what was your favourite arcade game of all time?

This might be more inclined to people who are a bit older but anyone can answer.

What was your favourite arcade game of all time?

My was Pengo (japanese Pento), I use to play that for hours as a kid, got to like level 99 on it too. :)
The other major one I use to play was Zig-Zag, also clocked that one too. :D

I know this ain't VB, but as many of the old arcade games get rewritten in VB a lot, it also might spark some new ideas for programmers on this forum to write some of the old classics. :)

I have to admit, I never spent much time at the arcades because I didn't grow-up near any but her are my favorite classic games:

All of these were for my Atari 2600

1 - Missle Command
2 - Raiders Of The Lost Ark
3 - E.T.
4 - As much as I hate to admit it, Pac Man

Orbity

The original donky kong game...it took me so long to complete...! :p

Space Invaders....

-Space Invaders

-Galaga ( My all time favorite!)

Welcome.

Super Mario Bros., Pacman

Also, check out the ages of forum threads before replying... this thread isn't exactly one of the younger threads, but that's OK. :)

Cosmic Avengers

The Games People store in Vancouver has (or had) an old machine for sale....someday.....

In the meantime, there is an emulator out for the PC, but it just isn't the same....

Other than that, I'd say Black Knight but that's a pinball game.

Might sound silly, but I never liked playing games.
Actually, I played one on Spectrum long time ago (think it was called "Horatio" or something...)

Nowdays, I've seen some pretty good looking games at my friends PC, but I really do mind buying new graphics card for every new game that comes out (and it costs even more than my PC all-together).

How do you choose one.????

Firepower (best pinball ever)
Space Invaders (Deaaath death and more death.)
Pacman (maze chasin extereme)
Centipede
Bomb Jack
Bubble Bobble (completed in 1 credit)
Ice Climber. (platforming ruleth, well until FPS came along)
Wardner
Defender
Robotron
Gaplus
Galaxian
Moon Cresta
Tempest
Astro Blaster (complete with Leonard Nimoy samples, or an approximation of)

I could probably list 100 games if I actually sat here and thought through my mispent youth :)

Space Invaders
Mario Bros
Doom2
Commandos

Hmmm, I'll assume that you mean "arcade" by putting in a quarter & playing the game, I have a few, I guess:

The first 3 Mario Brothers were in arcades at one point (or at least in the Pizza Hut around the corner from my house:-\)

Crime Fighters: Some 4 player Double Dragon look-a-like
Double Dragons: Side Scroller Fighting Game
Bad Dudes: Another Side Scroller

And the old Space Invaders/Pacman classics, but they were out a few years in arcades before I was born :(
Ed

Atari 2600:

Demon Attack
River Raid
Asteroids (once played a single game for 9 hours)
Pitfall

Cool, another 2600 fan :).
My faves were:

Indy500
Stargate
Asteroids
Pacman

omg: The sad thing I still remember river-raid on the Atari 2600. :(

That was the one which was a 2 or 4 colour side scroller shoot em up (top view). :D

-Defender
-Asteroids

1) "Pong" -- the kind that came just as the counsel with two knobs on it and some switches to change between "Jai Lai, Hockey, Tennis, Handball",etc. We used to play that for hours on a 12" black and white TV

2) Millipeed, Crystal Castles, and Pacman for the Atari 2600

3) Mario Brothers, Tecmo Superbowl, and RBI Baseball for the original Nintendo

4) Super Mario World for the SNES II

4) Halo for the XBox. We have a 55" TV, 6 surround sound speakers, and a dual bass canon center piece. Ummm....two words for you: sensory overload

Does anyone remember a 2600 game that was sort of like breakout, only with 4 players. One in each corner and the idea was to kill the opposing Kings.

Where do you draw the line as to what constitutes an Arcade game?

Favourites of mine are Chuckie Egg, Pacman and Commando. :)

Centipede!


:D :D :D

:D Just about anything for the atari I like. If I had to pick I'd say Pacman and Pong! Of course I also liked pitfall.....heck I liked them all. :D :D

Pitfall.... haha. I remember that one too. :D

I can't remember the 4 player breakout game though. :confused: :)

Here is a link to all the Atari 2600 games...

www.atariage.com (http://www.atariage.com/system_items.html?SystemID=2600&ItemTypeID=SCREENSHOT)

There has been a fair few games here that I've either forgotten about or never heard of before, one good thing is people who wish to write simple games with VB can look at these old games for some inspiration and new ideas. :)

Chrominum.

I loved shooting those endless array of enemies and gathering the TUX penguins.

What I really think is crazy is where are video games going to be at in say, 20 years from now?

Even today's video game programmers are hindered by system capabilities. When you buy a video game and read the minimum requirement is 450 mHz, that is because the gaming company designed the game with the largest amount of people in mind (not alot of people are constantly buying a new 2.2gHz computer) because, after all, they are a business and need to sell as much of their product as possible. The reason why the Xbox rocks is that the games are wrote for a 733 mHz processor.

If, exactly 20 years ago, we were only on the brink of creating a "square guy" (Mario) in a game like Donkey Kong and having him be able to move up/down and left/right on the sreen -- and right now we have things like the XBox and PS2 -- where are we going to be at in the year 2022?

"Most experts, including Moore himself, expect Moore's Law to hold for at least another two decades." ~IBM

If molecular breakdown is not reached and if Moores Law holds true (processor speed doubling every 18 months, then we will be sitting like the following over the next 20 years (only considering every 36 months):

2002 May 2.4
2004 May 9.6
2006 May 38.4
2008 May 153.6
2010 May 614.4
Note: Terahertz plateau cracked around 2011
2012 May 2457.6
2015 May 9830.4
2017 May 39321.6
2019 May 157286.4
2021 May 629145.6
Note: Petahertz plateau cracked around 2021
2022 Nov 1258291.2


Let us assume that we stay on a silicon based system (we won't.) Well, that puts around the Petahertz plateau in 2022. However, if you couple the above info with the fact that the standard will soon be the Quantum processor (working with dual-capable "qubits" instead of today's bits), well that is pretty staggering IMO. The storage of ONE qubyte is capable of holding a practically infite number!

IMO, there will have to be new laws to regulate everything. There will be no reality. You will be able to create your "own reality." This, in the hands of the wrong people, will be a bad thing. However, the video games will seriously rock! BUUUUT, they will never, ever be able to compare to the popularity of the original Pacman. Woooohooo!

A qubit, I've never heard of it. How is that possible?


Oh I get it, atomic computers.

Originally posted by VB_ACK
A qubit, I've never heard of it. How is that possible?


Oh I get it, atomic computers.


Yes, it is a bit capable of simultaneously holding 0 and 1.

As taken from http://www.qubyte.com:
"A qubyte, being made up of eight qubits, can be all values from zero to 255 simultaneously. Extending this concept to multi-qubyte systems, it can be seen that there is potential for computational efficiency exponentially beyond anything possible with classical computers."

Don't believe everything you read online. But, my buddy is a physics grad student and he said that is a good site.

Wow. Sounds insightful.
Those numbers are in GHz?

I can see a video game system that is a building in the backyard.
The inside of this building is capable of creating lush 3D graphics that fill the room.
You become the player of your favorite new game.

Super Mario 2080. :)

Originally posted by Iceplug
Wow. Sounds insightful.
Those numbers are in GHz?


Yes, they are in gHZ.
1,000 ghZ = 1 tHz
1,000 tHz = 1 pHz

so 1258291.2 gHz in 2022 is 1.25 pHz. Don't forget, we're only around 2.2 gHz area right now!

Originally posted by Rezner
The reason why the Xbox rocks is that the games are wrote for a 733 mHz processor.

Ah, but will it still rock next year, when PC games will be requiring 733s as minimum spec?

Yes, they are in gHZ.
1,000 ghZ = 1 tHz
1,000 tHz = 1 pHz
- Rezner


THz and PHz... anything about EHz?

Also I heard that there would be some kind of breakpoint frequency... something to do with the speed of light.
But, I guess we can compress our computers so that this won't happen... or has this happened already? I haven't looked for this info yet.

Super Mario THz. :)
Ah, but will it still rock next year, when PC games will be requiring 733s as minimum spec? - Squirm
Maybe not the XBox, but the XBox 2 with games that run on a 1.## GHz processor. :)

Originally posted by Squirm


Ah, but will it still rock next year, when PC games will be requiring 733s as minimum spec?

CurrentXBoxMin = 733
AvgCurrentPCMin = 366

For x = Year(Now) To Year(Now) + Infinity
CurrentXBoxMin = (AvgCurrentPCMin * 2) * (BillGatesWorth/AvgAmericanIncome)
NextThe formula is a little hard to follow, but it should work. The XBox is currently billions of dollars in the hole (all by design) and it still is forecasted to make bazillions. The only corporation in the world capable of funding such an operation is owned by, your friend and mine, Bill Gates.

I donno, I think most people (definitely the market leading category: kids) simply do not like playing the typical video game on their PC (some games are better though.)

I don't want to put a damper on things, but I find it hard to believe those figures will be correct. Though I hope I'm wrong here. :D

At the moment, 0.13 micron process of cpus are now at the limit at which they can physically function, hence the move to 0.09 microns which will yield greater speed increases.

The biggest problem is heat. The smaller you make the chip, the less surface area it has to disperse the heat, and so the hotter the transistor junctions gets, the more latency it has (which means it runs slower)
So if you keep making the chips smaller and smaller, the heat will increase more and more.
The new cpus have over 20 million transitors in them, and each will create heat as they trigger at 2.0+ Ghz.
So I would be amazed if they can makes cpus go over 10 gig without a very radical new design for them.

Originally posted by Iceplug
THz and PHz... anything about EHz?

Well, if quantum based computers become a reality then the hertz speed will basically not even matter.

But, to answer your question:
prefix decimal binary
kilo- 1000^1 1024^1 = 2^10 = 1,024
mega- 1000^2 1024^2 = 2^20 = 1,048,576
giga- 1000^3 1024^3 = 2^30 = 1,073,741,824
tera- 1000^4 1024^4 = 2^40 = 1,099,511,627,776
peta- 1000^5 1024^5 = 2^50 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
exa- 1000^6 1024^6 = 2^60 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976
zetta- 1000^7 1024^7 = 2^70 = 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424
yotta- 1000^8 1024^8 = 2^80 = 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176

According to Moore's Law, the exahertz plateau of the traditional silicon system would not be reached until around 2045. Again, this is assuming that molecular breakdown does not occur (you can only make something so small.)

Also, the quantum thing is possible (there are quantum computers around today) but is still somewhat hypothetical on the level discussed in my recent posts. The quantum computer would bring new definition to the term "crash" -- because it could blow you and your house to smitherians.

Originally posted by Pookie
I don't want to put a damper on things, but I find it hard to believe those figures will be correct. Though I hope I'm wrong here. :D

At the moment, 0.13 micron process of cpus are now at the limit at which they can physically function, hence the move to 0.09 microns which will yield greater speed increases.

The biggest problem is heat. The smaller you make the chip, the less surface area it has to disperse the heat, and so the hotter the transistor junctions gets, the more latency it has (which means it runs slower)
So if you keep making the chips smaller and smaller, the heat will increase more and more.
The new cpus have over 20 million transitors in them, and each will create heat as they trigger at 2.0+ Ghz.
So I would be amazed if they can makes cpus go over 10 gig without a very radical new design for them.

Pookie -- you are absolutely correct, the #1 problem is heat. However, the staggering numbers I am putting forth are fully attainable. The thing is though, the the processors would not be cooled with the traditional heat sink and fan system. There are numerous possibilities of cooling them, of which a submersed case one of. The motherboard, memory, processor and everything else would be submersed in a coolant. 3M manufacturers a chemical called hydrofluoroether (http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/supergeek/story/0,24330,3340252,00.html) (HFE), which is widely considered to be the cooling choice of the future. A few highlights from that article are 1) It costs $220 per gallon 2) You will never have to replace it 3) It works with polymer plastics 4) it's not flammable 5) it does not conduct electricity. I guess when it comes to the future of computing technology, a person really has to think "outside the box."

I saw an epside of The Screen Savers (http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/supergeek/story/0,24330,3380128,00.html) where they submersed every component in HFE and it worked great. The only problem was that it got too cold. The amazing part was that the computer did not start acting weird until around -10 degrees and didn't totally freeze up until round -20!

Obviously, there will be improvements made in this area once heat is truly an issue.

EHz = 1 E18 Hz = 1 quintillion operations per second.
Also, the quantum thing is possible (there are quantum computers around today) but is still somewhat hypothetical on the level discussed in my recent posts. The quantum computer could bring new definition to the term "crash" -- because it could blow you and your house to smitherians.
Ouch... there's a price to pay for everything. :) ;)

The only problem I see with submerged cases is that it doesn't lend itself well to upgrades. I think most of you will agree that cpu's are not the area in computers that need to advance. Hard Drives and slower peripherals will need to be advanced futher to lessen the gap between the already fast componants, CPU/Memory and the slower hardrive and pci buses. This is where a radical improvment is needed, not with the cpu.

There is no need having a cpu that runs at 100 GHZ if it can only get instructions from the hard drive at 100 MB/s. Look in the future for drives made totally with sram, same as on the cpu's cache. It would be fast, expensive at first, but would instantly propel hard drives forward decades. I also look for buses to get a real kick in the pants. My point is that only when the rest of the bottle necks on the system board are brought more in line with the speed of the cpu can real advancement begin. :D

matticus_99,

You are right, upgrading would be pain if you were using HFE. But, the question is will people have the need to upgrade?

Even if you consider revolutionary forms of MUIs (Multimedia User Interfaces) replacing the current GUIs, how much computing power will that take? I think that the need to upgrade is going to get less and less. It is already happening now with the current computing standard. There have been many standards... namely punch cards, command lines, and GUIs.

The average Joe Lunchbox realizes that he does not need to upgrade his 750mHz machine to a new 2gHz just to do some word processing, surf the web, and check email. Why? Because he satisfied in how he meets the standard (inadequately as it may be.) This is why most of the computer retail industry lost a lot of money last fiscal year. Several years ago, there was a big jump from a 486 to a Pentium class processor and then from the Pentium to the PII and PIII. So everybody wanted to upgrade.

The need to do so is dwindling. However, new standards arise, so software will more and more "push the envelope". But, I think even new standards will eventually stop churning up and people will just "buy a computer" and the speed will not even be an issue.

The computers of that age will do any calculation in less than one millionth of a second, simulate anything you want and practically read your mind. What else do you need? (tongue in cheek)

What else you need?
I am never satisfied. :D


You touched on another issue, software. I think software will need to advance significantly as well to take advantage of this power. This is especially evident in the graphics card market. We have new cards that can process trillions of texels/s, but currently there are only a few games that make use of this power. This is one reason why the market is hurting. As you mentioned it doesn't take 2 GHZ to run IE or Word, they run fine on a 500 MHZ machine. So why go and buy a 400 dollar graphics card when a 200 dollar card will do the job just fine.

Intersting side note, game sells are outpacing CD sells. :)

Originally posted by matticus_99
You touched on another issue, software. This is especially evident in the graphics card market. We have new cards that can process trillions of triangles/s but currently there are only a few games that make use of this power.

Right on. But the reason is not because they can't take advantage of it, but instead because they don't want to. They have to produce a product that will appeal to the largest number of people in order to make money. Unfortuneatly, most people still do not have spiffy new graphics cards and other high-end components.

Good point though.

It really is a balancing act. ID software is one company that is really doing wonders for the gaming industry.

Oh, for anyone still interested in the ARCADE GAMES (and also any old 8-bit game it seems) about which this thread was started, here are some more of my favourites:


Manic Miner, and its sequel, Jet Set Willy
The RPG Gauntlet
Nebulus
Elite


As for the CPU cooling thing, if they can cool nuclear power stations, they can cool a computer CPU! Although, it may become to the stage where instead of central heating systems, buildings simply pump CPU air around, it could also be used for cooking.

Heh, craziness :D

I guess one problem they would have to look at is if they did use HFE to fill up the whole case is the impact it would have on laptop computers, as they will get a lot heavier to carry around, so unless you don't need much liquid in them, ie the laptops like fit into your pocket :D then having one would be for body builders only. :D

One way to get around the fsb problem would be if these chips were so fast, then they may as well incorporate the ram into the cpu itself, in a similar fashion to the cache.
I've heard the new 64 bit amd chips have the ram built into them now, and can be linked to other cpus on the same motherboard to increase speed and memory at the same time.

Also, the harddrive would have to be overhauled into some type of static ram block which would remove most of the heat radiating from it and also speed it up by 1000+ times.

Should be intereresting to see how computers evolve in the next 30 years, as they have only been around for 30+ years so far, and already they have hit over 3ghz.

One other thing: I think Elite was the biggest game of it's time, it was absolutely awesome. :D

Originally posted by Squirm Oh, for anyone still interested in the ARCADE GAMES (and also any old 8-bit game it seems) about which this thread was started...What are the requirements to classify it as an "ARCADE GAME" ?

I used to love going to Chuck E. Cheese and playing skeetball and this one game where you had a hammer and had to bonk these moles on the head that popped out of holes. Now those are a couple classic arcade games!

As for what you traditionally think of when you hear "Arcade" video games... three games come to mind for me. Pacman, Dig Dug, and the original Mortal Combat. I remember playing MK in high school in the "Winner stays, Challenger Pays" type of setting for 8 hours a crack with 50 people watching. Pacman is still probably in 75% of arcades around. Now that is some staying power! Geez, you can't even walk into an arcade today and not hear the sound of Pacman dying.

my favorite game of all-time is Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (it has such a good soundtrack)

& I've always like Tetris....(which I hold a verified world record for on N64...in case anyone is impressed. my friends aren't:( )

R-Type!

Loved Mario Bros too :)
And I think I'll add Xenon and Xenon 2 to the list too :)
Ooh I forgot: Turrican!

And I LOVE Final Fantasy RPG's (and other rpg's) although they don't quite fit the arcade category :D