My son Jimmy found a Jakks / Namco Arcade Classics Plug and Play TV Games mini-console that I picked up at Target way back in 2003. He started playing Dig Dug on it and loves it.

This is a complete shock to me because I didn't know we had left this game in the TV stand below the DVD player and VCR.

I don't think that Jimmy fully understands nuances of the games like the ability to inflate the Dig Dug monsters until they pop. But that really didn't matter. The game's simple music and graphics were entertainment for him during a day when everybody else in the family was pretty sick.

I don't know why I was so amazed at the fidelity of iPhone app versions of some of these games to the original arcade games. Looking back at this little box that I paid $24.95 for back in December 2003, it demonstrates that these games can be produced to work well on a standard definition TV. These games can certainly be reproduced on the iPhone.

The price point that Jakks Pacific and Namco put this game at six years ago also foreshadows the prices that they would end up charging for games in the iTunes App Store. Pole Position Remix at $2.99 and PAC-MAN Lite (free) are both on the apps page where I keep most of my games.

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In Episode 45 of Tekzilla Daily, Patrick Norton pointed out a website called System Requirements Lab that can help you determine if your PC has the minimum or recommended hardware and software necessary to run dozens of popular PC games.

I tried this myself and the way it works is to download either a signed Java or Active X component which collects information about your PC and compares it to System Requirements Lab's database of minimum game requirements. If you pass those requirements, it also tells you if your PC meets the recommended requirements for the game you chose. If your machine comes in above the minimum and below the recommended requirements, then certain features of the game will appear degraded or won't operate at all.

I asked System Requirements Lab if my Dell Latitude C810 can run UEFA Champions League 2006-2007. The site told me that my machine failed the CPU minimum requirement, CPU minimum speed, and video card minimum requirement test. It recommended that I buy a new machine, and referred me to a customized list at CNET.com. I guess it's a good thing that one is already on order.

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Earlier this week MacRumors reported that Apple had released the "Pole Position Remix" game for the iPhone. This is a remake of the classic Namco video game Pole Position that I played more than anyone else as a kid.

The last time I talked about Pole Position on Operation Gadget was three years ago when I picked up a copy of an inexpensive TV game called Namco II: Ms. PacMan and 5 TV Games. I loved that game. I hope that Apple releases "Pole Position Remix" for the iPhone after the iPhone Software Development Kit comes out next month.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Wall Street Journal reports that quite a few Nintendo Wii owners are developing aches and pains as a result of playing Wii Sports (included with the Wii console), Rayman Raving Rabbids and other games that require a bit of physical exertion.

One of the more interesting aspects of the article is a link that the author posted to the Wii Experience Page, a collection of videos that show how volunteers reacted when confronted with playing Wii games for the first time.

I'd love to give some of these games a try, if only to see what a relatively well-conditioned person would experience after playing some of the movement-oriented games for a couple of hours. The big problem of course is, how do you get a Wii console for anything close to the list price?

I think the Wii is going to be a hit and will change the video game business because it's going to force competitors to include more movement in game play. Every movement-oriented game I've ever tried in arcades has been interesting. A few have been a real blast to play. I hope that we see more of these games in the future.

Technorati Tags: Wii, Nintendo Wii, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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Martin O'Donnell pointed out an article from The Wall Street Journal that warns of more extreme toy and game shortages during this holiday season than in recent years. The shortages will be more extreme this year due to cautious retail strategies (brought on by poor sales of supposed-hot toys last year), production problems (resulting from labor shortages and infrastructure problems in China), and surprisingly high demand for the toys here in the USA.

All of this points to possible frustration and disappointment while shopping later this week. You may want to consider shopping for popular toys and games before Thanksgiving, if you have time.

An example of hot toy shortages cited in the article is the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playset. This electronic clubhouse has a suggested retail price of $39, according to The Wall Street Journal article. Third parties are trying to capitalize on the shortage by selling the clubhouse for $90 or more. If you want this toy for your children, a far better option is to look on DisneyShopping.com, where the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playset can be found for $49.95 as of this writing.

It's a good thing that my son doesn't have his heart set on anything in particular for Christmas, otherwise I'd be competing for the hot toy for my son's age group against his peers' parents. Next year we may have our first direct experience with toy shortages. [ Subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Technorati Tags: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Playset, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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Martin O'Donnell pointed out that Brier Dudley of The Seattle Times didn't like The Sony PlayStation 3 as much as he would have if it had been less expensive. Dudley wrote:

Don't get me wrong. The PS3 is an amazing machine. I'd love to have one sitting beneath my TV. But not for $500 or $600. That's just too expensive for a game console, even one that incorporates a bleeding-edge Blu-ray disc player.

He goes on to point out that he doesn't think that the PS3 will necessarily make a better downloaded movie player than either the XBox or Apple iTV, the forthcoming set-top box from Apple. Is he going out on a limb by making such a prediction about a product that's only been seen in a Steve Jobs demo?

Technorati Tags: PS3, Xbox, Apple iTV

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I gave some more thought to the issues I raised in yesterday's article about "Deal or No Deal" and expected value calculations. I said that I think that the game should be played entirely on the basis of the expected value of an unopened suitcase at any given time in the game. I'm sure some people will disagree with me on this, but here's why I think it's particularly worthwhile in the case of the play-at-home games like the Deal or No Deal Handheld or Deal or No Deal Tabletop games.

In the game played on the TV show, the contestant has only one opportunity to play the game. The entire game is geared around putting pressure on the contestant to go with his or her gut, rather than the odds. The home versions, however, are infinitely playable. This means that there should be much more of an incentive to play the odds properly.

NBC currently has an Internet-based version of Deal or No Deal on its website. I played that game several times in preparing this series of articles. In every case, The Banker offered me less than the expected value of an unopened case until after the $1,000,000 case had been opened. In a couple of games, he offered me more than the expected value of an unopened case after that. When I took that deal, I ended up with more money than I would have if I kept the case I chose until the absolute end of the game.

In one game, The Banker offered me slightly less than the expected value of an unopened case after the $1,000,000 case was opened. I took the deal in that case, and ended up losing money because I was holding the highest value unopened case remaining in the game.

This discussion gave me another idea: With a play-at-home version of the game, you could try any strategy you choose and document the results. With enough trials, you would know if the expected value approach to this game was the right one or not.

Technorati Tags: Deal or No Deal, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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Kathleen and I occasionally turn on the TV and stumble upon the program Deal or No Deal. I find this program intriguing mainly because I think it ought to be played purely based on expected value calculations. For anyone who isn't aware, the expected value of an unopened case is the sum of the prize amounts that have not yet been displayed divided by the number of unopened cases. So, if the unopened cases are:

• $100
• $500
• $1000
• $1,000,000

... the expected value is $250,400.

You can play this game around the dining room table with your family during this holiday season. Deal or No Deal Tabletop Edition is a game for one to four players. The creators say that it's appropriate for ages 10 and up.

I think playing this game with family or friends would be fun. Can people avoid being overcome by the excitement of the game, when they play it with others? Is holding out for the expected value of the unopened cases always the right strategy?

Technorati Tags: Deal or No Deal, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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Step2Play is a game controller for the Sony PlayStation
that requires a young gamer to exercise while playing.
[ Photo: Oceana Trading ]

The BBC reported over the weekend that a British company called Oceana Trading has released a line of video game accessories that can be used to require exercise from kids who want to play video games. The Step2Play is an accessory for the Sony PlayStation that replaces a standard game controlller with a combination stepper and game controller.

The Step2Play is designed for people who weigh less than 150 pounds (68 kg), so it's clearly aimed at the kid segment of the gaming market. It appears to be sturdily designed. The unit itself weighs 19.5 pounds (8.9 kg).

I did a quick search around the Internet today to see if I could locate a retailer who is selling the Step2Play in America. So far I haven't found one. The company (that uses the tradename GymKids for this product line) appears to be marketing Step2Play and other exercise-oriented video game controllers direct to customers in the UK via the Internet. I'm not certain whether they will ship these products to the USA or not.

I've seen comments around the Internet about the Step2Play to the effect that products like it are a regrettable reflection on the sedentary nature of our society. I think video game accessories that require a level of physical activity are a fine idea, particularly if kids are not participating in organized athletics or spending a lot of time outdoors.

On the other hand, if you are a parent and haven't found an athletic activity that your child likes, you should keep looking and trying new things. Don't use gadgets like the Step2Play as a crutch.

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A couple of weeks ago, I suggested to my wife Kathleen that her brother John might like playing Guitar Hero, a videogame for the Sony PlayStation 2, more than he would like playing a real guitar. John's been talking about learning to play the guitar for sometime.

Kathleen didn't think that playing a guitar video game would be that interesting for him. If all I heard was a description of how the game works, I might have felt that way also. But I keep reading stories about the game that lead me to believe that Guitar Hero is going to be a big hit with young adults at Christmas and Hanukkah this year.

The latest indication of this is a Page One article that appeared in today's Wall Street Journal called When Being a Fake Rock Star is Better Than Reality. The article says that musicians from bands such as Korn, Nine Inch Nails, and Rascal Flatts are playing Guitar Hero because it's so much fun for them. This sounds like the beginning of a trend similar to the one where video games like Madden NFL became a preoccupation with some players from the National Football League a few years ago.

The article appears to have been timed to roughly coincide with the release of Guitar Hero 2 which adds a number of new features to the game including:

• multi-track performance: now you can choose to play lead, bass, or rhythm on the tracks, instead of just lead as in the original game.
• new game modes: multi-player options have been increased so there are now cooperative, pro face-off, and face-off modes.
• practice mode: Guitar Hero 2 now includes a practice mode for people just learning to shred.

I think the practice mode will help players get up the learning curve faster because they won't have to play an entire track over and over to get to a lick that they need to practice that only occurs near the end of the song.

Possibly the most interesting aspect of The Wall Street Journal article about Guitar Hero is the link it provides to Two Dudes Playing Guitar Hero, a four-and-a-half minute video that demonstrates the fun you can have with the multi-player version of the game. This video is definitely worth watching if you came here wondering what all the fuss about Guitar Hero is about.

Once you get to the clip page on YouTube, you'll see a number of other video clips that people have made that show what the experience of playing Guitar Hero is like. [ Subscription required to read most articles in The Wall Street Journal. ]

Technorati Tags: Guitar Hero, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

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The other day, my brother Scott Aiello tipped me off to a device that can be used as a convenient one-stop place to charge all of your handheld devices. It's called the Personal Electronics Power Station and it's available from several vendors on Amazon.com.

The Personal Electronics Power Station is an outlet strip with a special housing that allows you to clamp your handheld devices to its body using adjustible dividers. The body has an internal space where the plug ends of your handhelds' charging cables go. When not in use, the Personal Electronics Powerstation sits on top of a table or a bookshelf with your charging cables neatly organized.

Some of the comments I've read about this unit say that the internal plugs for the charging cables are two-pronged only and that adapters won't fit inside. That's a fair point, so watch out for that. Another common complaint is that the Personal Electronics Power Station doesn't support USB. How many of your handhelds charge only through USB connections? I can't think of any of my devices that have this problem.

Technorati Tags: Personal Electronics Power Station, electronic gadgets.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Brad Feld's Treadputer: Venture capitalist
Brad Feld added a 3.2-GHz IBM ThinkCentre
to his Vision Fitness T9450HRT Treadmill.
This lets him get his runs in while he's on
conference calls. [ Photo: Brad Feld ].

Brad Feld is a managing director at Mobius Venture Capital based in Boulder, Colorado. He challenges himself by running marathons, and has set a goal of running a marathon in every state in the nation within the next 10 years.

Around the beginning of the year he and his coworkers built a "treadputer", a fitness club-quality treadmill with a big, fast Windows PC, and three 19-inch LCD displays.

The amazing aspect of Brad's story is that he finds he can use his PC while walking and running on this treadmill. According to the article:

It turns out that the Treadputer is highly functional when I’m running, which enables me to do some of my longer runs during the day while I’m on a call rather than having to get up at 5am to get them in before the day starts....

When we first assembled the Treadputer, {a co-worker} was skeptical that I would be able to read the screen while walking and assumed that reading while running would be impossible. While the three monitor setup helps a lot, it was surprisingly easy to read while walking or running. We’re running all three monitors at their standard 1280x1024 resolution and haven’t juiced up the font sizes.

Brad's article includes more details about his treadputer's configuration, and what he's learned about typing and mouse / trackball use. I found it quite interesting.

At least one other person bent on improving his life has built a treadputer. Walking Guy has begun a blog discussing his experiences building and using his treadputer. He says he began this quest because he needed to take off at least 40 pounds but was stuck in front of a computer 80 to 100 hours a week. He has his treadputer setup and has already gotten himself mentioned in the Lifehacker Coolest Workspace Contest.

I wonder how many more treadputer setups already exist, and how many will be built now that these articles have appeared on the Internet? I'll have to start looking for "bikeputer" articles as well.

Technorati Tags: fitness gadgets, treadputer.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We have a number of people who like math in our family, so Kathleen and I were pleased to discover Sudoku last week when we were shopping for Christmas gifts. Wikipedia says that Sudoku is a Japanese logic-based numeric placement puzzle which reportedly became popular in 1985 but only broke out to the rest of the world recently. According to the article:

The aim of the canonical puzzle is to enter a numerical digit from 1 through 9 in each cell of a 9×9 grid made up of 3×3 subgrids (called "regions"), starting with various digits given in some cells (the "givens"). Each row, column, and region must contain only one instance of each numeral.

The game we bought Sudoku - The Utterly Addictive Number Puzzle Game is apparently so popular that Amazon.com is having trouble keeping it in stock. Here are a few other options for people who are trying to find Sudoku to give as a gift for the holidays:

• Board Games
  • SuDoku Sensations
  • The Original SuDoku with Wood Playing Pieces
• Electronic Games
  • Handheld Sudoku
  • Play at Joe's Sudoku Challenge
  • Sudoku Puzzle Addict
• Books
  • The Official Book of Sudoku: Book 1
  • Sudoku Easy Presented by Will Shortz, Volume 1
  • Sudoku Easy to Hard Presented by Will Shortz, Volume 2

Even more Sudoku options can be found at Amazon.com by searching for Sudoku.

Technorati Tags: Sudoku, Sudoku electronic games, Sudoku books, Sudoku games, Sudoku software, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the questions that Operation Gadget readers have about the Leapster L-Max learning game system is which Leapster games play on the television with the L-Max?. Here's a list of games that are known to work on your TV:

• Leapster Kindergarten,
• Leapster 1st Grade,
• Leapster 2nd Grade,
• Leapster Batman,
• Leapster Bratz World Jet Set,
• Leapster I-Spy Challenge,
• Leapster Math Baseball,
• Leapster Math Missions,
• Leapster Mr. Pencil Learn to Write & Draw,
• Leapster Reading with Phonics: Moles Huge Nose, and
• Leapster Thomas & Friends

LeapFrog takes a different approach. They provide a list of Leapster games that don't project on the TV with a Leapster L-Max. LeapFrog says that these games won't project to the TV for "quality and licensing reasons".

As far as I know, all of the L-Max games project to your TV. If I find out about any that don't work on the TV, I'll update this story. [ See also Leapster L-Max is a Popular Gift for 4 to 10 Year Olds ]

Technorati Tags: Leapster L-Max, Leapster, Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts, toys

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leapster L-Max is turning out to be one of the most popular electronic learning games for the 2005 holiday season. I discovered this because of the response that has occurred since I mentioned the L-Max in an Operation Gadget called Electronics Dominate the Toy Wishes "Hot Dozen" Holiday Gift List for 2005.

The L-Max is the successor to the Leapster Multimedia Learning System which was very popular in 2004. The L-Max is compatible with games for the older Leapster system. It adds the ability to play many Leapster games on TV simply by connecting the L-Max to your television.

The L-Max also has an optional L-Max Recharging Kit which allows you to use a rechargeable battery pack instead of disposable AA batteries. The L-Max Recharging Kit will charge the L-Max in four hours, so it's perfect for recharging the L-Max overnight. I'm guessing that a charge will last for an entire day of L-Max use under normal conditions.

Technorati Tags: Leapster L-Max, Leapster, Hanukkah gifts, Christmas gifts, toys

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

Many media organizations reported that TiVo announced that the ability to transfer recorded programming from TiVo Series 2 digital video recorders to iPods with Video Playback and PlayStation Portable handheld devices. I emphasize that this capability will be available from TiVo Series 2 DVRs such as the TiVo TCD540040 Series2 40-Hour or TiVo TCD540080 Series2 80-Hour units and not the DirecTV TiVo DVR that I have at my house. Bummer for us.

According to an article that appeared in The Wall Street Journal, recording formats used by TiVo and the iPod differ, so the TiVo Home Media Option will have to be extended to support this conversion and a Windows-compatible PC will be required. As a result, the process is expected to be an overnight synchronization rather than an immeidate transfer.

TiVo is trying to demonstrate the value of a subscription to their digital video recorder service. The Home Media Option that was announced with great fanfare in mid-2003 had little appeal for me, but this feature is far more interesting. I don't need to remind you that I said video playback is going to be a very hot feature of portable media players in 2006, do I? [ Paid subscription required to read many articles from The Wall Street Journal ]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, iPod, PSP, PlayStation Portable

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Since I published Electronics Dominate the Toy Wishes "Hot Dozen" Holiday Gift List for 2005, Operation Gadget readers have "voted with their wallets" by purchasing several of the toys and games that were highlighted. Early results indicate that the hottest selling toy among the dozen is Shell Shocker, a radio-controlled transforming vehicle for kids aged 8 and older. (Don't forget you need a Tyco Pro Flexpak Battery and Charger if you buy this.)

Close behind are:

• Dora the Explorer Talking Kitchen
• iZ
• PixelChix Beverly Hills House
• iDog

A couple of related toys that were not mentioned in this article have also been picked out by readers:

• 80th Anniversary Pooh: a commemorative Pooh bear exclusively available at Toys-R-Us and ToysRUs.com. It's already temporarily sold out at Amazon.com. Keep checking if you want one.
• Dora the Explorer Vamanos Van: an SUV that includes Dora and Mami figures.
• VuGo Multimedia System: a handheld video player I mentioned in the article called VuGo Portable Video System for Kids to be Target for TV Network Content Deal.

I'll report back periodically to tell you which toys and the hottest selling with our readers as the holiday season rolls on. If you have any comments on these toys or tips on others that you think are going to be hot, feel free to post them here.

Technorati Tags: Hot Dozen, toys, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Toy Wishes Magazine has released its ever-popular Hot Dozen Toys for 2005. This list is intended to forecast which toys will be the most popular during the 2005 holidays. We can safely assume that if the magazine is correct, many of them will also become hard to find in stores at some point in the near future.

Dora's Talking Kitchen: One of my
favorites on the Toy Wishes Hot
Dozen Holiday List. Product photos
courtesy of Amazon.com.

The Hot Dozen List includes (in alphabetical order):

• Black Belts Karate Home Studio DVD: an inexpensive active play set with a video component.
• Dora's Talking Kitchen; My wife Kathleen says that the kitchen play set at her pediatrics office is the most popular toy in the waiting room.
• Fly Wheels Assortment; Couldn't figure out which toy this was, so I'm recommending the Fly Wheels Rapid Fire Launcher for the moment.
• Furby: an electronic friend that comes in multiple color combinations.
• iDog: an electronic dog that dances to music that's being played in the room. Accessories are also available.
• iZ: an interesting combination of cartoon character, speaker for music playback, and music mixing tool. You change the beat of the music by twisting iZ's ears and pressing on his belly.
• Leapster L-Max Learning System: portable version of Leapster learning system. Requires new games, available separately. Works in conjunction with TV, if connected.
• The Magnetix MagnaWorld Series: lead by Magnetix MagnaWorld City. MagnaWorld Clock Tower, MagnaWorld Magna Central, Rescue Center, and Airport also available.
• Pixel Chix: including Pixel Chix Cottage House, Beverly Hills House, and Miami Loft. Interesting electronic house simulators. Kids interact with a Pixel Chix Pal, paying attention to the Pal in order to keep advancing in the game; Ignore and Pixel Chix Pal moves out.
• Shell Shocker Radio Controlled Toy: a toy with a "bio-mechanical design" that can shift from a rolling bowling-ball type shape to a reptillian-looking robot and back. Requires a Tyco Pro Flexpak Battery and Charger and a 9-volt battery, which adds to the cost.
• VCam Now: digital camera / video camera designed for kids. Holds 480 pictures or 7 minutes of video.
• V-Smile Pocket: portable version of V Smile-- a 2004 favorite. Uses the same cartridges as the bigger unit, potentially a big savings.

VTech V-Smile Pocket:
Little brother of the V-Smile Learning
System, which was a big hit in 2004.

If the 2004 Hot Dozen list was heavy with electronics, the list is overloaded in 2005. There are only two toys on this list that don't have a big electronic component: Black Belts Karate Home Studio DVD (also available in VHS) and the Magnetics MagnaWorld Series. I bought a set of Magnetix building toys for my nephew, Ben, a year or two ago, and I really wish they had been around when I was a kid, because they're fun to build with.

Last year, Operation Gadget readers bought a lot of VTech V-Smile, a video game-based learning system for preschoolers. In my opinion, this either means that V-Smile Pocket will be a similar hit, or it will be a dud. VTech has a strong lineup of add-on cartridges compatible with both devices based on Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Friends, and the Little Mermaid. If these cartridges are entertaining as well as educational, I'm sure parents and grandparents will buy them, and many hours of fun will be had by all.

I'm concerned that the mix of electronic and non-electronic products in the Hot Dozen has tilted too far toward the electronics this year. Will there be hits in the non-electronic genre this year, in spite of the lack of attention? What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Hot Dozen, Toy Wishes Magazine, Christmas gifts, Hanukkah gifts

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

I forgot to mention that yesterday's Wall Street Journal had a free article called Talk of the Internet that surprisingly focused on computer applications that support voice communications between users. The article begins by describing how users of Battlefield 2 from Electronic Arts can communicate with each other via a Voice over IP (VoIP) client that's embedded in the game itself. How cool is that?

Of course this is old hat to people that have been using XBox Live for a while, but I missed the peer-to-peer voice communications aspects of this on-line service until it was recently pointed out to me.

I keyed in on the discussion of Battlefield 2 in this article because it's a perfect example of an application for VoIP that's not simply about saving money on telephone calls by routing them over the Internet. The voice communications capability in Battlefield 2 is arguably a new dimension of Internet-aware computer applications.

Analysts like Maribel Lopez of Forrester Research believe that VoIP is overhyped because cheap long distance calling will not drive VoIP adoption as far into the mainstream as will new ways to use voice communications that come embedded in products and services we buy.

The article goes on to point out that VoIP is also being embedded in Instant Messaging and similar Internet communications apps that already have a huge number of users. The IM-feel of Skype was probably helpful in its rapid adoption. Google probably thought it would catch a wave of early adopters by designing Google Talk with a similar feature set.

I'd also like to point out that the WSJ article mentions my new friend Andy Abramson of VoIP Watch and how VoIP helped facilitate his long distance relationship with his fiancee Helene Malabed. This story has gotten a lot of play in VoIP-related blogs recently, but it's illustrative of the new opportunities that people will have to build close relationships with people who live some distance away.

I hate to think about how much money I spent on long distance charges talking to Kathleen when she lived in Philadelphia and I lived in Denville, NJ, before we got married. If that part of our relationship were taking place today, we could have saved most of that cost. It would be extremely difficult to quantify those savings without going through many dozens of phone bills, but I wouldn't be surprised to have paid a four-digit number of dollars over the three years Kathleen was in medical school.

Technorati Tags: VoIP

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Forbes Magazine has an article in its June 20, 2005 issue about the value that Electronic Arts has created in its EA Sports brand through exclusive licensing. It tells the story of the how they created Madden NFL 06, the edition of the Madden NFL game series for the forthcoming season, by inking an exclusive license with the NFL. EA Sports also has licenses with ESPN, the NBA, and FIFA, making it nearly impossible for a competitor to produce a legal video game about a major team sport at the professional level.

You may remember that I wrote an article about the EA Sports Platinum Series and how it does not provide the names of NFL and NHL players from the 1995 and 1996 seasons. These are the seasons for which the games on that controller are written. It's clear from this Forbes article that the omissions are all about the cost and difficulty of negotiating licenses.

I thought the Forbes article was really interesting and provided insight into a dimension of the sports, entertainment, and electronic industries that I had not understood up to now. [ Registration required to read articles on Forbes.com ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Kevin Kelly of the Cool Tools website wrote a review of the 20 Questions Handheld Game from Radica that's definitely worth checking out. He says this is a slightly scaled-down version of the 20q.net website, which is a neural network designed to play a game of 20 questions against a visitor to the site.

According to the review:

Last year, after 1 million rounds of 20 questions online, the neural net had accumulated 10 million synaptic associations. It has a 73% success rate of guessing what you thought. Burgener then compressed the 20Q code to run on a chip, and had the neural net select 2,000 of the most popular 10,000 objects it then knew about. He then had the neural net select out the most useful 250,000 synaptic connections related to those 2,000 objects, and hard wired that learning into the chip in the orb.

This is neat. I'm going to have to get one and see how different it is from the 20Q website. I'm sure it will be interesting to have in the living room during a party.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm impressed with 1up.com's Essential 50, a list of what they consider the 50 most important computer games of all time. The authors have a good sense of history for placing games such as Spacewar from the PDP-1, Pong, Space Invaders, and Adventure at the top of the list. All of the games listed have detailed discussions of how they were developed or how they came to market.

Descriptions of game play are often anecdotes used to provide context to the history of the game. I particularly liked the fact that each game page contained a list of landmark features and a list of subsequent games that eventually borrowed features.

Some of the more esoteric things on the list, like Game & Watch from Nintendo were influential for their pioneering features, even if they were not played by everyone who was interested in electronic games at the time. [ via FirstAdopter.com ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife gave me EA Sports Platinum Series Controllers from Jakks Pacific for Valentine's Day. For some reason, Amazon.com's catalog says this controller set has three games built in, but it actually has only two games: Madden '95 and NHL '95.

This was a nice gift for me because enjoyed playing NHL '95 on the Sega Genesis game system very much. As far as I'm concerned, that's the only reason to own these controllers. While the NHL '95 game feels very much like the Sega Genesis game it emulates, the Madden '95 game seems less authentic.

I find the play calling interface in Madden '95 fairly difficult to use. Each play is represented by a descriptive phrase and a graphic representing the player formation. Some of the phrases that descibe the plays are difficult to read. This impairs the playability of the football game.

Every one of these Plug and Play TV Games made by Jakks has features that are slightly simplified, compared with the original games that are being reissued. In both Madden '95 and NHL '95, they've deleted the names of the players on each team, probably because having the names would have added to the licensing costs.

When I'm playing NHL '95 and I see the New York Rangers numbers 11, 35, and 2-- I immediately think of Mark Messier, Mike Richter, and Brian Leech. Clearly that's who the on-screen players are. The problem I run into is that I don't remember the players on many other NHL teams in 1995 as well.

I enjoyed playing NHL '95 very much and I think that game alone is worth what my wife paid for it. If you are a Madden '95 fan, I'd be cautious about getting my hopes up. I may understand the game better after I play it a few more times, but right now I find Madden '95 is more trouble than it's worth.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Glofun RayGun: a Java-based,
GPS-enabled game coming soon
for the Motorola i710 and i730.
[ Graphic: GloVentures LLC ]

I finally got the opportunity to put a new mobile phone game called Glofun RayGun to the test, and I was pretty surprised at the workout I got. Glofun RayGun is advertised as the first "high-intensity" location game for cell phones. You play it on a J2ME and GPS-enabled phone like the Motorola i710 and i730 for the Nextel network. Nextel is currently the only mobile carrier in the USA with GPS enabled to the handset.

Glofun RayGun is one of the only GPS applications available in the U.S. that is not aimed at business logistics. This country is far behind Japan in this regard. In Japan carriers deployed GPS gear on their infrastructures a while ago and location-based mobile phone services are really hot now.

Pointing the gun: You point
your ray gun by running or
walking in the direction of a
ghost.
[ Graphic: GloVentures LLC ]

The game is played by walking or running around an open space while facing in a direction that will allow you to intercept ghosts that appear on the screen of your mobile phone. You as the player are always in the center of the screen, so the RayGun game screen has a similar appearance to a RADAR screen.

In the the first screen shot, there is a ghost approaching (green blob) that is due north of your present location. You can attack it by running to the north and pressing the "OK" button on your mobile phone once the ghost is inside of your "energy cone" (the yellow pie slice-shaped area on the screen).

The further you move in a single direction (according to the GPS), the bigger your energy cone gets. This allows you to target and kill multiple ghosts at one time, if they are approaching from the same general direction.

In order for the game to recognize your motion, you must move at least 3 meters (10 feet) and keep moving in that same direction in order to remain oriented long enough to fire your ray gun. Ideally you move 10 feet in about one second in order to maximize the number of firing opportunites.

Moving in for the kill: The
ghost is in your sights.
Hit the "OK" button on the phone
to shoot your ray gun.
[ Graphic: GloVentures LLC ]

This is where the physical effort akin to a good workout comes in. Using my Polar S720i Heart Rate Monitor I was able to burn about 800 kilo calories per hour playing the game. That's pretty close to the effort per hour I'd expend biking, officiating a youth hockey game of moderate intensity, or in-line skating.

The surprising part of playing Glofun RayGun for me was that I realized this is a good cross-training activity. There's only so much running, biking, and in-line skating that I can do during the ice hockey off-season without getting a bit bored of the routine. A game like Glofun RayGun would be a fun alternative. It's also a bit of a different type of movement from those other training activities, which I think helps improve fitness and strength by emphasizing different muscle groups.

The biggest drawback I saw to the game was how much space is needed for a trained athlete to play it. In order to test out the game I went to Cranbury-Millstone Park in Cranbury, NJ on a Tuesday afternoon when I expected no one to be around. This park is a rectangle of open space about 0.2 miles by 0.1 miles (320 x 160 meters). That's about a 13 acre space-- big enough to contain a large soccer field, a baseball field, and a parking lot for 30 or 40 cars.

I was able to traverse most of this park's length and width several times during half an hour of play. Maybe other people who don't run as hard while playing a game like Glofun RayGun would not cover as much ground, but I had to stop running a few times in order to avoid crossing busy Old Trenton Road while looking at the display on my Motorola i710 mobile phone.

I think Glofun RayGun is an impressive first effort at Location Based Services gaming in the United States. If I owned a GPS-enabled phone, I'd keep a copy of this game and play it regularly. It's definitely good cross-training for athletes looking for a change of pace that helps maintain a high level of cardiovascular fitness.

I've collected a number of photos, as well screenshots from the game and from my Polar Precision Performance training diary in a Playing Glofun RayGun photo album. I hope they help you to get a feel for what it's like to play this fun and interesting new game.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Glofun RayGun: a Java-based,
GPS-enabled game coming soon
for the Nextel i710 and i730.
[ Graphic: GloVentures LLC ]

GloVentures sent me a Nextel i710 mobile phone with a Java-based, GPS-enabled game called Glofun RayGun installed on it. Glofun Raygun is expected to be available early in 2005, initially for Nextel i710 and i730 handsets.

This game allows you to track ghosts that are coming at you from all directions and "ionize" them before they ionize you. Running in the direction of the ghosts increases the range of your weapon. In the case of a GPS-enabled game like this "running" really means running. It looks like this game is best played at a park or in a backyard.

I'm hoping that Glofun Raygun is a good change-of-pace way to get some exercise outdoors. I plan to review it on that basis, in addition to how much fun it is to play.

I have to find a couple of good weather days when I don't have hockey games to officiate to put Glofun Raygun through its paces. The i710 arrived yesterday when the high temperature was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. That wasn't a good day to try out the game. Maybe later in the week will be better, when the temperature is expected to moderate to the 40s and 50s.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey performed a small study indicating that pre-surgery anxiety in children between four and 12 years old was reduced when they were given a Game Boy to entertain themselves. The study results will be presented by Dr. Anuradha Patel at a meeting of the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists in New York City on Saturday.

The study involved 78 children who were divided into three groups. Each child in one of the groups was given a Game Boy 30 minutes before they received general anesthesia. The other groups got to use other, more traditional anxiety coping mechanisms. According to Dr. Henry L. Bennett, a member of the study team:

{The} study showed that the most dramatic difference in anxiety was observed in the group that had the Game Boy right up until the anesthesia took effect.

Dr. Patel got the idea for the study from observing the 7-year old child of a friend who focused intently on the Game Boy whenever he played with it. [ via Kaisa's Blog ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nintendo DS Gaming System: Killer
feature set includes Wi-Fi and dual
processors. Did I mention you can
play games on it?
[ Photo: Amazon.com ]

Leave it to BargainPDA.com to use a review of the Nintendo DS gaming system to prod PDA manufacturers to incorporate more cutting-edge technology. They point out that the Nintendo DS has features like:

• built-in Wi-Fi,
• dual ARM processors,
• dual LCD screens,
• chat collaboration software,
• a stylus, and
• a built-in microphone

... all for a price of around $149. Of course, they can probably afford to price a gaming platform very aggresively because they're going to make money on the games that customers buy. Hey wait a minute, isn't that the rationale that the wireless carriers use to subsidize mobile handsets? Hmm....

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The San Diego Union Tribune reported that thousands of people lined up across the country to purchase Halo 2, the long-awaited new Xbox game from Microsoft's Bungie Studios. Over 6,000 stores from coast-to-coast opened at midnight to sell Halo 2 to adoring fans.

CNN Money reported that Gary Cooper, an analyst from BancAmerica Securities, expects upwards for 3.5 million copies of Halo 2 to be sold by December 31. That sounds low to me. If the first day sales were $100 million, as expected, that translates to about 1.9 million copies sold yesterday. I think that Microsoft has to be able to at least double their first day Halo 2 sales by the end of the year.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 8:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Leapster Multimedia Learning System
is an educational toy aimed at kids
between 4 and 8 years old. There are quite
a few cartridges available for this system.
[ Photo: Amazon.com ]

The other day I got a chance to play with the Leapster Multimedia Learning System for the first time. This is a handheld electronic toy that straddles the line between educational and entertaining products. It's aimed at kids between the ages of 4 and 8.

The Leapster looked like a winner to me. This is the second holiday season that it will be available. Last year, the big criticisms of it were lack of program titles and poor quality control associated with the screen and the sensitivity of the touch screen. Both of these issues seem to have been addressed.

Cartridges available for this system include:

• SpongeBob SquarePants Saves the Day,
• Dora the Explorer- Animal Rescue,
• The Incredibles, and
• Spider-Man.

As you can see, Leapster has a lot of titles starring characters that are popular with kids this age. Whether these particular titles are all educational would be the subject of a website unto itself, but I thought listing some of the newest, most popular cartridges would illustrate how much software LeapFrog has produced for this platform.

Water Cooler Games did a terrific review of the Leapster about a year ago. There are a lot of really substantive comments attached to it, presumably from parents and other family members who purchased the Leapster for their children.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Toy Wishes Magazine Hot Dozen list-- toys that their reviewers expect to be top sellers for the 2004 holiday season. I reported that the Bella Dancerella line of products made the list, but I pointed readers to a Bella Dancerella package that includes a VHS tape.

Feedback I've received from several Operation Gadget readers indicates that most of you prefer the Bella Dancerella package that includes a DVD instead. Many people find DVDs provide better sound and pictures, and they're certainly more durable than VHS tapes, so I'm changing the previous article to reflect the consensus of the readers. Thanks to everyone who pointed this out.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters reports that Toy Wishes Magazine Released its "Hot Dozen" Toy List yesterday in New York. This list is intended to forecast which toys will be the most popular during the 2004 holidays. We can safely assume that if the magazine is correct, many of them will also become hard to find in stores at some point in the near future.

Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games:
My favorite game on the Toy Wishes Hot Dozen
Holiday List. Product photos courtesy
of Amazon.com.

The Hot Dozen List includes (in alphabetical order):

• Balloon Lagoon,
• Barbie as Princess Anneliese and Erika,
• Bella Dancerella,
• Bratz Tokyo-A-Go-Go Dance N' Skate Club,
• Cabbage Patch Kids,
• E-L-M-O,
• InteracTV,
• Ms. Pac-Man TV Games,
• Nitro Battlerz,
• Tamagotchi Connection,
• VideoNow Color, and
• VTech V.Smile.

One of the saving graces of this list is how many of the toys are available in different models or colors. Cabbage Patch Kids, Nitro Battlerz, Tamagotchi Connection, and VideoNow Color are actually a range of different products. Presumably, some models will be easier to find than others. In addition, Bratz Tokyo-a-Go-Go is a line of products, although the list specifies the Dance N' Skate Club.

VTech V-Smile Learning System:
Already being purchased by Operation Gadget
readers with preschool children and grandchildren.

My favorite toy on the list is Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games. I bought one of these video games back in August and fell in love with the Pole Position II game on it.

Another game that Operation Gadget readers have been buying is VTech V.Smile, a video game-based learning system for preschoolers. VTech has developed add-on cartridges for the console based on Winnie the Pooh, Mickey and Friends, and the Little Mermaid. If these cartridges are entertaining as well as educational, I'm sure parents and grandparents will buy them, and many hours of fun will be had by all.

Some of the comments I've read about the Hot Dozen list indicate that it has too many "throwback" products and that this is somehow a reflection of a lack of creativity in the industry. Another idea is that the manufacturers' product lines represent a "flight to quality" in terms of the re-release of classics that are guaranteed sellers. What's wrong with that?

I think the list has a good mix of electronic and non-electronic products, as well as classic designs and new ideas. What do you think?

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Operation Gadget reader Chris Sansom wrote:

I am VERY excited to get the 'flashback' Atari {7800}, it sounds very fun. In your article Atari Bringing Back the 7800 Console for the Holidays with Atari Flashback (Gaming Gadgets 9/9/04) you characterized the {7800} as Atari's "second generation" gaming system. That designation should belong to the Atari 5200, I would think of the {7800} more as their "3rd Gen" box.

Good points. The site Chris points to, Atari7800.com, provides some excellent background on the classic Atari video game systems, as well as new, refurbished, and after-market products for sale. The site contains information about:

• the Atari 7800 ProSystem,
• the Atari 5200 SuperSystem,
• the Atari 2600 Video Computer System, and
• the Atari LYNX Color Portable Video Game System.

It's amazing that people have taken the time to put a site like this together. This is probably the best evidence of why companies like Atari are bringing their classic games back out in a variety of new packages. [ Thanks Chris. ]

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Atari Flashback Classic Game Console,
image courtesy of Atari.

Atari announced the introduction of the Atari Flashback Classic Game Console, a collection of 20 classic Atari games packaged in a console with two joysticks included. Games that will be part of this collection include Adventure, Air-Sea Battle, Canyon Bomber, Centipede, and Yar's Revenge. Atari Flashback is expected to ship in November and be priced at $44.95.

Until now, most of the classic Atari games that have been re-released have been packaged into a single joystick. The best example of this is Atari Classic 10-in-1 TV Games. Atari Flashback changes this by being delivered in a package that is a reduced-size replica of the Atari 7800 video game console. The 7800 was the second-generation Atari game console. It was more powerful than the 2600, the console that was a fixture in most American homes in the mid-1980s. But, sales of the 7800 never quite took off due to a lack of game content.

Atari Flashback includes a mixture of 2600 and 7800 game titles. You can tell this by looking at the game screenshots that Atari has on its Flashback product information page. The Centipede game is clearly ported from the 7800. It has higher resolution graphics and more colors appearing on the screen simultaneously. The product information page also includes a 2600-ported game screenshot-- one from Air-Sea Battle.

The key to the success of Atari Flashback will be the playability of the games. Centipede and Asteroids will be lots of fun. Adventure and Yar's Revenge had cult followings back in their day. This package is more expensive than the other Atari game re-releases, so it is going to have to be more fun than the game packages costing half as much. The fact that the games invite head-to-head competition will help.

I'm going to try to get one of these Atari Flashback consoles ASAP, so that I can provide more details about it.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier this week, Atari announced that it would release Atari Anthology, a collection of 85 classic video games in a single package for the XBox and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. Games that will be part of this collection include Asteroids, Battlezone, Missile Command, Pong, and Breakout. Atari Anthology is expected to ship in November and be priced at $19.99.

The Associated Press said that the Atari Anthology is squarely aimed at the gaming nostalgia market, a market that has dramatically expanded over the last 18 months as a result of inexpensive offerings like Atari Classic 10-in-1 TV Games, Namco TV Games, and my current favorite, Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games.

The package will include a mixture of arcade games and Atari 2600 titles, so there will be something in it for everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing the implementations of Battlezone and Missile Command because they are said to be ports of the arcade versions of these classic games. These games had great playability, and are still popular at arcades that have kept them in service.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My wife and I just got our Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games unit, and I had to tear myself away from the Pole Position game. The first time I played it (without reading the directions), I couldn't figure out how to make the race car I was driving turn left or right. Kathleen picked up the directions and said, "You're supposed to turn the joystick left or right to make the car turn." So, I tried that and it works.

I was always good at this game, meaning that I could consistantly qualify for the race, then race well so that I would get "Extended Time" at least once. After getting the hang of steering, I was able to repeat those '80s performances in short order.

I'll try to talk about the other games some other time. But, if you liked Pole Position in the arcade, I think it's safe to say that you'll think Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games is worth buying, so that you can play occasionally with friends and family.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Jakks Pacific has announced a new low cost game controller called Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games. This is an integrated joystick-game controller with five classic Namco arcade games: Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Pole Position, Xevious, and Mappy. It's a followup to the Namco TV Games system that I talked about here earlier.

Namco II: Ms Pac-Man with 5 TV Games is scheduled to be available on May 15, 2004. Amazon.com is taking preorders for it now.

For less than $25.00, this game will include arcade-quality Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Pole Position. I don't remember playing Xevious and Mappy at arcades, but, the other game sets that Jakks Pacific has released have included games that were not as memorable as others. If the three well known games in this set are as well implemented as Pac-Man and Galaxian were in the original Namco TV Games, Namco II will be worth it.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

During the 2003 holiday season, I raved about Namco TV Games, an integrated joystick-game controller with five classic Namco arcade games: Pac-Man, Rally X, Galaxian, Dig Dug, and Bosconian. The biggest complaint I had about the game, in retrospect, was that it was virtually impossible to buy. If you were lucky, you'd stumble over it at your local Target or Wal-Mart, but usually only if a delivery had been made overnight.

Well, the holiday season is now a memory and inventory levels are firming up for even the hardest-to-get toys and games. Amazon.com finally has Namco TV Games in stock again. If you still don't have one of these, and you want to relive a bit of the 80's, you've got another opportunity. I think I'll play a game or two of Pac-Man during lunch.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week I pointed to on a Slashdot that said LEGO would stop producing the Lego Mindstorm series of construction toys. Slashdot now points out that LEGO has committed itself to Mindstorms, as a press release from LEGO Group indicates. The press release also says that the Harry Potter line products will continue.

Looking back on the original news report that prompted the Slashdot article, it's not clear whether LEGO intended to kill the Mindstorms series and rethought its decision in light of the worldwide reaction, or if the reporters misunderstood the statements of LEGO senior management at a meeting on January 8.

In any event, the need to buy Mindstorms sets before they disappear is not as urgent as it appeared a few days ago.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today, Slashdot pointed out that Lego reportedly will stop making electronics, including Lego Mindstorms products, and also stop making building kits that are tied in to major movies. These actions are being taken in response to bad financial results for the group for the 2003 fiscal year.

The Lego Mindstorms Robotic Invention System 2.0 is one of the most popular construction toys with technically-oriented children and adults. It includes parts that can be used to build mobile models, such as robots and vehicles, that can be controlled programmatically from a PC. The Slashdot community, and a number of other on-line communities where technical people congregate, have taken the news hard.

There will probably be a tremendous demand for Mindstorms products in the next few weeks. If you want to own a complete set, it might be a good idea to check resellers who generally carry a lot of Lego products, since they will probably be the last to run out of kits. Of course, Ebay is always an option, but, once Mindstorms becomes scarce, the market will probably demand a premium.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier today Reuters published a story called Retro Games, Devices, Recall Electronic Youth that talks about vintage gaming consoles available on eBay and throwback electronic games that are coming to market as new products. Products mentioned in the article include the throwback games that Operation Gadget has previously reviewed: Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Games, Namco TV Games and Intellivision 25 Video Game System (a game that has consistently been out of stock everywhere I've looked).

I think a lot of people in the 30 to 39 age group are buying the throwback electronic games being marketed by Jakks Pacific, a toy company based in Malibu, California. This company has a good sense of the kind of games people my age remember from their youth. My wife and I have bought several of them, and from the availability of these games on Amazon.com, so have a lot of other people.

The most difficult thing to gauge that is discussed in the article is the demand for the actual vintage game systems on eBay versus the throwbacks. There are many Atari 2600-related auctions on eBay, as the article suggests. But it's very hard for me to figure out how many people want to buy the original equipment to actually play with it and how much of this activity is trading between collectors. If any readers have any first-hand experience with eBay auctions of this kind, feel free to post comments, or email tips@operationgadget.com.

The main reason I am pointing to the Reuters article is to show you that sources of financial news are beginning to report on activity in this part of the market. This is further indication of a trend in the making.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

One of the first articles I wrote for Operation Gadget was about the Atari Classics 10-In-1 TV Game from Toymax. I've now had the opportunity to sit down and play several of the games, and I've come to the conclusion that it is a faithful recreation of several classic games from the Atari 2600 console game system.

I played Asteroids, Missile Command, and Centipede for about 15 minutes each. These games were just like I rememembered from the early 1980s. This is good and bad because the Atari games are individually less sophisticated than the games included with the Namco TV Games package that I reviewed earlier. Centipede on the Atari is quite playable, but not as entertaining as Pac-Man in the Namco package.

Like the Namco package, the Atari Classics game has very low sound levels, requiring you to turn up the volume on your TV set quite high. I could tell that the higher-pitched sounds being played on the Atari were there, but they seemed even quieter than the lower-pitched sounds.

The most interesting element of the games that I played was that they all seemed to run faster in their new incarnation than they did on the original 2600. I don't think I've lost anything from my reflexes, but, Centipede seemed almost too fast to me, and probably wouldn't be fun for young children. Missile Command also seemed faster to me than the classic version.

I thought the most consistant game from classic to the newly-released version was Asteroids. It's a fine game, but, the graphics are primitive compared to what I remember from the arcade. But, that was also the case on the 2600.

I like both the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game and the Namco TV Game. If I had to pick one, I would probably choose the Namco, because several of its games are arcade quality. For sheer nostalgia purposes, the choice would be Atari Classics. But, I'm keeping both, and I'm sure I'll play them regularly.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday, my wife and I were at the Target in West Windsor, NJ, looking for a few of the games that I have mentioned on Operation Gadget. We found all of the throwback electronic games I've talked about, including a few that I didn't know had been released.

One of the games that I didn't know was available, and I definitely think is worth the money, is Namco TV Games. This is an integrated joystick-game controller with five classic Namco arcade games: Pac-Man, Rally X, Galaxian, Dig Dug, and Bosconian. It's very similar to the Atari Classsics 10-in-1 TV Games system that I talked about here earlier.

For less than $25.00, this game gives you arcade-quality Pac-Man and Galaxian. I played each of them for about 20 minutes after we got home from the store, and the biggest criticism that I can offer is that the sound level that came through my TV was lower than any of the TV channels we get through our home theater system. This just means that I have to turn the volume up higher to hear the sounds of these games than I do to hear programs coming in from my settop box, DVD, or VHS players.

The sound effects produced on the games that I remember are indistinguishable from those you hear in the arcade. This includes the intermission music and animation after clearing two boards on the Pac-Man game. I give Namco TV Games my highest recommendation. It's worth the money for Pac-Man and Galaxian alone.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

A couple of weeks ago, I pointed out the Mattel Classic Football 2 game as a really inexpensive, fun gift for Generation Xers this holiday season. Another game that Mattel has reissued is the Classic Handheld Baseball Game. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, this game was not as widely played as the Mattel football game, but, it was still a lot of fun to play.

The game has most of the features of a typical baseball game including, balls and strikes, hits, and running the bases. What it lacks is base stealing, double and triple plays, and bunting. But, these features were also lacking in the original incarnation of this game. Also, each game is only five innings long, which is odd considering that the length of a Little League game is six innings, and games at other levels are normally 7 or 9 innings.

One of the features that definitely improves Classic Handheld Baseball over its predecessor is a sound on/off button. When the football and baseball games were originally released, there was no way to disable the sound. This made it difficult to play the original game late at night.

The big issue with turning off the sound on the baseball game, however, is that the sound effects that are played when a hit occurs imply how many bases the runner may successfully take. (In other words, a potential single gets one beep, a double gets two, etc.). So, playing this game without the sound makes it more difficult.

You have to look at this game from a low cost, high fun potential standpoint. For $12.99, this is a great stocking stuffer. I'm planning to buy a few of these for friends of mine. It's good to see that this electronic game is not sold out at this point in the shopping season.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I keep finding more gadgets that are available this year that bring back fond memories from my childhood. One of them is the Classic Football Game 2 from Mattel. This is an inexpensive handheld electronic football game that is very similar to the original game that was a top gift pick for boys in 1978.

I played this game when I visited with friends and relatives who had it. (My handheld football game was Coleco Electronic Quarterback.) I remember this game well. It's very playable, although the players that appear on the screen are no more than red "blips".

I've been searching around the Internet for comparisons between the original version and the "reissue" and there are very few such comparisons. One of them suggests that the reissued game does not have a kickoff at the beginning of the third quarter. Also, the new game apparently does not allow passes to fall incomplete in the same way as the old one did.

I think that it's going to get difficult to find Classic Football Game 2 after the holiday season gets into full swing. It's inexpensive, and many people in their mid-to-late 30s have fond memories of it. If you want one, or you want to give it as a gift, I'd buy it ASAP.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We're starting to see "throwback gadgets" come on the market that harken back to great historic periods in our country-- like the 1980s. An example of this is the Atari Classics 10-In-1 TV Game from Toymax. What they've done is compressed an Atari 2600 video game system, embedded it into a slightly modified 2600 joystick controller, and bundled 10 of the old video games designed for the 2600 platform.

The 10-in-1 TV game includes very authentic versions of Adventure, Missle Command, Asteroids, and Centipede. Other games that ship in the package include Pong and Breakout. The problem with these games is that they were designed to be played with paddle controllers. I don't remember from the old days whether you could even play them with joysticks, but the experience couldn't be great.

The best thing about this package is the price. You could easily buy this type of thing as a stocking-stuffer for friends. I'll be looking to pick up one of these mini-game systems soon. Maybe then I'll challenge my brother to a rematch of Missile Command.

Posted by Dave Aiello at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)