIovuSkiJxYSK_lXY30Hvz9gA5zRhqakeVHk8XLwCA-us9BG5-5nqQt1/s640/inans33.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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And a brief interlude as we return to Peanuts, <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/peanuts">a popular subject</a> even for the underground computer artists, featuring an Ebony Eyes portrait (the ne plus ultra of the Public Domain ANSI art scene) of the Protean beagle Snoopy as "big man on campus" Joe Cool. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGy1aFvD3rdF1Wb8YczAr0Y5BM-NsLBMsB0884EIPwFI8mY5hxqlYbba3CUCq1DzBFScH3wNecvcfkj43X5NNwvO28BEa2t8cvAod6oBWjI_4uiJrWhFKsuqVUbLo9eie5bi6m5P-8U2r/s1600/SNOOPY.ANS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibGy1aFvD3rdF1Wb8YczAr0Y5BM-NsLBMsB0884EIPwFI8mY5hxqlYbba3CUCq1DzBFScH3wNecvcfkj43X5NNwvO28BEa2t8cvAod6oBWjI_4uiJrWhFKsuqVUbLo9eie5bi6m5P-8U2r/s640/SNOOPY.ANS.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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(Bonus Snoopy also, a popular twist on a well-known character -- they love computers, too!)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDYCHVgA3KBr6uzWtw6Cefe8gF_Hbiqr86BNthktY1gmSutEuejLlpGjBk9U1buLLvfavc3mZ6nDVmJkohFXVawBIKaOnIlB6rfPrdSHZ8Q0SBjc_OuExqhDBtqHfeAuqZCd1TtTQOmQd/s1600/ansi0054.txt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDYCHVgA3KBr6uzWtw6Cefe8gF_Hbiqr86BNthktY1gmSutEuejLlpGjBk9U1buLLvfavc3mZ6nDVmJkohFXVawBIKaOnIlB6rfPrdSHZ8Q0SBjc_OuExqhDBtqHfeAuqZCd1TtTQOmQd/s640/ansi0054.txt.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The hipper, cooler number 2 to Peanuts, in the late '80s and early '90s Jim Davis' Garfield was an unstoppable force of pop culture, eating lasagne, hating Mondays, and promoting an ideology of big, orange saltiness. Here he is in a quiet moment of cuteness, cuddling his teddy bear Pookie, drawn in ANSI art again by the amazing Ebony Eyes. (Did she intend it as an ad for Third Stage BBS or was that thrown in by a vandal after the fact? Hard to say.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XJhyyxw6NDKgjTSE_nBr2T0TRVADaGoIV72EMerarPVwsXsE5KHQgOTynz5Mr5gLA1OZ5jfAAqbHy7R-vghZOOaROJ8ODersy5OE-RnNaYQnwchqXt9M7Nb_bNDQE1Oz7ObX9OydYkQ3/s1600/Garfield-RIPscrip-Example.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="500" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_XJhyyxw6NDKgjTSE_nBr2T0TRVADaGoIV72EMerarPVwsXsE5KHQgOTynz5Mr5gLA1OZ5jfAAqbHy7R-vghZOOaROJ8ODersy5OE-RnNaYQnwchqXt9M7Nb_bNDQE1Oz7ObX9OydYkQ3/s640/Garfield-RIPscrip-Example.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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OK, we interrupt this post with a RIPscrip vector art screen (from <a href="https://tedium.co/2020/07/21/bbs-graphics-history-ripscrip-naplps?fbclid=IwAR1vCLa1JZwBcF3WGYNcjUlSFddWPoCtNhqVGP8FXZFf-Y5Dj1RsTj-8Yd8">a related article</a> that just strayed across one of my Facebook groups) dating to the same period, originating from similar Public Domain sources. (I don't want to make assumptions about your lack of eliteness, Herb Dunn, but anyone who uses their real name as their handle is immediately suspect, and crediting the company that owns the character, as we've already above seen Ebony Eyes doing, only doubles down on it.)</div>
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<a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/garfield">As you can see</a>, Garfield proved to also be a popular subject for toony underground ANSI artists to adapt into their medium.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Y6tp52gkf4J3aQB5UcncXIJXAWStDMxlhcJuEWc0u5Xd0A7O-KZH4E8G17FLo1opxKIfQ9gdjYOUlMz6Y1JHgUp9_MVMSv5KtxBVkZu2qjk2uu2w6CDkntvI_2YqxNZMhVsC_OksDuE2/s1600/lnans27.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="640" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Y6tp52gkf4J3aQB5UcncXIJXAWStDMxlhcJuEWc0u5Xd0A7O-KZH4E8G17FLo1opxKIfQ9gdjYOUlMz6Y1JHgUp9_MVMSv5KtxBVkZu2qjk2uu2w6CDkntvI_2YqxNZMhVsC_OksDuE2/s640/lnans27.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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One last visit from Ebony Eyes to the realm of the comic strip, here turning the mirror on two lumpy faces from (Vancouver Island local!) Jim Unger's "Herman". No room here for torsos or, uh, the gag, but EE always does good work.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMDvyULU53-RcB47ZRSbNJz3dLWepbCJYXsklMBzMX50Hjtckn6Mc_rbIWDvRBzN_5kijrH61cQPG9GIVAZVmZ7iAzl-X63l40cXqUt6Y-kFPNfj6l-iUEJNrNlMMzrbVu0RPI7Qv23Lt/s1600/grimm.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMDvyULU53-RcB47ZRSbNJz3dLWepbCJYXsklMBzMX50Hjtckn6Mc_rbIWDvRBzN_5kijrH61cQPG9GIVAZVmZ7iAzl-X63l40cXqUt6Y-kFPNfj6l-iUEJNrNlMMzrbVu0RPI7Qv23Lt/s640/grimm.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Most of the comic strips ANSIfied by the Public Domain had been appearing in newspapers for decades before going digital in this fashion, but Mother Goose & Grimm was part of the post-Garfield New Wave, emerging in 1984. Here artist Brad Garner appears to be taking a victory lap of sorts for having won a contest with this adaptation. It's not bad, but let's keep things in perspective here: the worst of <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/eden0495/CD-GRIMM.ANS">the</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/ali-0494/DM-SB2.ALI">underground</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/1991/GRIMM.ANS">artscene</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/1991/WISHES01.ANS">adaptations</a> of this character are likely better than the best of the PD ones.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmnlB2cXQlFjr7fPQ5cImzWbgExC7zAMH7ouaBexMeRv6olrKzTVfpOZwSvCsXof0RQdD4d4Zdlb9qxrBKcWvxs2tJAXG2ZsHvjxAUq4kXcK8THgPeJ3oELQ6M9ywZyA3_lLxv3pAgkC7/s1600/void3.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmnlB2cXQlFjr7fPQ5cImzWbgExC7zAMH7ouaBexMeRv6olrKzTVfpOZwSvCsXof0RQdD4d4Zdlb9qxrBKcWvxs2tJAXG2ZsHvjxAUq4kXcK8THgPeJ3oELQ6M9ywZyA3_lLxv3pAgkC7/s640/void3.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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As if to directly illustrate my bold claim, here's another ANSI adaptation of Mother Goose & Grimm (well, Grimm at least) by an underground ANSI artist (am I reading the high ASCII characters correctly, "Slam Dunk"?) boasting membership in the iCE crew. Now, this isn't iCE-calibre work, but things were very different in the early days when the aesthetic was still being worked out and occasional representatives of underground computer art would wind up being circulated in Public Domain circles.</div>
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Here's an oddball specimen: the subject of this screen, whose artist's identity is encrypted inscrutably in the ASCII characters at bottom right, is one of Don Martin's furshlugginer caricatures from the pages of MAD Magazine. Not quite Sunday funnies material, but I'll take it! Is it possible that this is the only ANSIfication of this artist's distinctive and substantial body of work? I think so! Not a great representative, but it's still the best in its class.</div>
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It's difficult to believe that Dilbert has been with us since 1989, but Scott Adams is still on the scene and, like Dave Sim, he seems to have been afflicted by Cranky Old Cartoonist disease. This piece also escaped from an underground artpack, drawn by Super Dave for Doorway to Insanity BBS. There are a couple more Dilbert pieces <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/rgr-1195/SP-NEVA.ANS">floating</a> <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/303pack2/IMI-DOGO.ANS">around</a> in the artscene archives.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFR6NE-xtCQ020JzJPGYanAz4LfOyrwcRgl4XbPMwkPAGLPIoAGh-kc-_WNe-Rd3vQVFNVwfjkEpZP79gGhlpUpNU8DaONJUMyIkorwGW33yfEIWbERHQ13HiR4F3oX1oyDgPRcBY24GA9/s1600/farside.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="640" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFR6NE-xtCQ020JzJPGYanAz4LfOyrwcRgl4XbPMwkPAGLPIoAGh-kc-_WNe-Rd3vQVFNVwfjkEpZP79gGhlpUpNU8DaONJUMyIkorwGW33yfEIWbERHQ13HiR4F3oX1oyDgPRcBY24GA9/s640/farside.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Rounding the bend here, we have Burp!'s (<i>not</i> Burps') brutally minimalist Public Domain ANSI art adaptation of a classic single-panel gag from the master of that medium, Gary Larson's "the Far Side", the defining comic strip of the '90s. Did You Know: Larson has just picked up drawing gags again for the first time in 25 years after discovering just how easy doodling on a tablet is? His ubiquitous strips <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/gary%20larson">got a little attention</a> from the underground artscene also.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSO9FC17gxGYzv3OJQ30AsvqnqRG-wLtXk1JDW2OavB12n8wvxNO-rk65TTDX6LtB1Xe1P_dC-bt8hX4MzhuDKs-Tz62PBTVtvkInKX3n4GELUyoYe6xmlutjDIF8XKPMdJ0g6_J6LxzO/s1600/zippy.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="640" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWSO9FC17gxGYzv3OJQ30AsvqnqRG-wLtXk1JDW2OavB12n8wvxNO-rk65TTDX6LtB1Xe1P_dC-bt8hX4MzhuDKs-Tz62PBTVtvkInKX3n4GELUyoYe6xmlutjDIF8XKPMdJ0g6_J6LxzO/s640/zippy.ans.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Finally, a couple of pieces from way back in left outfield: possibly the only ANSI art adaptation of Bill Griffith's Zippy the Pinhead ever made (by "es") to the present. Good thing it's labeled with a logo, or it might have been mistaken for a sprouting yam.</div>
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And while the Smurfs are better known as stars of cinema and television, they got their start (like Tintin and Lucky Luke) in Belgian comic books. This 1990 piece by MCL is simply too gonzo <i>not</i> to share, and if I'm reading the odd background colours correctly, in its original form this screen would have used ANSI's deprecated blink effects to produce a two-frame animation where Brawny Smurf really dishes out the abuse, endlessly. I'll see if I can't update this post with an animated version.</div>
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The underground artscene also <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/smurf">yielded some Smurfs</a>, but while they may be more technically accomplished, I doubt that any of them will meet this one's punk energy. </div>
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(Bonus Smurfs!)</div>
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And there we go! Hope you enjoyed this rare post to the dusty Pixel Pompeii stacks! Keep your eyes peeled for the MIST0720 comics-themed artpack collection, expected to launch tonight, and... keen students of ANSI and comics will no doubt have noticed the conspicuous omission of an elephant in the room: Bloom County was the subject of so much ANSI art, <a href="http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2015/11/textmode-art-roundup-bloom-county.html">I gave it a post all its own</a> five years ago. Cheers!</div>
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(PS -- you like superhero comics? I just gave that subject its due -- how it was dealt with by Public Domain ANSI artists -- in <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2020/07/public-domain-ansi-art-spelunking_28.html">the next post</a>!)</div>
Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-75351027228524237552020-05-04T13:42:00.003-07:002020-05-04T13:42:54.721-07:00Textmode Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes BlockAll right, friends, we've made it through the harrowing sequel trilogy and emerged from the other end largely unscathed. The side stories didn't mess things up too greatly, and the Mandalorian seems to be continuing to provide a compelling case for adults to try their free week of the Disney+ streaming series. The franchise seems to be settling down for a big of a rest after being, dare I say it, over-exercised. But before we wipe the whole matter of Star Wars from our minds completely, it IS May the 4th -- do we have room in our hearts for a fifth installment of the annual Star Wars textmode art revue? (Five years of this nonsense, <i>really</i>? Really: <a href=https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2016/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars.html>2016</a>, <A href=https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/12/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars-episode.html>2017</a>, <a href=https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2018/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars-rtty.html>2018</a>, <a href=https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2019/05/textmode-art-roundup-fourth-may-fourth.html>2019</a>, and this one brings us to the present. Phew!)<p>
I'm always looking for deep cuts, which is my way of saying I'm always trying to find a way to avoid simply reposting the Blocktronics 2017 "<A href=https://16colo.rs/pack/blocktronics_detention_block_aa-23/>Detention Block AA-23</a>" artpack collection in its entirety. The work is amazing, but as far as blogging goes it's somewhat low-hanging fruit, and I'm not going to interest those dudes by serving them up their own creations. So let's <a href="https://16colo.rs/tags/content/star%20wars">dig a little deeper</a>. (But not too deep, the post will also act as a showcase for <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0520">the brand new MIST0520 artpack collection</a> of my own creation.)<p>
We'll start with some heroes, so we can get them out of the way -- fanart is generally focused specifically on one side of the Force, and it ain't the light one.
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I've shared a ton of awesome Star Wars ASCII art from Lord Nikon in Impure artpacks, so how did this one slip through the cracks? It was included in the Impure74 collection, and it's just sweet. (That also provides the answer to my question: I didn't miss it, that artpack just had come out in the period between my last Star Wars post here and this one 8)
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Horsenburger really put the Harrison Ford in this teletext portrait of Han Solo, included in the new MIST0520 artpack collection.
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Zerovision drew this tasty ANSI art Admiral Ackbar for us in 2004's TNT-008 artpack. Hey, wanna see some pieces from an unlicensed BBS door game? (What was that, Ackbar? <i>A traaap</i>?)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Pg8Cq5bm1NLRXN8vif50uUWV_k_m_lrpwRyq1xKkbAEPbnnTEcVt6aRN4TKbZoukDcxguX1jF4hZVH7za30alBFkvJupVt1hGxodjZvDT3S349vxRwQEM4d0TdCb_ztbwo8G3m0U8aXP/s1600/Screenshot_20190516-201537.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Pg8Cq5bm1NLRXN8vif50uUWV_k_m_lrpwRyq1xKkbAEPbnnTEcVt6aRN4TKbZoukDcxguX1jF4hZVH7za30alBFkvJupVt1hGxodjZvDT3S349vxRwQEM4d0TdCb_ztbwo8G3m0U8aXP/s640/Screenshot_20190516-201537.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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You might think "c'mon, cut them some slack, it can't be easy to draw Star Wars subjects in ANSI art", but then you see... the rest of the contents of these galleries. Ah well, it must have been programmer art. Now from the depths of hell to the pinnacle of paradise:
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The Creep Fever drew this magnificent goldenrod using what must be a tweaked XBIN palette for the 2018 Miracle on 67th Street Blocktronics artpack collection.
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Another seasoned ANSI art veteran who clearly knows what he's up to, Misfit represents the Kenner toy collectors in this gallery with this ANSI art Astromech droid from Blocktronics' 2018 6710 artpack.
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It's droid hour here on Blogspot! Knights of the Old Republic 2's HK-47 was kind of the template for Rogue One's K-2SO, a sassy, freethinking, outright malevolent when called for machine-man. This PETSCII portrait of him was a guest contribution by Deadguy and included in Mistigris' MIST0919 artpack collection of art inspired by video games!
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A wild deep cut, Picrotoxin (who, I have just learned, appeared in last year's post as "Nance", MIRCing up a perler bead Ewok pattern) gives us the upper torso (due to time constraints) of Princess Kneesaa a Jari Kintaka from the '80s Ewoks cartoon. This piece was included in the new science fiction-themed MIST0520 artpack collection. She appears to be oddly intrigued by the next image...
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Here we go, welcome to the Dark Side indeed, are you ready to get sinister? This ANSI art logo was drawn by Soda of Splat! in their 1995 SPLT0795 artpack.
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Mattmatthew, this isn't very sinister, though it is awesome. I get that you're just warming us up for the real evil. Baby steps, everybody. This piece was included in Blocktronics' 2013 Space Invaders artpack collection.
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Uglifruit has done a few joke Star Wars teletext screens -- you may recall his "Jar-jar Wars" from previous years. I believe this screen, included in the new MIST0520 artpack, marks the end of this particular line of gags out of him. I LOVE the detail on R2's head! Can we get a close-up on the Jawa? A little closer?
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Utinni! I guess we got a little too close there. This teletext screen, also included in MIST0520, was masterfully drawn by Horsenburger.
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This suite of ANSI art menus for "Death Star" BBS is masterfully done, capturing the subjects, expertly shaded, at small scale. The space station, the Stormtrooper, the blueprints and the Imperial Shuttle all deserve applause, due to Barium of Sac, who released these in their 2009 SAC-36 artpack.
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Docpop's exercise here isn't quite ASCII art, leaning on a couple of exotic Unicode characters to lend just the desired texture, but he's really aiming to evoke the minimalist technology aesthetic of a monochrome display. This scene, of course, depicts a duel between a Rebel Snowspeeder and an Imperial AT-AT Walker at the Battle of Hoth. I'm a big fan of the sound effects.
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Die wanna wanga! Horsenburger drew this teletext portrait of Jabba the Hutt's concierge, Bib Fortuna. It's all a little pinker than I'd prefer, but we don't always get to choose our palettes.
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When Axl was first dabbling into the textmode aesthetic, he did some wholesale machine conversions of iconic subjects. This Stormtrooper, included in the new MIST0520 artpack, is one such specimen.
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Horsenburger's teletext Stormtrooper helmet, also from MIST0520, is a little more stylish, informed by a human's working around the limitations of the medium and actively harnessing them with lighting and use of negative space.
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The Stormtroopers have a boss, and he... is apparently mounting a dogfight in space against the Coronavirus. The message is a little muddy, but the intent is clear here. Kalcha drew this Shift_JIS portrait of Darth Vader and a whole wing of TIE Fighters (plus his advanced model in the middle), also included in the MIST0520 artpack collection. Isn't that minimalist Death Star in the upper left corner something?
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Here's a specimen of notepad ASCII art, likely intended to be viewed inverted -- black on white. (I'll leave the inverting as an exercise to the home viewer.) That, or it's a rendition of the <a href=https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/187673509444157767/>Hello Kitty Vader cosplay</a>. This was drawn by Aylien of Cro, part of their 2005 CRO-DSKMG0805-NOVIEW release.
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Here Axl has pointed his convertatron at Vader, with predictable if effective results. This piece can also be found in the new MIST0520 artpack collection.
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Again, Horsenburger livens things up a bit... the black teletext background already provides all of the fill that he needs, so he goes all fauvist with the outlines, achieving an effect I like to consider... Pride Vader.
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Vader isn't the only Darth worth drawing in big textmode pixels, however. Here's an ANSI art illustration of Darth Maul drawn by ANSIchrist, included in the SENSE09 artpack released back in 2002, when Maul was still a wicked kind of going concern.
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That brings us to their mutual big boss, Sheev "Darth Sidious" Palpatine, aka The Emperor. The teletext palette's limitations are in effect again here, but in this case I rather fancy they work in Horsenburger's favour.
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We'll take a little break while enjoying James Lyle's minimalist ANSI art rendition of an iconic scene from Rogue One, a Star Destroyer looming overhead, preparing to erase Jedha City from the face of the planet.
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We've seen the good, we've seen the bad... then there are the bounty hunters, amoral and indifferent to the endless destructive war between the Jedi and the Sith, as long as they can squeeze a few creds out of the conflict. Here's a Horsenburger teletext portrait of IG-88 from the new MIST0520 artpack.
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Not textmode at all, but still a lovely high resolution pixelart screen of Boba Fett's ship, Slave-1, from the recent 2XL Crew artpack.
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And who flies Boba Fett's ship? Why, Boba Fett of course, Here's a teletext portrait by Nikki from MIST0520.
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Here he is again, a fan favorite, drawn in uncoloured ANSI art by Aox for the 2013 Space Invaders Blocktronics artpack.
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Acryl of Mean Scheme did a very nice job on this pixelart screen, found in the 9705 Mean Scheme artpack collection released 23 years ago! Not textmode art, but tossed in there as a fellow traveler.
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But though Boba Fett wore Mandalorian battle armour, he did not come from Mandalore. This teletext screen shows another, similarly clad, with a better claim to the adjective. This Horsenburger teletext screen celebrating the Mandalorian was included in the MIST0520 artpack collection...
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... as was this one, of his traveling companion "The Child", aka Baby Yoda, which provides us an excellent closing bookend for this post. See you next May, when I may finally be forced to get around to sharing Detention Block AA-23 with you! (Don't wait, it really is worthwhile!)Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-63799886955185838782020-01-06T12:25:00.000-08:002020-01-06T12:25:40.914-08:00The Christmas 2019 Video Game Haul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mke0uCC8C4ZJ5UHJNbvjWoedM6p999zfIvlcj8S-X2F0Qd6aQK-DNd3EzPRWvLk0ek3uqdQKuB-rseGRTHmy_nHqIz2S1KhOUV7ZxTQDLYvFMDYJGfCIpiZO2773dI8674zI1V1ptIQV/s1600/IMG_20200101_094221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Mke0uCC8C4ZJ5UHJNbvjWoedM6p999zfIvlcj8S-X2F0Qd6aQK-DNd3EzPRWvLk0ek3uqdQKuB-rseGRTHmy_nHqIz2S1KhOUV7ZxTQDLYvFMDYJGfCIpiZO2773dI8674zI1V1ptIQV/s320/IMG_20200101_094221.jpg" width="299" /></a></div>
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Greetings! My "Christmas haul" posts were never a very popular category of post I made here up at this blog, but as they gradually approach 50% of its semiannual entries, they are really dominating the second place on the podium. In any event, howdy! It's been a while! I'm now basically too occupied in my spare time, consumed with the business of sharing curated computer art over social media, to blog about it here. (It's a really unfair split, since my involvement with a great deal of the work I wind up sharing began as unfinished blog posts here. I could just advise you to hitch your wagon to <a href="http://instagram.com/mistfunk">the new caravan</a>, but I know it's not the same to you or your RSS reader.) Anyhow, mea culpa, I digress -- I'm derailing this post before it even gets started, an unhelpful trick. Hey, look at this! The mug is in the shape of a beige desktop computer, possibly one whose main word processor is WordPerfect, and its irregular form makes the interior very difficult to effectively clean! (This selfie is posed, but I couldn't bring myself to drink -- no matter how many times I run it through the dishwasher, I keep winding up with floaties! Eugh!!!)</div>
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There was actually a good long moment during our extended family Christmas Day gathering where I quietly concluded to myself, after a frenzy of gift revelation, that my decade-long window of video game indulgence seemed to have closed, represented only by the book seen here (a distinctly mixed bag -- invite Los Angeles lowbrow artists circa 2005 to submit artworks on video game themes and stand back! Steve Purcell's <a href="http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2009/04/beware_max_lives.php">Sinistar</a> stood out however 8)... the rest of my spoils seemed to have landed in the welcomed but practical category of snacks, socks and the like. But I had forgotten the way my mother-in-law categorizes different kinds of presents for different stages of the unwrapping pageant, and happily it turns out I still had plenty of games ahead of me! Here's a broad overview of the goodies I had awaiting me. Only games this time, no consoles -- which is fine, I have all the consoles I need that are likely to be encountered in working condition secondhand -- and in manageable lots. No "five identical Donkey Kong cartridges" this year, which is funny... once!<br />
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No reasonably sane person categorizes Choose Your Own Adventures with video games except for me -- in my case, gamebooks are probably what I used as a home video gaming substitute back in the '80s. Plenty of duplicates with games I already own, but it's the thought that counts. Will Clue the video game be any more fun than Clue the boardgame? I hope so!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVc8nZdoxGPjzdE7YKil_EILJ9q-qJ5f4SO-YRmmgWoqtCGepz_5rzs1hiUM4xh2myJ2nQ1GsBIR7S_eD-7U6LgSaO75GJfHmg5efnIfUEglp4-nTpa8YNwWmGF58wRQTz-kVI3VKZj7b/s1600/IMG_20191225_221336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1572" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQVc8nZdoxGPjzdE7YKil_EILJ9q-qJ5f4SO-YRmmgWoqtCGepz_5rzs1hiUM4xh2myJ2nQ1GsBIR7S_eD-7U6LgSaO75GJfHmg5efnIfUEglp4-nTpa8YNwWmGF58wRQTz-kVI3VKZj7b/s400/IMG_20191225_221336.jpg" width="392" /></a></div>
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Sure, you may have a Sonic the Hedgehog cartridge and might not see the benefit in having another... but do you have a Sonic the Hedgehog cartridge in a generic replacement Genesis cart box complete with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 manual?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpg6rJ8gfNIYdTK64Pu0qxOOqF0KZSizLWj7XG-dtr_wdnd4q7fB-ETEyI5KwPN9oAUWm8zsDKku4Y5Ci-z_DkVZwPgbGQZutVHUXy_qWVdY6Gf7ZUrMc4OZvyYJz_D5a8vcZCC4TqndU/s1600/IMG_20191225_221347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1277" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpg6rJ8gfNIYdTK64Pu0qxOOqF0KZSizLWj7XG-dtr_wdnd4q7fB-ETEyI5KwPN9oAUWm8zsDKku4Y5Ci-z_DkVZwPgbGQZutVHUXy_qWVdY6Gf7ZUrMc4OZvyYJz_D5a8vcZCC4TqndU/s400/IMG_20191225_221347.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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The Xbox One games are interesting, as for about nine months, since relieving a friend of his WiiU, I'd finally been caught up with ownership of a suitable console for just about every game I own (not quite true, I have a few unplayable N-Gage and PSP games, but as a rule of thumb I do not collect that which I am not suitably equipped to play.) Now I once again have games for a machine I may not own for years yet to come! My estimate is that I wind up owning every machine about a dozen years after its release, so that means I may wind up with the means of playing these discs in about five years. We'll see! Pictionary for the NES is renowned for having a soundtrack that punches above its weight class, but I imagine things have evened out since then.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWg3W1wZwee49UzZ7MjfaRgneuadmH_50quXaZb-catb7P_GskjAcGN6jYQhd8piyR6Mh4AZNcbKqRQfcJb3qhFTCuLlxSGaqoT6dimXVvBTCnswQib8KVCmJjqj51L9XpQ4PCbhiuuWyD/s1600/IMG_20191225_221357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1095" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWg3W1wZwee49UzZ7MjfaRgneuadmH_50quXaZb-catb7P_GskjAcGN6jYQhd8piyR6Mh4AZNcbKqRQfcJb3qhFTCuLlxSGaqoT6dimXVvBTCnswQib8KVCmJjqj51L9XpQ4PCbhiuuWyD/s400/IMG_20191225_221357.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
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And the "So, I hear you briefly had, then divested yourself of, a Nintendo DS" starter pack: a Mario game, a Brain Age game, a High School Musical game (the sports game weed choking thrift store bins of the 21st century) and a licensed game from a movie you've never heard of! Ah well, you can't complain. Did I somehow leave out the NES carts completely? Well, Super Mario / Duck Hunt is a known quantity, and as for Bart Vs. the Space Mutants... Simpsons video games always felt like they'd be a better fit than they actually were. The Konami arcade version hit the sweet spot, but that spot wasn't what Acclaim was targeting in its licensed NES carts.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuMBN3z2fgshit-VEqpNkstdOoQ3aMHCJKJMfLihmVRyixXkck3qPi-SX_fVfdd7q_s0xX-x39qosUnoNu5JnLtyIy3VOhmKsIeLR2GaGN8jvLZHrxvcQxASDerxZHEyXdJTLbaJdt_9B/s1600/IMG_20191225_221531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1479" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuMBN3z2fgshit-VEqpNkstdOoQ3aMHCJKJMfLihmVRyixXkck3qPi-SX_fVfdd7q_s0xX-x39qosUnoNu5JnLtyIy3VOhmKsIeLR2GaGN8jvLZHrxvcQxASDerxZHEyXdJTLbaJdt_9B/s400/IMG_20191225_221531.jpg" width="368" /></a></div>
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Bonus gaminalia: everyone in the house knows how much I love Katamari Damacy (A: A Lot) and so here's a little Sisyphean sculpture of the prince toiling away at his cosmic task... also a little Super Mario Bros 3. cross-stitch piece, because... hey, why not? I only take out the vintage gaming decor for my vintage gaming parties twice a year, but it stays up for a few days while the odds of a given game getting any airtime, with a collection of over a thousand pieces, is very slim... so we likely actually get more mileage out of the set dressing! The last Big Pixels party is two months behind us, meaning we have another four or five before all the dusty 8-bit machines of yore are exhumed from their rubbermaid tombs and we actually get a chance to try out some of these "new" (to me) specimens on their corresponding vintage hardware. But will I be posting here again before then? Unclear... well, odds are I will at least be doing another Star Wars textmode art roundup, then who knows 8) See you later!</div>Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-49546888660566041402019-05-04T18:49:00.000-07:002019-05-04T18:49:18.371-07:00Textmode art roundup: The Fourth May the Fourth Be With You -- more Star Wars fanartThe <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2016/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars.html">last</a> <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/12/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars-episode.html">three</a> <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2018/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars-rtty.html">years</a> I've done a Pixel Pompeii post of textmode Star Wars artwork around May 4th to celebrate that lovable space opera franchise that just wouldn't quit, so since I've got a pile of it gathering dust here I may as well discharge the lot with another of my increasingly rare posts here!<br />
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How should I organize these? By age, theme, chronology... maybe I'll mix it up. Here I'll start with a representative from Episode 1, a Jar-Jar Binks teletext screen by Uglifruit which washed up in <a href="https://16colo.rs/pack/mist0519/">the new MIST0519 artpack</a>:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJ-zGtEOLp7Fc6wS2FyHw04ms64H3Q21liO5SZRJlSVhHMAGSmckEkAOcK8mMbAvRp2DileucpdEnp_lokuinqVdvjPv7b6gnYOZ41eVFRw_z4SrsK1wFE8p19xxdJpTAtYjzEiQlngA-/s1600/%2521UGLIFRUIT-JAR_JARS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="533" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyJ-zGtEOLp7Fc6wS2FyHw04ms64H3Q21liO5SZRJlSVhHMAGSmckEkAOcK8mMbAvRp2DileucpdEnp_lokuinqVdvjPv7b6gnYOZ41eVFRw_z4SrsK1wFE8p19xxdJpTAtYjzEiQlngA-/s1600/%2521UGLIFRUIT-JAR_JARS.JPG" /></a></div>
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OK, are you done shuddering? Tempering the suck of Jar-Jar here is the awesomesauce of Episode III's General Grievous, drawn in PETSCII by Snake PETsken, also from MIST019:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsQRh5FehBhJ5cg9276nQJvpyczYAIlta67eX8dlZY2DbJDedY4icsWPqt6rG26n4uhfUF-2zpqdd0q8O-I7C5TZo0A_hiDuNDEFQOVBeE_pnGRViGPv_00bfEItIoXyuCS27rGdW98K7/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-GENERAL_GRIEVOUS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsQRh5FehBhJ5cg9276nQJvpyczYAIlta67eX8dlZY2DbJDedY4icsWPqt6rG26n4uhfUF-2zpqdd0q8O-I7C5TZo0A_hiDuNDEFQOVBeE_pnGRViGPv_00bfEItIoXyuCS27rGdW98K7/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-GENERAL_GRIEVOUS.JPG" /></a></div>
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Horsenburger drew this teletext screen of Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover as Lando Calrissian from the recent Solo - A Star Wars Story, next in the loose chronology. This piece you can also find in MIST0519, which admittedly weighs a little disproportionally here. (The SF-themed artpack also features non-textmode Star Wars art, as well as science fiction-based art of all kinds on other franchises and original concepts. I like to think it's well worth checking out, and not only because I spent a year putting it together!)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1rMmSacQK5dL3Oszd6ukjzjGoJcvizTmbEgatZRLJlHth1uSeRtMTlwZ6rxlTII9lZF79SHC2UXHJ-bQmySPY9LTueKO8JXbjs25tiDUVqBUL330IRMoJyMJNEgwqWiNlYt35dpnaDP4/s1600/%2521HORSENBURGER-SOLO-LANDO.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="982" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq1rMmSacQK5dL3Oszd6ukjzjGoJcvizTmbEgatZRLJlHth1uSeRtMTlwZ6rxlTII9lZF79SHC2UXHJ-bQmySPY9LTueKO8JXbjs25tiDUVqBUL330IRMoJyMJNEgwqWiNlYt35dpnaDP4/s640/%2521HORSENBURGER-SOLO-LANDO.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm trying to alternate friends and foes here, so now that we've reached the Episode IV in which they first appeared, here's a Jawa, mashed up into <a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Arriving_Too_Late_to_Save_a_Drowning_Witch>a Frank Zappa album cover</a> in Shift_JIS by Kalcha, in his unique fashion, as seen in MIST0519:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1FYweNVV9ZhBpyb3gxv5CjU__YngVAHGQ0Sk0sClotXkcNGVyX8TOuvLncTP_e1GAynRQPiQvDAZq5luLyykFRN9wHpNOSYUX3RKeXZq7jgklYb1TnAKohv7NzsQv-FcjmHxWMnJ8Cio/s1600/%2521KALCHA-JAWA_ZAPPA.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="193" data-original-width="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO1FYweNVV9ZhBpyb3gxv5CjU__YngVAHGQ0Sk0sClotXkcNGVyX8TOuvLncTP_e1GAynRQPiQvDAZq5luLyykFRN9wHpNOSYUX3RKeXZq7jgklYb1TnAKohv7NzsQv-FcjmHxWMnJ8Cio/s1600/%2521KALCHA-JAWA_ZAPPA.PNG" /></a></div>
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Here's ANSI art of some metallic friends to whom we were introduced in Episode IV, though they were later retconned into the prequels:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNco39gN9w_pn5BoXPojYL-Vsi-Xj09W2VGZHY-CfBWB36222ttoVRNP0sJk7F_mLLdnXFW9bjcoxvIu4QCn5vzoJ5JYbMFCM7kXnTfU2vMR-8cO-uAqWfiqXdc5T0tT5hAMQUGS1jITw6/s1600/r5-rubble.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNco39gN9w_pn5BoXPojYL-Vsi-Xj09W2VGZHY-CfBWB36222ttoVRNP0sJk7F_mLLdnXFW9bjcoxvIu4QCn5vzoJ5JYbMFCM7kXnTfU2vMR-8cO-uAqWfiqXdc5T0tT5hAMQUGS1jITw6/s1600/r5-rubble.ans.png" /></a></div>
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That tableau was a portion of a larger piece drawn by Reset Survivor, a onetime staple of this blog, and next we have a focus on the golden god C-3PO drawn by The Knight of Fuel:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wvV6i5QvAxppsvCslhgsp916bdjgsDGRo8eBfzUKos-I-yw6ZpGG61tFjHYuIndd05goYgiJuKeJRP-1m6Ey52TSrYEsY5Qh6iBw2j4X7WxlGerXEf24xRt8a3dhw0sEPA_zerPma6lw/s1600/tk-adroid.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6wvV6i5QvAxppsvCslhgsp916bdjgsDGRo8eBfzUKos-I-yw6ZpGG61tFjHYuIndd05goYgiJuKeJRP-1m6Ey52TSrYEsY5Qh6iBw2j4X7WxlGerXEf24xRt8a3dhw0sEPA_zerPma6lw/s1600/tk-adroid.ans.png" /></a></div>
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Then we need to step aside and make some room for The Bad Guys: your standard Star Wars type through the original trilogy are Stormtroopers, and here are a few takes on them. Here's one of their helmets drawn by VodkaV of the recently-discovered uncontacted ANSI artist tribe at MIRCart.org:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8v55zowupe0-9dZIq_gnDu31KRz4wAAWq7nQ617ysC-xVUGCKp86pMTjwVlyE-hNkIp1YuBjAjont6t31DXWRfXaGsUwo8xRmVoAv0igOyFyKBdYx5KZ3NS__oTPmwzpINP60VZbeKJE/s1600/vodkav-stormtooper.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS8v55zowupe0-9dZIq_gnDu31KRz4wAAWq7nQ617ysC-xVUGCKp86pMTjwVlyE-hNkIp1YuBjAjont6t31DXWRfXaGsUwo8xRmVoAv0igOyFyKBdYx5KZ3NS__oTPmwzpINP60VZbeKJE/s320/vodkav-stormtooper.png" width="306" /></a></div>
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Another Stormtrooper helmet, this time in newschool ASCII art, by... OK, I got nothing, the filename is just a string of gibberish. Is there some clue in the screen capture itself?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6E3N2tRTx5HAQhG9VHezQu4AWR0xRKp9cgPiWZUW-4zHEe6kqY4qTIFrknvVs5DGfyZ_bJgHRRIfBjRGJyPMOp-cd6AEqEcDC0qZCWMWrpDqcv3xtGOeSJq-efd97dJEFuhde-7-WG0u/s1600/43612892_10155441336856792_5419970044304031744_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="960" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6E3N2tRTx5HAQhG9VHezQu4AWR0xRKp9cgPiWZUW-4zHEe6kqY4qTIFrknvVs5DGfyZ_bJgHRRIfBjRGJyPMOp-cd6AEqEcDC0qZCWMWrpDqcv3xtGOeSJq-efd97dJEFuhde-7-WG0u/s640/43612892_10155441336856792_5419970044304031744_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Snake PETsken returns with another PETSCII portrait, first widely seen (heck, the only place it will ever be <i>widely</i> seen) in January's "Blockheads" art gallery program for Commodore 64s:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVl9J1NWYpgXS-SAV_330vbrjl4UwcO1vYgKnvF2tsX0f6YSsE-gdDKbg3h-wKtMhFfbou6UA5EOB49ZdBb2s5IDnSFSrcyeWjN7IeaWrmzWUZ829n3_kjEJaEuv2PJtQeTLhXf51_yc3w/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-STORMTROOPER.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVl9J1NWYpgXS-SAV_330vbrjl4UwcO1vYgKnvF2tsX0f6YSsE-gdDKbg3h-wKtMhFfbou6UA5EOB49ZdBb2s5IDnSFSrcyeWjN7IeaWrmzWUZ829n3_kjEJaEuv2PJtQeTLhXf51_yc3w/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-STORMTROOPER.JPG" /></a></div>
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And then there's <a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/bm7-0296/kyp-love.ans">this ANSI art Stormtrooper</a> by Kyp of Black Maiden, whose palette caused a great deal of bemused concern when it surfaced as the 16 Colours ANSI of the Day: "It's time for a brief public service announcement concerning the importance of proper color selection. One wrong choice can put you on a path to oddville that you never meant to be on. This is just...I don't know. It's a Stormtrooper, but made entirely out of flesh and delivering flowers. His helmet eyes are squinty, almost sultry. He has a "come hither" stare. His flowers are in a styrofoam cup, and he's all flesh tone. A Fleshtrooper, if you will." Bouquet aside, it actually is a faithful reproduction of <a href="https://www.mobygames.com/game/star-wars-dark-forces/cover-art/gameCoverId,28346/">the box art for the 1995 Lucasarts video game Dark Forces</a>, the red tint a product of proximity to blaster fire. But without that context, it is mildly risible:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLc9LCyZsRN9NCsB2YDPEPiOlFQtah08UvrXAP5TAUlfryDSgPZ5Yp1ncihdimd5GwR9cfpth5txbI4OsZaKs5D2mEJM_K6Zcs5awaM2eCb818CrOJT4UerVuWmtHlexr_cNAsRvVsO1M/s1600/26961672_10154875337151792_1000602654666201698_o.png.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLc9LCyZsRN9NCsB2YDPEPiOlFQtah08UvrXAP5TAUlfryDSgPZ5Yp1ncihdimd5GwR9cfpth5txbI4OsZaKs5D2mEJM_K6Zcs5awaM2eCb818CrOJT4UerVuWmtHlexr_cNAsRvVsO1M/s1600/26961672_10154875337151792_1000602654666201698_o.png.jpg" /></a></div>
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What does it take to counteract a Stormtrooper? Usually one of these will do it. Misfit drew this ANSI art illustration of Han Solo's blaster:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR34-V5eaRL-1rx99ChukTlTvYOnjAY4Ld5qB2BwVhOS63BTTyRl5gSN0WX-7ZXMiFeLc9ZzXvV3k8Fd9hek7hneXsBJmTE1v4qL0MmxLQwv-ia_jEmG84tasISYTbS__hvixg9yJ3hUgQ/s1600/blaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="960" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR34-V5eaRL-1rx99ChukTlTvYOnjAY4Ld5qB2BwVhOS63BTTyRl5gSN0WX-7ZXMiFeLc9ZzXvV3k8Fd9hek7hneXsBJmTE1v4qL0MmxLQwv-ia_jEmG84tasISYTbS__hvixg9yJ3hUgQ/s640/blaster.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here's a teletext illustration by Horsenburger cutting us in on the fateful (Han shot first! Exhibit a, please see above) showdown between Han Solo and Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina, as seen in the new MIST0519 artpack collection:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_axe1Y5e9u0EjcgriTYMbPnshPWHBkN0ISaVLEEYsmvD97UOkO5JallBRkKS0IUIT1MfXUXpt0k3j4w6vLPXtlq2DtfriWn4553yVwFuWhyEr1EFDnxEfOol32JJy_1lsNqbRAz7NnkN/s1600/%2521HORSENBURGER-GREEDO_AND_HAN.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="873" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_axe1Y5e9u0EjcgriTYMbPnshPWHBkN0ISaVLEEYsmvD97UOkO5JallBRkKS0IUIT1MfXUXpt0k3j4w6vLPXtlq2DtfriWn4553yVwFuWhyEr1EFDnxEfOol32JJy_1lsNqbRAz7NnkN/s640/%2521HORSENBURGER-GREEDO_AND_HAN.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We will return to Han Solo later on, but there's an important antagonist from Episode IV we haven't touched on yet ... ah yes, here he is! I'm not sure in which movie he's lighting a cigar with his lightsaber, but... well, it's by Zen of the MIRCart crew, they usually introduce a twist to the story.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA6FPu5UA3OmRaNQ-3pooY3bKEK4nC7PnVDNaVG07kPrU7J61_TdEf5R2QyzwtO-MyJzJH5j1HEY6qNWCH3pKPk-bGVmN2AKiIry5diQnLkabTnqbNYG1XyTm8a_nKY0p9PqCcyVinyDq/s1600/zen-vaderblunt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirA6FPu5UA3OmRaNQ-3pooY3bKEK4nC7PnVDNaVG07kPrU7J61_TdEf5R2QyzwtO-MyJzJH5j1HEY6qNWCH3pKPk-bGVmN2AKiIry5diQnLkabTnqbNYG1XyTm8a_nKY0p9PqCcyVinyDq/s320/zen-vaderblunt.png" width="284" /></a></div>
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Zerovision of Glue drew this ANSI art Vader for a BBS named Endor, a double whammy, in their 21st artpack:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mze4miTr-ZzXcV0aWhfiiM6O905Y_U2tFDHuoYrlHmqtMmwtBKXbD28O2_tU01xkaX0lzlxMfcqwyAhImRgTHU8OSvtbeMd3YjCmU3NahuAyEVdzXlprIjgQuI6RtB_UNW176WMFgTdA/s1600/zv-endor.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Mze4miTr-ZzXcV0aWhfiiM6O905Y_U2tFDHuoYrlHmqtMmwtBKXbD28O2_tU01xkaX0lzlxMfcqwyAhImRgTHU8OSvtbeMd3YjCmU3NahuAyEVdzXlprIjgQuI6RtB_UNW176WMFgTdA/s1600/zv-endor.ans.png" /></a></div>
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Snake PETsken joins the proceedings once again showing just how it is done. (It is done, for the record in Petmate, for a C64 audience.) You can find this screen in Blockheads.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eliSwlVMFcaYMQSPDbT9PwzFZD5XIYOvAdkTXjtrzC1BGw8Qq3fP7pJgjHSC0XE-ba9DJT7wObHwgID-biBqbNc4zmllCSWuqHCOEIioUpZBfsEdh36Fvg5VH0gudsUP9c-K-usnXJ15/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-DARTH_VADER.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eliSwlVMFcaYMQSPDbT9PwzFZD5XIYOvAdkTXjtrzC1BGw8Qq3fP7pJgjHSC0XE-ba9DJT7wObHwgID-biBqbNc4zmllCSWuqHCOEIioUpZBfsEdh36Fvg5VH0gudsUP9c-K-usnXJ15/s1600/%2521SNAKE_PETSKEN-DARTH_VADER.JPG" /></a></div>
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And here's another Darth Vader ANSI art scroller for another Star Wars-themed BBS, named The Rebel Base. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjac-hzpGjUWjYn5_umDixTgQU3XcYGO9rUihBfWU48GeIHgAofbytpgcLcvK7FwysntveP39L03PjVGTGv7fjmsq7zXD9kGmETiQRw8HcJQdvheF2NijxDJo182RTfojy__TX5o9dWLF3d/s1600/vaderansi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjac-hzpGjUWjYn5_umDixTgQU3XcYGO9rUihBfWU48GeIHgAofbytpgcLcvK7FwysntveP39L03PjVGTGv7fjmsq7zXD9kGmETiQRw8HcJQdvheF2NijxDJo182RTfojy__TX5o9dWLF3d/s1600/vaderansi.png" /></a></div>
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And here's something out of left field (a Mistigris specialty), some of XTComics' unique blend of ASCII art and emoji illustrating what it might look like when Darth Vader goes on vacation, as seen in the new MIST0519 artpack.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DqmCoupCUYqJAZihZeB3xUwuSTzXrKbSWmYDR84l8bZoO8dwJ2Flz7BDr6pbrgl5JTus4qK_76E8CJDT_ITFvQK7_WUz2eOxASTNO5NYmf6LlZh3aGd6yoH9Jai6dt6iiHszb54Hqr0F/s1600/%2521XTCOMICS-DARTH_VACATIONER.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="912" data-original-width="1080" height="539" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DqmCoupCUYqJAZihZeB3xUwuSTzXrKbSWmYDR84l8bZoO8dwJ2Flz7BDr6pbrgl5JTus4qK_76E8CJDT_ITFvQK7_WUz2eOxASTNO5NYmf6LlZh3aGd6yoH9Jai6dt6iiHszb54Hqr0F/s640/%2521XTCOMICS-DARTH_VACATIONER.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
An important supporting player from Episode IV on the side of the heroes: an X-Wing Fighter, drawn in ASCII art (by ... I got nothing) that appeared on the NinjaPenguin 2017 thermal printer.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtWs_kPoAIGxBccpN0qgJyoAZZRELo6M3rV3wPK_WTb3UjSdWOpsvufNVdkVCdH-vwoeTe52TXjipQ-D1n1zozF5u3lv86aNPsEOVr78S355BRNh3FB_FGxvCKG81jPBrhD05iYNZWgGh/s1600/zz-082459.asc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZtWs_kPoAIGxBccpN0qgJyoAZZRELo6M3rV3wPK_WTb3UjSdWOpsvufNVdkVCdH-vwoeTe52TXjipQ-D1n1zozF5u3lv86aNPsEOVr78S355BRNh3FB_FGxvCKG81jPBrhD05iYNZWgGh/s1600/zz-082459.asc.png" /></a></div>
Tit for tat, here's an awesome spaceship of the Empire, a mighty Star Destroyer on parade past the Death Star:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9f3QxUW693CpAwMn_ciwqzn9YWJHV4weqw4v9VSuYsrfpEhbujQRMmC8nWDNq6ZPfgutQn2hm5fqzTI1NBt3EYPTcasqUXLJAqASoGZd8uOr6NM9qS8F9fqkJJO8mOFVBDAguGVOACuP/s1600/%2521STARDIS.ANS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo9f3QxUW693CpAwMn_ciwqzn9YWJHV4weqw4v9VSuYsrfpEhbujQRMmC8nWDNq6ZPfgutQn2hm5fqzTI1NBt3EYPTcasqUXLJAqASoGZd8uOr6NM9qS8F9fqkJJO8mOFVBDAguGVOACuP/s1600/%2521STARDIS.ANS.png" /></a></div>
OK, I take it back, that one was so terrible it didn't count at all. (Surely it turned up by happenstance in some collection or other of Public Domain ANSI art from back before anyone realised that it could be used to draw pictures and not just finger paintings.) So moving briskly forward to Episode V, here's an AT-AT walker as seen at the Battle of Hoth:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOTYvCzy3KG2cbc25jfyEhD6BdsdZ_17oT6gD67uUJmDf0U9KyMNXDwlUlqr0pJsTXF1q__-ZLe9-RdOuuKCgSD9IDk9pxVROHXom5T0kQlHGq3PEn8lVtve2cngVgOB2cjuCmZi3D49a/s1600/%2521HORSENBURGER-ATARI-EMPIRE_STRIKES_BACK.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="874" data-original-width="981" height="570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdOTYvCzy3KG2cbc25jfyEhD6BdsdZ_17oT6gD67uUJmDf0U9KyMNXDwlUlqr0pJsTXF1q__-ZLe9-RdOuuKCgSD9IDk9pxVROHXom5T0kQlHGq3PEn8lVtve2cngVgOB2cjuCmZi3D49a/s640/%2521HORSENBURGER-ATARI-EMPIRE_STRIKES_BACK.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
OK, Horsenburger's teletext version, as seen in MIST0519, is not very impressive because he's trying to duplicate the sprite art used in the 1982 Atari 2600 video game adaptation of the movie. But this ANSI art screen should make up for it, drawn by Magnetic M of GRiP/AD for Warp Zone BBS way back in the '90s:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82l9mxH1URrGIH3qbdYO4ZpZBqLSTsKugMd9rI-mQyYyvAn7kEOHwv_wbxWjDoRt7Vii5YTokmJjLJq5tTAqx-BkasdaG-EtSmAa3veS-FuQQNPtG7NhOLfC7EqJaLl3Y4gRvdZzHmhEj/s1600/26756869_10154869786166792_5445150056785614709_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82l9mxH1URrGIH3qbdYO4ZpZBqLSTsKugMd9rI-mQyYyvAn7kEOHwv_wbxWjDoRt7Vii5YTokmJjLJq5tTAqx-BkasdaG-EtSmAa3veS-FuQQNPtG7NhOLfC7EqJaLl3Y4gRvdZzHmhEj/s1600/26756869_10154869786166792_5445150056785614709_o.png" /></a></div>
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<br>And on from Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi... here's a teletext screen of Lando checking in on Han Solo frozen in carbonite (I admit, it's a little much to pack into a single screen, but if anyone can do it, it's Horsenburger... from MIST0519):<br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-ZoEVvzdrVw_Sqc8BNEEyemWuvdejfjLQBby5SKLs91ZzJVbn4V2fyUdg8skKDJDWXzwYR3U7f7tUzwGYF6TyGafFyvb-T6m4sG7UOZiuF6s-lhoTk2PDJ6lCs6cw54I7pAqD1HhZvJE/s1600/%2521HORSENBURGER-LANDO_AND_FROZEN_HAN.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="873" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-ZoEVvzdrVw_Sqc8BNEEyemWuvdejfjLQBby5SKLs91ZzJVbn4V2fyUdg8skKDJDWXzwYR3U7f7tUzwGYF6TyGafFyvb-T6m4sG7UOZiuF6s-lhoTk2PDJ6lCs6cw54I7pAqD1HhZvJE/s640/%2521HORSENBURGER-LANDO_AND_FROZEN_HAN.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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And on to the real stars of Episode VI: the Ewoks! Here's ANSI art of one drawn by Nance of MIRCart:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohWdfQfuXv2I6FI9CSn7HEOoQRuCgAFcpNU7rwz6ALOeVgSAF-16mZ3Jjw0zvs-s0s2PY_-t7lCcjzSRWE0-IoCVdTtYEAXAhKGh1IUI4ZQ6hsg90dbDgZlSZjXjB1mRwb89YKFR7nkqU/s1600/nance-ewok.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="434" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgohWdfQfuXv2I6FI9CSn7HEOoQRuCgAFcpNU7rwz6ALOeVgSAF-16mZ3Jjw0zvs-s0s2PY_-t7lCcjzSRWE0-IoCVdTtYEAXAhKGh1IUI4ZQ6hsg90dbDgZlSZjXjB1mRwb89YKFR7nkqU/s320/nance-ewok.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's another one, drawn by ... er... MH of RZN:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpO0__E5p84lQJd0qqcd4EX6N7WRgJFYUNQsrFm2ZewcO9-7CoQ8YpGcycB1eNK1gt1lxDIJwjh9cPv0ucgbVAU-H45oisZtkKI7HIKFDDXfq5DYAo08RG-xAVJoO1b5X425vKxhfD6W1-/s1600/mh%2521ewok.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpO0__E5p84lQJd0qqcd4EX6N7WRgJFYUNQsrFm2ZewcO9-7CoQ8YpGcycB1eNK1gt1lxDIJwjh9cPv0ucgbVAU-H45oisZtkKI7HIKFDDXfq5DYAo08RG-xAVJoO1b5X425vKxhfD6W1-/s1600/mh%2521ewok.ans.png" /></a></div>
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Horsenburger is always happy to oblige, teletext-style. Go, Wicket, go!</br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtFdyvq7-_jxLUbxb5h56Jw6SNv9kOYxq7lVTdX5XfsqTVO_Xyc4gB-BJv6f-OJdFl4RhbFjTFOCBUDYrg3kgLVFPsbH39-0cTU89QmAbJRMlThVWHVuDVA9lhnJcVvxgUxFs7hz3UtAO/s1600/%2521HORSENBURGER-WICKET.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="749" data-original-width="842" height="569" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjtFdyvq7-_jxLUbxb5h56Jw6SNv9kOYxq7lVTdX5XfsqTVO_Xyc4gB-BJv6f-OJdFl4RhbFjTFOCBUDYrg3kgLVFPsbH39-0cTU89QmAbJRMlThVWHVuDVA9lhnJcVvxgUxFs7hz3UtAO/s640/%2521HORSENBURGER-WICKET.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br>And now we're on to the sequels. Here's the world's tiniest Kylo Ren, as drawn by Nail (and consequently, almost certainly captured in the wrong aspect ratio) as seen in the 4-20 Blocktronics artpack:<br /><br>
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Typewriter artist Jamie Graham has also used his writing tool to draw a Kylo Ren, as seen in the MIST0519 artpack:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3o6CXh68uWygDpLMJEhItXPE9hVYQKh5eOAGMWDYuOckWmYZMO2GalwjNHDq5g2DImpd66xTru-iirf7g4X1GN2idNGPahBvGKQpbSo_TCxTHb-qCZlkD5BCGgBQXvCOvPA6BMoi6TT9q/s1600/%2521JAMIE_GRAHAM-KYLO_REN.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3o6CXh68uWygDpLMJEhItXPE9hVYQKh5eOAGMWDYuOckWmYZMO2GalwjNHDq5g2DImpd66xTru-iirf7g4X1GN2idNGPahBvGKQpbSo_TCxTHb-qCZlkD5BCGgBQXvCOvPA6BMoi6TT9q/s640/%2521JAMIE_GRAHAM-KYLO_REN.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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More to the point, he also used it to draw a porg:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzOZiyVVKEH_ZwTCN-eyLJLE61jtV7WZAq-mxjgZr7WnUoevjsHhAPi5kVTQvk5jzsoattkUAzUUWJjbxSqyTM6XDeTuLV5wgVtvgfndLjZrAVJjwo3QjcjQLAnXEbtlHGj2JPXviPjmv/s1600/%2521JAMIE_GRAHAM-PORG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzOZiyVVKEH_ZwTCN-eyLJLE61jtV7WZAq-mxjgZr7WnUoevjsHhAPi5kVTQvk5jzsoattkUAzUUWJjbxSqyTM6XDeTuLV5wgVtvgfndLjZrAVJjwo3QjcjQLAnXEbtlHGj2JPXviPjmv/s640/%2521JAMIE_GRAHAM-PORG.JPG" width="640" /></a>
<br>We're wrapping up here, so one last bit of odds and ends, another Kalcha Shift_JIS piece mashing up Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album art with the Death Star from... well, OK, all of the Star Wars movies just about:</br><br>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicWVJ_LtxHZ0p93Xd4kxw0ShyphenhyphenxMMVUfWSylPYYDv_c-9_GVYZiEorEIEWm4CTaYiCUL9v_6MgxP9zrW0HMbw1pCiYuu7Yw0fzdCpprPpwsGeCNw20sVdBx81h0UQlRNWE3q302UGSdxVN/s1600/%2521KALCHA-DSOTM.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgicWVJ_LtxHZ0p93Xd4kxw0ShyphenhyphenxMMVUfWSylPYYDv_c-9_GVYZiEorEIEWm4CTaYiCUL9v_6MgxP9zrW0HMbw1pCiYuu7Yw0fzdCpprPpwsGeCNw20sVdBx81h0UQlRNWE3q302UGSdxVN/s1600/%2521KALCHA-DSOTM.PNG" /></a></div>
Finally, Dman won the ANSI art compo at the 2018 Multmatograph demoparty with this group shot:
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And that's all from this year! I've been trying for a couple of years now avoiding simply reposting the entire contents of the Blocktronics Star Wars artpack verbatim, but perhaps 2020, after the conclusion of the Skywalker trilogy, will be the year that sees that post. Until then... live long and prosper! Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-72320122457041307792019-04-01T00:06:00.002-07:002019-04-02T08:11:19.103-07:00Unbelievable -- Worms in teletext?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T76yLOQpViF3K-7RRP-VQ-E2sq8VVbGZPqHCGQZ9nStDmEJ__tATTSHDOHYU6_onlECZAtSiZWCRlvWEByByZjFdvYcz6iYaLbqoWZAXP1VQokwyH3q2AKXVDVWO317PTSmfJJnhzPBM/s1600/IMG_20190329_171348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_T76yLOQpViF3K-7RRP-VQ-E2sq8VVbGZPqHCGQZ9nStDmEJ__tATTSHDOHYU6_onlECZAtSiZWCRlvWEByByZjFdvYcz6iYaLbqoWZAXP1VQokwyH3q2AKXVDVWO317PTSmfJJnhzPBM/s640/IMG_20190329_171348.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is almost too much to believe, friends. Screenshots have surfaced from an unlikely Team 17-related project from probably a quarter century ago. The venerable software developers, known for Full Contact, Alien Breed, and Superfrog, launched their flagship series Worms in 1995. (The Sega Mega CD quoted in the above screen was in production until 1996, so that timeframe looks reasonable.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklADt7fgUq-Yd8C6HMyA-psmQosav3FkcBq4gEdHan3s0YQtnvVcJRyQ8BFjcKavVw7h94ajorfLcL5k02N7Q5xqr1_kfTZBteuW0ClxNOAooSivYJ45fjhBwMEUrhlrnJ6kDgxaIr2m8/s1600/IMG_20190329_171353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhklADt7fgUq-Yd8C6HMyA-psmQosav3FkcBq4gEdHan3s0YQtnvVcJRyQ8BFjcKavVw7h94ajorfLcL5k02N7Q5xqr1_kfTZBteuW0ClxNOAooSivYJ45fjhBwMEUrhlrnJ6kDgxaIr2m8/s640/IMG_20190329_171353.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Something else that was a going concern in 1995 was teletext on British televisions! We know that simple games were present on the commercial teletext services such as 4-Tel, Oracle and Ceefax -- mostly Choose-Your-Own-Adventures controlled via four coloured buttons ("press red to play") on a teletext remote control. But as gamebook authors have established, you could use a highly constrained medium to communicate not only simple parlour games like tic-tac-toe, checkers and cards but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_of_Aces_(picture_book_game)">such play experiences as aerial dogfights</a>. So why not artillery duels, where the available options really are few?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXuFKpBsdOC2i_kLcSTuERsW9s3KGdPR58sn_jJgI3DybeJruxxpoUTAl2Dc5gOxdtToNFe-22Ro1RSwVYoXECen6HnVLip5vD7u9gg176c7RCRlxxIhJ_TBprBAoSKoFkh6-fxKfeuqR/s1600/IMG_20190329_171338.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLXuFKpBsdOC2i_kLcSTuERsW9s3KGdPR58sn_jJgI3DybeJruxxpoUTAl2Dc5gOxdtToNFe-22Ro1RSwVYoXECen6HnVLip5vD7u9gg176c7RCRlxxIhJ_TBprBAoSKoFkh6-fxKfeuqR/s640/IMG_20190329_171338.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here, no doubt extracted and reconstructed from a frame immortalized on some unrelated period TV programming on videotape, is a before and after sequence. Bamber is at the mercy of Turner (named after the teletext comics hero Turner the Worm)...<br />
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... but Turner has no mercy, leaving Bamber a broken worm in a crater hole. What is unclear from these screens is whether the project was an official Team 17 tie-in (if so, it was a bizarre gambit without precedent or successor, suggesting that it was a failure), or some kind of unlicensed (but there at the top of this post is the company logo!) clone or fan port. Questions are also raised regarding what the development environment for such a project might have looked like -- I figure that odds are good the game nodes could have been illustrated and programmed on BBC Micro computers, which shared teletext's Mode 7 graphics capability and were often used as input terminals. I would think that by '95 the Beeb computers would be getting a little long in the tooth for work of this sort, but I also know that professional video studios were still using Amiga Video Toasters to composite graphics effects at the turn of the century, recording their pre-made visual segments on Sony Betamax kit, so anything is possible -- one forgets that the future wasn't always hurtling at us at quite so feverish a pace as it does today.<br />
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This screenshot beggars the imagination: special attacks in a four-player melee through your TV set? (Really four players? I see four worms but only two health bars. Are there two computer AIs not counted?)</div>
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No offence to Team 17, who I'm sure would have been capable of this feat -- but may not have backed it up with the quixotic development dollars needed. Maybe these screens are actually from an undocumented fan port (you know, the kind you'd pick up on a home-dubbed, hand-labelled cassette at a boot sale, but wasn't that more of an '80s scene?) for the BBC, which I know featured early networked deathmatches in eg. the tank game Bolo. Anything is possible, and truth is stranger than fiction. If I find out more about this release, I will be sure to announce it here! The screens have appeared recently without much supporting context, so all the alpha nerds (adjusts pocket protector) are scrambling to interpret what they're seeing with their lying eyes and make sense of it all. In the meantime, the screens are a feast for the eyes and fuel the imagination!<br />
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Update: <a href="https://www.team17.com/worms-for-teletext-the-story-behind-a-long-lost-technical-marvel/worms/">the company speaks</a>!<br />
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Updated update: er, eh, uhm... April Fool's! These are all 2019 Horsenburger teletext screens drawn up on the invitation of a current Team17 employee as a prank on his colleagues. But fun to think about regardless!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-86316641597747298122019-01-31T09:59:00.003-08:002019-01-31T09:59:51.868-08:00The Christmas 2018 Video Game haulHere I am, back again, stubbornly refusing to let this blog die, yet not allowing it the conditions needed to live and thrive. On that cheerful note, if I only make one post a year, it should be the one that comes gift-wrapped with a bow on top. Literally. It's another specimen of that unpopular genre of "<a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2018/02/better-late-than-never-christmas.html">my</a> <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-christmas-haul-2016.html">Christmas</a> <a href="https://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2016/01/christmas-2015.html">haul</a>" reports (what, no Christmas 2014 report? Ohhh, I see -- transitioning over to this blog from <a href="http://videogamecomicads.blogspot.com/">the last</a> was a New Year's 2015 resolution. My starting it was the biggest gift in this field! 8) The big challenge for me is getting the holiday loot written up before the holiday itself is but a hazy, distant memory -- now a month and a week hence. February is a fine time to discuss Christmas matters, now who wants to join me in a rousing round of carols? (<i>both of my kids shoot their hands up.</i>)<br />
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It's helpful to have a games collector on your gift list because you are never in the "what to get for the man who has everything" scenario: if his Atari 2600 collection is 100%, get him Colecovision carts! And when all else fails, when you can't find any more games for cheap, load the stocking up with game swag! Here you see a nice mix of games, a console, accessories and ... swag. I'm a big fan of the Commodore 64 t-shirt!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWr_vPM4F70pCnUCeFL2K1vPMr8daQosUAHS8pV8ryEb-WZhabaHrA6yfZz9Pfyr8zx11mUGMm4H_9t63VF-AnfBK9V5P5XavZ9MX2UR5g6sRvv8jpUjKCM-8NOgoEhRTgJt6yBEJgQcH/s1600/IMG_3500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWr_vPM4F70pCnUCeFL2K1vPMr8daQosUAHS8pV8ryEb-WZhabaHrA6yfZz9Pfyr8zx11mUGMm4H_9t63VF-AnfBK9V5P5XavZ9MX2UR5g6sRvv8jpUjKCM-8NOgoEhRTgJt6yBEJgQcH/s640/IMG_3500.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Here it is, the main mass of loot. It is, as you can see, substantial. Plenty of games, plenty of not-games, everything of some interest to one such as I even if it's terrible. (Indeed, I think that in their way, terrible games are often quite a bit more interesting than excellent ones. But surely I've shared my theory of the "interesting failure" (vs. the "boring success") before?)</div>
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Many is the time I've been given some kind of video game-themed snack, candies and treats. (I recall last year we saw a Super Mario Maker treat kit, which saw you mixing the ingredients to DIY, a nice thematic dovetailing.) To the great disappointment of my kids (who are immediately like "Hurray, let's dig in!") I never, though, wind up eating these, understanding that they are not being sold on their nutritional value or delicious flavour, but rather the expensive mascot licensed to appear on the bag. The big "Kirby candy" question really is "What powers do I gain when I eat it?" (The small question is: what's that flavour closest to Kirby's head? It looks like... a glass of water. What's that taste like, in candy form? The refreshing flavour of club soda... in candy form!)</div>
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The days of the Tiger LCD handhelds are once again with us, it seems, no matter how we might have hoped to shake them off. I once played an iPod Touch game a decade or so ago that boasted a similar premise to this item, having implemented simple game engines for a dozen basic game types (scroll up, scroll right, maze, platform, artillery... you get the picture) and a hundred sprite primitives that looked a lot like the glyphs emblazoning this package. None of it was any fun, but there were so many ways to mix it up! Something something quality, something something quantity. And is that a knockoff Atari logo in the top right or just a puff of afterburner flame?</div>
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The concept of Tetris is sufficiently potent that it can in many regards be exported whole cloth into the real world (fittingly, since it is inspired by physical sets of pentomino blocks traditionally used to play games in Russia.) Here the premise is reversed somewhat, with the goal being to successfully remove blocks from a complete wall rather than the opposite. I suspect that this is a mix of two great things that are both somehow less great together, but you've got to give Hasbro the credit for the hustle.</div>
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Quite a bit less fun than simply playing the games, but nonetheless hours of endless entertainment for a limited understanding of "entertainment". I never actually watched this as a kid despite falling in the right age range -- perhaps the timing didn't quite work out, but even so I suspect I understood instinctively that you could not take the Mushroom Kingdom's basic ingredients and come up with palatable passive entertainment without stretching a little. (Now the Mario Bros. movie... that one, it stretched too far. It's a delicate balance!) </div>
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You know that sticky brown crud that gets in the cracks when your friends don't wash their hands before playing your video games after eating? Why not cut out the middleman and just make the joysticks out of chocolate?! Sure they're less responsive, but probably still good enough to win an occasional round of Mario Kart. I believe that my mother-in-law has acquired some game controller silicone baking molds. I'll probably be showing off a new batch of these every year, but nonetheless... yum!</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">After Christmas, often my family goes on a little holiday just out of town and we find that the suburbs there offer more goods of interest to us in their less-picked-over-by-hungry-urban-hipsters thrift stores. So in addition to my enormous haul of secondhand video games acquired as gifts, there's often a second wave of more games acquired at rock-bottom prices. (I'm not entirely as indiscriminate a collector as the pictures show -- While everybody loves Spyro, as the recent remaster demonstrates, Dora the Explorer isn't my bag... but I have two little girls. Still no sports games, though! Please, I have standards!)</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Also, I made an interesting literary discovery...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1BY-mjHyE1445QKzpminjGc9bI20dHiRVq0j9Nt2pG3OCrxvxJKbT7-bSH4Yz5_z9dVCWd1ziE8uSr4Cc5jqqp-OlWpaq1hL6b8V-Agjy8Rt7rn7gz0M3ET43Ehu-ORNV9jP5U1R2qDU/s1600/pajamasamfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1516" data-original-width="1600" height="606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR1BY-mjHyE1445QKzpminjGc9bI20dHiRVq0j9Nt2pG3OCrxvxJKbT7-bSH4Yz5_z9dVCWd1ziE8uSr4Cc5jqqp-OlWpaq1hL6b8V-Agjy8Rt7rn7gz0M3ET43Ehu-ORNV9jP5U1R2qDU/s640/pajamasamfront.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Apparently around the turn of the century, Lyrick Publishing oversaw series of books based on Humongous Entertainment characters, also including <span style="text-align: center;">Putt Putt and Freddi Fish. That's a new one for my books-based-on-video-games file!</span><br />
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Though you can't tell to look at this post (or, ahem, my wife's question about all the Steam Winter Sale charges on our latest credit card bill), I'd have to posit that 2018 was the year I lost momentum collecting games (a lot of this simply has to do with the rhythms of the secondhand market in response to the ebb and flow of new generations of hardware hitting stores), and instead started inadvertently accumulating consoles! With the exception of the final week the PlayStation 2 was in stores I never owned a bought-new video game machine -- instead, I acquire them when my friends are done with them. I live in 2019 but the bleeding edge of my entertainment life is grounded circa 2007. Until I get a machine, I don't collect games for that machine -- which is probably a mistake on some level, I've missed out on some smoking deals on games I can't play yet -- but Every time I take the plunge and buy into a new hardware ecosystem, within six months someone else has given me one or thrown one in as a bonus perk to an unrelated purchase. So in one year I'll go from eg. having no PlayStation 3s to owning four of them, somehow. (Then I start to get picky about wanting one that will play discs from all three PlayStation generations, so I can access the widest slice of my games collection with the minimum of machines set up.)<br />
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I acquire this hardware when the iron is hot but I don't always have the time to get it up and running -- content in the awareness that if free time emerges, I have all the physical goods required in order to go on that adventure. The holidays give me the time off from work (and the need to entertain two kids all day long for weeks on end) motivating actually taking this gear out of the box and getting it set up. So despite all these games and goodies, my main gaming memory of Christmas 2018 is having my first Xbox 360 Kinect experience (the hot new advance of 2010!) and evaluating the relative merits of the WiiU (2012) vs. the Wii (some solid improvements.) So despite my estimate of permanently being about 12 years out of step with the gaming world, this year I leapt forward to being only ... seven years behind. It's a curious thing to have your first experience with the hot new trend take place only after it has already been retired and discontinued, but then... I'm a curious guy. And these paragraph are a hefty digression.<br />
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Thanks for hanging in there, confused subscribers who had forgotten I'd ever haunted their RSS reader! See you again next year! (Just kidding, I need to make at least one more Star Wars computer art post in 2019 8)Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-3879198894222419342018-05-04T15:00:00.000-07:002018-05-04T15:00:01.583-07:00Textmode art roundup: Star Wars RTTYMay the 4th [be with you] means it's time for another (as we have done not <A href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2016/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars.html>once</a> but <a href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.com/2017/12/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars-episode.html>twice</a> before) celebration of all things Star Wars in the realm of textmode art! People were literally drawing Star Wars ANSI art this month, but it's part of a surprisingly long tradition dating all the way back to the release of the original movie in 1977 -- the same year that saw the release of the holy trinity of home computers, the Commodore PET, the Apple II, and the Radio Shack TRS-80. That's right: for as long as home computers have existed, there has been Star Wars fandom exercised on these machines, specifically celebrated through the medium of textmode art. Isn't that wild?!<p>As we have seen, their primitive screens' small text mode resolutions didn't leave much possibility for the output of detailed textmode art, but fortunately these creative nerds had other canvases for the expression of their genius: as with later ANSI art scrollers, they prepared tall, thin posters formatted to be output on printer paper, generated through instructions stored on paper punch tape and transmitted not through modems but over the radio waves through <a href=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioteletype>RTTY</a> (radioteletype) at around 45 baud. Now, as fascinating as all this is, it's a digression from the main attraction: the pretty pictures. So without further ado, a bold, brassy adaptation of the Star Wars theatrical poster:
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As mentioned in the attribution on the bottom, the original design apparently dates to a 1977 People's Computers magazine listing I wouldn't mind learning a little more about, and was adapted by Dale for TTY in 1979. I was born in 1979! This awesome ASCII art (sorry: TTY art) is older than I am! I had to manually groom this listing's output from its original form <A href=http://artscene.textfiles.com/rtty/>sitting out in the open on textfiles.com</a> waiting for someone with a very particular set of retro interests to stop by and shake the pile until something interesting fell out... the original file includes what look like overprint areas to achieve new layers of texture not achievable through single runs of ASCII characters. I don't have an easy way of synchronizing the layers, so I just trimmed them out... but know that these specimens have been modified by me for your viewing convenience. (This one had the extra layers tacked on to the side, but most of them looked twice as tall as they ought to -- almost certainly, what I was seeing was alternating lines of overprint instructions. They are now the correct height, but somewhat texture-desaturated.) That said, on we go: let's look at the rogue's gallery for the first movie.<p>
Baby steps! The first of these antagonists to trouble young Master Luke, here are two Jawas, or at least -- two sets of glowing eyes in flowing cowls.
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(There was a single Jawa that I just couldn't make look right -- if you'd like to take a crack at it, you can find him at <A href=http://artscene.textfiles.com/rtty/COLLECTION/ARTWORK-08/2439>http://artscene.textfiles.com/rtty/COLLECTION/ARTWORK-08/2439</a>)<p>
Next up, we've got a Stormtrooper:
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And how better to follow a Stormtrooper than an Imperial military man who can actually land a shot once in a while, Darth Vader:
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OK, so these are pretty underwhelming. Let's switch to the Rebels for a little while. May I introduce Princess Leia Organa:
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Now, Joseph Campbell's journeying hero on one adventure no one ever predicted -- being diced and spat out of a mechanical typewriter.
It's Luke Skywalker!
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But of course Luke would just be a hotshot pilot on the lam in Mos Eisley if not for the mentorship of his father's failed teacher, Obi-Wan "Old Ben" Kenobi, looking here like a bit of the wild-eyed crazy old man the locals must have fully believed him to be:
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Now drawing humans is tough, but everyone thinks they can draw a robot. Geometric shapes? Rectangles, triangles, circles... I got it!
Conspicuously everyone tried drawing R2-D2, without a C-3PO to be found. Here's the first...
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Now R2-D2... 2!
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And one last trip out the TTY device for this tired old R2 unit:
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As a bonus, there are a few characters from The Empire Strikes Back. (No ROTJ specimens have washed up in the archives -- perhaps RTTY had faded from fashion by the time episode VI hit the theatres.) Here's Frank Oz finding the middle ground between his Grover and Cookie Monster voices with everyone's favorite little green philosopher, Yoda! It looks a little bit like the Mona Lisa, come to think of it...
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Also rocking the green, (and <i>also</i> drawn by "Doug", using the very light "alternating lines" shading) everyone's favorite badass from the original trilogy -- bounty hunter Boba Fett:
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And finally, a wholly remarkable rendition (the other styles have successors in the annals of ASCII art, but aesthetically this one -- despite still being drawn by "Doug", who typed the last two -- is way out in left field) of Bespin's Baron Administrator Lando Calrissian:
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That said, if I don't soon share details of the video gaming / retrocomputing gifts I received for my birthday two weeks ago, I'll soon be out of relevant opportunities to do so entirely... and that would be too bad, because there are some lovely curios here! My thesis is that my wife must love me and know me well, because she made me very happy with a few birthday presents that, to an outsider, might resemble a random assortment of refuse and detritus.<br />
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We'll open with a handful of confusingly-priced random Gamecube / Wii titles, picked up at a random thrift store visit while taking the day off work for my actual birthday. My haphazard game acquisition has really slowed down if only because it turned out I was accumulating significant quantities of duplicate games while buying batches and lots. Initially I made a giant list of "All The Video Games That I Own", maintained on my laptop and Dropbox-synched to my phone, so I could always just check before putting money down whether this was money I had already spent... anyway, the high and low of things is that once your game collection exceeds 1000 pieces, most of the items you find live in the wild will be redundant to what you've already accumulated. So mostly the accumulation of little discs has peaked. Every time we advance a generation of technology and I wind up advancing to the previous generation (as I have a rule: don't collect games for systems which you do not own), a cohort of hitherto uncollected (and recently, sold-in-stores) games enter the secondhand space and I get to gobble up another couple hundred, then simmer dozily for the next 5 years or so. But I digress, let's take a look at these games! Anything good here?<br />
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OK, a licensed Nickelodeon Gamecube title, a tie-in to a cartoon I've never watched. Why? Ehh, you know -- how good does it have to be to be worth dropping $2 on? I bet I can get $2 worth of enjoyment out of it. If I went to a movie theatre and bought a large popcorn and soda, it might run me $30 and last about two hours. That same $30 would buy me 15 $2 games and I'm sure that's not enough time to even get through all of their opening cinematics and unskippable tutorials, let alone play the five minutes needed to determine conclusively that none of them are worth playing!<br />
A couple of Wii titles also -- one looks like an extension of the GBA's venerable "Advance Wars" series, a cartoony taste of military strategy... the other, a compilation of House of the Dead parts 2 and 3? I can tell you how long it would take me to drop $2 on one of those in the arcade, and -- done. (The only question -- do they require a light gun or is there another ingenious adaptation of the versatile Wiimote? Getting the games for a song is the easy part, but finding time to actually try them out, there's the kicker.)<br />
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All right, what else have we got here? Gaming Quiz cards. I can confirm: the questions on these cards pertain to video games. The difficulty level is a tricky thing, because they're all a bit too easy for me while being simultaneously way too hard for anyone else in my household. It's kind of like that time I, a young classicist, got 100% on my Grade 9 Greek Mythology quiz... that everyone else in the class failed. (The teacher applied a bump across the board so everyone passed, resulting in my earning something like 115% on that quiz, or as I like to put it, a grade of A++. Shortly thereafter the teacher took me out of the class and told me to run the school newspaper during that time every week instead. But I digress.) Maybe we can use them at my upcoming gaming party (I hold them twice a year, pull the systems out of storage, we play all day and all night... are you coming? Saturday April 28th!) to settle disputes over whose turn it is to choose which game on the big screen. (Finally, we can stop <a href="https://jasinski.deviantart.com/art/The-Duel-181193840">duelling to resolve these disputes</a>!)<br />
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OK! Moving on! Aha: here we have a truly blogworthy specimen: an edible Super Mario Maker <i>maker</i> kit! I was first exposed to this phenomenon in the context of a "most preparation needed ramen" viral video; this follows the script relatively closely -- the package includes various little packets of colouring, emulsifier, etc, and tiny moulds, mixing bowls, stir sticks etc. A very patient person can follow an elaborate set of instructions to manufacture for themselves a few pieces of Mario landscape, and then, when they tire of this diversion, <i>eat them</i>. (Would that all passing fancies were so easily removed from the stage!) Hm, made by the toy company Bandai, which owns the video game company Namco... basically, Pac-Man (already the authority on eating things) is selling you Mario for lunch. The plot thickens...<br />
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This is one of those things that would be nothing to the average, normal, <i>healthy</i> person, but to this desperate technological nostalgist is A Big Deal. A thrift store my wife was passing through had some 5.25 inch floppy diskettes on the shelves! Some of them contained video games! (Granted, even application software from the floppy disk era is a joyful curiosity, but documenting it sure is less sexy!) She picked up one for me, and upon seeing how excited I got, went back for the rest of them. I can't even think of how long ago it's been since I had a machine working with a 5.25 disk drive stinking up a drive bay -- I'm thinking perhaps circa 1993 or 1994, contemporary to when I would have been taking my first baby steps online with a borrowed 1200 baud modem. (But if these floppies had been available, I could have saved myself a lot of time downloading at 1200 baud!) One thing for certain: I most definitely have no way of reading their contents today! All of the games in this batch (not pictured: Jill of the Jungle episode 1) had been documented as existing on Mobygames, but for most of them my media scans were the first indication that any of them had ever been distributed on physical media and didn't exist solely as BBS-distributed shareware. Also amusing: the multiple rounds of price tags on the goods, deteriorating slowly but surely through the decades, some shopkeeper unwilling to admit (until apparently liquidating the entire section at a thrift shop) that their unsold merchandise had entered the trough of no value. (The experience is reminiscent of my visit to a Castlegar Radio Shack a few years into the new millennium; amazed to find late-'90s adventure games on the shelves I thought I'd permanently missed the opportunity to play, I hoovered up Zork: Grand Inquisitor, Gabriel Knight 3 and Starship Titanic, and the disbelieving staff kindly knocked a hefty portion off the final price tag after I did them the favour of relieving their burden of unsellable stock. But I digress.)
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Did someone hear me say "Radio Shack"? That's today's magic word! It brings us to the coup de grace: the Tandy dedicated chess-playing computer, prepared to deliver me 1987-calibre chess AI if I have a burning need to play a round and no friends. I hope to have this one set up at my vintage gaming party and if we're lucky, we just might make it through a round over the course of the day's events! Truth be known this one probably isn't going to remain in my collection for very long, but learning of its mere existence, let alone in such a concrete fashion, sparks delight. (Really with Tandy, as with Coleco, any technological fruit bore from the tree that sprouted from seeds of leather craft kits is already so delightfully improbable... a chess computer? Why not!? It was the '80s, and any business pivot seemed possible. Just fake it 'til you make it... or break it.)<br />
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... which brings us to the present! Sadly, I won't have another slate of presents to report on until Christmas... unless any of my (purely hypothetical, at this point) readers feel like sending me a surprise in the mail or delivering a hopelessly antiquated technological artifact to my doorstep at my upcoming party. But don't feel it's necessary -- I already have enough hopelessly antiquated technological artifacts for all of us to enjoy!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-8877537761971285342018-02-01T16:09:00.002-08:002018-02-01T16:09:50.675-08:00Better late than never: Christmas roundup 2017Here we are, the closing minutes of January 2018 and look at me, sitting around with an open tab containing a WIP post describing my Christmas video games haul. It's already kind of pathetically late, but on the other side of this imaginary dividing line of time it will be even more so. Should I even post it or give up on it? Well, I did go to the effort of staging the goods and taking the photos, so I wouldn't want to have wasted my time that way... unless I get to waste your time along for the ride! So please, join me for a whirlwind tour through some curios I received a month and a bit ago! [Edit: making it even more pathetic, the post as completed in the final few minutes of the month failed to successfully post, so here it is bashfully sneaking out in early February.]
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There it is, the big haul. Typically there will be a prime batch that makes up the lion's share, orbited by odds and ends, and this motley bunch of gaming paraphernalia lives up to that tradition. Let's take a closer look at some of these curios:</div>
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A bootleg NES controller from 2009? Why not! I don't know precisely what the market for such a product looked like then, but I'm glad to find that someone was carrying the torch.</div>
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One of these products is genuine and one is a bootleg. You be the judge! Presumably for legal reasons, the shell used on the knockoff doesn't read "GAME BOY" on the plastic, just "BOY", just as the sticker proclaims the game "only for COLOR" rather than "only for GAME BOY COLOR". I have to level with you, I didn't even know that Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was a thang -- given that art and that logo in this context, I expected a Hong Kong Special bearing some only very loose relationship to the license depicted on the sticker.</div>
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Plus Pokemon, not bad!</div>
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Of the whole initial Genesis generation of Sonic games, I've got to confess that this is one of my favorites for the way it fearlessly eschews convention, mashing-up genres and delivering you a very different kind of game from what you might have expected from the license (making it among my kids' <i>least</i> favorite Sonic games. I guess you need to have grown overfamiliar with the genre tropes before you can delight in their detournement!)</div>
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A hefty lot: a shady Atari 2600 of unknown provenance, with no cables... does it even work? Isn't that kind of even beside the point, who wants to play Atari 2600 games? (I understand that there are some of these people out there. That generation of games I see like Johnson's famous dog walking on its hind legs, remarkable because of what it's doing at all, not necessarily because it's being done well.) A couple of solid, classic titles (see me contradict my previous statement almost immediately!) accompany the station wagon - I appreciate the tradition of treating a gifted console like a wallet, which is considered unlucky when given "empty" (without games). Always give a console with at least one game! One <i>non-terrible</i> game. </div>
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I didn't even know that the Wii came in black! I've only ever seen them in cute and cuddly white before, like Eve from Wall-E. Whoever owned this black unit must have been a badass. I gather that we're enough generations along now that old Wiis are becoming a dime a dozen, but I was surprised to see that the seller included the Gamecube controllers -- I figure that whatever my mother-in-law paid for the machine was probably worth it for the GC controllers alone, like they threw in the console and other parts for free.</div>
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???! What is this I don't even. In what world do I want to incorporate storage of Nintendo DS cards into my Lego constructions? Get out of my stocking and stay out. Granny, there's a good reason someone had bequeathed these to the thrift store unopened.</div>
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That's a nice array of really random Wii games! Something for everyone. Again, when I saw these, I figured that whatever "Granny" paid for all of them was probably worth it for the relatively hip games in the middle row (Smash Bros, Kart, DK) alone, with the rest thrown in with a kind of "promise not to bring them back" caveat. Underwhelming as many of these discs are, I can report that my 5 and 2 year old daughters were OVER THE MOON about the Dora the Explorer game. Look at that cover. <i>Look at it!</i></div>
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At my twice-annual vintage gaming party, bryface wanted to play a modern Russian Roulette NES cart which required an NES zapper. I was sure I had one, but couldn't find it. Then I got one for Christmas. Now, I have found the other one. But I do not have the cart! Well, I suppose that next time we do the party we can host two rounds of Russian Roulette simultaneously. <i>There's</i> a dystopian situation if taken out of context!</div>
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I don't know if I've ever before seen socks with a copyright message. Do they have the Nintendo Seal of Quality?</div>
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More of the same -- not just Mario socks, but Luigi and Boo ones also. PS, these are for my kids' feet, sadly I doubt they make Nintendo socks in a men's size 15. I had a pair of Mario boxer shorts but they disintegrated in the wash. Where can you get quality video game underwear for larger men?</div>
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Pardon the blurry photo, but here my eldest is wearing a shirt emblazoned with the alphabet, spelled out in tiles from Super Mario Bros. It's awesome. I received a couple of good shirts also...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oWYdmD6LXQan82Ikdpa6udgrgmbeCKu3zI24hSOenub6bvYXQnpbtVs__xsaz6RKBXTUQTpbMTb07rUZK_P4uiQSVmpqpav74rAqKLJxGPtl8RO-dithHh3h1s4F_zFhwTqPEmr9xmDJ/s1600/IMG_20180114_134833457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oWYdmD6LXQan82Ikdpa6udgrgmbeCKu3zI24hSOenub6bvYXQnpbtVs__xsaz6RKBXTUQTpbMTb07rUZK_P4uiQSVmpqpav74rAqKLJxGPtl8RO-dithHh3h1s4F_zFhwTqPEmr9xmDJ/s640/IMG_20180114_134833457.jpg" width="359" /></a></div>
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Spot the plumber! This design is actually a bit of a headache to piece apart, so busy with uncoloured pixelated outlines of Super Mario sprites, but nearly everything important is crammed in there somewhere. The flash of spot colour isn't just ink, it's embroidered on!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCodxRPNd3q3fDSiKdAaJTqFGKKy-omVQRk5yIWkJlt00Kn6OxyNBKNyNscj1F5PJFp4TSoqy5qlgoYB_jl0NSkQ13guRLNwmtWd5mhyDUhifdDAEvL2juJZavraO1nEBYQvHSna-ncjRN/s1600/IMG_20180101_201733291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCodxRPNd3q3fDSiKdAaJTqFGKKy-omVQRk5yIWkJlt00Kn6OxyNBKNyNscj1F5PJFp4TSoqy5qlgoYB_jl0NSkQ13guRLNwmtWd5mhyDUhifdDAEvL2juJZavraO1nEBYQvHSna-ncjRN/s640/IMG_20180101_201733291.jpg" width="359" /></a></div>
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Different T-shirt, same license, different gimmick. The pipe is the breast pocket on the T-shirt; flat against your chest just the two heads peep out, but if you open the pocket you see their little bodies within.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjo20Fq1qXvTI26r5ozfYHyiPAEm-dD4zzoQawVH4NjtYdOTfwp54N2AFcuNEnpAoTzpxp1s49uFSA91A4i9we4QsIRW-7BN7V1HNaBhem_OzaedL1ohrjV_IGc2SB5aL6Fv4rN7Zhsp0O/s1600/IMG_20171226_183538690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjo20Fq1qXvTI26r5ozfYHyiPAEm-dD4zzoQawVH4NjtYdOTfwp54N2AFcuNEnpAoTzpxp1s49uFSA91A4i9we4QsIRW-7BN7V1HNaBhem_OzaedL1ohrjV_IGc2SB5aL6Fv4rN7Zhsp0O/s640/IMG_20171226_183538690.jpg" width="359" /></a></div>
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A comic book history of video games? I gave comics myself to my wife last Christmas -- as the parents of small children, we need literature that is good for short bouts of reading, because those are often all we get. (Hers were more on the Kate Beaton side of things, but this proves to be a compelling read in an accessible medium!)</div>
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And there you have it -- the most penetrating insights about the specific items populating this pile of gifts I was able to come up with in the final sliver of my next-month window to report back on it. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! See you all in February, hopefully with some more posts on textmode art. Cheers!</div>
Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-29936005248268720552018-01-21T00:19:00.000-08:002018-01-21T00:19:19.653-08:00The video game box art typography gameI forget precisely where I picked up this habit, but ever couple of years I like to stump my fellow video game scholars over at Mobygames in a curious but creative way, collaging up a logo using letters sourced, ransom-note-style, from the distinctive box art of celebrated video and computer games. Eventually I began CCing these challenges to <a href=http://videogamecomicads.blogspot.ca/2013/09/the-mobygames-problem.html
>the old blog</a>, and even <a href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2016/05/the-source-letters-game.html
>to this new blog</a>. But the fact remains I haven't done one for quite a while. Well, I guess I've got momentum; I put one together... and went on to scrape together another one! The first took the experts about a week to solve: you can warm up on it before we switch to "expert mode" and I defy you to fill in the blanks yourself:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifP8ilweQhl8MMSP7CFc2TbPsLyI8PUx9blQnJHM9TodxdqGWbM1tD43VeTo_mvaTjuCCTkarAPTjfKQ8kLtImnHTJfmij4mmSeLF51D28dG8P6RAaCLaVD1cbRW4mX0rW0zjFJaN4iBb3/s1600/26155702_1903384836657576_1276395784232763392_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="814" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifP8ilweQhl8MMSP7CFc2TbPsLyI8PUx9blQnJHM9TodxdqGWbM1tD43VeTo_mvaTjuCCTkarAPTjfKQ8kLtImnHTJfmij4mmSeLF51D28dG8P6RAaCLaVD1cbRW4mX0rW0zjFJaN4iBb3/s1600/26155702_1903384836657576_1276395784232763392_n.jpg" /></a></div>
Now are you ready to have revealed the sources of these letters? Spoiler warning: here they come! The leading M comes from none other than MegaMan 4. (Where possible, I like to source a letter from the beginning of a word. Sometimes that's not always the interesting letter in that word, but it's a bone I toss to the puzzle-solvers: looking for an M, what's an M-game? A game starting with an M (especially alliteratively, as here) will naturally be where their mind wanders first.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fUd-0yXClvwRRzJ5Alb0ZK9zk8iCekJw2ksbSEgRGGSl5nXnUoFms1GE3ncNks6OBHcH0bUdOlKYqA_ymiUVX6_tc2kgK5T96IbmIUH7cB4S11B5U4Tb9hFH6rHej-qLIxhNQIw1xUUl/s1600/m-megaman4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="740" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fUd-0yXClvwRRzJ5Alb0ZK9zk8iCekJw2ksbSEgRGGSl5nXnUoFms1GE3ncNks6OBHcH0bUdOlKYqA_ymiUVX6_tc2kgK5T96IbmIUH7cB4S11B5U4Tb9hFH6rHej-qLIxhNQIw1xUUl/s400/m-megaman4.jpg" width="283" /></a></div>
As just mentioned above, here's an exception to prove the rule: "No More Heroes" contains three "O"s, all more interesting than the other letters in the words. I guess it's more like a guideline.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YiqiYtJBSYpMQZwdG-Po18_UmqqrQp1PuPdFMuj2weKo4xaCFIRa3hT5kVZi6LNzhT2LvSLhnCoG0KiAEDcpdlVola1AzOGGUg-9OUlYLOaR0massOiDxF8rtng0HUabVWfTYXg5gGTe/s1600/o-106777-no-more-heroes-wii-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1YiqiYtJBSYpMQZwdG-Po18_UmqqrQp1PuPdFMuj2weKo4xaCFIRa3hT5kVZi6LNzhT2LvSLhnCoG0KiAEDcpdlVola1AzOGGUg-9OUlYLOaR0massOiDxF8rtng0HUabVWfTYXg5gGTe/s400/o-106777-no-more-heroes-wii-front-cover.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
This "B" caused a lot of problems for a lot of people. I didn't think of Marble Madness as a forgotten game, and I figured that the NES version would be one of the most-seen... but its logo was burdened by being part of a wave of logos that reeeeally wanted to remind people of Indiana Jones for some reason (think that's bad, A Boy And His Blob does it with the logo AND the theme song!) and folks were just finding every game using this font except for the one I actually used.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieZuKDTfXy5MIdMNMKxzH1B5v_EJP41tmg2A63BOfD3hQEvU6ztwv8Hp3tnGvlNj_IOgtLNKYX2pB4ZWGkd3JjXWW3n81B8diHd5JlZ1gROO3UBq7X-IUSleS8NW_UZt17cJky4JJ9l-h/s1600/b-78197-marble-madness-nes-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="670" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiieZuKDTfXy5MIdMNMKxzH1B5v_EJP41tmg2A63BOfD3hQEvU6ztwv8Hp3tnGvlNj_IOgtLNKYX2pB4ZWGkd3JjXWW3n81B8diHd5JlZ1gROO3UBq7X-IUSleS8NW_UZt17cJky4JJ9l-h/s400/b-78197-marble-madness-nes-front-cover.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
So down the line I actually updated the collaged logo with this more distinctive B sourced from a different platform's release of the same game. Early EA game boxes: so classy!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXk9bE55DcUO6Sm3xvGbDwLqf0e18yb2NuvMGT2zhBp-CSoNp5KCORTc238sB7jrVXHNNmgF4IwFP0og5L2P15ZrEsJ8OJ9ohmFLXCVVZqzER8RWOAyhkjMmi1hsKdvrpdRixMI8DG7nkG/s1600/b+-+marble+madness+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="800" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXk9bE55DcUO6Sm3xvGbDwLqf0e18yb2NuvMGT2zhBp-CSoNp5KCORTc238sB7jrVXHNNmgF4IwFP0og5L2P15ZrEsJ8OJ9ohmFLXCVVZqzER8RWOAyhkjMmi1hsKdvrpdRixMI8DG7nkG/s400/b+-+marble+madness+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Not every letter needs to be a mystery to unravel; sometimes I toss people a bone and just give them an easy win. Hence this "Y", from Destiny 2:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgbkqi0yCHk3fc9GpHtHzzvrolCqJ-8WpYdoaZR1Dwfai-R1BYvZVdQKXGt1jN1v2pl_qBj2wfYiYIcqgApIBmsHHBR6y21x8L42fV1O41S2uZbhjTSrDMRRtWmGr4ZlCcmCFqySNZN1C/s1600/y-425032-destiny-2-playstation-4-front-cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgbkqi0yCHk3fc9GpHtHzzvrolCqJ-8WpYdoaZR1Dwfai-R1BYvZVdQKXGt1jN1v2pl_qBj2wfYiYIcqgApIBmsHHBR6y21x8L42fV1O41S2uZbhjTSrDMRRtWmGr4ZlCcmCFqySNZN1C/s400/y-425032-destiny-2-playstation-4-front-cover.png" width="400" /></a></div>
New line! This G served to be quite a bit trickier than I'd anticipated -- I gather that SSI may have figured more prominently in my particular circles than in the wider world. But it's nonetheless quite distinctive, from "Dark Legions":
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oKn3Lzr4t8uKsztJpncjEAvBY5gpL9RVE1fdAUuDm52hYuIH_B5NgzZhI0lOtYYP4IhULHkWmY6Iak_9Q9PRkO8WkWr5jSpd5g9rxlIv86K05U5GcWVtEO9yF8sR2IvSXFScelXv0H0D/s1600/g-212325-dark-legions-dos-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oKn3Lzr4t8uKsztJpncjEAvBY5gpL9RVE1fdAUuDm52hYuIH_B5NgzZhI0lOtYYP4IhULHkWmY6Iak_9Q9PRkO8WkWr5jSpd5g9rxlIv86K05U5GcWVtEO9yF8sR2IvSXFScelXv0H0D/s400/g-212325-dark-legions-dos-front-cover.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>
Electronic cover art doesn't give you as much to work with, but (as with Destiny above) I like to work with modern classics as well as the genuinely vintage ones, so the "A" came from "Don't Starve":
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhUOKCd6Lw90FAL5eMqURP0KL0-y5u5hcRXnh-Lv72lgXKm6XqHZwr9K4BfwJN2qnFfwuNX4nuuFed98GuE7bdp11AllYghB4dqVMYgOcMIq__D4znt4NyseYzz_9Ho49azf095mWpfeO/s1600/a-264925-don-t-starve-linux-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="460" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhUOKCd6Lw90FAL5eMqURP0KL0-y5u5hcRXnh-Lv72lgXKm6XqHZwr9K4BfwJN2qnFfwuNX4nuuFed98GuE7bdp11AllYghB4dqVMYgOcMIq__D4znt4NyseYzz_9Ho49azf095mWpfeO/s400/a-264925-don-t-starve-linux-front-cover.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The second "M" was a bit of a postmodern mis-en-abyme self-indulence: for my ransom-note-style collage I have sampled game box art with a ransom-note typographical conceit, for a game with "ransom" in its name. River City Ransom of course:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVVd4wvori4U1P_hn307bIfy4iDIBJM_3odvXmV23CCCOwku-C3OXZqjGaB_ZUBK_iTmc_BXOd0Sa_2jy1KUr14RCe1-XEzDA9cCDVQD8srunldh3ybfDHT-edIsdzXHYH-pDPDG3LJfE/s1600/m-246966-river-city-ransom-nes-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGVVd4wvori4U1P_hn307bIfy4iDIBJM_3odvXmV23CCCOwku-C3OXZqjGaB_ZUBK_iTmc_BXOd0Sa_2jy1KUr14RCe1-XEzDA9cCDVQD8srunldh3ybfDHT-edIsdzXHYH-pDPDG3LJfE/s400/m-246966-river-city-ransom-nes-front-cover.jpg" width="291" /></a></div>
I thought that this one would be easier, but its American marketing and packaging always was quite at odds from the game content, so there may remain some lingering cognitive dissonance. The messy "E" originates from "Zombie Nation":
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNodwgHiOqpW0TIEwWirDtrrpeyxF-tgBW9h3c9XtCcxIKr9ifKH-LSC8tlvV6F6VO-ceMdwMGz_xQkB1LI-jZwbKZe_vTvZp9w5Nv1KBUyKLQpqkz0iQKQ1KKIn5pH7dJLDJdKRbHSgh/s1600/e-246879-zombie-nation-nes-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1092" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNodwgHiOqpW0TIEwWirDtrrpeyxF-tgBW9h3c9XtCcxIKr9ifKH-LSC8tlvV6F6VO-ceMdwMGz_xQkB1LI-jZwbKZe_vTvZp9w5Nv1KBUyKLQpqkz0iQKQ1KKIn5pH7dJLDJdKRbHSgh/s400/e-246879-zombie-nation-nes-front-cover.jpg" width="293" /></a></div>
And to help keep things interesting, I flipped this letter so as to better fit -- a second SSI game quoted, this "S" comes from A Line In The Sand:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSR4LBwRJYNSRk5StPSqDh0U9WeU_u1nVuZtNUFkEkhbEgWb5d1ItUQvO09ciyknnno2DytlFOjVvPYVuTycm1gdEl5695N3ETPyOgAnJdSvLLBOo0VlNp_kfBbUQzrOkhMbkD4RJLTp4/s1600/s-21090-a-line-in-the-sand-dos-front-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1204" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSR4LBwRJYNSRk5StPSqDh0U9WeU_u1nVuZtNUFkEkhbEgWb5d1ItUQvO09ciyknnno2DytlFOjVvPYVuTycm1gdEl5695N3ETPyOgAnJdSvLLBOo0VlNp_kfBbUQzrOkhMbkD4RJLTp4/s400/s-21090-a-line-in-the-sand-dos-front-cover.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
(and I like to include tastes of extraordinary video game experiences in the background: in this case, it's the boss screen from F.Godmom, shareware puzzle game famously beloved of Tom "Ion Storm" Hall!)<p>
OK, now "MobyGames" is easy, it only contains nine letters. You can try your hand at "Pixel Pompeii", with 25% further challenge!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6M-0w4GsCBcsGTxlkpobMFlL-ft4zAnm32rp0GZvStcFQak5ZrVwfefRYOwOamRjlsUSMf6TkyjOY16gGExcwSyE2y3BWfsrkofLvjZPmdoroeNqWtGBgDC9swl-2D-skg6d1PdCx4PR/s1600/pixelpompeiiparts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="544" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6M-0w4GsCBcsGTxlkpobMFlL-ft4zAnm32rp0GZvStcFQak5ZrVwfefRYOwOamRjlsUSMf6TkyjOY16gGExcwSyE2y3BWfsrkofLvjZPmdoroeNqWtGBgDC9swl-2D-skg6d1PdCx4PR/s1600/pixelpompeiiparts.png" /></a></div>
Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-19764751415132970992018-01-16T22:29:00.001-08:002019-04-13T00:12:55.138-07:00Underground Computer Art Roundup: QueenOK, first things first: let's queue up the tunes. Here's a .SID arrangement of the song "A Kind Of Magic", made in 2 days by Martin Galway for the Ocean Software Commodore 64 video game adaptation of the 1986 movie Highlander (and by all reports, the best part of it.)<br />
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Got the song rolling? Good. Here we go: there's no good explanation for it. My specific demographic cohort got involved with the artscene roughly contemporary to the culmination of the enterprise that was the band Queen. There it was, we were in early high school, 1992, Wayne's World was in the theatres (making Bohemian Rhapsody the only song to ever be the UK Christmas #1 song in two different years, '75 and '91), and everyone who was anyone performed at the '92 Freddie Mercury memorial concert at Wembley Stadium (did you see the look on Axl Rose's face after Elton John hugged him?)<br />
It was all a bit of a curiosity to me, but to my classmate and colleague Nitnatsnoc (nickname sourced from an <i>Immersion Francais Sciences Humaines</i> unscramble-the-word exercise about the late Roman Empire) the Queen seed that the context planted took root and grew like a flourishing weed. He had caught the bug, and between dreams and schemes to set up our own BBS, he kept trying to share what he felt were the most fascinating nuggets of dank Queen lore. "Did you know that after Freddie Mercury died, he was castrated?" "... ?!" "Sorry, did I say castrated? I meant cremated!" Even once we got our BBS together, the first Mistigris WHQ (world headquarters) The Screaming Tomato, he would hold forth on all matters Queen (such as they were -- as he noted many a time, there are only so many breaking developments in your favorite band once their lead singer dies) in the message bases and at meets and even allude to it in the headers of his ANSI art illustrations (<a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/mist1094/nit-cib.ans">here's an example</a> from MIST1094, where he mentions Queen in all his scrollers save one. The following month, <a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/mist1194/nit-me.ans">he reports</a>: "Remember? I was that guy who never stopped talking about Queen in his ANSI headers." You might think he'd have gotten over it by 0195, but <a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/mist0195/nit-tvl.ans">think again</a>. March? <a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/mist0395/nit-bsun.ans">Nope!</a> He doesn't mention them in the Mistigris April 1995 collection, an artpack which he was in charge of assembling, but look a little closer: the "<a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/mist0495/%5Eansi%5E">file separators</a>" are all Queen song lyrics!)<br />
So even though the band formed in 1970 and made its most audacious leaps forward before we were ever born, due to my close association with this freshly minted Queen mega-fan, memories of the early '90s still resonate in a very Queen-ly way. Turns out, some other computer artists and textmode specialists feel the same way! Here's as complete a gallery as I've been able to lazily come up with. I'll try to go in a meandering chronological-by-subject sequence.<br />
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Kicking things off like one of Freddie's legendary vocal warm-ups, here's a 2017 Horsenburger teletext screen of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_of_the_World_(album)#/media/File:Queen_News_Of_The_World.png">the album artwork to 1977's News of the World</a>:<br />
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For a bonus, some 20 years closer to the source, the same image appeared in a still from <a href="http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=39407">the 1987 C64 demo "Queen Alive" by the Norfolk Cracking Service</a> (and, who knows, there might be further such goodies to be found within should anyone care to actually run the demo in question):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWIvvtGe5zl8AQPJ26YDZh2HMVYHSELuAVlHuUgB4GnVX5g1hY7vhrWWiXdLQ9VaJspuNgfXG1OJOTv_sW-lgI0DsXxMidXy3Q8diz07YJ5jStC05Ejj65fL-J_6NyXNwujkIPAzbFKN8R/s1600/queen-alive.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWIvvtGe5zl8AQPJ26YDZh2HMVYHSELuAVlHuUgB4GnVX5g1hY7vhrWWiXdLQ9VaJspuNgfXG1OJOTv_sW-lgI0DsXxMidXy3Q8diz07YJ5jStC05Ejj65fL-J_6NyXNwujkIPAzbFKN8R/s1600/queen-alive.png" /></a></div>
Here we have a contest-winning <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Race#/media/File:Queen_Bicycle_Race1.png">Fat Bottomed Girls / Bicycle Race</a> (1978) piece by teletext genius Horsenburger from the early 2017 Block Party convention:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE9tCKFR_-smRYSGFRYa0hNUI1ZkXHm-SE1vMILhSphzSiLgrHJwOSQEDAKk4O0qOGIMoMhQMinrqblWNRnS8_l81eTHQ5iQqmhVvtJDFZauRGKA1tdCFl6d6jrre7lSuEXE_ncBh1C_6/s1600/835ebe1f4fda52c8e1ac8636aefd84c6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXE9tCKFR_-smRYSGFRYa0hNUI1ZkXHm-SE1vMILhSphzSiLgrHJwOSQEDAKk4O0qOGIMoMhQMinrqblWNRnS8_l81eTHQ5iQqmhVvtJDFZauRGKA1tdCFl6d6jrre7lSuEXE_ncBh1C_6/s1600/835ebe1f4fda52c8e1ac8636aefd84c6.jpg" /></a></div>
This is a monochrome piece by Russian ANSI artist dman_pcb depicting Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in his "<a href="https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/11386/lot/332/">yellow leather jacket</a>" period circa 1986-89. No colours, but it still gets the idea across:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXreumtHiGydKNKJvgeB9oAr8MYkL5PrGM1qF1aolbdFRy67fKAvAyHPRp85JwB4SFwm5PxqyGibyTvkj4MBPZeCoJVE9ovD_F5tD7Rk3-oC825G1N8i3jrjkbdyBGknNvigKqGEJ_Ffmf/s1600/748e.48599.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXreumtHiGydKNKJvgeB9oAr8MYkL5PrGM1qF1aolbdFRy67fKAvAyHPRp85JwB4SFwm5PxqyGibyTvkj4MBPZeCoJVE9ovD_F5tD7Rk3-oC825G1N8i3jrjkbdyBGknNvigKqGEJ_Ffmf/s1600/748e.48599.png" /></a></div>
That yellow leather jacket is alluded to here again, followed by a distinctly Nitnatsnoc-ian (it was inevitable, really) toony ANSI art interpretation of the Queen crest:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Fh2XrrQ1YFu6rTu7Ojst89F_eOS5YzRS5tNikMlYAXZC5sF7sZgkuPJL78rEl74rAiCXmOoLJP2Wv1rDSQXLqaBcYBVvCeh0yma_NNEzY3aGi1Zas90-rOLN7JeAgdvAdGSjIlsIH2LA/s1600/nit-q.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Fh2XrrQ1YFu6rTu7Ojst89F_eOS5YzRS5tNikMlYAXZC5sF7sZgkuPJL78rEl74rAiCXmOoLJP2Wv1rDSQXLqaBcYBVvCeh0yma_NNEzY3aGi1Zas90-rOLN7JeAgdvAdGSjIlsIH2LA/s1600/nit-q.ans.png" /></a></div>
CCCfire of Mistigris also drew the crest in ANSI art, beneath Mick Rock's distinctive group shot used in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_II#/media/File:Queen_II.jpg">the album cover of Queen II</a> (1974) as well as closing (and opening, Nitty points out!) the Bohemian Rhapsody music video:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUopY0iRaCpBJG3tOR-Mjjo9-BZoklmXvoMti8e_vA9bfjuu0abjeXhQgmtYkh88V6OR1Do9NAWy1GlebmknG5q1hN1ipMKl_OH7kkjhqJu2jed_uXtmXF6-P6piRyxUrHYoyL4lRJwovZ/s1600/tumblr_ohf2tpbbbi1u1gsjqo1_540.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUopY0iRaCpBJG3tOR-Mjjo9-BZoklmXvoMti8e_vA9bfjuu0abjeXhQgmtYkh88V6OR1Do9NAWy1GlebmknG5q1hN1ipMKl_OH7kkjhqJu2jed_uXtmXF6-P6piRyxUrHYoyL4lRJwovZ/s1600/tumblr_ohf2tpbbbi1u1gsjqo1_540.png" /></a></div>
Horsenburger took a crack at reproducing that group shot in teletext also:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cRx0OJaCGZyEGNAv-NiwoVH87GRap_GMC2y9sjWirM2sSvJjVgNPDLCAUIjfynpHjKGp9nuUjO_qrF71ejk0XkwyYSCmSJNt3bbRkbG9JVOY5IjDlo0SbQbYc2mJCxdtnuq_mAIvwrUm/s1600/HORSENBURGER-ALBUM-QUEEN_II.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1cRx0OJaCGZyEGNAv-NiwoVH87GRap_GMC2y9sjWirM2sSvJjVgNPDLCAUIjfynpHjKGp9nuUjO_qrF71ejk0XkwyYSCmSJNt3bbRkbG9JVOY5IjDlo0SbQbYc2mJCxdtnuq_mAIvwrUm/s320/HORSENBURGER-ALBUM-QUEEN_II.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The artist is sadly unknown, alas (MZ-700 is the machine), but the same scene again was attempted (quite successfully, in my estimation, given the limits of the format) in the SHARPSCII character art medium:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMkbg1PAuWneSudNQxnmDKMDSX1JhoH5UUIQFwK2l6Xf2urwUGP2QpOPlY-KZyLBhp517CLwqwjzO29Qv8763aGOQ4ySKJ19TApquWxNpwe-psBf37hoHjm7_ssfdHpxhNo8i8PTIfGG6/s1600/tumblr_ohf2tpbbbi1u1gsjqo2_540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMkbg1PAuWneSudNQxnmDKMDSX1JhoH5UUIQFwK2l6Xf2urwUGP2QpOPlY-KZyLBhp517CLwqwjzO29Qv8763aGOQ4ySKJ19TApquWxNpwe-psBf37hoHjm7_ssfdHpxhNo8i8PTIfGG6/s1600/tumblr_ohf2tpbbbi1u1gsjqo2_540.jpg" /></a></div>
and, OK, this is no textmode art at all -- pixelart but still very a propos, one final no-one-can-get-more-minimalist-than-this take on the same scene:<br />
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<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdVa1P4FIWL/" data-instgrm-version="8" style="background: #fff; border-radius: 3px; border: 0; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.5) , 0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0 , 0 , 0 , 0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: 99.375%;">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BdVa1P4FIWL/" style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody. #dot #dottagram #pixel #pixelart #queen #bohemianrhapsody #픽셀 #픽셀아트 #그림 #그림스타그램 #도트 #퀸 #보헤미안랩소디</a></div>
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A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sj_kim92/" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank"> Seokjin, Kim / Pixel Art</a> (@sj_kim92) on <time datetime="2017-12-30T17:25:11+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Dec 30, 2017 at 9:25am PST</time></div>
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While we're on the Bohemian Rhapsody wavelength, we interrupt this gallery of visual art for some further (non-underground) chipmusic adaptations of Queen songs. Here they are, the notorious abysmal fragmentary arrangements of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHNuJB86-bY">the SNES</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCpcuoZpgfk">Sega Genesis</a> versions of the 1993 Wayne's World movie video game tie-in -- fanboys claim that the Genesis version is worse, but it's an academic distinction. (The Genesis version, conversely, implements the headbanging quite a bit better!) The separate Game Boy WW version somehow manages to have a superior arrangement of Bohemian Rhapsody, picking up where the others leave off. (Ironically, a member of my band once contacted me late at night, letting me know that she was stuck at a party sitting next to a man whose chiefest claim to fame was apparently having composed the music for the Game Boy version of Wayne's World, and did I have any questions for him? It was put together by local developers, so the claim checks out -- she must have been seated next to one Paul Wilkinson. Little did I realise I'd someday be dedicating a paragraph in a blog post to that very subject or I might have passed along some follow-up questions. Alas!)<br />
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(Of course, even the least of these is still realms beyond <a href="http://mistigris.org/packs/MIST0416/tab-br.mp3">the execrable recording of Bohemian Rhapsody</a> made an a basement TABmeet and later released in an April Fool's artpack.)<br />
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Settled your stomach yet? This striking teletext screen depicts <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_(album)#/media/File:Queen_The_Miracle.png">the album art to 1989's The Miracle</a>, originally computer art itself -- composited using Quantel Paintbox -- as drawn by Horsenburger:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIoSxUh5HwQvnAlxv2K2hdJj6peRfQokmufi2xs_N3uXpcipMoN9jZ2aO26oHdPlFZTUXKPhGcG18UXx23ZxseFUvZ-YDPeHwg1FCk_7FEv64rYEp2YS9P1g3w75moFC7jUNm5cr3MjBQ/s1600/DLktzs8W0AAhTDn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIoSxUh5HwQvnAlxv2K2hdJj6peRfQokmufi2xs_N3uXpcipMoN9jZ2aO26oHdPlFZTUXKPhGcG18UXx23ZxseFUvZ-YDPeHwg1FCk_7FEv64rYEp2YS9P1g3w75moFC7jUNm5cr3MjBQ/s1600/DLktzs8W0AAhTDn.jpg" /></a></div>
And closing down our hit parade chronologically, teletext organizer Illarterate drew this screen in honour of what would have been Freddie Mercury's 70th birthday in September of 2017:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheb5aMRhV8K97S2ZTtA4D90XGzTfiy3wInxDJzufFY7DgdMRc4Jdt__Z7C-CIz5Xxui4DqLT-6D-AQSl9GXqCHEHna7_XiJcyc6UQDqCd0ZT9xCCQmevJCo00c1Oz5EQHierilqi4xsWjf/s1600/illarterate-freddie_mercury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="1050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheb5aMRhV8K97S2ZTtA4D90XGzTfiy3wInxDJzufFY7DgdMRc4Jdt__Z7C-CIz5Xxui4DqLT-6D-AQSl9GXqCHEHna7_XiJcyc6UQDqCd0ZT9xCCQmevJCo00c1Oz5EQHierilqi4xsWjf/s1600/illarterate-freddie_mercury.jpg" /></a></div>
And that's it for the visual art, but here's one more tune, an uncredited arrangement of 1980's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love, from the opening and closing (credits) to the 1983 Commodore 64 game "Frantic Freddie" (no relation):<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WKYUbhoBT5c?rel=0&start=508" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<b>BUT WAIT!</b> The Queenmeister himself, Nitnatsnoc, has emerged from retirement to make a couple of further notes:<br />
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Speaking of music videos, not sure if you know, but <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKdxd718WXg">the video for The Invisible Man</a> (by Queen) has a video game theme [ed. looks a lot like Activision's 1985 Little Computer People], and starts with a shot of a shelf full of real C64 titles. Also, there was a Queen video game in the 90s called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlCg4vAQlNc">The eYe</a> which had several instrumental and remixed versions of Queen songs, although by then you couldn't call it "computer game music."</blockquote>
(Jan, 2018: "Mister Girls", trying somehow to poke fun at my computer art collective, release a very strange artpack including the following piece, an ANSI art adaptation of Queen's 1982 album Hot Space:)
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Supplemental: oh wait, that must have been in response to Uglifruit's teletext screen on the same subject from the MIST0917 artpack:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeAqtyUB9w6AcuR5HuQsGH0xUNtYqDmYTy5kM6dpmamLj_tB3UMdvnUUamgmZwLRCN39yfjwDyJU7NcBgLS9IhVYFU8jg2uLGjJQsPFYtyWFXrqWHujJqH5EyH-HzG_cmPRGeInDNyStJ/s1600/UGLIFRUIT-QUEEN_HOT_SPACE.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeAqtyUB9w6AcuR5HuQsGH0xUNtYqDmYTy5kM6dpmamLj_tB3UMdvnUUamgmZwLRCN39yfjwDyJU7NcBgLS9IhVYFU8jg2uLGjJQsPFYtyWFXrqWHujJqH5EyH-HzG_cmPRGeInDNyStJ/s1600/UGLIFRUIT-QUEEN_HOT_SPACE.JPG" /></a></div>
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And while I'm in here making an update, here's one final specimen, a PETSCII rendition of Freddie Mercury drawn by Jate of HiRMU:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbUTyb7IqD17X1nV80dcUpK32lnAA0M27VAXBMvsIv4ESMpGNCCKyWODC-Gj6Q2cwmPG7DyXeI2sFok8OBARiigpgN3xnpfswosGV-dJ7z7iMmR1M9lp64IAa1Hs70xWHeWBJos_cVa_H/s1600/jate-freddie.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbUTyb7IqD17X1nV80dcUpK32lnAA0M27VAXBMvsIv4ESMpGNCCKyWODC-Gj6Q2cwmPG7DyXeI2sFok8OBARiigpgN3xnpfswosGV-dJ7z7iMmR1M9lp64IAa1Hs70xWHeWBJos_cVa_H/s1600/jate-freddie.png" /></a></div>
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Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-45513655101167185232017-12-22T23:45:00.004-08:002017-12-23T09:48:21.331-08:00Textmode art roundup: Star Wars Episode V -- The Empire Strikes BlockIt's that time of year again -- the days are short, there's a nip in the air and everywhere, everyone is electric with the energies of this unique season...<br />
I speak, of course, of the time of year Disney has chosen to release a new Star Wars movie three years running. (December meant box-office lucre for Peter Jackson in the LOTR trilogy, so I guess the House of Mouse has found no reason to interfere with a sure thing.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje17O6mgwWP4NXU-WSFC6699sB4C8uW17oL7FHTyE00bQbBmOZgKkt0EGU6Ue3qMwRQUGrA4ZMIcCnaKiD6IWf7HJ0RkZdCtli0Wcrp-PouKZxTtiwVso1U_xwhLasC0aLmV7-fpBYds8S/s1600/Star-Wars+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje17O6mgwWP4NXU-WSFC6699sB4C8uW17oL7FHTyE00bQbBmOZgKkt0EGU6Ue3qMwRQUGrA4ZMIcCnaKiD6IWf7HJ0RkZdCtli0Wcrp-PouKZxTtiwVso1U_xwhLasC0aLmV7-fpBYds8S/s1600/Star-Wars+logo.jpg" /></a></div>
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I was going to imitate the opening crawl here, but wouldn't you rather see this post sometime this year? (Besides, I can't really trump <a href="http://breakintochat.com/blog/2017/05/25/new-ansimation-star-wars-opening-crawl/">Kirkman's feats in this field</a>...)All right, without further ado... I know what you're all thinking about: Atari's 1983 Star Wars vector graphics arcade game!
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<td colspan="3"><pre> <span style="color: red;">LAUNCH ZONE</span>
<span style="color: #505050;">_________________________________________________________________________
| <span style="color: lime;">___________</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">| | |.-.| | |</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">|_!-" 8 "-!_|</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">` SHIELD '</span> |
| |
| <span style="color: magenta;">SELECT DEATHSTAR</span> |
| <span style="color: magenta;">FIRE AT SELECTED WAVE</span> |
| <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/swwave1.txt">WAVE 1</a> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/swwave3.html">WAVE 3</a></span> |
| |
| <span style="color: blue;">\\</span><span style="color: red;">-+-</span> <span style="color: lime;">,-~"""~<span style="color: red;">_</span>. ,-~"""~<span style="color: red;">_</span>.</span> <span style="color: red;">-+-</span><span style="color: blue;">//</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">|\\|</span> <span style="color: lime;">.'<span style="color: yellow;">.::::'</span><span style="color: red;">(_)</span>`. .'<span style="color: yellow;">.::::'</span><span style="color: red;">(_)</span>`.</span> <span style="color: red;">|//|</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">|__|</span><span style="color: blue;">\</span> <span style="color: lime;">|<span style="color: white;">===========</span>| EASY |<span style="color: white;">===========</span>| HARD</span> <span style="color: blue;">/</span><span style="color: red;">|__|</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">\_\</span> <span style="color: lime;">`. ,' `. ,'</span> <span style="color: blue;">/_/</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">"-.___.-" "-.___.-"</span> |
| <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/swwave2.html">WAVE 2</a></span> |
| <span style="color: blue;">NO BONUS BONUS</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">,-~"""~<span style="color: red;">_</span>.</span> <span style="color: red;">HTML3</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">.'<span style="color: yellow;">.::::'</span><span style="color: red;">(_)</span>`.</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">|<span style="color: white;">===========</span>| MEDIUM</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">`. ,'</span> |
| <span style="color: lime;">"-.___.-"</span> |
| |
| <span style="color: red;">__</span> <span style="color: blue;">BONUS</span> <span style="color: red;">__</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">/_/</span> <span style="color: red;">HTML2</span> <span style="color: red;">\_\</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">| |</span><span style="color: blue;">/</span> <span style="color: red;">_____</span> <span style="color: blue;">\</span><span style="color: red;">| |</span> |
| <span style="color: red;">|//|</span> <span style="color: blue;">_</span><span style="color: red;">/|</span><span style="color: blue;">___</span><span style="color: red;">|\</span><span style="color: blue;">_</span> <span style="color: red;">|\\|</span> |
| <span style="color: blue;">//</span><span style="color: red;">-+-</span> <span style="color: blue;">(/"</span><span style="color: red;">| |</span><span style="color: blue;">"\)</span> <span style="color: red;">-+-</span><span style="color: blue;">\\</span> |
|_________________________________________________________________________|</span>
<span style="color: red;">RED FIVE FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS
----------------------------
1. YOUR X-WING IS EQUIPPED WITH HIGH ENERGY LASERS. AIM YOUR LASERS
AND THEN PULL TRIGGER TO FIRE AT YOUR SELECTION.
2. CHOOSE EASY WAVE FOR BASIC BROWSERS, MEDIUM OR HARD FOR BROWSERS
SUCH AS NETSCAPE AND EXPLORER.
3. IF THINGS LOOK MESSED UP CHECK YOUR 'FIXED-WIDTH FONT' SETTINGS.
4. THE REBEL FORCE IS DEPENDING ON YOU TO STOP THE EMPIRE!
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This post has been so long in the waiting I can no longer recall from which website I scraped that HTML version of the arcade game's difficulty setting screen from... but fortunately I retained the provenance of the following teletext screen, drawn by Jason Robertson!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrA2umiUdJQIsoTT5hsRxw8bKQHkztI4HjsACPozJmohwOt8yDMZV6ls3VCWl3FCUhj1o9853sNj2B4oCTekIm5aMtxVk6TAiy2q9zZfD4cKKqb_-CKjlyVB_j7FpzbZJN7ffg_MZGAMt/s1600/18268203_10155275218282630_7150970610364382019_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJrA2umiUdJQIsoTT5hsRxw8bKQHkztI4HjsACPozJmohwOt8yDMZV6ls3VCWl3FCUhj1o9853sNj2B4oCTekIm5aMtxVk6TAiy2q9zZfD4cKKqb_-CKjlyVB_j7FpzbZJN7ffg_MZGAMt/s1600/18268203_10155275218282630_7150970610364382019_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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OK, that really is about it for the games. Well, there's <a href="http://ondras.github.io/star-wars/">the Star Wars roguelike</a> (from which I apparently stole the header logo) but really, despite being both textmode and Star Wars, there's really not much there to look at. So where should we visit next? That's right: canonical sources. Dig that textmode artwork of R2-D2 (or: an egg with legs) on the front cover!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDdnXaeBmi6QyWGRadC620yq0A_oUnLZtKbXtwFLlxPTTYa-_a4peRTiOJyLRNs6YxdLPTahfMnTtSg5PdIEtIEqsXK26B61RL86ZJlSKjyTgCOLZ1jORHs1GJ2zOdv2KUas7WIMeyJ3G/s1600/starwarsbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTDdnXaeBmi6QyWGRadC620yq0A_oUnLZtKbXtwFLlxPTTYa-_a4peRTiOJyLRNs6YxdLPTahfMnTtSg5PdIEtIEqsXK26B61RL86ZJlSKjyTgCOLZ1jORHs1GJ2zOdv2KUas7WIMeyJ3G/s1600/starwarsbook.jpg" /></a></div>
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OK, now engage the fixedwidth textmode hyperdrive!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPDZ4I0EM9CBiejQarMiGKYeGR2vRrsJbLjbdGANJGtwK_BFa5J4qN8gXBZpoxZPRvjhwqr_jCoSEV7a4XnaudZw2-d1oEchDjnqgi3xiWp8bw44cameJ70jxGsdhXbd5Uc3cJB6xaX5N/s1600/1978+magazine+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPDZ4I0EM9CBiejQarMiGKYeGR2vRrsJbLjbdGANJGtwK_BFa5J4qN8gXBZpoxZPRvjhwqr_jCoSEV7a4XnaudZw2-d1oEchDjnqgi3xiWp8bw44cameJ70jxGsdhXbd5Uc3cJB6xaX5N/s1600/1978+magazine+cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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It really wouldn't surprise me if that magazine was the original source of that <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_971Iv_EtJbHjY0oqR_5-n7u6H64uiNc0XVS1NlHleh777KX3lJqxttxOwnDxTIb9EziR9ERRj3VlUCzHN7gUfCrcheGTIZckggQdtaV14w0Az83NYdpynLB5xDoV6bjFE8xhIvrSRh2R/s1600/commodore-pet-game-dog-star-adventure.gif">Dog Star Adventure PETSCII Darth Vader</a> we ran <a href="http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2016/05/textmode-art-roundup-star-wars.html">last time</a>... as well as this PETSCII Stormtrooper! He's got a bit of MegaMan gun-hand business going on here, besides which rather than firing blaster bolts it looks like he's misting for mosquitos, but... I'm sure that so doing would increase his chances of actually hitting something!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax_vUW_u6DOAfsYDWRYWGHYFbPwtpi1AufK8sDBDp0ZtVF5HHFzsvx5VrkPPsdCR7XKFhkH7ewu7FrJ6Fd4InJezDEHqLL24u0_RvjYOI7108WYm0NDwo253ZnFLradAAq71Fj9-5_3lI/s1600/stormtrooper+petscii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiax_vUW_u6DOAfsYDWRYWGHYFbPwtpi1AufK8sDBDp0ZtVF5HHFzsvx5VrkPPsdCR7XKFhkH7ewu7FrJ6Fd4InJezDEHqLL24u0_RvjYOI7108WYm0NDwo253ZnFLradAAq71Fj9-5_3lI/s1600/stormtrooper+petscii.jpg" /></a></div>
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But I'm getting ahead of myself. I believe we were just looking at some droids? Could we get a better view of the protocol droid? Here's C-3PO ASCII art, printed and framed! (Also, almost assuredly machine-generated -- though in this case, maybe that's not so inappropriate.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYS-oCEpdWI5U8lCoXzjKjuyk6l3CsZAzmCqp3wVi3uLntq8YVhuqlzcOqlfufy03R_vqm7jUkUXOCJvvDL1woUyG3dMtjhkhODyTzAKDNP-358sUzz45flOwtnx5Lm7QUdTuKURTg2PH/s1600/3po+ascii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizYS-oCEpdWI5U8lCoXzjKjuyk6l3CsZAzmCqp3wVi3uLntq8YVhuqlzcOqlfufy03R_vqm7jUkUXOCJvvDL1woUyG3dMtjhkhODyTzAKDNP-358sUzz45flOwtnx5Lm7QUdTuKURTg2PH/s1600/3po+ascii.jpg" /></a></div>
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OK, nice one, goldenrod, but what about the R2 unit? Here he is, drawn in UTF-8 (my eyes would have suggested Shift_JIS, but I don't think we're quite there.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE35lvsj08l6aZJyWtWPOyca6YmDqKos9RFVSauzYhmGr-NEZ9n1Uq8JqzLaAbNyiuUurRS3u8Ovi4qYjJoNYQ5Y_TdxRqDlg8rNSAs4w-wWvJV6eLOffVQeq7dlMTdNDMVjFHd7GsZVSr/s1600/r2-utf8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="231" data-original-width="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE35lvsj08l6aZJyWtWPOyca6YmDqKos9RFVSauzYhmGr-NEZ9n1Uq8JqzLaAbNyiuUurRS3u8Ovi4qYjJoNYQ5Y_TdxRqDlg8rNSAs4w-wWvJV6eLOffVQeq7dlMTdNDMVjFHd7GsZVSr/s1600/r2-utf8.png" /></a></div>
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OK, now was someone saying something about Stormtroopers? Here's an ASCII bust of one:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJevpYy2B1UqilmGwvDm7ou0A4HXscUi-cYJGUIU16lTccrzVTygSNIuE4hL5ZAk3gqeAYtX485ZjSHt_D05yVKaZA7AvqerdX_Dl2epcs_PGpXhztczP485SzRm82jb94z6DApngS8V4/s1600/stormtrooper+ascii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJevpYy2B1UqilmGwvDm7ou0A4HXscUi-cYJGUIU16lTccrzVTygSNIuE4hL5ZAk3gqeAYtX485ZjSHt_D05yVKaZA7AvqerdX_Dl2epcs_PGpXhztczP485SzRm82jb94z6DApngS8V4/s1600/stormtrooper+ascii.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">And here, ANSI art from my trophy case of Stormtrooper helmets. This one came from Outworld Arts:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUgH7iqwAv3phMm-RYyAjqUl0OTN8Tx09e8ceKTCWgN2ofd2aWDgz8QMiBhsRBaYRDb-ObIBS0eLc0Uz_G0BMpnYCvwY7f_N_JXSfY40fSdkqV4tVZCmhrEDw-8zJZWrEjCxnKOgViOGEa/s1600/strooper.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUgH7iqwAv3phMm-RYyAjqUl0OTN8Tx09e8ceKTCWgN2ofd2aWDgz8QMiBhsRBaYRDb-ObIBS0eLc0Uz_G0BMpnYCvwY7f_N_JXSfY40fSdkqV4tVZCmhrEDw-8zJZWrEjCxnKOgViOGEa/s1600/strooper.ans.png" /></a></div>
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No one can bang out a boffo Stormtrooper head in teletext quite like the accomplished Mr. Biffo -- and check out the spiffy Death Star interior background:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL1YNJBud-SOTv6GB6GpqZp5XV2S5W15cic6V19-mcx4CoQPSeHNAi6OdQ-HeQk6Q_F45-KiuvfYEYelXq4ZFpWhVY9qb3rkeb4tFF4RJm0Iz8zvHIpqwi_A-rJyyqyPS_r2E69a-ak0w/s1600/mrbiffo-stormtrooper.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnL1YNJBud-SOTv6GB6GpqZp5XV2S5W15cic6V19-mcx4CoQPSeHNAi6OdQ-HeQk6Q_F45-KiuvfYEYelXq4ZFpWhVY9qb3rkeb4tFF4RJm0Iz8zvHIpqwi_A-rJyyqyPS_r2E69a-ak0w/s1600/mrbiffo-stormtrooper.gif" /></a></div>
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OK, here's another Outworld Arts ANSI rendition of a trooper -- this time a Snowtroper from the Battle of Hoth:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMgKgYAGNnv84kHad2ANCqR7MWHdLSQtFh37Jrsy6VCSug39qNHfvnztXtAyr1ekB6KIHB6l47MsFaLJm0VhyphenhyphenhkjDyfljiDWCUMJ36n71VFx2KH4G5auRLdAoKjJmveKwlfaWWIeTCk-l/s1600/oa-storm.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmMgKgYAGNnv84kHad2ANCqR7MWHdLSQtFh37Jrsy6VCSug39qNHfvnztXtAyr1ekB6KIHB6l47MsFaLJm0VhyphenhyphenhkjDyfljiDWCUMJ36n71VFx2KH4G5auRLdAoKjJmveKwlfaWWIeTCk-l/s1600/oa-storm.ans.png" /></a></div>
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It's hard to tell for sure at this low a resolution, but despite looking more to me like Snowtroopers from Episode V, I imagine what the artist was intending to depict here is Lord Vader flanked by two Stormtroopers:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVASqxmL4EFgBnPehzMySEXFSRLKgcPMhnYvtE_ZTRgQu70tTSTUsWJCs-3cn4QvrCNnUodFr2qXHQmZhJ8jd4FU8biyZTeGVA22Wy5isPKaRiZhSpvwXrE8-D9to7CWhz9uwGK6y7xA0/s1600/logo+and+guards.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfVASqxmL4EFgBnPehzMySEXFSRLKgcPMhnYvtE_ZTRgQu70tTSTUsWJCs-3cn4QvrCNnUodFr2qXHQmZhJ8jd4FU8biyZTeGVA22Wy5isPKaRiZhSpvwXrE8-D9to7CWhz9uwGK6y7xA0/s1600/logo+and+guards.png" /></a></div>
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SPEAKING OF Darth Vader... this big portrait is entitled "Can You Feel The Force", drawn by "trash0r" ... I believe I found it on Deviantart.
I don't believe it uses a single half-block, thus making it an excellent candidate for machine-conversion suspicion. Or maybe trash0r just prefers the moody ambience of the shading blocks... Yes, I take it back, a couple of half-blocks are used near the bottom at his neck-bolts,
and in the Star Warsian font also:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32TSFkXZ9JiMt5tXs313EDWqKjh0EtokWhFEkgpmcfm20MgeGcMsfcJofLpit-r3PjXREyqQ93OAzgb7SIecoZuGlhd27alhq3BspSglO3KAS8KL8Cu20d5lf-Xe3KGtmoZsrcZQMNdIw/s1600/can_you_feel_the_force__by_trash0r.png.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32TSFkXZ9JiMt5tXs313EDWqKjh0EtokWhFEkgpmcfm20MgeGcMsfcJofLpit-r3PjXREyqQ93OAzgb7SIecoZuGlhd27alhq3BspSglO3KAS8KL8Cu20d5lf-Xe3KGtmoZsrcZQMNdIw/s1600/can_you_feel_the_force__by_trash0r.png.jpeg" /></a></div>
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Thrasher of Fuel's Vader is also light on half-blocks, but his technique is explored and interrogated in the accompanying text:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzFcX2OXLihgUuiVHA5rO-N9cfj4i-5-JKuwjKmpmct8IwVC6MkUhOOslmnjqJlyMEvFSJImYU2atBm8oBM_xXTHI_c8xAoVFAt_lZpz2c8VjomS6vp7f0235EM6ST293j-I5R5ucdfhL/s1600/16864226_10210676096510875_8837751564929813653_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzFcX2OXLihgUuiVHA5rO-N9cfj4i-5-JKuwjKmpmct8IwVC6MkUhOOslmnjqJlyMEvFSJImYU2atBm8oBM_xXTHI_c8xAoVFAt_lZpz2c8VjomS6vp7f0235EM6ST293j-I5R5ucdfhL/s1600/16864226_10210676096510875_8837751564929813653_n.jpg" /></a></div>
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This Vader (by "lefraggle") is a little smaller and suggests more of the fine details through the use of ASCII characters:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9OjYgXcIzbOHqbYG8NThD6yqi9Z1HNnn6sbxgkvqLPGgBMPbikDLX1ybTdFwn-XNO2OdI-KhWt4DXXRWcsBJLvfswZknVbvNGzYe3H-T_C5l3KBQQu-gn0qdgP0HXC41AHP6h9jeJ2Ds/s1600/darthvader_by_lefraggle-d5iovjf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf9OjYgXcIzbOHqbYG8NThD6yqi9Z1HNnn6sbxgkvqLPGgBMPbikDLX1ybTdFwn-XNO2OdI-KhWt4DXXRWcsBJLvfswZknVbvNGzYe3H-T_C5l3KBQQu-gn0qdgP0HXC41AHP6h9jeJ2Ds/s1600/darthvader_by_lefraggle-d5iovjf.png" /></a></div>
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On closer scrutiny, I think this Vader is actually pixelart and not textmode art at all, but in the final rendering the aesthetic is sooo similar I folded it in here by accident... and left it in due to laziness. Dig those tall rounded bubbles in the background, also seen in Biffo's Stormtrooper teletext above:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHict8oGQNGaT8z0abDSg1ZX4olHrcLnG__MFzC_7ftimrLPQcxW0hLYKE3kvczboCAM0f4qKt6JYHxLDkJE6m0npo4VDa4ICLv0J4FlHf5rC26My_j4HH8O1l2H9s_1iy77nMPx8BH1Al/s1600/Jos%25C3%25A9+Eduardo+Contreras+Moral+-+darth+vader+pixelart+%2528but+nearly+ANSI%252C+ratios+etc%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHict8oGQNGaT8z0abDSg1ZX4olHrcLnG__MFzC_7ftimrLPQcxW0hLYKE3kvczboCAM0f4qKt6JYHxLDkJE6m0npo4VDa4ICLv0J4FlHf5rC26My_j4HH8O1l2H9s_1iy77nMPx8BH1Al/s1600/Jos%25C3%25A9+Eduardo+Contreras+Moral+-+darth+vader+pixelart+%2528but+nearly+ANSI%252C+ratios+etc%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
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Nail draws a superior specimen of the Sith here, an appearance in the Blocktronics ANSIlove pack, a conspicuous omission presumably delayed or otherwise slipped between the cracks from <a href="http://pc.textmod.es/pack/blocktronics_detention_block_aa-23/">their previous SW special</a>, which will prove the main source of my next post on this subject:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyK7OFDPxCktDZnK8akh7oyM_utwGnpmGF_6FRS6sOEejd_yRMbX7QMlGOGQtC4bZYJo1wcLq_VlegjsoogJJ0JX2UtRK5WYFl2RH-dnFL-g9aoWfrKj9QYRIybYXQbzbqNZutYOpWCYr/s1600/-n-anakin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyK7OFDPxCktDZnK8akh7oyM_utwGnpmGF_6FRS6sOEejd_yRMbX7QMlGOGQtC4bZYJo1wcLq_VlegjsoogJJ0JX2UtRK5WYFl2RH-dnFL-g9aoWfrKj9QYRIybYXQbzbqNZutYOpWCYr/s1600/-n-anakin.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Here's Outworld Arts' most handsome SW ANSI art yet, of Darth Vader (implied, really -- more a Vader shaped black hole) flanked this time by Imperial Royal Guards:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNka5-Cl7fmmboN9S6JSFUUsjiLdNfDBGbCb63ggVlaWYKk2Vad02pGETp60GKg-O3xhgF8nHh76omIHSfvixpaHXmesfDTquyBLMf2RvE8mLMFhb9qIYs2a2R8qTnFMDkCRrJs4-5tPdQ/s1600/oa-vader.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNka5-Cl7fmmboN9S6JSFUUsjiLdNfDBGbCb63ggVlaWYKk2Vad02pGETp60GKg-O3xhgF8nHh76omIHSfvixpaHXmesfDTquyBLMf2RvE8mLMFhb9qIYs2a2R8qTnFMDkCRrJs4-5tPdQ/s1600/oa-vader.ans.png" /></a></div>
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These are just getting smaller and smaller! Here's a UTF-8 (this clinches it, I have no idea how to distinguish this from Shift_JIS visually) Darth Vader:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1B4O7YyHOD4zA7bMHMnrql3ARXAJeYVSbte3xFdp7lG3fle3KlYRoGZT3C2e98QzW5b1v5Md_VhdjNvrs-9_a2aIMwj31GRZwsFet8G2al0OuSMtb2exmnjucg03ABU5bUzXFx7Aopgb/s1600/vader+ascii.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz1B4O7YyHOD4zA7bMHMnrql3ARXAJeYVSbte3xFdp7lG3fle3KlYRoGZT3C2e98QzW5b1v5Md_VhdjNvrs-9_a2aIMwj31GRZwsFet8G2al0OuSMtb2exmnjucg03ABU5bUzXFx7Aopgb/s1600/vader+ascii.png" /></a></div>
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And here, this must be just about as small as an ASCII art Darth Vader can get:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EyKc2feKtF4IokzPz04FbukmO9gZACof33-8F_4_0aVnicQmIddBuhCiyo7kMbOS78pQ5oxjlcFv1CsWtXFWDafjeOO2Qo4LkhrXdl0P_e8jI6TdJfO7ibTxfgSg8xKtt8KghwSwO15C/s1600/ls+-+darth2_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EyKc2feKtF4IokzPz04FbukmO9gZACof33-8F_4_0aVnicQmIddBuhCiyo7kMbOS78pQ5oxjlcFv1CsWtXFWDafjeOO2Qo4LkhrXdl0P_e8jI6TdJfO7ibTxfgSg8xKtt8KghwSwO15C/s1600/ls+-+darth2_thumb.jpg" /></a></div>
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Strange, how Vader got more and more diminished the more of him we saw... kind of like our conception of Anakin in the SW prequel movies around the turn of the century. But surely one Star Wars villain could remain unscathed in our memory, Boba Fett! Outworld Arts really liked this bounty hunter -- here they present a RIPscrip vector art rendition of him. (Mea culpa, not textmode but in wide use in the BBS artscene contemporary to the golden age of ANSI art.)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDD0r7kXQopbs7FKmwYjWn45G2294YCQ8fbzkb0GmTzrHgRiQbOuuSJZRl_vQf2NvURB-q0c-9VElS55qRbF-8RdM0J-1lzUjsG7PEXtJQ1OPsWV6MZrhL4hn_-krqIWi7mLWlAxqhTfRx/s1600/oa-boba.rip.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDD0r7kXQopbs7FKmwYjWn45G2294YCQ8fbzkb0GmTzrHgRiQbOuuSJZRl_vQf2NvURB-q0c-9VElS55qRbF-8RdM0J-1lzUjsG7PEXtJQ1OPsWV6MZrhL4hn_-krqIWi7mLWlAxqhTfRx/s1600/oa-boba.rip.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">That portrait might be a little bit too much of a close-up, but fortunately they drew another one from slightly further back:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRoOoUjG1ZNG1O2M4T2cNNDps6oMbdCoDbBBuEojk9_IPDfJX3v7r49G-50lxnD__CLaBGVhNZul9-Klp6YxtajJJzX0AU93VwSdYFtQuUsq0xj1Ngmm1M1u06voHGUn5bmz7kw0A1Yl2/s1600/out-boba.rip.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRoOoUjG1ZNG1O2M4T2cNNDps6oMbdCoDbBBuEojk9_IPDfJX3v7r49G-50lxnD__CLaBGVhNZul9-Klp6YxtajJJzX0AU93VwSdYFtQuUsq0xj1Ngmm1M1u06voHGUn5bmz7kw0A1Yl2/s1600/out-boba.rip.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">And in ANSI art? Outworld Arts just LOVES Boba Fett!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9f2NQE_nhxVXfpI9IeNM5IqAo8FRhb4RuxYN6iQ5-avX8-V__Qon_bL8CYiGmbU6qpeOLl4SaCl3P3R97yYRX83nVs4AGJ4c-_HmaBRM1xDZEDH4-GVgINU05mT1os064ljZrRe6wFVb/s1600/out-boba.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf9f2NQE_nhxVXfpI9IeNM5IqAo8FRhb4RuxYN6iQ5-avX8-V__Qon_bL8CYiGmbU6qpeOLl4SaCl3P3R97yYRX83nVs4AGJ4c-_HmaBRM1xDZEDH4-GVgINU05mT1os064ljZrRe6wFVb/s1600/out-boba.ans.png" /></a></div>
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OK, that's enough bad guys, let's take a break and run some good guys. Can we get a Yoda in the house? (er, in the ... hut?)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlBV_S-HOWYTD2ioIjscXNQN-PVb-y15p6EO50897v_dDfkGq5ONFfTMhDkjw7YvLoaDI7tPUMikMbmNCKT5hA84CZ9ZcaDgTMFZJwt9zN0uv45bkLj4WGuq8neewzYib60HCUOwPZPOr/s1600/yodashut.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="525" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlBV_S-HOWYTD2ioIjscXNQN-PVb-y15p6EO50897v_dDfkGq5ONFfTMhDkjw7YvLoaDI7tPUMikMbmNCKT5hA84CZ9ZcaDgTMFZJwt9zN0uv45bkLj4WGuq8neewzYib60HCUOwPZPOr/s1600/yodashut.png" /></a></div>
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OK, uh, sorry, Public Domain ASCII artist, but that's a bit rough. Can we try a little harder here? Here's a UTF-8 attempt, with quite a bit more true-to-form detail:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4lIUPW3NP_F0r1wgnKHzP2-53kLdwa7zGZ3ASinfaRN0UEdwTcpuk99mPqfVeZAkneT5EHaL8k2H_sAnyEBdnLAHZKRCT3WFzUC063NhS_-Sf0mMWLV9JdKVhD5f0mS4c5tMN-rob6lH/s1600/yoda-utf8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju4lIUPW3NP_F0r1wgnKHzP2-53kLdwa7zGZ3ASinfaRN0UEdwTcpuk99mPqfVeZAkneT5EHaL8k2H_sAnyEBdnLAHZKRCT3WFzUC063NhS_-Sf0mMWLV9JdKVhD5f0mS4c5tMN-rob6lH/s1600/yoda-utf8.png" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: start;">Is Outworld Arts around? They had good success drawing a green villain, how about a green hero?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSp6oZDD3KlYtBc7cCly1GCtD5FKRlKN5khA5TF_0bdvNuC4sUi7s0lmOhCfPg-Q0IFGitus5txoCjEYFf3WPmG0Y4iesUd_lcw8ZwcZu3TWlvUVFTEeCH6cDVtwklk9vtTQsGeeDusTpn/s1600/out-yoda.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSp6oZDD3KlYtBc7cCly1GCtD5FKRlKN5khA5TF_0bdvNuC4sUi7s0lmOhCfPg-Q0IFGitus5txoCjEYFf3WPmG0Y4iesUd_lcw8ZwcZu3TWlvUVFTEeCH6cDVtwklk9vtTQsGeeDusTpn/s1600/out-yoda.ans.png" /></a></div>
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Before leaving Yoda we do, draw in PETSCII we much attempt. Shine?
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9w-bFVBrbB2qUQtkG2ipRlJg_qam8sQJbBiBdO8pUgiiX5F5nn-LPOGDhh16X5w3rSioUzwQuiePqkNY7a4pA5xcSzF1jGtndSZkrgegmuuj-M5A9A8AaXGfurSH19ufJo_hMrS8Ygde/s1600/shine-petscii-yoda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="963" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv9w-bFVBrbB2qUQtkG2ipRlJg_qam8sQJbBiBdO8pUgiiX5F5nn-LPOGDhh16X5w3rSioUzwQuiePqkNY7a4pA5xcSzF1jGtndSZkrgegmuuj-M5A9A8AaXGfurSH19ufJo_hMrS8Ygde/s1600/shine-petscii-yoda.jpg" /></a></div>
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Well we're not going to top that! OK, let's take a break from the portraits for a while and look at some of the distinctive vehicles of the Star Wars universe. Here's an ASCII art AT-AT walker:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny1iPugerB981LGAvew7errkjnKe_ml3P5FmPawJuOffHXoUMsZnGGRQ5FVJhq4czKe7sEQaBZSRcyWXjKliB5MYspD2q-aYAxLA_m0Hh-D9JL0gGOQMJvJVsNhK8BBx-PMkuvqEbE3D_/s1600/row+atat+ascii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny1iPugerB981LGAvew7errkjnKe_ml3P5FmPawJuOffHXoUMsZnGGRQ5FVJhq4czKe7sEQaBZSRcyWXjKliB5MYspD2q-aYAxLA_m0Hh-D9JL0gGOQMJvJVsNhK8BBx-PMkuvqEbE3D_/s1600/row+atat+ascii.jpg" /></a></div>
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Even though many of the same characters are in use (hello, pipes and quotation marks), the UTF-8 version of the same subject manages to achieve a species of smoothness surpassing what the ASCII art version can aspire to:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9ZvWVnN0Iz9x-UqRU5upxbe_tRi_JqMTW7-ju0YFT5YjL1OH5HVL3cXeFPX4QHl4EsJ9JT5cEAFGlTQx3oFn_FLjRu6v7xaJVrLTLgEvuEV20Ln12Uk3TzLCo7MXQ7jSX56OXyUtvYrg/s1600/utf8-atat-star_wars_3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9ZvWVnN0Iz9x-UqRU5upxbe_tRi_JqMTW7-ju0YFT5YjL1OH5HVL3cXeFPX4QHl4EsJ9JT5cEAFGlTQx3oFn_FLjRu6v7xaJVrLTLgEvuEV20Ln12Uk3TzLCo7MXQ7jSX56OXyUtvYrg/s1600/utf8-atat-star_wars_3.gif" /></a></div>
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OK, going airborne now, here's some machine-generated TIE Fighter ASCII art, printed and framed. (I don't much see the point myself -- if you want to print out machine-generated ASCII art, you could easily wallpaper your entire house in it.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmkvbRNEoGfCqv4gwn3p3RxGQ3190wWlSbk1S1pC4AM-ttZP1sL-SntADNYAnDkG1s6pcTZwq9wzbWG5urwulrLoqfElUNPV7KtotDELARGBnzqejy5qqnBe9_h5zUuRmmihHlSkgw53N/s1600/ascii_tie-fighter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOmkvbRNEoGfCqv4gwn3p3RxGQ3190wWlSbk1S1pC4AM-ttZP1sL-SntADNYAnDkG1s6pcTZwq9wzbWG5urwulrLoqfElUNPV7KtotDELARGBnzqejy5qqnBe9_h5zUuRmmihHlSkgw53N/s1600/ascii_tie-fighter.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Much preferred among connoisseurs of textmode art is bespoke artisanal ANSI art, and Outworld Arts is here pleased to oblige with a handcrafted take on the same subject:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-p2zSciu8mg3NPiyLGRscOTQkXvZD-k_Q_1f4NFHvLayqOifJhqRioTCHWJJKd1gIA-oNoCK5h9pyCa1f_jOd0DTWq689Ap8cb0rhF3RuX2kzwb29cKljBWwJ7PEaUT5fXKiga8-8YHy/s1600/tiefite.ans.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA-p2zSciu8mg3NPiyLGRscOTQkXvZD-k_Q_1f4NFHvLayqOifJhqRioTCHWJJKd1gIA-oNoCK5h9pyCa1f_jOd0DTWq689Ap8cb0rhF3RuX2kzwb29cKljBWwJ7PEaUT5fXKiga8-8YHy/s1600/tiefite.ans.png" /></a></div>
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Here the TIE Fighters are mere gnats swarming around a massive Star Destroyer, drawn in the simultaneously extended (in palette) and limited (in proportions) ANSI art spinoff FANSI used famously at the 8bitMUSH:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjujKFDb16fQEbPw0uUbZ4A77F4yIwxmmfi_gI3eUKttOZQaGLAm6dZ9skoAlDD13w7rO5vMpQQWc9i9TjTdHBK2-_eOVIhrjvIFpX_PomWPAnX2HFQFzpj4hmCpM5Kos2RADcqNjp9ZiZ/s1600/yoda+-+fansi+-+ImperialCruiser%2528StarWars%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjujKFDb16fQEbPw0uUbZ4A77F4yIwxmmfi_gI3eUKttOZQaGLAm6dZ9skoAlDD13w7rO5vMpQQWc9i9TjTdHBK2-_eOVIhrjvIFpX_PomWPAnX2HFQFzpj4hmCpM5Kos2RADcqNjp9ZiZ/s1600/yoda+-+fansi+-+ImperialCruiser%2528StarWars%2529.png" /></a></div>
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And teletext god Horsenburger was much applauded for his own take on illustrating a Star Destroyer using his big sixels:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRdTHivJ7ubdUfiGycSzdp0Bw3f6cnNBrMZ3cg9zWmOJktWvO_igHB5JP7Xotj_Msu-TxHQd7kM9pUwrYSOcJ1JVukkUPhWQNI_X94NI6HNOAmxvLaBTsnJtL9wEn-6T_vS8IQXZahV85/s1600/HORSENBURGER-STAR_DESTROYER.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRdTHivJ7ubdUfiGycSzdp0Bw3f6cnNBrMZ3cg9zWmOJktWvO_igHB5JP7Xotj_Msu-TxHQd7kM9pUwrYSOcJ1JVukkUPhWQNI_X94NI6HNOAmxvLaBTsnJtL9wEn-6T_vS8IQXZahV85/s1600/HORSENBURGER-STAR_DESTROYER.PNG" /></a></div>
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From a Star Destroyer there's really only one way to escalate, a depiction of the Death Star. Too bad this one's pants!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvmN8HZ4l06qd4BYVmh7AEkqaMBHgapjHAxAz4xT91oEIYDtUNE-lt3xmDcsxy8aSQZDdG07mUMm4rYHPFwZplTR3f0cBVth_w1qrhJTdjXnnh5E_KODhCv3oclsB5ZEVE5YjXCQhp9f2/s1600/helloc1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvmN8HZ4l06qd4BYVmh7AEkqaMBHgapjHAxAz4xT91oEIYDtUNE-lt3xmDcsxy8aSQZDdG07mUMm4rYHPFwZplTR3f0cBVth_w1qrhJTdjXnnh5E_KODhCv3oclsB5ZEVE5YjXCQhp9f2/s1600/helloc1.png" /></a></div>
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You know how I said that hand-drawn ANSI art was always preferable to computer-generated ASCII art? This final Death Star, in the context of the above piece, really puts the lie to my assertion:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQjYWPTGy0YMob9n-i6zCKgrWg2ji1M-iIOztqkaS2Jc4IXprs3eqU9wX56pHptlqMwQoCghi492XyKH2kpKllMJQX3TJjAe4pxmKAc1mR5__W5D4K50ifklwwNw_BM1WaSn5qgFzksYW/s1600/death+star+ascii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdQjYWPTGy0YMob9n-i6zCKgrWg2ji1M-iIOztqkaS2Jc4IXprs3eqU9wX56pHptlqMwQoCghi492XyKH2kpKllMJQX3TJjAe4pxmKAc1mR5__W5D4K50ifklwwNw_BM1WaSn5qgFzksYW/s1600/death+star+ascii.jpg" /></a></div>
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Thus concludes our digression into vehicles and vessels. We'll wind down this post with a series of one-off character portraits. Here you can enjoy Mr. Biffo's very <i>Empire</i> take on Luke Skywalker:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuKJ2wU7HC9mSZq-YGnXnCwSd4itOlCSvNwOzeNVVmXLEVPehOkgnRudm06gV56wXBqyIwfl2edT2Q-1L4zzYBM5n8qY0xQG33o0qqCHeBILI7irHzttH5yAp9N_QnGpHctcTETID0psb/s1600/MR_BIFFO-SKYWALKER.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1025" data-original-width="1171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuKJ2wU7HC9mSZq-YGnXnCwSd4itOlCSvNwOzeNVVmXLEVPehOkgnRudm06gV56wXBqyIwfl2edT2Q-1L4zzYBM5n8qY0xQG33o0qqCHeBILI7irHzttH5yAp9N_QnGpHctcTETID0psb/s1600/MR_BIFFO-SKYWALKER.JPG" /></a></div>
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Admiral Ackbar, what do you think about Universal Basic Income?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QgHHldHYrW4OF2w51fciMK-OWpGMO6AQhvO-RapEGthcXjaHB38l8kW0lsh3Rg-XFTvDdhVX3QT72QdSz5TGiSFkiGOd2oib3V2wfsE_Bt-lgT8t2gwWryBCmb68y4RbHtCODlEn1u2S/s1600/ackbar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QgHHldHYrW4OF2w51fciMK-OWpGMO6AQhvO-RapEGthcXjaHB38l8kW0lsh3Rg-XFTvDdhVX3QT72QdSz5TGiSFkiGOd2oib3V2wfsE_Bt-lgT8t2gwWryBCmb68y4RbHtCODlEn1u2S/s1600/ackbar.jpg" /></a></div>
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Princess Amidala may not have delivered much as a character, but her virtuous design inspired more than a few righteous works of ANSI art. This portrait is by Mongi of iCE:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKov0Ri7_I8jwD1FsHkO4DbUwrl_feY0h06eIPY9rHMw1Ig7tHszVbOkUGKf7nDOPmu6GXDikphTlhBlYGLPZYcHXNxothkp6LOoo5RiSJJFmJjsnLccAQ4Qk-wFwjh_ex1suh_qtjVNF1/s1600/amidala_by_mongi-d3kmrao.png+-+amidala+star+wars.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKov0Ri7_I8jwD1FsHkO4DbUwrl_feY0h06eIPY9rHMw1Ig7tHszVbOkUGKf7nDOPmu6GXDikphTlhBlYGLPZYcHXNxothkp6LOoo5RiSJJFmJjsnLccAQ4Qk-wFwjh_ex1suh_qtjVNF1/s1600/amidala_by_mongi-d3kmrao.png+-+amidala+star+wars.jpeg" /></a></div>
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And her daughter, an apparently hand-drawn piece of Princess Leia ASCII art, diminished in virtually every regard:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1W9Fhw-GNQCLLTeO0XdTkd5JTKhoZNLIM5GLRIUNP0Q8l1Hn2GNzZLi8R7Dv7w3pAtgylxzHQjpsIK4Z4cupr4mnlw9Do-ucpjvPg9LXbyVS-evPNgPSkD9X0MBrBsYmexCE_HV3OKVX8/s1600/ls-leia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1W9Fhw-GNQCLLTeO0XdTkd5JTKhoZNLIM5GLRIUNP0Q8l1Hn2GNzZLi8R7Dv7w3pAtgylxzHQjpsIK4Z4cupr4mnlw9Do-ucpjvPg9LXbyVS-evPNgPSkD9X0MBrBsYmexCE_HV3OKVX8/s1600/ls-leia.jpg" /></a></div>
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Let's get big again, with Misfit's portrait of Edrio "Two Tubes" from Rogue One, an under-fan-arted instalment in the series to date. This one also missed the boat for the official Star Wars Blocktronics artpack, but fortunately I'm here to curate these pieces semantically.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5N52T6lfaflJUKlZaxjWkllfg_K0MPTqIKMlGMhC7s5L7E-atPMoElvXW-EGLC_yDwlTvXYJBj_YdquP52U3ODdP2jFZpfCuF4_sOdahM9rem_MIt049qckyNuYJK7FlcrdflUmeZ_FI/s1600/misfit-distortion.xb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD5N52T6lfaflJUKlZaxjWkllfg_K0MPTqIKMlGMhC7s5L7E-atPMoElvXW-EGLC_yDwlTvXYJBj_YdquP52U3ODdP2jFZpfCuF4_sOdahM9rem_MIt049qckyNuYJK7FlcrdflUmeZ_FI/s1600/misfit-distortion.xb.png" /></a></div>
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Got Porg? Enzo and Avg draw for the ANSI art supergroup Blocktronics, whose May 2017 artpack will be the focus of the next post in this series.
This piece pertains to some new critters from The Last Jedi, in theatres now, but they drew it back in September, when most normal people weren't yet up to speed regarding the deep lore of the approaching Star Wars blockbuster. I can't really explain it, but ... here it is:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3woW49WinX3wpFo1Wpcxft9JdZx5Rtsdv2ehVMETux0mWYt3bX1XVGPZxjZMfkbzd2eshOGfZ2_1AftDTQRC-o-tsSJzx1W0yMF9qoSTffB83Iu5bz1XjYn0mi-TXXrIRBUzcoN_S7uC/s1600/21366670_10154570124591792_4087073263124029024_o.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="641" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3woW49WinX3wpFo1Wpcxft9JdZx5Rtsdv2ehVMETux0mWYt3bX1XVGPZxjZMfkbzd2eshOGfZ2_1AftDTQRC-o-tsSJzx1W0yMF9qoSTffB83Iu5bz1XjYn0mi-TXXrIRBUzcoN_S7uC/s1600/21366670_10154570124591792_4087073263124029024_o.png" /></a></div>
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ANSI art isn't the whole show -- here's an epic teletext screen by Uglifruit:<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
A piece of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/teletext?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#teletext</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pixelart?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pixelart</a> I've made to celebrate the Oct 1982 debut on ITV. <a href="https://twitter.com/edit_tf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@edit_tf</a> <a href="https://t.co/y9DwSl9Eri">https://t.co/y9DwSl9Eri</a> <a href="https://t.co/rgUpxvyJ40">pic.twitter.com/rgUpxvyJ40</a></div>
— Andy Jenkinson (@andyuglifruit) <a href="https://twitter.com/andyuglifruit/status/838811492497653761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
As referenced above multiple times, the May 2017 Blocktronics artpack, "Detention Block AA-23", was a 100% Star Wars-themed joint. Not only did their stable of godly ANSI artists channel their earliest and most profound fandoms into ANSI art, I also sent my colleague teletext cottage industry Horsenburger their way to show the ANSI kids just what one dedicated man and a teletext editor could make happen. Again, you'll be seeing all this in the next post in this series, probably around the time "Young Han Solo" hits the theatres. Something particular to this 67 artpack is that it had a call for submissions posted quite a bit in advance. The below piece, bearing all the hallmarks of an Enzo small-scale production, graced a call for submissions with a deadline of Jan 31st. The artpack release itself was scheduled for release in May -- we figured they were targeting the prefab consumerist neo-holiday May 4 (for "May the 4th Be With You", blarrgh) but that date came and went (in its honour I vented all the Star Wars-themed pieces from the Mistigris back catalogues on our Mistigram Instagram feed) and they stayed quiet until May 25th, marking the 40th anniversary since the original theatrical release of Star Wars.<br />
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Enzo, a central Blocktronics organizer, was pushing the Star Wars pack hard, and made sure he had a good body of work saved up well before the artpack's release deadline. Then he made many of them available on his personal ANSI art commerce website, from which I scraped the following pieces some time prior to the artpack's release. I was in a position to spill the beans and share them early, which would have been a kind of jerky thing for me to do, but fortunately for him my recent duties attending to my own monthly Mistigris artpack releases kept me too busy to scoop him -- one of those prickly ethical problems that solves itself if you just sit back and think about it for a while! So anyhow, rather than giving you an unauthorized sneak preview of the Blocktronics Star Wars artpack, I'll give you a sneak preview of my next Star Wars ANSI art Pixel Pompeii post. Here was the call for submissions, depicting Han and Chewie springing Leia from the Death Star in ol' Episode IV:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpT2CXpX-jG7ONOY0X4ePu1Z-374psnv6f6IRKTcIg3Y_9rsY3SYXZIvKU9GeZCWzptVLKFW2d8lVOz5h4Qgv_-nV2Zhxof3Rwjjzhj7yLiTWnPMqyxBbq2kRF5VLZJCe60VtYI_OUXs_/s1600/starwarsansichallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpT2CXpX-jG7ONOY0X4ePu1Z-374psnv6f6IRKTcIg3Y_9rsY3SYXZIvKU9GeZCWzptVLKFW2d8lVOz5h4Qgv_-nV2Zhxof3Rwjjzhj7yLiTWnPMqyxBbq2kRF5VLZJCe60VtYI_OUXs_/s1600/starwarsansichallenge.jpg" /></a></div>
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You can tell Enzo is a serious fan because he's also been exploring the recent movies, not just the original trilogy. Here's BB-8 from The Force Awakens:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsuMr6ntv25i9vMFH7s4UHEK32-XhgXXtz_vsI7_Wpa3D8DTyCExN9z70JjcvdEWuRPBEPJsA3loNXdKrJK4XeMc2hpa2tdISJSCQBo0H1iErC-P5QWfankl3I8lKmrzqL_elM4gEjhqD/s1600/enzo-BB-8_preview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRsuMr6ntv25i9vMFH7s4UHEK32-XhgXXtz_vsI7_Wpa3D8DTyCExN9z70JjcvdEWuRPBEPJsA3loNXdKrJK4XeMc2hpa2tdISJSCQBo0H1iErC-P5QWfankl3I8lKmrzqL_elM4gEjhqD/s1600/enzo-BB-8_preview.png" /></a></div>
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And still more recent, Director Krennic from Rogue One!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQ9g4EH2sLEp1cz6Hwg-pPHvKuqhHH3v-TKoBJA7aztPHAhhIIGCUlqjBynG42VrvPdd6us7-Vqvc8JxWuVzfEdpQedj6KFfInVfHvDhzzRMDK4PR9emZr5k9t1o9gP3_2bkub3O4qEWS/s1600/enzo-Director_Krennic_by_Luciano_Ayres.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFQ9g4EH2sLEp1cz6Hwg-pPHvKuqhHH3v-TKoBJA7aztPHAhhIIGCUlqjBynG42VrvPdd6us7-Vqvc8JxWuVzfEdpQedj6KFfInVfHvDhzzRMDK4PR9emZr5k9t1o9gP3_2bkub3O4qEWS/s1600/enzo-Director_Krennic_by_Luciano_Ayres.png" /></a></div>
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That said, it can be difficult to resist the draw of the classics. Here's [SPOILER WARNING] the climax of Empire Strikes Back (points for hidden Blocktronics logo in the background):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj3KJPRM2OApundL_n_Axw7Kmdj52syPpKILdr_WLhk1KXZmoXCdeWoGMoY5yerrSmm1YhyKesvz5t6mTBtroPSGoVQ9bBrh5w0XluZFYqJpTIaG0E4MNPsx28jwAkOJL-vPilrJYk6E0/s1600/enzo-Im_your_father_preview-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyj3KJPRM2OApundL_n_Axw7Kmdj52syPpKILdr_WLhk1KXZmoXCdeWoGMoY5yerrSmm1YhyKesvz5t6mTBtroPSGoVQ9bBrh5w0XluZFYqJpTIaG0E4MNPsx28jwAkOJL-vPilrJYk6E0/s1600/enzo-Im_your_father_preview-1.png" /></a></div>
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... and another scene from earlier in that movie, with Luke training on Dagobah with Yoda:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWucS5DjzyipBrpTW_wtlPP_3HeFugPDMEdod4FpPfl80ioRUAK0CDqnGVC9uQgxKqkEsBaca96wyKCGwkHiPDY_mIOd4vOdNRTqtxTArj_MnsMhtVVB3OrxFkpNgOhh75nWuLhQhgX9a/s1600/enzo-Luke_and_Yoda_Training_preview.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWucS5DjzyipBrpTW_wtlPP_3HeFugPDMEdod4FpPfl80ioRUAK0CDqnGVC9uQgxKqkEsBaca96wyKCGwkHiPDY_mIOd4vOdNRTqtxTArj_MnsMhtVVB3OrxFkpNgOhh75nWuLhQhgX9a/s1600/enzo-Luke_and_Yoda_Training_preview.png" /></a></div>
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And here he explores the eternal question: are R2 and 3PO a gay couple? We may never get to the bottom of that one, but R2 is putting on a bold display for Pride:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9l2LdsmDcn_l9Ph4wAA4jxWeZGFTSnC4kbtVICm3T72g90A3nj3ZH-OzrbszOibxsNuabJoaV__uzpwOYSwvSdDQ02oz2g1ZZJ8ul9EIxhn4W5id0letAdaBAfYRl5gb5ehqezlNzGlYg/s1600/enzo-R2-D2_Rainbow_preview-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9l2LdsmDcn_l9Ph4wAA4jxWeZGFTSnC4kbtVICm3T72g90A3nj3ZH-OzrbszOibxsNuabJoaV__uzpwOYSwvSdDQ02oz2g1ZZJ8ul9EIxhn4W5id0letAdaBAfYRl5gb5ehqezlNzGlYg/s1600/enzo-R2-D2_Rainbow_preview-1.png" /></a></div>
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BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Horsenburger has had to relax his maniac pace of teletext production, but just before he did, a few teletext screens celebrating the recent Star Wars movies were among the last to come down his assembly line.
Now first, let's set the scene...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHTkphTToMqkJmcUxjbDom2DUOVXx2AQdAWBnFTfuYysS1UrZvBVTxM1smdwWv8YwBMC12-hErsqO96x7afm6VlHildVaNvOClt6gxNi2NUV4jhT1T5LwxHnC1N6E1OgEDtJgEIyYS0UC/s1600/IMG_20171219_165144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="1007" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHTkphTToMqkJmcUxjbDom2DUOVXx2AQdAWBnFTfuYysS1UrZvBVTxM1smdwWv8YwBMC12-hErsqO96x7afm6VlHildVaNvOClt6gxNi2NUV4jhT1T5LwxHnC1N6E1OgEDtJgEIyYS0UC/s1600/IMG_20171219_165144.jpg" /></a></div>
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From The Force Awakens, here's the mysterious Snoke:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys12owHzkGtrjY3qcL6lVmdCkl8cnVpCi-_ySFPY9si1-Aa4-wOhPA_wyZPgRvtkctqHZOZbu3AdbYvVAcvr0JAmlcLW68qCn5Abx7-47iP9p4K_VrcS1PocMenGxPBLhv6t_ozCZa7dW/s1600/25311071_10156067264719612_501294122857096032_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiys12owHzkGtrjY3qcL6lVmdCkl8cnVpCi-_ySFPY9si1-Aa4-wOhPA_wyZPgRvtkctqHZOZbu3AdbYvVAcvr0JAmlcLW68qCn5Abx7-47iP9p4K_VrcS1PocMenGxPBLhv6t_ozCZa7dW/s1600/25311071_10156067264719612_501294122857096032_o.jpg" /></a></div>
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But if you want to get to him, you're going to have to get through his Elite Praetorian Guards:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZ6_-QGbHliT07GB84wJT8HlpOHP3ApEpB9lvHwJHQcvY9uUaWQsYAoiRlInOx2RCHCTkJdLa5Nz6ynYR4n4ixiQnVb56SvVyr7t-AiJ2bNxvQblXnGcwIET8AidHe7UQlG4wjK-6HVc_/s1600/IMG_20171219_165042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggZ6_-QGbHliT07GB84wJT8HlpOHP3ApEpB9lvHwJHQcvY9uUaWQsYAoiRlInOx2RCHCTkJdLa5Nz6ynYR4n4ixiQnVb56SvVyr7t-AiJ2bNxvQblXnGcwIET8AidHe7UQlG4wjK-6HVc_/s1600/IMG_20171219_165042.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's a pensive Old Luke Skywalker:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp930-AerISmHC3S1q44pifK2f6iqyvxTPSnkUtKvhmiyoZoz-d8A25QU6DQ6C3nPXh9sDfPLdEPNFcM9LB3PuzTtVwtBr2ySJCcQ_i1ZX6SaBrPQ3ohG3zK-2xlgZlyOFX1IjOkuWo079/s1600/IMG_20171219_165150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="873" data-original-width="1149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp930-AerISmHC3S1q44pifK2f6iqyvxTPSnkUtKvhmiyoZoz-d8A25QU6DQ6C3nPXh9sDfPLdEPNFcM9LB3PuzTtVwtBr2ySJCcQ_i1ZX6SaBrPQ3ohG3zK-2xlgZlyOFX1IjOkuWo079/s1600/IMG_20171219_165150.jpg" /></a></div>
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It's been a long time, he has a lot to think about!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5fmMQBEt8KrVoXrJgRbabmmrV80Zjzx0rgNA6xQMoOB5bRU95iNLl5gUFpCcON1QOF5lMFgXocgqWZ7RYANgu-Tl5_vahx5GrIVnoqanKhESMmYmWhZpizj4RF1xw87UwXzEPggqeE_d/s1600/IMG_20171223_093738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="720" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5fmMQBEt8KrVoXrJgRbabmmrV80Zjzx0rgNA6xQMoOB5bRU95iNLl5gUFpCcON1QOF5lMFgXocgqWZ7RYANgu-Tl5_vahx5GrIVnoqanKhESMmYmWhZpizj4RF1xw87UwXzEPggqeE_d/s1600/IMG_20171223_093738.jpg" /></a></div>
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From The Last Jedi, Luke and Kylo face off:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIat4wb_-f4VDimYt-CUjuJGaHyWy4TweIYWZ0xpO-Dl5AEYUxCIWU2aCJ0B7Jhonu0IuJpliLWcEJU1P9Iy6TLBii0qjY7L2DX-pi-A5c7iomjN5CK9I2kfPcI9q7mOgxFtr-w_kKyfV/s1600/25351947_10156067264714612_4219732166433568533_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPIat4wb_-f4VDimYt-CUjuJGaHyWy4TweIYWZ0xpO-Dl5AEYUxCIWU2aCJ0B7Jhonu0IuJpliLWcEJU1P9Iy6TLBii0qjY7L2DX-pi-A5c7iomjN5CK9I2kfPcI9q7mOgxFtr-w_kKyfV/s1600/25351947_10156067264714612_4219732166433568533_o.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's Kylo Ren with his helmet on...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcizUK50In4iw3-e6QL0m6vp1_oVn3e7VZXzLMZlAX9djRHb0DdpDd9b-0gEMI3-CRtlrkt44uye5ZOK4IOA36G35TDOXdKrFq1m7WUmfPWQV2T6OQzfhHXmMLRXFASGVmK_YfISvDhiZF/s1600/IMG_20171219_164531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcizUK50In4iw3-e6QL0m6vp1_oVn3e7VZXzLMZlAX9djRHb0DdpDd9b-0gEMI3-CRtlrkt44uye5ZOK4IOA36G35TDOXdKrFq1m7WUmfPWQV2T6OQzfhHXmMLRXFASGVmK_YfISvDhiZF/s1600/IMG_20171219_164531.jpg" /></a></div>
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... and with it off:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-_tzYaoOTor1Arp8QiH_2gK-1QDFAHd77SfXrbujlTlDFCFCvN1M2Nkg7lpiPye1cY__A1MEBFuQH3kHWy38uud8Lkj627xPU95YBVht0LbBWLabDnhAmJJH0Zm5Ggzs6Wy-8_e9Owga/s1600/IMG_20171219_164535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="980" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-_tzYaoOTor1Arp8QiH_2gK-1QDFAHd77SfXrbujlTlDFCFCvN1M2Nkg7lpiPye1cY__A1MEBFuQH3kHWy38uud8Lkj627xPU95YBVht0LbBWLabDnhAmJJH0Zm5Ggzs6Wy-8_e9Owga/s1600/IMG_20171219_164535.jpg" /></a></div>
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And that's all of those for now. But for a special treat...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdIx6rkIK6JOBAHtOlr_H_AKxnB1WVQneH-8ShQNrKsONGcsM2gWl0y5mTrbO5wIu0EB0MpZlJetb-lzMtOC8hYSh3QA_rPRm81CN9fOCyNy_ZjmQsvIlpxUjdooWWTsO7iDA3XYh7cS_/s1600/jar-jar+ascii.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdIx6rkIK6JOBAHtOlr_H_AKxnB1WVQneH-8ShQNrKsONGcsM2gWl0y5mTrbO5wIu0EB0MpZlJetb-lzMtOC8hYSh3QA_rPRm81CN9fOCyNy_ZjmQsvIlpxUjdooWWTsO7iDA3XYh7cS_/s1600/jar-jar+ascii.png" /></a></div>
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OK, sharing Jar-Jar here is kind of like Rickrolling, and I apologise for the troll. But if you can forgive me for one last piece, you may be vindicated in your suffering through Jar-Jar Binks, though this ASCII animation seemingly promises more than it explicitly delivers. I present to you: The Death of Jar-Jar Binks!</div>
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I gather it's a cautionary tale about touching super-powered batteries with your tongue. Until next time folks!</div>
Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-53546036568501760472017-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:002017-06-15T07:11:04.989-07:00Video game appearances in recent artpacks, first half 2017<audio controls>
<source src="http://mistigris.org/packs/MIST0417/DJ_TOBY-VOCLAVOS.MP3">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"When you allow the one nerd on staff to make the soda display..." Amazing!<br><br>(Via <a href="https://t.co/dX2Lw4If98">https://t.co/dX2Lw4If98</a>) <a href="https://t.co/8ArsD6hZ9k">pic.twitter.com/8ArsD6hZ9k</a></p>— Dystify (@Dystify) <a href="https://twitter.com/Dystify/status/836996389683019776">March 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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As the datestamp on the embedded Tweet suggests, I've been meaning to get this post up since March (original title: "first quarter 2017") but keep getting caught up in the little routines of preparing, producing and promoting released artpacks on a monthly basis. Then as more packs come out, their contents need also to be integrated into this draft-in-progress.. three steps forward, two steps back. But I'm ready to publish it and move on with <i>other</i> long-delayed posts here at Pixel Pompeii.<p>As the post title suggests, people are releasing artpacks: mostly it's me and Mistigris, but most impactfully Blocktronics also gets a few out annually to much wider audiences. There are other groups active out there -- Galza, Titan and now Fuel -- but for purposes of this blog post, they fall outside our scope... since I'm not doing an artpack highlights reel generally, but rather a comprehensive look at art included in those releases made concerning <i>video game themes</i>. (And they released no art this year that I could find engaging those themes.)<p>
But Mistigris sure released a lot of it! The year kicked off with MIST0117 in January, and we got underway with a humdinger: Awesome Angela's textile piece (I'm not yet comfortable eyeballing the difference between needlepoint and cross-stitch, something I maybe should have gotten sorted out before I decided I'd start releasing it in my artpacks) "Mario Inception", depicting Mario and Luigi playing on an NES... a game about them playing a game on an NES... a game about them playing a game... and, OK, 4 layers deep, we can't really tell what they're playing. Maybe Q*Bert.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYg7EmbkqbOvsBGISnjsI-8NU8040-NsIOYaNTP-M-ymPwLSe590tzUl8WhDPrqHewCY-SHBvsIH1yduiNWrtvtqOCdKzp-Jow7Q2Xu4SrqutYjZhiHWKJIwBTjYbBjgpKIiPpKe_pPT1M/s1600/awesome_angela-inception_mario.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYg7EmbkqbOvsBGISnjsI-8NU8040-NsIOYaNTP-M-ymPwLSe590tzUl8WhDPrqHewCY-SHBvsIH1yduiNWrtvtqOCdKzp-Jow7Q2Xu4SrqutYjZhiHWKJIwBTjYbBjgpKIiPpKe_pPT1M/s1600/awesome_angela-inception_mario.jpg" /></a></div>
Did someone say "Q*Bert"? Ed "Starstew" Statsny was sure thinking of it when he began drawing this piece, "Astracenauts", but he quickly went off on a highly divergent tangent. All the same, step pyramids made of Qubes... sorry, <i>cubes</i>, will always bring me back to memories of that Escherian arena.
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That's not quite it for MIST0117, but you already saw the remainder in our most recent post here, <a href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2017/04/video-game-textmode-art-part-29-teletext.html>April's teletext round-up</a>. That post actually sucked a lot of air out of this one, but no worries -- as it turns out, a half-year of wool-gathering still left us with <i>quite a bit</i> of other on-theme material to share... as you shall see. On to MIST0217! Awesome Angela rises to the top here (alphabetically especially), demonstrating her main visual art practice of fusion bead pixelart. Something a little racy for Valentine's Day that I think I saddled with the clunky title "Bedroom Kingdom".
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Discovered in response to the previous month's Mario Inception, we were privileged to share a parallel textile work of fractal Mario recursion by the Japanese Ranbahol, ingeniously depicting a pixelart Mario composed entirely of variantly-coloured tiny Marios used as picture elements. This kind of work is slow going: we look forward to also sharing their next creation, but this piece concluded in February and its follow-up probably won't yet be done in time for our next July collection. <i><A href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJGiUj7aPuE>Actually making your own Mario games</a> might be faster.</i>
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Now, for a change of pace, on March 1st ANSI art masters Blocktronics released their first collection of the year, "There Will Be Blocks", greatly to the benefit of this blog post... it was full of video game-themed ANSI art. That's right, you can stop peeping with horror from behind the hands clapped over your eyes, no more fusion beads or needlepoint for a while! We open with this piece featuring the protagonist of the 1985 Atari Games arcade game Paperboy -- delivering the news in the Blocktronics infofile, as it turns out.
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Filth dazzled us with these new pieces of ANSI art for two classic BBS door games known for their native ANSI art, Legend of the Red Dragon and Tradewars 2002. (One of my most popular YouTube videos is simply <A href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QByXZgyjso0>a walk through the ANSImated art assets of that latter game</a>, but the sublimely minimalist pieces of the original lack a certain sophisticated flair Filth brings to the table here.)
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... here's a little Minecraft action, the modern game perhaps best suited to ANSI art aesthetics!
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Enzo was really the video game hero of this pack, not only delivering a scene inspired by Lucasarts' The Secret of Monkey Island...
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plus a touch of Ghosts 'n Goblins also...
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But also this tremendous colly (related screens stacked on top of each other) walking viewers through the early, Atari-centric (but fear not, we also get representation from Taito, Namco, Nintendo, Activision, Konami, Data East and Capcom) history of video gaming in the arcade / 2600 era, entitled "The Dream Shall Never Die". Really in leaner times this individual artwork would merit a colossal post all to itself, depicting the chronological progression of video games through (takes a deep breath) Pong, Tank, Breakout, Air-Sea Battle, Street Racer, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Galaxian, Lunar Lander, Superman, Pac-Man, Centipede, Battlezone, Missile Command, Boxing, Phoenix, Berzerk, Rogue, Rally-X, Frogger, River Raid, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Defender, Tennis, Ms. Pac-Man, Pitfall, Donkey Kong Jr., Moon Patrol, Q*Bert, Spiderman, Mario Bros., Enduro, Elevator Action, Karate Champ and Ghosts 'n Goblins (again).
<p align=center><img src=https://www.dropbox.com/s/gluvuy8segk0ust/luciano-the_dream_shall_never_die.ans.png?raw=1></p>
It's all downhill from here, folks! Mistigris also released a March artpack, so here are some more fusion bead creations by Awesome Angela of <A href=https://www.facebook.com/sleepystitch/>Sleepy Stitch</a>!
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I titled that one "Bathroom Kingdom". See any trends emerging yet?
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A clever visual mash-up, this one puts Princess Toadstool riding a Chain-chomp just like Miley Cyrus in the "Wrecking Ball" video. One helluva empty signifier!
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And one more by Awesome Angela, one series she does is hypothesizing different mushroom power-ups Mario might encounter out in his travels. These represent different social networks Mario might find himself navigating. (Instantly dated late-2016 due to an appearance from our old friend the Vine microvideo service!)
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I first looked up Cookieheart for her video game sprite art, but when I found that she also incorporated other VG themes into other styles of work, I was charmed. This is of course a Tetris-scape, strewn with cats and feline bonus items ... which brings us to the end of the VG-themed works from the Mistigris March artpack! This was, of course, followed promptly by the Mistigris APRIL artpack, which always is a little special, as we make it a <i>fool's</i> pack and stuff it with half-baked gags, dad jokes and, if we're lucky, the sublimely stupid. You can hear a little bit of it as the soundtrack to this post -- Simon of Trideja remade the Lavos theme to Chrono Trigger, then gradually began substituting out the synthesized chip instruments with goofy vocal samples. You've probably noticed that it gets stupider as it goes along! So will we proceed in this post, at least to this point.
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My old colleague Glowing Fish -- the number one commentator at this blog's previous incarnation, <a href=http://videogamecomicads.blogspot.com>Shilling Epilepsy to Mouth-Breathers</a> (you can probably tell why the name changed, huh?) -- tried his hand at fusing video game situations with breathless Upworthy-style clickbait headlines. They're all a little funny, even if none of them are ... <i>a lot</i> funny. I don't think that it's possible to yield gold from this alchemical fusion, but these are very respectable lumps of bronze.
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Taffi Louis' meme game is on a whole other level. This isn't in reference to an existing game, but the Platonic ideal of one that merely <i>might have been</i>... a refreshing change of pace from an unending series of <a href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQhvW-tjNM>face-shot simulators</a>.
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And here, another Taffi Louis special: a little Pokémon Go humour for grown-ups.
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Finally, the April Fool's Mistigris artpack 2017 contained a genuine video game made for the PICO-8 fantasy console; the four-year-old son proposed the theme for what would become "Poop Blaster" (a toilet eats flying turds) and the father implemented it. Just an animated .GIF here, but I believe the playable game is included in the archive.<p>
OK, now that we've got all that tremendous levity out of our system, it's on to the May Mistigris artpack -- and with it, a return to the glories of teletext, with pieces we released too late to fit in the previous teletext-centric post here on this blog. But first, a return to form for Awesome Angela -- a perler bead rendition of Neko Atsume's delightful cats!
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Also, we have this piece of rare Mistigris ANSI art by our longtime colleague, <a href=https://www.facebook.com/vanchipmusic/>Vancouver Chipmusic Society</a> lynchpin bryface, who represented us at the Revision 2017 demoparty in the music and ANSI art categories, where this piece -- "The Four Channels of the Apocalypse", depicting the Game Boy on which he composes chiptunes (through LSDJ) and his travelling companion's Amiga 1000 -- rated 4th place.
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Now, I believe I said something about teletext? Here it comes! From the Horsenburger teletext foundry: iD Software's foundational FPS, DooM!
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Horsenburger presents... iD Software's genre-capping platformer, Commander Keen! (Specifically, the splash screen to Episode 4: The Secret of the Oracle.)
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Horsenburger... leaves iD alone for a bit, and takes on HAL Laboratory's famished Protean protagonist, Kirby!
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Awesome Angela isn't done with those 'shrooms: here are another set of iconic Super Mario power-ups mashed-up with other franchises and objects. Just what powers <i>would</i> Hello Kitty Mario have, anyway?
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Starstew returns with a very non-computer-art styled drawing of a very electronic gaming subject in this piece, "Catari Returns". I can't place the specific game being referenced here (or is it from the artist's imagination?) but the cat is most definitely playing it on an Atari 2600:
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And finally, a piece of needlepoint many months in the works, Morgan Lee's textile cartographic execution of the Hyrule Light World overland map from the Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past!
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... all of which just about nearly brings us to the present, except for one final artpack: the Mistigris June collection. Included below are more pieces on similar themes from artists we've now seen before in this post, starting with Awesome Angela, who beaded up a Princess Toadstool re-enacting Marilyn Monroe's famous subway-vent-skirt-lifting pose from The Seven Year Itch:
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Starstew returns with a drawing inspired by a contemporary game you may not have heard of, <a href=http://toucharcade.com/2017/02/27/breakforcist-combines-brick-breakers-breakfast-and-exorcism/>Breakforcist</a>:
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Horsenburger returns to the well with a gameplay screen from Saboteur redrawn in teletext:
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He's just getting started! Horsenburger proceeds to teletextify Ruff from Enix's Dragon Quest 7:
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We've seen a bit of Hyrule earlier in this post, and now here's Horsenburger's teletext Link:
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Somebody stop him, Horsenburger is out of control! Here he takes on teletext portraits of three characters from "Arms" for the Nintendo Switch: Helix, Ribbon Girl and Spring Man:
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Phew! But Horsenburger isn't quite done with us yet... last but not least, a scene from The Secret of Monkey Island! At least... <a href=https://mixnmojo.com/media/galleries/The-Secret-of-Monkey-Island-Concept-Art>a scene I dearly recall from the back of the game's box, which didn't actually appear in my version of the game</a>! Maybe Horsenburger played some enhanced CD-ROM version (or a leaked pre-release beta!), I don't know.
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And because one good Monkey Island piece deserves another, we close on another video game needlepoint pattern painstakingly rendered by Morgan Lee:
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And that's it! Hopefully it won't take another six months to get another post out in this series, because... that makes for large posts! I'll just have to keep tabs on what kind of art is turning up in the artpacks and... undoubtedly, I'll be reporting back to you. (There will be other posts on related topics sooner; indeed, history suggests that you might be seeing a lot of activity here this summer.) Cheers!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-33163998499149417772017-04-12T16:43:00.000-07:002017-04-19T07:50:28.215-07:00Video game textmode art part 29: Teletext!RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE! It made <a href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2015/01/lets-play-ancient-greek-punishment-2012.html>as good a note as any to begin this blog</a> on, so I will also use this moment from Altered Beast to open this post.
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(My notes haven't been what, in a perfect world, they ought to be. So I'm not 100% certain on the attribution of many of these pieces. When I began the stockpile, I kind of assumed that modern teletext was the primary domain of Illarterate (<A href=https://portfolio.illarterate.co.uk>check out his portfolio here</a>!), and that any I'd come across would have originated from his desk. It's a moving target, and as our information improves, the article will be updated.)<p>Yes, I've given it away: today's installment of "video game textmode art" (what, only part 29? slacker!) deals with the topic of teletext -- of all textmode art forms, hands-down the one that, in its heyday, reached the most people... millions, direct through their television sets! And like any other form of textmode art -- indeed, any other art form, period! -- it has been used to celebrate and glorify the cultural genre that is video games. Here, today, I share you all the specimens I've been able to locate.<p>
Unsurprisingly, many of the modern game-themed teletext works have been created as promotional material for other video-game-related projects -- review magazines, podcasts, online communities etc. A single simple joystick here represents Retro Video Gamer:
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Retro Unlim ups the hardware game, with a full arcade cabinet:
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Illarterate here demonstrates his mastery by giving us two very different depictions of the same subject, Nintendo's Game Boy handheld -- first, including a genius minimalist Mario on-screen...
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... and another one with a blank screen.
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He also (for reasons known only to himself) illustrated the following celebration of the Atari 2600 clone the "TV Boy". Illarterate: if it is a video game system and has the word "boy" in its name, I will draw it in teletext. (Oh yeah? Then where's the Virtual Boy? What, the limited teletext palette doesn't give you a nice enough shade of red?) [Ill: "Suggestion noted re. Virtual Boy..." ]
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And one more piece of hardware celebrated, Codemasters' add-on the Game Genie, promoting Retro Unlimited Radio:
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Bridging the gap between pure-hardware systems and the era of consoles to come, here's a rendition of Pong in action!
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And direct to the Atari 2600, it's TeletextR celebrating Warren Robinett's Adventure, credited as home to the first easter egg! (TeletextR maintains a teletext portfolio also <A href=teletextr.blogspot.ca>over here</a>.)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Atari Adventure, recreated in glorious Teletext. <a href="http://t.co/jFqNpvRyi1">pic.twitter.com/jFqNpvRyi1</a><br />
— Carlos (@that_other_Carl) <a href="https://twitter.com/that_other_Carl/status/589734010940760064">April 19, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
I gather that this Space Invaders appearance is a period one, and aired during the game's first big flowering -- during which it singlehandedly caused a coin shortage in Japan -- airing on the CeeFax service over Christmas 1978.
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Here's another take on that popular subject by the Dutch Lektrolab - which I learned about from Illarterate's old but fascinating blog <A href=http://pixelispower.blogspot.ca>Pixel is Power</a>.
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Still more Invaders, with a touch of Zero Wing...
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Yet more Invaders!
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And perhaps our most recent specimen, Polyducks' fancy version as presented at the recent Block Party 2017 convention:
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Now for a fresh topic, totally not played-out... a Pac-Man, also created at Block Party 2017:
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And our post's first (but surely not last) appearance of works by <a href=https://www.horsenburger.com/>Horsenburger</a>, a man who eats and breathes teletext (go on and <a href=https://www.patreon.com/horsenburger>support his Patreon</a>, he produces these images on a daily basis!)... two portraits of Pac-Man: first, as depicted in his 1982 Hanna-Barbera cartoon...
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... and then a presentation more in line with how Namco is showing him today:
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<br />
And let's wrap this section up with a great big Pac-Man playfield:
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Here we have two versions of Horsenburger's take on Capcom's MegaMan. Teletext is a medium full of compromises. Basically you can have high resolution...
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... or you can have an increased colour palette. Now quick, choose one!
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Oh, wait, Paul Davis demonstrates that you can still make a pretty handy representation of MegaMan without using any colours at all!
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Here's an old teletext trick also enjoyed by ANSI art: the use and abuse of flashing colours for fun <strike>and profit!</strike> TeletextR shares this Manic Miner logo with us...
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And the natural follow-up, also by TeletextR -- a tribute to its sequel Jet Set Willy:<p>
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That static screen it nice, but Tim, uh, "Tim M" takes it one step further, animating these teletext screens on his teletext-compatible BBC Micro, reproducing the opening scene from Jet Set Willy:
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I recently shared Illarterate's "Scum Labs" piece without having the slightest inkling that it originated from a video game, but he set me straight: you see this lady between levels in Midway's 1997 Rampage World Tour:
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After I gave him top marks for that piece he said he'd follow it up with an homage to the original Rampage -- as long as he could do it using the palette in the Amstrad CPC home conversion. Well, all right! I'm sure the artists hate it when I do this, but here -- you can <a href=http://www.mobygames.com/game/cpc/rampage/screenshots/gameShotId,132870/>compare and contrast</a>.
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Here's a funny gag that you might have overlooked -- sports results as would be grist of the mill for teletext services, but the sport they're reporting on is the Bitmap Brothers' brutal (deluxe) Speedball:
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Now, Sam & Max come in and out of this series -- best known to a certain segment thanks to their appearance in Lucasarts adventure games (including their own), though originating in comics and most widely enjoyed as a TV program. Fox Kids here in this vintage art was almost certainly promoting airtime of that latter incarnation of Max, but I can't resist folding him in here anyway:
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Another vintage Fox Kids teletext illustration: I can't say that I recognize the character, but whoever they are they plainly owe a debt to Rare's DKC reimagining of Donkey Kong (egad, I just learned about the 1998 Donkey Kong Country cartoon (!) -- this is indeed the most "street" member of the Kong clan, "Funky Kong"):
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While we're touting one-off teletext conversions of video game heroes, here's Polyducks's rendition of Q*Bert, spotted recently in a Mistigris artpack! (I can't get over reducing Coily the purple snake to a sinister purple letter S. Hats-off minimalism!) Polyducks works across many media -- even as far as textmode goes, it's far more typical for him to mint PETSCII-style images using Rexpaint -- and doesn't just do conversions of game screens, but also makes mock-up screens for games that never were -- but should be! ... and of course, also just plain makes games. <a href=http://polyducks.co.uk>Portfolio here</a>.
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And an Illarterate adaptation of my two favorite video game dragons, Bub and Bob from Bubble Bobble:
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Here's a Retrounlim promo (that pun? <i>surely</i> the handiwork of Illarterate) featuring Codemasters' hard-boiled hero egg Dizzy...
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And Illarterate again, celebrating one of the most reviled of NES carts, the infamous Cheetahmen!
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Here Horsenburger trips forward a console generation with this teletext ode to Streets of Rage for the Sega Genesis (or MegaDrive, as they would have called it in the UK)...
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And two more Horsenburger conversions for now -- after he consciously observed what qualities teletext shared with the UK's king of period home computers the ZX Spectrum he began trying to reproduce game screens, starting with Jet-Pac by Ultimate Play-The-Game (aka Rare)...
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And continuing on with the Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge...
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TeletextR: "ZX81 Screens are not the hardest things to convert to Teletext, but I like the charm of them." Here's his take on the Spectrum classic 3-D Monster Maze...
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And here TeletextR takes on Gunfight: "Excuse the Blue numbers, can't do Black on White in a legal way!" Ahh... constraints.
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A couple more! TeletextR draws the tiny hero of Bruce Lee writ large...
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And one more TeletextR conversion -- this screen adapts "Saboteur":
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Have you got a minute? Phil Mainwaring (of "Phil's Place") is seemingly on a mission to convert every image pertaining to early computing and render it in teletext, as demonstrated through this animated .GIF cycling through his oeuvre, touching on Taito, Acornsoft, Atari, Coleco, Commodore, Sega, the TRS-80's renowned Dancing Demon, Chuckie Egg, Elite, Granny's Garden, Knight Lore, Space Invaders, Pac-Man ... and hundreds more!
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OK, we got small, now let's get big again. Some of you may say that Tron is a movie, not a video game, and you would have a point, but in my books it basically gets a free pass. Here's Horsenburger drawing a round of Light Cycles...
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and here, he draws a logo complete with a Recognizer from Space Paranoids!
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Now, rounding the bend, three teletext Marios! Here's one by Horsenburger... it's a-him, Mario!
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This one is somewhat enhanced, a Super Mario complete with Fire Flower! (And a logo for PFFT, which... eludes me.) [Illarterate thought it would be the sound a fireball would make being lanuched... I see it more as a "plip plip", "PFFT" perhaps when firing into water and self-extinguishing... only no, Mario's fireballs burn even underwater, no doubt thanks to a magnesium core. ... But I digress.)
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And one final fancy Mario, advertising episode 7 of Retro Unlimited Radio!
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Finally, just to prove that teletext isn't just for old (sorry, vintage "classic") games: here's a fresh slice of Horsenburger adapting a character from the recent Mass Effect: Andromeda. I haven't played the game yet (let's be honest, I may not see it for a decade) but I believe that's ... Sara Ryder.
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Bonus: can't believe I somehow overlooked it -- one final Horsenburger piece, from Gremlin and Chupa-Chup, it's the Ninja of the Nth Dimension -- Zool!
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And there you have it! That's all for now! See you all again soon!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-73004175632271828442017-03-07T14:51:00.000-08:002017-03-11T11:19:57.468-08:00Video game textmode art part 28: ANSI art under the ZZT engine!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSwItUbLavANS9R8cWG9cz39tjrftVDtKq_CiGTzmH9fYkOFl-M6iU1pWNeNQWqszaIOjAaKVt7H3-kiX8BsYFKrRuGhEhUAhfiWzDlTRR0vsI3gjkd2wwmfDCpwnoXsu7H-SNaThEoo6/s1600/diablo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSwItUbLavANS9R8cWG9cz39tjrftVDtKq_CiGTzmH9fYkOFl-M6iU1pWNeNQWqszaIOjAaKVt7H3-kiX8BsYFKrRuGhEhUAhfiWzDlTRR0vsI3gjkd2wwmfDCpwnoXsu7H-SNaThEoo6/s1600/diablo.jpg" /></a></div>
We all know that ANSI art has a traditional context: on IBM PCs and clones running MS-DOS, generally, and employed specifically in dial-up BBS networking connections to help spruce up bandwidth-limited textmode menu interfaces. (The hottest ANSI art was of course used to advertise the underground BBSes which offered the freshest pirated software, as they were able to swap top-rack art for unmetered "leech" privileges of unlimited downloads.) But let's back up here a second -- while the BBS context for ANSI art was the best-known, as it had legs beyond the sneakernet, it wasn't the only game in town! Plenty of software also made use of the text graphics afforded them by the ANSI extended standard of colourful high ASCII. Both of the '90s shareware lords Apogee and Epic got their start with textmode games, the former with the Kroz series and the latter with the object-oriented game engine ZZT, the subject of today's gallery.
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Other textmode games, of which there are many, will get their turn in good time, but for today, my focus is on ZZT games. Now naturally, every game made using ZZT (well, they weren't all games, sometimes other parties did what I did and abused the game-making engine to present content styled as an electronic magazine... my abuse employed a text adventure engine however 8) had textmode art -- and they were all games! But to better keep with the overarching theme of this "Video game textmode art" series of what generally amounts to fanart, today I'm limiting myself to the splash screens of fangames -- made using beloved characters from major franchises that are the intellectual property of giant companies in a totally unauthorized fashion, a grey area of fandom that is sometimes tolerated and sometimes quashed with cease & desist orders from legal departments. Ironically, much of the best ZZT ANSI art was actually made in the service of original games, perhaps calculating that the benefit of putting your best work into a project on dubious legal standing might not be the best investment of your time and effort. But it turns out that it <i>was</i>, for those are the games I feature here for your enjoyment today! You can play along if you like by perusing <A href=https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_zzt?&sort=-downloads>the extensive ZZT collection hosted over at the Internet Archive</a>, which is where I sourced these images from.
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ZZT's textmode had similar constraints to the early artists of Public Domain ANSI art in TheDraw: you were limited to a single screen of 80 columns by 25 lines, only here the constraints are more severe, as a good part of the screen is eaten up with interface and you are more limited in the potential characters at your disposal. That said, If you can draw a white circle, you can make fan-art of Codemaster's Dizzy, heroic egg of a series of platforming adventures -- and a good gloss for the round smiley-face character provided as the default player avatar in ZZT games. Here's the title screen for "Adventures of Dizzy ZZT".
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...and he logs another appearance here, introducing "Magic Land Dizzy ZZT".
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The likenesses are strained given the constraints, but these are nonetheless recognizable renditions of Nintendo's original power pair, Mario (well, still "Jumpman" initially) and the big knock-off ape himself, Donkey Kong.
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Here's an interesting one: US title screen for Enix's JRPG "Dragon Warrior" (<a href=http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/dragon-warrior/screenshots/gameShotId,105455/>not a terrible conversion</a>)...
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... followed by a screen of gameplay. Check out this overland map! If you look carefully, you will notice that this ZZT game is employing remapped text characters to represent terrain types (as well as tweaking its plaintext letters for a reviled faux-medieval effect), so it's not "stock" ANSI. XBIN ahead of its time!
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Duke Nukem represent! The Golden Age of ZZT being what it is, this could well be in homage to Apogee's original platformer series rather than its 3D Realms descendant!
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I know, I kind of got the feeling that the whole point of Fallout is that there were no longer cities filled with apartment blocks radiant thanks to a working electricity grid, but who knows, maybe this is a prequel.
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Unsurprisingly, the Final Fantasy series was too big to resist drawing into a ZZT conversion, here classily drawing the "Z" as a sword. Should we wait, perhaps, and let good taste prevail? Nonsense, we must plunge through!
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And on we go, through ZZT Final Fantasy II (known as ZZT Final Fantasy IV in North America) ... apparently a bit of a rushed job as you can see.
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And the crew from ZZT Final Fantasy returns with a slightly more polished take (I like the reflections of the "Z"s and hey, achieve a better effect with fewer stars, who would have guessed?) on their initial splash screen, now promoting ZZT Final Fantasy extreme! eXtReMe! (bite the neck off of the bottle of J0lt Cola, cue the bungee jumping electric guitar solo. Sorry, too '90s for you?)
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Speaking of polish, now we're getting some class! I can virtually guarantee you no ZZT game was ever distributed on a CD -- <i>maybe</i> on a floppy diskette -- but I guess if this one did go to the CD plant, this is an artist's conception of what the final product would have looked like. 2001, well into the ANSI art dark ages, but I guess the fire of Final Fantasy inspired this artist to keep shining his light in the darkness.
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Hats off, Chase Bramlage, we're finally approaching something resembling real ANSI art! Nice splash screen! A good fit for the aesthetic the franchise used to promote itself at that moment in time. But let's skip ahead a few installments...
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XLII = 42 in arabic numerals. We won't reach that point in the main series continuity for quite a while, so who's to say that its start screen <i>won't</i> look like this? It's like that old Einstein quote, "I don't know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
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A deft touch on the GTA font (by which I mean the font popularized by the game show The Price Is Right!) I really like the faintest shadow of a top of the "T"s, and my mind is blown a little bit boggling at how I have no memory of seeing this font used in the artscene despite its mechanical straightforwardness. (Ah, but of course, they don't necessarily do things in the scene because they're easy to do, but rather the other way around!)
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And then there's this guy, who was able to pull his finger out of his nose long enough to scrawl the letters coinciding with a game's name. (I don't mean to be unfair to the kid who cranked this out, but I know the artist who did <a href=http://www.retrogameart.com/2015/08/the-baddest-of-snks-ikari-warriors-iii.html>box art for this particular game</a> and I think there was enough to work with there to justify my expecting more.)
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Is that a Space Invader? I'm going to call it a Space Invader. (Do they have names? Well, <a href=http://spaceinvaders.wikia.com/wiki/Invaders>yes and no</a>. I'll consider it a Large Invader. We'll call him Largo.)
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Because one good Epic Megagames joint deserves another, here's their breakout star Jill of the Jungle...
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Some laws of textmode typography are eternal constants: try to cram in too many letters, and fail to outline them, and you will end up with ... unreadable character salad. And not the good kind of graffiti unreadable, just a mess. This is supposed to say "Karateka +".
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Here's something new! Occupying a niche of technological sophistication somewhere between the setting's origin on the Apple II and the PCjr debut of the series' first game, here's an ANSI art splash screen for a fangame of Sierra's King's Quest, graphic adventuring gold standard of my youth. But how would its game play translate to the very different play style afforded by the ZZT engine? Here, have a look:<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8txlm0OMTlY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>From white blob to pink blob isn't so far of a stretch, so here's HAL Labs' Kirby, ZZTified!
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For some reason, probably to do with timing, Lemmings have figured prominently skinning several ZZT fangames. You've already seen a couple of them, but here's another named individual -- following in the footsteps of the unloved Lomax the Lemming, it's Koopo! Did they name the company after the Lemming or vice versa? It's... a boring mystery!
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Well, we all had to start somewhere. I'm sure even Nintendo is not <i>that</i> proud of the game Mario Bros., and so this crude but functional portrait of Mario will have to suffice. (If this is v2.0, just imagine what the alpha looked like!)
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I was expecting a bit more to represent the groundbreaking 3D platforming of Mario 64, but we will take what we can get.
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This is a bit truer to form -- a playful, less bottom-of-the-barrel logo for Super Mario ZZT - the Great Switch Adventure!
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And they continue with a demo screen depicting the levels:
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I know, you're thinking that the ZZT play style wouldn't be able to do much with the finely tuned particulars of a Super Mario game, but as you can see, they do the best that they can:<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AqW8oGeDbH4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>And let's not leave his brother out, so here's a logo for "Luigi Land"!
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You were feeling skeptical when you saw that DooM logo up top, weren't you? ZZT, taking on a 3D FPS? Well, this splash screen evokes another one -- the fourth game in Grey Associates' "Hugo's House of Horrors" series, Nitemare 3-D!
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And because it just looked like a rotten cabbage when they tried to draw Abe, here's the Oddworld Inhabitants company logo:
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A plausible shot at a logo for Namco's flagship mascot Pac-man, including a few remapped characters for maze drawing (and hey, check out those little Pacs!)
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Perhaps by "Pokemon Ultimate" they mean "this is the last time we will try adapting Pokemon into a ZZT game". But I doubt it.
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I'm <i>really</i> skeptical that the ZZT engine would allow anyone to pull off an attempt at reproducing the strange physics of Valve's Portal, but you can't say they didn't shoot for the stars!
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While on the subject of fundamental mismatches, here's... Quake II! ZZT style!
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What, that wasn't enough for you? All right -- Quake 3 Arena, all up in your ANSI art!
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Survival horror... well now, I suppose there's no reason that <i>couldn't</i> work in ZZT. Why not Capcom's Resident Evil?
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But really this is more what I was expecting: Sonic the Hedgehog ZZT. I can't see the hedgehog (well, there he is, peeking out of the "O") but the splendid natural vistas, if somewhat blurred and blocky, are a good fit for the series.
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Maybe I should give these devs the benefit of the doubt, but all they have done is write "Tales of Phantasia" in a prefab TheDraw font. You could have written <i>any</i> game's name in there, but is there really anything inside that speaks more specifically to the game? Because, um, <a href=http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/7/7f/792.png/revision/latest?cb=20140709034342>its official logo</a> doesn't look anything like what you've got there!
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Granted, most of these logos don't bear any strong resemblance to their source series' iconography. Tomb Raider? If you say so!
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Now that's more like it! The splash screen of the ZZT adaptation of Interplay's post-holocaust RPG Wasteland... kicks things off with a bang!
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This adaptation of Wolfenstein 3-D's splash screen speaks for itself. (And what it's saying is "Mein Leben!")
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Visiting the cute side now, it's a ZZT game themed after the Super Mario spin-off Yoshi's Island:
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We must have skipped a couple, because here we are at Yoshi's Island 4. Strangely, the further we get along in the series, the more streamlined -- but more Yoshi-looking -- the Yoshis get. That first one was really more iguana.
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(Found Yoshi 3, further variations on the theme:)
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And the natural conclusion to any A-Z video game list... even in ZZT, now we have the Zs of the Zs, with this ZZT adaptation of the Legend of Zelda. It has everything you need: logo impaled by a sword, a yellow triforce, plus a tiny hut in a green field.
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OK, let's reach a little higher, shall we: The Legend of Zelda: The Land of Gannon opens with ... presumably Link... preparing to mount an assault on an ivy-covered fortified tower. Evocative! (Also starkly minimalist, but... it's unavoidable.)
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And closing things out, here's an ANSI-in-ZZT rendition of <A href=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wxiCgBt-dPo/maxresdefault.jpg>the start screen to Zelda II: The Adventure of Link</a>. Not bad!
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... and if you'd like to see just how that plays out, here you go!<p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZaMHdsa7Bi8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>That's a wrap, ANSI art and ZZT fans! But stay tuned, there's more expected soon out of Pixel Pompeii HQ. Cheers!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-86543850042667552512017-02-14T10:09:00.000-08:002017-02-14T10:09:07.495-08:00Super Mario valentines!My eldest daughter was getting excited about the approach of Valentine's Day, and I was searching my brain last night for some apt way I might express my love for her on this occasion. I asked myself what was a bond we shared and the answer came up quick: I have played a lot of Nintendo games for her spectator benefit. Surely there must be some old Super Mario Bros. valentines I could print out and customize for her! I went to Google Images to see what I could find, and decided that you, O anonymous Internet audience, might enjoy the curated report:
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Yes, yes, that is what I had in mind. Except... suiting their original target audience, these are really more appropriate for giving on a kid-to-kid basis, occasionally with kid-to-teacher ones. Is there something a little updated out there?
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuJX74l0pIYn5lLC2b2Ptd8fbxQhXQ9gGU_HRGEdQKopKkfA1fXYKD4Q1_NqH6YXqLV9BZvzRJGD9AEJTUN2K5Yr0To1UCvkDVOmOeqDqACVFKDKZzNPB2vasi9Rm8Y1Q7m21XiFCzqtn/s1600/nintendo+new+valentines.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuJX74l0pIYn5lLC2b2Ptd8fbxQhXQ9gGU_HRGEdQKopKkfA1fXYKD4Q1_NqH6YXqLV9BZvzRJGD9AEJTUN2K5Yr0To1UCvkDVOmOeqDqACVFKDKZzNPB2vasi9Rm8Y1Q7m21XiFCzqtn/s1600/nintendo+new+valentines.png" /></a></div>
Yes, there is some useable material here. But still, all the emphasis on "friend" and "pal" is not quite the way I feel about my firstborn child. Anyhow, now my curiosity was piqued, what else was out there?
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This is ... getting there...
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Leave it to the fans to deliver! Her recent stock of children's magazines has given her a taste for early wordplay, and the puns in effect here are a little less toothless. (the "so mushroom" one mos def made the cut.) But you always have to be careful where the grown-up fans are concerned, because <a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/fb/1f/3a/fb1f3ae911a44ef8e865fbde6acda2f3.jpg">they have a way of adultifying something</a> (NSFW) that was never intended to depart the realm of innocence.
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Here the cream rises to the surface -- people not just hoping for a meme joyride by slapping a caption on game sprites, but craftsmen specifically angling to get you to pay money for their copyright infringements. The context explicitly framing the game's most pervasive sexist trope is regrettable, but it's at least well executed!
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Also well-played, though if we could play down the "every breath you take" stalker subtext from valentines, that would be ideal.
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Bonus! Anything Nintendo did, Sega could do better... so I also found some vintage Sonic the Hedgehog valentines. Did you know that Sonic was a real extreme '90s party animal type character? It's true. Indeed, that's about all there is to him: Sonic the Hedgehog, the "Poochy" of the video game world.
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The fans are able to do a little more with the material.
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Being a big lover of wordplay myself, I couldn't resist including these ones, even if the characters, puns and sentiments would go over my 4-year-old's head. At least you can enjoy them!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-81800877825394507492017-01-27T12:55:00.000-08:002017-01-27T12:57:24.821-08:00Post-it note 8-bit sprites at UBC<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The courtyard behind the Beaty Biodiversity Museum is punctuated by 8-bit video game pixel art made of Post-it Notes in office windows</p>— Rowan Lipkovits (@UnwashedMass) <a href="https://twitter.com/UnwashedMass/status/814623767817121792">December 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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And here, I'll prove it, I went back and took some photos. Now, these aren't great-quality renditions for several reasons -- a) I'm sure they look much better inside their offices, the intended wallpaper orientation broadcasting inward rather than projecting outward b) I'm sure the sun has bleached the colour out of the Post-it Notes, c) supposing that the colours available in Post-it form were remotely close to the original palettes to begin with. And of course, d) you have the caveat that the office-pointing creations were mainly done for the benefit of their creators, meaning that what we see for the most part are mirror-images of the sprites. But all the same, it's a great curio distributed across several offices in several buildings! I've sorted them chronologically by game, and included original sprite art where possible for purposes of comparison.<p>
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We begin with this vessel from Taito's Space Invaders -- you may not be able to immediately place it as an Invader, and that's because what we see here is the bonus UFO that occasionally promenades across the top of the screen, presenting a bonus target for skill-shooters.
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(You know, that little red ship there!)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/UnwashedMass">@UnwashedMass</a> My roommate used to work/research in the building, but I only remember there being 1 or 2 post-it-windows at that time.</p>— Quite Likeable (@chanson_dada) <a href="https://twitter.com/chanson_dada/status/814626983501926400">December 30, 2016</a></blockquote>
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So it's a growing phenomenon!
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Next up we have some visitors from Namco's all-time video game mascot champions, Pac-Man, pursued by a ghost quick on what would be his heels if he had any, & about to snack down on a juicy cherry he only wishes was a power pill!
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(You know... Pac-Man! The sprites should be iconic by this point, they are all rendered in the appropriate proportions and ratios.)
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And here we have Nintendo's hero of Donkey Kong, Mario, living up to his original name ("Jumpman") and ... jumping. This sprite appears to be of Mundane (mushroom-less) Mario from Super Mario Bros., and conspicuously... why is he jumping left? That whole game, as Super Mario Run recently demonstrated, is simply an endless progression from left to right!
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Ah yes, he's facing left because the sprite is inverted for the benefit of the office occupant.
And ... not in the same office, but nearby, another sprite of SMB1 provenance, the best power-up the game can offer: a fire flower.
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(Not as colourful as its appearance in-game, but we take what we can get.)
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An old confidante, expert in all matters regarding the university campus for decades, explained what I saw here as a demonstration of one particular phenomenon: that grad students grow bored easily. The vintage of games represented here suggests that the hypothetical grad students in question are in their mid to late 30s, so hats off to these fully grown adults making the most of their coffee breaks! It beats working on your income tax or checking your cholesterol. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEdc68EraP60VCZQiXwue3xquhKn-PQTSc2S_CJhBNR-xdvtssGDpWJvyegyi1lmHBCZzoSYsva7iU0S_YVulg8iFqtj2OZOk5eXmMa0XJENV2uj5O19MWQupLsQsGZiC1QgpSiBumN1w/s1600/IMG_20170110_152123868_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiEdc68EraP60VCZQiXwue3xquhKn-PQTSc2S_CJhBNR-xdvtssGDpWJvyegyi1lmHBCZzoSYsva7iU0S_YVulg8iFqtj2OZOk5eXmMa0XJENV2uj5O19MWQupLsQsGZiC1QgpSiBumN1w/s640/IMG_20170110_152123868_HDR.jpg" width="360" height="640"></a></div>
Finally, we have what could either be considered a work-in-progress or ... well, I can't find the word for it: I recall that they have a room of statuary of Greek Antiquity in the Louvre, missing arms and legs -- a stream epitomized by the Venus de Milo or Winged Victory of Samothrace, beautiful despite (or perhaps because of) their missing pieces. In the "Don't Eat The Pictures" TV special, the Sesame Street crew are inadvertently locked in New York's Metropolitan Museum overnight and Oscar the Grouch sings an ode to these beautiful wrecks as the sublimest variety of garbage. Here that aesthetic philosophy is epitomized in the upper torso of Capcom's hero MegaMan captured in the middle of one of his distinctive and flamboyant underwear jumps.
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Yeah, that's the one!<div><br></div><div>I am aware that office windows pixelart installations are not unknown or even unusual, often grander in scale but merely temporary in tenure. I can go online to see them, but these are remarkable as I stumbled across the trove while going about my everyday life: reality still fails to be as echo-chamber curated as our mediated online experiences are. Despite the humbleness of these pieces, I celebrate the longevity of their slow and gradual accumulation as potential cornerstones of what might someday amount to a wildlife refuge for game sprites. I look forward to reporting back in a decade. </div><p><B>Bonus!</B> A reader noted that she had witnessed similar office-window pixelart near her workplace and submitted the following (historical, sadly -- it's been since removed) Smash-Bros. mash-up taste of Link, a Boo Buddy, and his phantasmal colleague from Pac-Man:
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Clearly all the work of a dedicated individual. I like the story told by the courtyard I found because it represents a handful of alienated souls in different fields, calling out to each other in a common language despite being strangers. If you have similar images to share, please send them in and I'll post them up here!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4937312706644745860.post-1523275416526263432017-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:002017-01-18T06:00:16.832-08:00Video game textmode art part 27: Hiding in plain sight over at Deviantart"Hey Toejam!" "Whattup, Earl?" "Check it out! I'mma pose for a piece of ANSI art while dabbing to these sick grooves!"
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Yes, my friends, it's time for another installment of Video Game Textmode Art. Now, where do you go when you're looking for ANSI art of Sega Genesis hip-hop heroes Toejam & Earl? This is a trick question: even supposing our regular haunts of sixteencolours.net and textmod.es are both feeling well enough today to serve up requests, you won't find it released in a traditional artscene context. Instead, its discovery was a happy accident at a spin-off from the artscene, that digital art gallery portfolio site known as DeviantArt, home to endless quantities of Bronie and/or erotic furry fanart. Since they offer ANSI/ASCII art as one category in their filing system, it turns out that quite a bit of modern textmode artwork has gravitated there, much of it either in an historical or a totally outsider vein... some of it dealing with video game themes such as I cover on this beat. (The above piece was drawn by one <a href=http://elph.deviantart.com/>Elph</a>.) So here today I have for you the top gamey pickings from my poring over the top 2000 returns of ANSI/ASCII its endless scroll dished up.
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Xbox 360
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We begin with the hardware, the fundamental factor without which no video gaming is possible. Here Mooks13 drew an Xbox360 suffering from the dreaded GAME OVER affliction known as the Red Ring of Death. (I'm not sure what's up with Blogger here -- I instruct it to show images at full size, and then we get this "click to see this large picture" nonsense.)
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A little more classic, here's a mint NES controller drawn by Xanta16. (You can tell that it's mint because of the absence of greasy orange Cheeto crumb accumulations in the crevices.)
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Speaking of "classic", here's a panel from a webcomic drawn in the roguelike style by nupanick1. You may not realise that you have what it takes in you to draw textmode art, but if you can string together a few lines of octothorpes with an @ in the middle, you are already a Hack cartographer par excellence! (And here you thought you were just a hack.)
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We saw a bunch of these last time, but here's another excellent specimen of its kind: a big, bold and colourful celebration of Taito's Bubble bobble, drawn by skizo.
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Enthusiasts of textmode art everywhere lost out when classic-contemporary ANSI artist <A href=http://www.bradsucks.net/archives/2015/02/06/so-long-big-yellow-man/>bym (Big Yellow Man) died in 2014</a> in a freak accident. But as the man was rigorous about mirroring his creations on DeviantArt, it was a chance to once again immerse myself in his skilled works -- and marvel at just how many of them contained references to video games! The patron saints of this blog series are Reset Survivor and Konami -- thankfully both still among the living. But a third empty chair is at the games table. Anyhow, here he drew a dragon demonstrating to some Bomberman personages just what pyrotechnics could be.
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Hadoc, have you been tampering with the retractor servomotors in MegaMan's leg again?
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A rough early work by cccfire (who has gone on to far greater things since!), this piece explores several aspects of the game Portal.
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And there's another Portal piece, by ansicat: the scope is narrower, limiting itself to an exploration of the weighted companion cube, so the focus is necessarily a little tighter.
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We've seen <A href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2016/07/textmode-art-roundup-pokemon.html>earlier in this series</a> a riotous celebration of the perhaps underrated Pokemon Mudkip -- well, here he is again, in effect and in progress in ASCII form as drawn by ansi86.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj281il6Z6DTslimFqShl2iMMCKfra4RcD7UvtSQYl-YEjeifd3NoAkNnly3LdGQSmzKOTQk-cMCOHMFhVjjbbpr_kYTonX3E2YIdkr9NMljkQkuQsElYqofhYbaNPtEj9jTPxAt5-a0lzc/s1600/the_dragons_lair_by_trash0r.png.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj281il6Z6DTslimFqShl2iMMCKfra4RcD7UvtSQYl-YEjeifd3NoAkNnly3LdGQSmzKOTQk-cMCOHMFhVjjbbpr_kYTonX3E2YIdkr9NMljkQkuQsElYqofhYbaNPtEj9jTPxAt5-a0lzc/s1600/the_dragons_lair_by_trash0r.png.jpeg"> </a>
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The picture is nothing special -- I mean, it's very nice original artwork of a textmode dragon, but as far as our specific theme of videogame-derived art goes, it's a non-starter. But wow, look at that font -- the name of the BBS advertised, "Dragon's Lair", is of course the same as that Don Bluth-animated arcade coin-op classic... and adapts its logo perfectly to the strange new blocky medium!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5G1Rb8rtfnlB1vVCptt-xNNciFyrGePufYj4P-P-gYgv57VOYS73dvbhke6mLQEYMNN0QrqI4GqtvnZesnCyRqWGgdaFmCDvryyAKl0i5KOF3rRascsF0SCoX1V86Ab5a4-oX_Z2O_zr/s1600/wolf_by_anakhronizein-d62aqyg+-+ff1.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia5G1Rb8rtfnlB1vVCptt-xNNciFyrGePufYj4P-P-gYgv57VOYS73dvbhke6mLQEYMNN0QrqI4GqtvnZesnCyRqWGgdaFmCDvryyAKl0i5KOF3rRascsF0SCoX1V86Ab5a4-oX_Z2O_zr/s1600/wolf_by_anakhronizein-d62aqyg+-+ff1.png"></a>
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Anakhronizein is most definitely one of the two flying Volk brothers from 8bitMUSH (also the textmode training ground of the above cccfire), and drew ANSI renditions of these three monsters inspired by their depictions as sprites in Final Fantasy games (<A href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2015/05/video-game-textmode-art-part-19-konamis.html>such as you've seen here before</a>): that was a wolf, here is a Medusa, and then there are three palette-swapped versions of flans as depicted in FF X-2.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKVr3-yh9iN6ql_lnuZ06HQuIGb6aBGZW5BmElL3iVCNnftFbJ5dVv8_YOiBIsJwoAS1eHv6qgsz2cQEiOFNkdd-hhPrJCKnR4ofMcoAzh6zE_XwiV2jB8bQIb1ejP7bzLSky-sEdc6db9/s1600/medusa_by_anakhronizein-d62aqmz+-+ff1.png"></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkX3l62ugzdjePPGf9b0qAyf8WHH9u_HukePT1yZQ4h1ZJJyNpJrSxr4pBBO5zvqvqTWD1tW1ypHRioXq5Ud3sN44aLyVMyzu4i6jutgWqiPG-bSzlEel-g6cwPlh4o5eEON6AvmFr1dk/s1600/flans_by_anakhronizein-d648aw8+--+based+on+flans+from+final+fantast+x-2+maybe.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkX3l62ugzdjePPGf9b0qAyf8WHH9u_HukePT1yZQ4h1ZJJyNpJrSxr4pBBO5zvqvqTWD1tW1ypHRioXq5Ud3sN44aLyVMyzu4i6jutgWqiPG-bSzlEel-g6cwPlh4o5eEON6AvmFr1dk/s1600/flans_by_anakhronizein-d648aw8+--+based+on+flans+from+final+fantast+x-2+maybe.png"> </a>
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This bad dead dude from the Badlands is an adaptation of <a href=http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/eye-of-the-beholder/cover-art/gameCoverId,150535/>Jeff Easley's box art</a> for the SSI/Westwood 1st-person CRPG Eye of the Beholder. Some liberties are taken, but isn't that always necessarily the case in textmode matters? (Well, no: sit tight for the shell script pictures of sprites from pixelart games.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiCSbOLNCqGt082as79fBSm7_bxJefKZMeQG2JHA5IzwiL7nKt2M-fbQsiN1RHb2a6plLYz1gcvMuunVwrenk4JGTRAuTH4kAyRW5nbQ8FWXPGhLP62HDuMYf6-WbTyaYp1Gvfy4QkkQV/s1600/badlands_by_sirtank.png.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbiCSbOLNCqGt082as79fBSm7_bxJefKZMeQG2JHA5IzwiL7nKt2M-fbQsiN1RHb2a6plLYz1gcvMuunVwrenk4JGTRAuTH4kAyRW5nbQ8FWXPGhLP62HDuMYf6-WbTyaYp1Gvfy4QkkQV/s1600/badlands_by_sirtank.png.jpeg"> </a>
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But first let's change gears with a most likely machine-generated (they don't much care about the finer points of how the sausage is made over at DA) ASCII art logo by pxkittylovexq for the Sega Saturn game Nights:
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvr2FGHcUv0p59cpeF-a3EvYRGOT_bgIy6CXeiEK_YttHhIQ2IboJHwtFhKEkZH1dP7Iwxdl8Hgk28TWhjjcAhyphenhyphen5i_5Jiq6SB2f8TN0QkAzFlcBHnvL7Z2a7Nk0ViZmaCF2unD6mJF8Hm/s1600/nights_by_pxkittylovexq.jpg">
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Now today the big story really is terminal scripts that work like and look like ANSI art, but aren't ANSI as we know it. But it's a big tent, and I for one am a lumper rather than a splitter, so let's welcome this stuff right on in here. hdquote opens with a pair of pixelart sprites from Cave Story, the first of which (Quote) is just getting warmed up and the second of which (Curly Brace) is in full ANSI-esque effect!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNZxxxsn-nWkLcL4HjJ4_qR6_ZHf1r4-3GMUUBggF5KVYfDLDypAa1pRjc9Z62ZZg3vaw0QYhzXVW2irjrkPYSxboTTXq93uSBDmo_3A4Anr9CJr5rAIZhLVx5xqnBx7kEvJjBZ-cUmmK/s1600/cave_story_by_hdquote-d783amc.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNZxxxsn-nWkLcL4HjJ4_qR6_ZHf1r4-3GMUUBggF5KVYfDLDypAa1pRjc9Z62ZZg3vaw0QYhzXVW2irjrkPYSxboTTXq93uSBDmo_3A4Anr9CJr5rAIZhLVx5xqnBx7kEvJjBZ-cUmmK/s1600/cave_story_by_hdquote-d783amc.png"> </a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUHCQJd8SWlUPzkFs4_cF-VdsZzpx2idF0NAAULk3kvTOOmkFmrxW5HAtCkbNLksFCDphxHVCXWyQycRIjIciPxumieRH61qA-DLhS3jg_1TxkLvHbMp1lAW6Z4pecxD3ZG5g8H7AYlCO/s1600/inpired+by+cave+story+-+lua+script+-+curly_by_hdquote-d79a8oy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYUHCQJd8SWlUPzkFs4_cF-VdsZzpx2idF0NAAULk3kvTOOmkFmrxW5HAtCkbNLksFCDphxHVCXWyQycRIjIciPxumieRH61qA-DLhS3jg_1TxkLvHbMp1lAW6Z4pecxD3ZG5g8H7AYlCO/s1600/inpired+by+cave+story+-+lua+script+-+curly_by_hdquote-d79a8oy.png"> </a>
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And since this is now the preferred medium for indie hipsterism, how about a nice hot helping of Super Meat Boy?
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdH8uW9g-vQ_9Dvv79R7mNyYvmf43bm785oIlN0K5A83Y5Af_bPHoI-k2gm0PNL9byuSQ2tY5UuLTJwNMp2zXePem-T1JvEZsXQpbACtBsyfJo0CW5wRLfYY0UdYNp4XWi4VwPBJVUxLF/s1600/hdquote-supermeatboy.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVdH8uW9g-vQ_9Dvv79R7mNyYvmf43bm785oIlN0K5A83Y5Af_bPHoI-k2gm0PNL9byuSQ2tY5UuLTJwNMp2zXePem-T1JvEZsXQpbACtBsyfJo0CW5wRLfYY0UdYNp4XWi4VwPBJVUxLF/s1600/hdquote-supermeatboy.png"> </a>
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Of course, it doesn't <i>have</i> to be rendered as ANSI to make an impact: Simon Belmont is left (by emgrte) as ASCII here and loving it!
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGoaEKVV3qjcJMO_9i3F26WPqXLxigVMdNpjdckuKTHJKzjHL5X4utAMOqcSo8n29RRNPF6BIoWxWZZ695ACgXtmOYE27bnspFLeJcrzDQeZtQoxMvblKqoeGG3aPLItFEy0FZo5nZSKL-/s1600/the_castlevania_adventure_shell_script_by_emgrte-d89ocbv.png.jpeg"></div>
The terminal shell scripting continues apace, hdquote working on a Pac-Man in progress here...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6Ajte-USvQNcqcgXy7V1LuJsxFGt4ryWdF0CLLAfJ2DrU0TBDR4Hts2Ubi9v90zIUtJST0HS68rH3BVcItIu4HkerF1SYwjOnDBPXkW3Zyosa2zBwWe9ZEt3JMHBiVJqymp6u1v7IguJ/s1600/pacman_by_hdquote-d783cnu.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6Ajte-USvQNcqcgXy7V1LuJsxFGt4ryWdF0CLLAfJ2DrU0TBDR4Hts2Ubi9v90zIUtJST0HS68rH3BVcItIu4HkerF1SYwjOnDBPXkW3Zyosa2zBwWe9ZEt3JMHBiVJqymp6u1v7IguJ/s1600/pacman_by_hdquote-d783cnu.png"></a>
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... and what naturally follows? Wait, don't answer that question, the answer is of course: a ghost! (But just which ghost is it? Thank you, Wikipedia, for keeping tabs on all the really important details... unlike BBS door games, this is totally notable!: "Kinky -- also called Kinzo -– a yellow Ghost that only appeared in Pac-Man Arrangement.")
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCLK3tjJX2y-tXyNr_Zu5xCpNS87eml-PgWZDQhVJw3ntBurzLvepzeGMTqat5gPv6kFxO8pdOxBiJOHh_KH4wKfJ7veUqAmyGTrxFJ9jc5gPDCz2RTovqP6ebhkfb8OdgMsgXLWPChQb/s1600/hdquote-pacghost.png">
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But the Pac wouldn't be held back -- here's perhaps his smallest ANSI art appearance ever, a tiny excerpt from a larger piece by our friend bym discussed above:
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdiqTqqV64vp6XhcCqCgXYaZ6ML9pNFOQu1RTIAd_3jGtndIdJkLlhDwwUb011RKMWqLkeOy2EQMsqdAtbJDIHHJKA3LJC1zsplCPFuEvkZshWtyejxNSilo4CRglsb-Qf7mUROoEM-Q7N/s1600/straffet_promo_by_bym.png.jpeg">
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And a more substantial piece: "Usual Suspects" by m00ks13:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdo9wGgdOtTkhcfgrysynsRc3vEVJnRoDU8qlqFYCfw5h3kyDeHh7Y68eUV8ZikzNroypwoPkjz8beUTnFi4YsbtuiLnFbt5C1n03esK8ub4MP9nyZIi9RlO0RRh51npfR_7qPegICyOF/s1600/usual_suspects_by_m00ks13.png.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEdo9wGgdOtTkhcfgrysynsRc3vEVJnRoDU8qlqFYCfw5h3kyDeHh7Y68eUV8ZikzNroypwoPkjz8beUTnFi4YsbtuiLnFbt5C1n03esK8ub4MP9nyZIi9RlO0RRh51npfR_7qPegICyOF/s1600/usual_suspects_by_m00ks13.png.jpeg"> </a>
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And because one oldschool turn deserves another, here's another hdquote script-produced nod to Space Invaders:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvchSI4hfiqXfiQ3984Dr106Cu4t06n7b6kxLohTw3zjGb5RDaBU1RzV0g3XV3HlmGBWuUseOaB9NQzI6kADzoJRZUsZ7GgmwQ6DuacoPWAw5DAR-yO2TqNWwBwwXyjYojfoNrcv0SOA1/s1600/invaders_by_hdquote-d783btw.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvchSI4hfiqXfiQ3984Dr106Cu4t06n7b6kxLohTw3zjGb5RDaBU1RzV0g3XV3HlmGBWuUseOaB9NQzI6kADzoJRZUsZ7GgmwQ6DuacoPWAw5DAR-yO2TqNWwBwwXyjYojfoNrcv0SOA1/s1600/invaders_by_hdquote-d783btw.png">
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And a tiny "Space Invaders" ANSI interlude by thykka as we move along...
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLV2f6zq5hyX8cZ_Cpb1bqL22MI4pVooVB8muxf29VAnx5Zlc8azQlZiNbXCJwWjNYMDtbJW6nGlhau1O1Ajl7-LndMP_-ZJI8k89OqPZ_VtmgvkFm2GUC9xFPu2OX6hDfSN51mgaQcRZ/s1600/invaders+-+ansi_header_by_thykka.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYLV2f6zq5hyX8cZ_Cpb1bqL22MI4pVooVB8muxf29VAnx5Zlc8azQlZiNbXCJwWjNYMDtbJW6nGlhau1O1Ajl7-LndMP_-ZJI8k89OqPZ_VtmgvkFm2GUC9xFPu2OX6hDfSN51mgaQcRZ/s1600/invaders+-+ansi_header_by_thykka.png"> </a>
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Here we go, scripts can also be used to render a triforce from the Legend of Zelda games...
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGOeK-dJxKHPhPum8L-clFBhhOxYTxpI4cY5l6aaEFopAM6JGKVN3TYyVyPcrDULqP9XlWOcXrytmumLzLz295IPNh1pdwrLCNkS274AGYaERLa2b29QBkx5SLrEzpv_4Iag6d3cXKyFx/s1600/triforce_by_hdquote-d79d58e.png">
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... an act that might, sometimes, be preferable to manually drawing a logo celebrating the game, as xanta16 has done here:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlyXlM0iB45xq-snvSDVqdhfe1gYycunKHGk_uMAClDRsMfnsTzvTdxaYhR6VtMjJFkCpzXprnDgelaljeK2Ruil6DmspElLpKO5v4Et0B-sqIfb-XTo06dIEtp6juZOvv0iLtmVyXpAg/s1600/legend_of_zelda_ansi_by_xanta16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQlyXlM0iB45xq-snvSDVqdhfe1gYycunKHGk_uMAClDRsMfnsTzvTdxaYhR6VtMjJFkCpzXprnDgelaljeK2Ruil6DmspElLpKO5v4Et0B-sqIfb-XTo06dIEtp6juZOvv0iLtmVyXpAg/s1600/legend_of_zelda_ansi_by_xanta16.jpg"></a>
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Ideal would be a hand-drawn ANSI art picture of Link by a skilled & talented master of the form, such as avg offers here:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNTaOdE-RHI091CdmRhAPCMFdCdR8KMqA2qGOXUEvyTH0joefia_RaBGBlw87EYdwhuJIlcvN2pw0e-IQUBUYhc9-rMglCxRJ1HE-RqKpbp-NgyNWsu0IBc5UDkXyxyn_QcZkNQb_tqAr/s1600/11_by_avg.png+-+link+from+zelda.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNTaOdE-RHI091CdmRhAPCMFdCdR8KMqA2qGOXUEvyTH0joefia_RaBGBlw87EYdwhuJIlcvN2pw0e-IQUBUYhc9-rMglCxRJ1HE-RqKpbp-NgyNWsu0IBc5UDkXyxyn_QcZkNQb_tqAr/s1600/11_by_avg.png+-+link+from+zelda.jpeg"></a>
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Yes, my friends, we're out of the trough and into the victory lap! Since I haven't played it yet, I failed to pick up on this Blocktronics Mass Effect ANSI by Aaron Frick:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh368knt4UpS0h-8OzvKIy_d15fVfrk4XDP2jnskqMLh6C6x0mIvnmmrFm8uXqVX8hpJJRN5u6aQBCqpiPlJaxhx0HxkfrpCYvbF3RUdmslVLSsHTkI_PIe00VuXAbao_am7gv3fBwA7eYs/s1600/cxtcf_asari_ans_by_aaronfrick-d8t1f4u+-+mass+effect.png.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh368knt4UpS0h-8OzvKIy_d15fVfrk4XDP2jnskqMLh6C6x0mIvnmmrFm8uXqVX8hpJJRN5u6aQBCqpiPlJaxhx0HxkfrpCYvbF3RUdmslVLSsHTkI_PIe00VuXAbao_am7gv3fBwA7eYs/s1600/cxtcf_asari_ans_by_aaronfrick-d8t1f4u+-+mass+effect.png.jpeg"></a>
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I only previously knew of a single Titanfall ANSI drawn by artscene alumnus (and now Titanfall dev -- this is no fan tribute, it comes from about as close to the horse's mouth as one can get) <A href=http://www.slothy.com/index.html>Jon "Slothy" Shiring</a>. I'm very glad I found it (in the unlikeliest of places!) because I like it quite a bit more than the other one I saw:
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9IZz4GgW8RnLzvsm9QBg5z1l21A2szgX1tlG_465pBtS8bsoEW6o5jh4rk9q8p03R8p-5FOLyBNJyc97RPJ1zzNEX_Wv5NLTDXRGRqebjWVpgnloRIX-cW2qxb8YRlT7tGZDpDIvmvJe/s1600/ls_titanfall_by_slothy-da9rz3v.png.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW9IZz4GgW8RnLzvsm9QBg5z1l21A2szgX1tlG_465pBtS8bsoEW6o5jh4rk9q8p03R8p-5FOLyBNJyc97RPJ1zzNEX_Wv5NLTDXRGRqebjWVpgnloRIX-cW2qxb8YRlT7tGZDpDIvmvJe/s1600/ls_titanfall_by_slothy-da9rz3v.png.jpeg"></a>
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Last but not least, we return to the source -- not just a subject of extreme and textmode antiquity, but also from a vintage creator of textmode art. <a href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2016/06/artscene-roundup-derek-riggs-and-eddie.html>You previously saw him on this very blog</a> cranking out enormous quantities of Iron Maiden-inspired ANSI art circa 1992 as The Necromancer, but he is back, he has found DeviantArt, he has uploaded many of his old ANSIs there, and a "recent" film has moved him to step back in the saddle: the film is GET LAMP by the same Jason Scott who runs (also the subject of <A href=http://pixelpompeii.blogspot.ca/2015/02/video-game-textmode-art-part-14-ascii.html>a previous installment of VG textmode art</a>) textfiles.com (this vintage computing ghetto really is a small world, isn't it?), a film which makes as its subject the text adventure, specifically as perfected in its commercial era by the company Infocom, purveyors of eg. Zork. (Incidentally, before GET LAMP, Jason Scott also made The BBS documentary, including an entire section entitled <A href=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ReS4Bp4IPY>ARTSCENE</a>, dedicated to those old bones I spend so much time disturbing here. One of my teenaged compositions even appears in it briefly!)
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Did I say "last"? Please excuse me, I couldn't pass up including this piece -- a crazy ANSI art adaptation by deaconpenguin of kraAaZy sprite art from the SNES cult favorite Earthbound:
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And that's all for now, video game textmode fans! But fear not: I still have a dozen or so posts's worth of this stuff hanging around in the queue -- in time I will be discharging all of it, but also visiting other related subjects dear to my heart. This one just, er, jumped the queue due to the quantity of curious and quality material, vintage and current, that presented itself relevant to this series. It came unexpected to the door and knocked so very hard I simply couldn't say no!Rowan Lipkovitshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08691096685515251681noreply@blogger.com0