ScuzzBlog: Diaries May 2020
Entry 26th May 2020: Post 1: The Impact of Breakout Invading Arkanoid.
The Impact of Breakout Invading Arkanoid.
I have a very personal view that all computer video games evolved
from PONG. The very first computer game of PONG was invented way
back in 1958 by William Higinbotham. It took Atari until 1972 to
bring it to the Arcades with the first commercial release.
The old paddle and ball would become the subject of so many Arcade
and TV games for some time to come. For me the evolution of PONG
to Space Invaders and even Tetris is driven by a game built by
none other than Steve Wozniak in 1976, and called Breakout. If you
study the base concept of Breakout you can pretty much see how
the ball and paddle become spaceships and missiles. And shooting
in games comes of age. Everything else that has happened is a
direct consequence of this.
Anyhoo... I was playing PONG in the pubs when it first came out
and was playing Breakout and Invaders as soon as they reached
the arcade machines. Back then games were only playable in
arcades, pubs and clubs. Invaders was truly massive and you just
couldn't get on a machine back in the day.
Little surprise that the first game I bought for the ZX81 was
Space Invaders.
As for Breakout or variants of the style I guess most would pull
Arkanoid from their collection to play. For me I prefer Impact
cus I can use the construction disk to make my own. Breakout is
for me the most addictive game ever made. Simply cus the process
is not only hypnotic but it requires fast and accurate reflexes
and also is so stimulating when you feel the computer is fighting
on your behalf. Especially when you get the break through and the
little projectile starts wreaking havoc above the target line.
As for PONG, well it's really boring playing on your own. Well
unless it is the Wayne's World version... 'bring it on party time'.
There you have it, quite simply the greatest game ever made.
' Which one ? ' ... all of them. From day dot to today. Thank
goodness for computer gaming. It beats real life any day. There
is a great line in Hitman that goes ' Same shit, different day '.
Sums up the world. That is why I play computer games. Otherwise
I'm convinced I would go bonkers.
The Impact of Breakout Invading Arkanoid.
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