Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
most of the kitchensinc titles are ok, the rs and quentin c client onlline games are good, soundrts may be quite good but I am not sure how to run it over lan. or get a server for that sorted. any of the all in play things to. Any stratogy game though whould be ok, any sports game to. side scrollers maybe not sure but probably not fps games. You may have better success if you 8used a console. the xbox 360 has dropped in price since the 1 came out, there is the ps4 3 2 and 1 and maybe a few others to. At 03:11 a.m. 22/10/2014, you wrote: Hi Ishen. Well you need Filfre to play the if game files, you then need the files for whatever game you want to play to run in that interpreter, just like if you wanted to play music files you'd need both the program to play them and the files of whatever music you wished to play. interactive fiction might not be the best thing to play with a younger brother, especially sinse most of the games are in English and require reading of lots of text, also the games are single player, you couldn't take turns or similar. I'd suggest either trying him on some audio games (I've played some of Jim Kitchin's with sighted friends of mine), or if he isn't keen on playing with sound, try some audio games with graphics such as those from spoonbill. Actually the spoonbill titles might be good sinse they have computer versions of classic real games such as brainiac, (concentration), unoo, hearts, mine sweeper, chess, as well as word games like boggle and scrabble. Just go to http://www.omninet.net.au/~irhumph/blindgamers.htm to read about the games, and if you want any of them e-mail Ian humphries. they're also free. Hth. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Shaun, You have totally gotten off topic. The subject here is interactive fiction games. Not Xbox or accessible games for the PC like SoundRTS, Kitchens Inc, etc. Please, remember to stick to the subject. Thanks. On 10/21/14, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: most of the kitchensinc titles are ok, the rs and quentin c client onlline games are good, soundrts may be quite good but I am not sure how to run it over lan. or get a server for that sorted. any of the all in play things to. Any stratogy game though whould be ok, any sports game to. side scrollers maybe not sure but probably not fps games. You may have better success if you 8used a console. the xbox 360 has dropped in price since the 1 came out, there is the ps4 3 2 and 1 and maybe a few others to. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
ive got to agree Thomas, wishbringer and moonmist are good general games. Lisa Hayes www.nutrimetics.com.au/lisahayes - Original Message - From: Thomas Ward thomasward1...@gmail.com To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 6:18 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted. Hi Shaun, Seriously, it isn't rocket science. I can think of a number of interactive fiction games that would be fine for children. Take the Infocom games just as an example. They are clean, designed for people of all ages, and are some great text adventures to play. At least most of them are. Just as an example I could see sharing games like Arthur, Zork, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc with a child. However, it wouldn't be a good idea to share Leather Goddesses of Phobos with a kid since that is definitely more for adults. A little common sense here on what is and is not age appropriate goes a long way. On 10/21/14, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: one thing ishen is I am not sure what games would be good for children, when I started I was into the net and in my late teens so I didn't care much about what I played. if the plot was good then I played it but if I didn't like it it got dumped. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Thomas, When playing Leather Goddesses of Phobos, don't forget to type lewd. HTH BFN Jim Cleverly disguised as a Responsible Adult j...@kitchensinc.net http://www.kitchensinc.net (440) 286-6920 Chardon Ohio USA --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
I guess that depends on what you mean by graphical. By some logic, a bios is a graphical interface. -- From: Josh Kennedy joshknnd1...@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:20 AM To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Subject: Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted. even recovery and reformat disks have graphical interfaces. even the most popular linux first boots into a graphical interface unless you get vinux CLI or grml console only linux. On 10/21/2014 6:55 PM, shaun everiss wrote: you are so right tom, sadly these days most get the graphical world and thats all they know. its one of my laments on computer stuff. In the day my day if something went wrong you actually tried to replace it or fix it. now, if something goes wrong a recovery disk, a reformat will fix it but your average yung person wouldn't know what dos was anymore. and if something breaks or even if it doesn't they are ready to replace it to quickly. An example, my cousin brought a brand new phone last year. It was barely a few months old, it still worked fine but he sold it because it was not the latest and got another one, at full price. When I have a computer and not to many years ago, you only replaced it if the gbattery exploded, the drivves failed or the case melted. You ran all your boxes into the ground. People sadly do not think like that anymore. At 01:28 a.m. 22/10/2014, you wrote: Hi Shaun, Well, as you said it all depends on the person. You make a lot of generalizations about the younger players verses the older players which may be true in their specific cases, but I wouldn't go as far to say all young people are like that. I think a lot of it comes down to exposure. If someone a bit older than them were to show them a few cool text adventures someone younger may learn to enjoy it as much as they like their graphical console games. It is just a matter of giving them a chance to play the games and introducing them to the genre without prejudice. Many older PC gamers will certainly remember games like Elite. It was by far one of the best science fiction games of the 1980's and a lot of people liked it. Games like that have given older gamers appreciation for games without killer 3d graphics, state-of-the-art sounds, etc because they know what is possible with text and minimal graphics. Someone who has only grew up playing games with virtual 3d graphics probably assumes all text games suck without even having had tried one, or realized how addicting a game like Elite can be regardless of the lack of killer graphics and sounds. It is up to older gamers to pass on the knowledge and experience of how cool some of those older games can be. As far as card and board games I think the people you know are to black and white on that issue. There is no rule saying that it is either video games or board games. My son, for example, is 10 and he loves both. He likes games for Play Station and XBox, but if I ask him too he will sit down and play a board game with me. One is just as good as the other for him. So I think opinions like that are up to the individual and how much positive reinforcement they had with that type of game. On 10/20/14, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: Hmm it will depend on the person, half my friends are happy with text, and even audio games others are not. Ofcause some of my friends grew up on older systems like the acorn, if you grow up with it then you may take it more easily, for my unger generation of friends, if its not got graphics, needs 2gb of ram to run, and an i7 then its crap! And if its for the blind its crap! and text is crap! I think that if you were entering it from a graphical prospective not knowing about it and not having the experiences then its quite hard for some, not all but some. For those quite a lot are not willing to leave graphics and shoot this mash this button and the like, others are happy to do so. At least for me and some of the family the devide between those who care or not is quite wide, older generations 1980 and earlier have experienced a world without the graphics we enjoy now and are ready. for those in the late 90s or 200s its hard and getting harder. I used to play board games with my cousin, but its all now consoles, and flashy graphical systems, text, even audio games wouldn't cross their minds and if they tried most would get lost. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Wrong the BIOS is not graphical enough that a screen reader can not see it. The problem is there is no screen reader support at that phase to read it. A graphic interface is one of all pictures and text within those pictures. Screen readers have a hard time reading them unless alt tags have there text included. All versions of windows have graphical interfaces and screen readers have no problem with them as long as you have screen reader support and sound. At 08:29 AM 10/22/2014, you wrote: I guess that depends on what you mean by graphical. By some logic, a bios is a graphical interface. -- From: Josh Kennedy joshknnd1...@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:20 AM To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Subject: Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted. even recovery and reformat disks have graphical interfaces. even the most popular linux first boots into a graphical interface unless you get vinux CLI or grml console only linux. On 10/21/2014 6:55 PM, shaun everiss wrote: you are so right tom, sadly these days most get the graphical world and thats all they know. its one of my laments on computer stuff. In the day my day if something went wrong you actually tried to replace it or fix it. now, if something goes wrong a recovery disk, a reformat will fix it but your average yung person wouldn't know what dos was anymore. and if something breaks or even if it doesn't they are ready to replace it to quickly. An example, my cousin brought a brand new phone last year. It was barely a few months old, it still worked fine but he sold it because it was not the latest and got another one, at full price. When I have a computer and not to many years ago, you only replaced it if the gbattery exploded, the drivves failed or the case melted. You ran all your boxes into the ground. People sadly do not think like that anymore. At 01:28 a.m. 22/10/2014, you wrote: Hi Shaun, Well, as you said it all depends on the person. You make a lot of generalizations about the younger players verses the older players which may be true in their specific cases, but I wouldn't go as far to say all young people are like that. I think a lot of it comes down to exposure. If someone a bit older than them were to show them a few cool text adventures someone younger may learn to enjoy it as much as they like their graphical console games. It is just a matter of giving them a chance to play the games and introducing them to the genre without prejudice. Many older PC gamers will certainly remember games like Elite. It was by far one of the best science fiction games of the 1980's and a lot of people liked it. Games like that have given older gamers appreciation for games without killer 3d graphics, state-of-the-art sounds, etc because they know what is possible with text and minimal graphics. Someone who has only grew up playing games with virtual 3d graphics probably assumes all text games suck without even having had tried one, or realized how addicting a game like Elite can be regardless of the lack of killer graphics and sounds. It is up to older gamers to pass on the knowledge and experience of how cool some of those older games can be. As far as card and board games I think the people you know are to black and white on that issue. There is no rule saying that it is either video games or board games. My son, for example, is 10 and he loves both. He likes games for Play Station and XBox, but if I ask him too he will sit down and play a board game with me. One is just as good as the other for him. So I think opinions like that are up to the individual and how much positive reinforcement they had with that type of game. On 10/20/14, shaun everiss sm.ever...@gmail.com wrote: Hmm it will depend on the person, half my friends are happy with text, and even audio games others are not. Ofcause some of my friends grew up on older systems like the acorn, if you grow up with it then you may take it more easily, for my unger generation of friends, if its not got graphics, needs 2gb of ram to run, and an i7 then its crap! And if its for the blind its crap! and text is crap! I think that if you were entering it from a graphical prospective not knowing about it and not having the experiences then its quite hard for some, not all but some. For those quite a lot are not willing to leave graphics and shoot this mash this button and the like, others are happy to do so. At least for me and some of the family the devide between those who care or not is quite wide, older generations 1980 and earlier have experienced a world without the graphics we enjoy now and are ready. for those in the late 90s or 200s its hard and getting harder. I used to play board games with my cousin, but its all now consoles, and flashy graphical systems, text, even audio games wouldn't cross
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
A graphical interface is one that is not 100% text and command-entering based. This means that, as I said, depending on how one defines what is and is not a command, a bios is graphical. The reason for this is that one rarely enters text into a bios. Bios is essentially a menu system, and you use the arrows and enter (with a couple other keys) to navigate and work within it. This is not a console application, as you do not enter text to have the bios do things; you navigate a graphically displayed menu. I'm not sure where you got the bit about screen readers from; I was commenting on Josh's post that almost everything was gui based lately, not whether or not said guis were accessible with a screen reader. -- From: tim z200...@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 9:20 AM To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Subject: Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted. Wrong the BIOS is not graphical enough that a screen reader can not see it. The problem is there is no screen reader support at that phase to read it. A graphic interface is one of all pictures and text within those pictures. Screen readers have a hard time reading them unless alt tags have there text included. All versions of windows have graphical interfaces and screen readers have no problem with them as long as you have screen reader support and sound. At 08:29 AM 10/22/2014, you wrote: I guess that depends on what you mean by graphical. By some logic, a bios is a graphical interface. -- From: Josh Kennedy joshknnd1...@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 7:20 AM To: Gamers Discussion list gamers@audyssey.org Subject: Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted. even recovery and reformat disks have graphical interfaces. even the most popular linux first boots into a graphical interface unless you get vinux CLI or grml console only linux. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Jim, Oh, of course. However, as we are trying to think of games for children that wouldn't be appropriate for a child. Grin. On 10/22/14, Jim Kitchen j...@kitchensinc.net wrote: Hi Thomas, When playing Leather Goddesses of Phobos, don't forget to type lewd. HTH BFN Jim Cleverly disguised as a Responsible Adult j...@kitchensinc.net http://www.kitchensinc.net (440) 286-6920 Chardon Ohio USA --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Ishen. Well you need Filfre to play the if game files, you then need the files for whatever game you want to play to run in that interpreter, just like if you wanted to play music files you'd need both the program to play them and the files of whatever music you wished to play. interactive fiction might not be the best thing to play with a younger brother, especially sinse most of the games are in English and require reading of lots of text, also the games are single player, you couldn't take turns or similar. I'd suggest either trying him on some audio games (I've played some of Jim Kitchin's with sighted friends of mine), or if he isn't keen on playing with sound, try some audio games with graphics such as those from spoonbill. Actually the spoonbill titles might be good sinse they have computer versions of classic real games such as brainiac, (concentration), unoo, hearts, mine sweeper, chess, as well as word games like boggle and scrabble. Just go to http://www.omninet.net.au/~irhumph/blindgamers.htm to read about the games, and if you want any of them e-mail Ian humphries. they're also free. Hth. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Tom. Never mind your son, I! like board and card games, but also love audio games, text games and what video games I'm able to play, and I pretty much always have. I enjoyed card and board games because I was able to play with other people, indeed when I was quite young, around 7-12 my brother and I always used to go and see my gran who was totally blind and who taught us to play a lot of card games like cribbage, thirty ones, rummy and twos (a game with similar rules to Uno). Yet at the same time I was a major fan of games on the Amiga and Snes. I probably would have liked interactive fiction too if I'd have had the opportunity to play any at that point, and I don't see why kids now would be different, indeed I've heard several examples of kids today liking older or less graphical games, from your own son's enjoyment of Supertux, to a chap on the Turrican Forums who introduced his 5 and 8 year old cousins to some of the Turrican games. Heck, go and look at the wikipedia article on A dark room released last year for the Iphone yet an amazingly successful game (the fact it also has a very nice developer and full access is of course a bonus too). One thing I will say though, is I think for a lot of people, especially younger kids, both the motivation of why to play games and the tactics used in game design have changed. Back in the 80's, the reason I played computer games was all about exploring. i wanted to get further to see what new stuff was in the game, even if it was say just a new colour of robots in berzerk or a new ledge configuration in joust. This is why I so loved Turrican and metroid, games where the exploring was taken to radical new levels. The mechanics (particularly of memorable games like mario brothers), were such that it was always necessary to learn and practice hard, and to work at what was there to progress, but that was what made the exploring so good, it was like climbing up a mountain to see what you could see next. However I think a lot of the design of video games today isn't about that sort of mechanics or about that sort of experience so much as it is about progress meaters with a slot machine mechanic, or just showing as good graphics as possible for the current game of the year. this particularly goes for what you could call casual gamers, people who aren't really interested in anything but the latest fps or big release andjust play it the same way you would go to see the next big summer block buster film. So, while I fully agree with you on games and motivation, and that a good game that has been artistically made will always gain followers no matter what sort of thing happens, I do think a lot of people are getting the wrong idea of games and gaming, or playing games for reasons that might not let them appreciate what could be done by a propper game designer. This is also manifestly bad for access, sinse if the first question of someone on considering audio or text games is where are those amazing visuals! not is this an interesting game to play then we have a problem, and unfortunately there are people out there with this sort of mindset. Before however this turns into my diatribe about capitalism devaluing individual creativity in an art form in effort to appeal to mass markets and create demand I'll stop :D. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Curry-muncher? am I missing something? Perhaps you could explain that remark a little Tom. BEware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Dark, Its simple. Ishan continues to call me Champion besides being asked on and off list to stop so I decided to give him a nickname. Obviously,being the moderator and on a public forum I didn't want to say anything too nasty or that could be taken as a racial slur so I decided to jokingly call him Curry-Muncher. I.E. Someone who eats lots of curry since curry is a popular dish in India. At the time it seemed like something I could call him without being outright insulting and that might be slightly funny. Cheers! On 10/21/14, dark d...@xgam.org wrote: Curry-muncher? am I missing something? Perhaps you could explain that remark a little Tom. BEware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
Re: [Audyssey] previous topic of interactive fictions which Istarted.
Hi Dark, Me too. When growing up in the80's I' play any game regardless if it was a board game or a video game. I don't see why kids would be that much different today. My son certainly isn't because we share an interest in both. However, I think one reason might be some parents today are a lot different than mine. By that I mean when I was a kid I could sit down with my family and happily play games like Monopoly, Life, or some other board game and learned to appreciate them just as much as the Atari or the NES games in my bedroom. However, more and more parents are expecting their kids to go to their rooms and play their Play Station, Wii, or XBox as a form of babysitting rather than spending personal time with them. Consequently a lot of kids are getting a lot of exposure to the cutting edge video games and not learning the value of more traditional games. They are in a sense making their high tech video games the standard and that is definitely a problem in more than one way. Cheers! On 10/21/14, dark d...@xgam.org wrote: Hi Tom. Never mind your son, I! like board and card games, but also love audio games, text games and what video games I'm able to play, and I pretty much always have. I enjoyed card and board games because I was able to play with other people, indeed when I was quite young, around 7-12 my brother and I always used to go and see my gran who was totally blind and who taught us to play a lot of card games like cribbage, thirty ones, rummy and twos (a game with similar rules to Uno). Yet at the same time I was a major fan of games on the Amiga and Snes. I probably would have liked interactive fiction too if I'd have had the opportunity to play any at that point, and I don't see why kids now would be different, indeed I've heard several examples of kids today liking older or less graphical games, from your own son's enjoyment of Supertux, to a chap on the Turrican Forums who introduced his 5 and 8 year old cousins to some of the Turrican games. Heck, go and look at the wikipedia article on A dark room released last year for the Iphone yet an amazingly successful game (the fact it also has a very nice developer and full access is of course a bonus too). One thing I will say though, is I think for a lot of people, especially younger kids, both the motivation of why to play games and the tactics used in game design have changed. Back in the 80's, the reason I played computer games was all about exploring. i wanted to get further to see what new stuff was in the game, even if it was say just a new colour of robots in berzerk or a new ledge configuration in joust. This is why I so loved Turrican and metroid, games where the exploring was taken to radical new levels. The mechanics (particularly of memorable games like mario brothers), were such that it was always necessary to learn and practice hard, and to work at what was there to progress, but that was what made the exploring so good, it was like climbing up a mountain to see what you could see next. However I think a lot of the design of video games today isn't about that sort of mechanics or about that sort of experience so much as it is about progress meaters with a slot machine mechanic, or just showing as good graphics as possible for the current game of the year. this particularly goes for what you could call casual gamers, people who aren't really interested in anything but the latest fps or big release andjust play it the same way you would go to see the next big summer block buster film. So, while I fully agree with you on games and motivation, and that a good game that has been artistically made will always gain followers no matter what sort of thing happens, I do think a lot of people are getting the wrong idea of games and gaming, or playing games for reasons that might not let them appreciate what could be done by a propper game designer. This is also manifestly bad for access, sinse if the first question of someone on considering audio or text games is where are those amazing visuals! not is this an interesting game to play then we have a problem, and unfortunately there are people out there with this sort of mindset. Before however this turns into my diatribe about capitalism devaluing individual creativity in an art form in effort to appeal to mass markets and create demand I'll stop :D. Beware the grue! Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If
