The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

I used to think I was nerdy,

I used to think I was nerdy, until I got out of high school and started meeting some true nerds. Just liking games and computers doesn't make you a nerd. Obsessing over that stuff to the point where you have no social life beyond it does. These are people who literally think or talk of nothing else but their favorite hobby or show (such as Star Trek), and trying to get them off the topic is nearly impossible. They also tend to have no personal hygiene skills, so they may go days or even weeks without showering, shaving, washing their clothes, etc--all by choice.

If it's true what I've heard about Michael Phelps, even he is a kind of nerd to me. If he literally thinks of nothing 24/7 but swimming and exercising, he'd not be any fun to hang out with. I don't like being around anyone who is too stuck on one thing.

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 8:44am — Bill Loguidice

Life is good

Mark Vergeer wrote:

I am not ashamed of my gaming. My colleagues at work know I am into video games - amongst quite a few other interests - and I am a psychiatrist/medical doctor. Among my colleagues it is not perceived as a childish dorky somewhat regressive hobby, in fact video gaming is on the rise and a lot of adult colleagues playing games and are buying games.

If I were ever in the past, I'm not now. I like to think my passion for videogames is positive, not negative, and I live my life the way I want to, as well rounded as possible, taking care of mind, body and spirit (in a non-religious way). If someone is going to be critical of my association with videogames, that to me is their own insecurities coming forward and the need to be a sheep and go along with stereotypical societal norms that don't even really exist. It's a lack of maturity if you're critical of something positive in someone else's life.

Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.

Fri, 08/29/2008 - 6:31am — Mark Vergeer

Any reply is good -

Any reply is good - regardless of it being it later than you'd wanted

And now - a little game of Gyruss, followed by a round of Time pilot - which is running on the same hardware by the way (now that latest statement is of course geeky and nerdy but I don't give a sh*t)

:-P

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

Tue, 08/26/2008 - 9:33pm — Rowdy Rob

Belated thoughts on "King of Kong."

Sorry for replying to an old thread (my Internet participation has been limited for quite a while), but I saw this movie at least a few months ago, and I thought it gave old-school video gamers a bad rap.

While the documentary was somewhat informative on the inner secrets of Donkey Kong (particularly on high-scoring levels and quirks I will never hope to see), it made these old-school gamers look juvenile, uber-geeky, and pathetic. For people to place such life importance to such a trivial matter as being "the King of Kong" would seem laughable to even the casual gamer, and even more so the non-gamer.

On the cover of the "King of Kong" DVD box, a reviewer is quoted as saying the movie is "hilarious." A videogame enthusiast wouldn't really understand why, since a world record in Donkey Kong would seem to be quite respectable, but I suspect the reviewer was a casual or non gamer. From this perspective, the stars of the documentary would be perceived to be fighting over the equivalent of "king of the playground." Since these gamers in the documentary were older (as in our age demographic), being associated with these sorts of gamers is somewhat embarrassing, and I'm generally unashamed of my gaming habits.

Now I know it was just a slanted documentary, and the gamers in the movie almost certainly have full, rewarding lives, but seeing them portrayed as playground dorks was quite unsettling to me... I hope I don't come across like that to my non-gaming peers!

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Tue, 07/22/2008 - 3:31am — Mark Vergeer

Yes I think so let's stick

Yes I think so let's stick to home-made stuff. In a little while I will have created some more system-icons as I am falling behind a little with all the extra systems we have covered so far. If you have any requests just send a photo/a couple of photos of the desired system and I can see what I can come up with in a 32x32 pixel format.
Cheers, Mark

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 1:58pm — Bill Loguidice

Sprite issues

Mark Vergeer wrote:

The retrogamezone website is filled with all sorts of great game bitmaps. Perhaps they allow us to use some of them?

Found another site with Snes sprites:
http://www.nes-snes-sprites.com/

There is nothing left for me to do, except perhaps create some custom animations from those provided we are able to use them.

It's up to you if you want to go to the trouble of creating some custom animations or not. It would be neat. It would also be neat to have a few choice static selections from their collection, also as icons. It seems to be pretty straightforward in regards to usage: http://www.retrogamezone.co.uk/Disclaimer.htm

Certainly adding a link in our links section and acknowledging them would be a way to go. That's of course assuming we just didn't want to rip some sprites ourselves, though as I write that I'm starting to get uncomfortable regarding issues of copyright. Perhaps we're just best off with your excellent original icons, Mark, after all... ;-)

Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 12:54pm — Mark Vergeer

The retrogamezone website is

The retrogamezone website is filled with all sorts of great game bitmaps. Perhaps they allow us to use some of them?

Found another site with Snes sprites:
http://www.nes-snes-sprites.com/

There is nothing left for me to do, except perhaps create some custom animations from those provided we are able to use them.

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 12:45pm — Bill Loguidice

Image rippers

Thanks for the link, Mark. Those rippers are very cool. I remember one from years ago that worked on MAME.

Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 12:43pm — Mark Vergeer

Bill, on the Donkey Kong graphic

This one is mine. Ripped it with a third party tool from Zophar and added a black out-line to make it stand out more. I was thinking about doing some old bitmap recreations as some new Icons but I do lack the time for now, besides someone has beaten me to it. Take a loot at this:

http://www.retrogamezone.co.uk/NES.htm

Editor / Pixelator - Armchair Arcade, Inc.
www.markvergeer.nl

Mon, 07/21/2008 - 10:39am — Bill Loguidice

DK

By the way, Mark, I love that animated Donkey Kong from the NES version. Is that one of yours? It would be awesome to have a few more characters to choose from in our icons selection.

Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.

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