Category: Games

Masters Of The Game

January 14, 2014

Yesterday Bernard and I went to the Powerhouse museum to see this:

Overall I thought it was a good, but not great exhibit. It focuses on individuals (rather than genres or eras) and showcases many playable games from creators like Ed Logg, Hideo Kojima, Yuji Naka or Chris Metzen.

We were most interested in the retro room:

There were about 20 games on free play, including classics (Pac Man, Asteroids) and obscure examples (Reactor, Ripoff, Bee Gee). Ultimately we settled comfortably in front of Defender and Robotron, playing each for about an hour.

After twenty+ games, I was happy dominating the high score chart (#4 overall!) on Robotron even though the firing joystick was a bit wonky. Bernard wrestled with Defender (the hardest game of all time after Defender 2) and ended up with a top score over 8,000.

That’s me having a gander at Ultima Underworld, a real blast from my past!

After the game exhibit, we headed to the ABC building for the Doctor Who mini-exhibit:

We posed with out favourites:

The game mania continued later that night, with the start of our ‘Dreamgear’ (a $5 plug-and-play TV game) tournament:

We played half the games on the unit, and will finish tonight. Stay tuned!

The Master At Work

January 7, 2014

Yesterday I spent the morning catching up with my old friend Kirsten. Much laughter ensued 🙂

Later in the day Bernard and I visited Pizza and Pinball, the restaurant not too far from where mum and dad live.

Of all the games I played, Judge Dredd may have been best. But the one above – an ‘indie’ pinball made in Newcastle in 2013 – was certainly the most memorable. I think I’ll have to go and play it again before I leave.

Here’s what Bernard had for dinner: a fish salad sandwich (with beetroot):

Here’s his five word review: “It was good, no, ok”.

I gave dad my phone and he took a few snaps. Here’s his best selfie:

And a shot of Bernard and I watching the cricket while eating ice blocks:

Bernard’s working hard on our game. Later today I plan to start the graphics and ‘monster design’. We regularly talk about the core mechanics and the scoring. It will be playable online when complete. Here’s a code preview:

It’s going to be awesome!

The Blue Mountains

December 30, 2013

The drive out of Jenolan – on the same perilous road as yesterday – was a very different experience since we woke early and got out before the traffic. Our destination was the town of Katoomba, tourist center of the Blue Mountains.

We arrived in Katoomba about 11 and headed to a place called Scenic World, which is perched right on the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley. Here’s a shot of the lines when we arrived:

Incredible! We would learn that the lines start even before the place opens before 9 am. What is here that is worth lining up? Well, after about an hour in line we…

Rode a cable car the 275 meters down to the rainforest before…

Exploring the rainforest walk. This was a ~45 minute stroll on a raised walkway around the dense rainforest that fills the valley below Katoomba. We saw two lyrebirds!

Can you see him in the middle of the picture displaying his plumage?

To get back to the tops of the cliffs we rode the world’s steepest train:

This was remarkable! A very fast and thrilling train set on an up to 52 degree incline with incredible views of the mountains. Highly recommended!

But the attractions weren’t over! After another line, Bernard and I rode this:

We even stood on the ‘electro-reveal floor’ which used liquid crystal glass to become transparent half way across:

The views were breathtaking. I was so dazzled, I even forgot to take a single photo of the famous attraction known as The Three Sisters. You can see them on a postcard if you’ve never heard of them 🙂

After visits to more lookouts we – after a long day – headed back to our motel for the night. We had eaten a kings breakfast back in Jenolan and actually skipped lunch, so we were famished when we headed to the local RSL for dinner.

The Chinese food was incredible! We ate like emperors! Bernard then demonstrated he still had the magic touch by turning $5 into $86 using His favourite poker machine:

As if this club couldn’t get better, I then wandered over to the tiny arcade and found this:

The Doctor Who pinball! Holy Christ, I’ve been wanting to play this forever! And playing it was like a religious experience 🙂

A great end to a great day! What would tomorrow bring?

Robot Claw