I see no point in offering criticism at this point; to wit, look at early episodes of Matt Chat to see how far I've evolved.
First of all, I meant no offense in my last comments that seemed to be interpreted as "critical" of Bill's "Armchair Arcade TV" episode, Mancopter.
On the contrary, "AATV: Mancopter" was quite interesting and well-done, and it was certainly surprising on several levels, and Bill is absolutely on to something with these videos.
Despite what Bill said, the video "didn't drag" at certain spots. I was captivated throughout. One of the surprises of the video was finding out that "Mancopter" was released in 1984. Learning that, my opinion of Mancopter raised substantially! Out of context of the time period, Mancopter looks like an ordinary, regular-joe game for the Commodore 64, although still impressive in some aspects (like multi-parallax scrolling!). But as a 1984 game, that changes the perspective drastically! With my limited experience with the C64 during that time period, I recall little to nothing during that time period that looked as impressive as this, graphically! Keep in mind that I (and my friends) were Atari 8-bit loyalists at the time, and would occasionally attend Commodore 64 users group meetings for a good laugh at their inferior games (to our Atari minds). Occasionally, there were a few impressive games, but for the most part, we were smug in our "superiority."
I never saw "Mancopter" back then. That would have definitely poked a hole in our smug Atari armors! Yes, that one fact alone made this episode fascinating. Up until then, I think the most amazing things I saw on the C-64 were "Space Taxi" and "Forbidden Forest," which were really not all that amazing in our eyes.
Bill's "Armchair Arcade TV" series has TREMENDOUS potential! Can you think of anyone else on Earth who has such a vast arsenal of retro-oriented software and hardware to showcase in an intelligent, in-depth fashion? Certainly neither Matt or Mark can compare in this area, which is no slight to either guys, of course. (I hope you guys know what I mean, and do not interpret that as criticism, because it isn't, period.)
There was already a significant production-value improvement to AATV between the first and second episodes. Bill is a guy who learns fast.
Bill strikes me as a tough-as-nails guy who has stone-hard cajones, and can take a little criticism in stride. His reaction to my apparent "criticisms" confirms this, although I don't feel I was being critical. In fact, re-reading my own post ("oh my God, was I criticizing his video???"), I don't think it was critical so much as limiting the praise of the good points and adding my two cents as to playing to his strong points. Bill seemed like he was going for a light tone with the intro, then it was very serious through the commentary, then back to lighthearted "outro." I suspect that as Bill settles into a groove, AATV will settle into an entertaining "style" that works, much like "Matt Chat" has. And the gaming world, and especially the name "Armchair Arcade," will be the better for it.
Matt Barton wrote:
I definitely see that with the mancopter bit; you look very pleased with your own cleverness and that is contagious--appeals to the nerd in all of us when we're able to pull something like that off. You have a way of being "smug" about things that is not offensive but rather fun and even inspiring. The viewer wants you to be smug! I remember the older video where you pulled out all the different contraptions and ended up with "Why not the real thing?" I bet I wasn't the only one thinking, "hell, yeah!"
I agree, and that was my point. Bill has a "dry" humor style, and that is a great asset. Use it! AATV has the potential for valuable, historical viewing, and Bill knows this. That's what I was trying to say. Not over-the-top clown-nose stuff, but Bill being Bill. How can you go wrong with Bill being himself?
Maybe I'm being too defensive, and of course, way too verbose (brevity is not my strong point!), but I was not being critical in my previous post. I just think Bill should go with his strong points, and one of his is his sense of humor.
I see no point in offering criticism at this point; to wit, look at early episodes of Matt Chat to see how far I've evolved.
First of all, I meant no offense in my last comments that seemed to be interpreted as "critical" of Bill's "Armchair Arcade TV" episode, Mancopter.
On the contrary, "AATV: Mancopter" was quite interesting and well-done, and it was certainly surprising on several levels, and Bill is absolutely on to something with these videos.
Despite what Bill said, the video "didn't drag" at certain spots. I was captivated throughout. One of the surprises of the video was finding out that "Mancopter" was released in 1984. Learning that, my opinion of Mancopter raised substantially! Out of context of the time period, Mancopter looks like an ordinary, regular-joe game for the Commodore 64, although still impressive in some aspects (like multi-parallax scrolling!). But as a 1984 game, that changes the perspective drastically! With my limited experience with the C64 during that time period, I recall little to nothing during that time period that looked as impressive as this, graphically! Keep in mind that I (and my friends) were Atari 8-bit loyalists at the time, and would occasionally attend Commodore 64 users group meetings for a good laugh at their inferior games (to our Atari minds). Occasionally, there were a few impressive games, but for the most part, we were smug in our "superiority."
I never saw "Mancopter" back then. That would have definitely poked a hole in our smug Atari armors! Yes, that one fact alone made this episode fascinating. Up until then, I think the most amazing things I saw on the C-64 were "Space Taxi" and "Forbidden Forest," which were really not all that amazing in our eyes.
Bill's "Armchair Arcade TV" series has TREMENDOUS potential! Can you think of anyone else on Earth who has such a vast arsenal of retro-oriented software and hardware to showcase in an intelligent, in-depth fashion? Certainly neither Matt or Mark can compare in this area, which is no slight to either guys, of course. (I hope you guys know what I mean, and do not interpret that as criticism, because it isn't, period.)
There was already a significant production-value improvement to AATV between the first and second episodes. Bill is a guy who learns fast.
Bill strikes me as a tough-as-nails guy who has stone-hard cajones, and can take a little criticism in stride. His reaction to my apparent "criticisms" confirms this, although I don't feel I was being critical. In fact, re-reading my own post ("oh my God, was I criticizing his video???"), I don't think it was critical so much as limiting the praise of the good points and adding my two cents as to playing to his strong points. Bill seemed like he was going for a light tone with the intro, then it was very serious through the commentary, then back to lighthearted "outro." I suspect that as Bill settles into a groove, AATV will settle into an entertaining "style" that works, much like "Matt Chat" has. And the gaming world, and especially the name "Armchair Arcade," will be the better for it.
I definitely see that with the mancopter bit; you look very pleased with your own cleverness and that is contagious--appeals to the nerd in all of us when we're able to pull something like that off. You have a way of being "smug" about things that is not offensive but rather fun and even inspiring. The viewer wants you to be smug! I remember the older video where you pulled out all the different contraptions and ended up with "Why not the real thing?" I bet I wasn't the only one thinking, "hell, yeah!"
I agree, and that was my point. Bill has a "dry" humor style, and that is a great asset. Use it! AATV has the potential for valuable, historical viewing, and Bill knows this. That's what I was trying to say. Not over-the-top clown-nose stuff, but Bill being Bill. How can you go wrong with Bill being himself?
Maybe I'm being too defensive, and of course, way too verbose (brevity is not my strong point!), but I was not being critical in my previous post. I just think Bill should go with his strong points, and one of his is his sense of humor.
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