A mindset firmly placed in both the analog and the digital seems to be the place to be. For the purposes of this post, analog will be used jointly with classic when it comes to computer technology. While obsessing with the Sinclair ZX81 computer of the early 1980’s, a parallel obsession with holographic computer interfaces is co-occurring. Clunky and slow classic computers hold as much interest as a computer that appears right before your eyes, floating in front of you and manipulated with the swipe of a hand in the air. Thinking of and finding fascination with old 5MB peripherals that were the size of a refrigerator and a fascination with petabytes of memory the size of a postage stamp are equally interesting. Seeing a barrier between the two simply does not occur. This coexistence makes each independent topic that much more interesting. This works the same with the feel of a 19th century book bound in calfskin and a new e-reader that holds thousands of books. Each has its own history and each has its own optimal uses. One does not have to live in the world of being a borderline Luddite and one does not have to live in a world where usable technology has not yet been invented.

An area where this dichotomy does not exist is in the world of music production. This is different than music recording practices. It is just fact that producing a high quality recording, even when the music is played on original instruments several hundred years old, requires the latest technology. What is being referred to hear is music that is produced solely by technology on a computer and through a piece of music technology. This holds no interest and it is in this area that holding true to the value of producing music on actual instruments will forever be superior to music produced directly from a circuit board.

A major benefit of owning a large music recording collection is the willingness to embrace analog technology for playback purposes. This especially holds true for cassette tapes and vinyl record. Vinyl is now hip and finding its second wind within society. Cassettes have not yet made this leap. Recently, listening to recordings on cassette tape has brought great joy. It is remarkable how well cassettes hold up over time. Placing a tape in the Sony CFD-S70 and having pristine sound coming out is really fun and somewhat exciting. A playback mechanism that has not yet been explored, but needs to happen because of the seventeen recordings waiting to be played, is the 8-track player. This will soon happen but the expectation of pristine playback that has come from using cassette tapes is not expected.. This pessimistic outlook is a good place to start as the only place to go is up. Seeing CD’s as old technology is not in the forefront of personal thinking at this time. The movement away from CD’s to only listening to music through streaming services or iTunes is a step that mentally cannot be grasped as of March 2021.

There are those on the right side of the political spectrum that enjoys wielding the term “tolerant liberal” as if it was a weapon that immediately ends discussions. Somewhere along the line, the notion that all liberals are meek and quiet wound it’s way into their tiny little brains. This occurred that by definition, liberals, based on policy and political platform, actually care about other people much more than those that call themselves conservatives. Or, worse yet, Christian conservatives. Here is how it usually works. A discussion is in progress in person or somewhere online. At some point, the liberal in the conversation will say something that is seen by the conservative as mean, angry, intolerant, or divisive. This is when they reach around to their back pocket of tricks and say something like, “you aren’t a tolerant liberal are you?” or, “so much for being a tolerant liberal.” What the liberal said is not even that bad, it is simply the opposite of what the conservative believes. It is a lame and poorly thought out attempt at ending the conversation or declaring themselves the winner. I know more than a few liberals, and I cannot think of one that wields that badge of “tolerant” as if it was their weapon. The liberals I know enjoy having worthwhile conversations even to the point where things get tense. This is the point where things get interesting and the conversation goes to another level. I would describe these people as intelligent, strong, independent, kind, aware, and goal-oriented. Tolerant is not the first word that pops up when thinking about these people. Disagreeing and saying something contrary, ferocious, derogatory, or even borderline mean does not equate to the speaker being intolerant. So, conservatives, right-wingers, and Trump lovers everywhere, your attempt to use “tolerant liberal” as a defense in a conversation is weak and makes you look like you have no verbal skills whatsoever.

This essay rant is a result of a flashback that was sparked by flavor and smell. An early morning walk to the kitchen and the consumption of 5 stacked Pringles Sour Cream and Onion potato chips started everything. As soon as they hit my mouth, I flashbacked to summer in the early 1980s. Playing video games hour after hour in the dark cool basement of my mom and dad’s house. A large console TV, Mountain Dew, a damp washcloth for sticky fingers, Pringles Sour Cream and Onion, and the Intellivision video game console.

First experiences with home video game consoles/computers occurred almost simultaneously. The first memory is programming the Sinclair ZX81 computer to play primitive games. Twelve to thirteen lines of code that produced something fun on the screen. About this same time, I was playing the Atari 2600 at the houses of friends. Each friend had different games, so I was able to experience twenty to thirty games in any given week. For me, there is a strong correlation between video games and the summer months. My first home gaming console was the Intellivision This bad boy was acquired in the fall as I remember clearly that I wanted to stay at home and play instead of going out to trick-or-treat. The console came with the game Auto Racing. Three other games were also purchased with the console; NFL Football, Triple Action, and Astrosmash. I still have my original Intellivision console along with the games listed below. Details of the Intellivision system to follow.

Between the Intellivision home console and the next acquired home console, the PS2 were years filled with intense, active, and expensive time spent in arcades. The arcade that saw the most action was Aladdin’s Castle at the Mesa Mall in Grand Junction, Colorado. Located at the junction of the long wide hallway to the bathroom, the food court, and the rest of the mall, Aladdin’s Castle was quite large and could certainly be heard before it was seen. On the left, just at the entrance, was the coin/bill changer. A $5 deposit resulted in a nice handful of octagon-shaped tokens. I remember there being 2-3 wandering attendants who would quickly address any machine issues, push the reset button, or do quick money/token transactions. One or two of them were experts at certain games and would always provide a few pointers.

Aladdin’s Castle may have been the best place to get an 80’s arcade fix, but it was not the only one. Other favorites in my world were the 7-11 by the swimming pool on S. 12^th Street, the arcade that existed downtown for perhaps two weeks, and any arcade I could find while traveling with my family. Favorites were found at Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the massive middle of the man-made pond arcade at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California.

In my gaming history, I have some experience with three other computers that I did not own. During the summer of 1981, I took a basic programming class at Columbine Middle School in Montrose. We worked on an Apple IIe with dual 5 ¼” floppy disk drives. Entering code that made something happen on the screen was a huge thrill. The other thrill of this class was playing Oregon Trail on this wonderful early Apple home computer. Gaming also occurred on a friend’s Commodore 64. Early on I was a keyboard snob and the keyboard on this machine was junk. My gaming experience on this machine was minimal as a result.

A computer that I did own and that I used almost exclusively for gaming was the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. The game cartridge inserted on the top and to the right on the keyboard portion of the computer. The game I most remember was a mountain climbing game. There were nine levels with the top-level being Mt. Everest. I never got beyond the Matterhorn. The attached monitor had a very vivid green-tinted screen. The sounds of that game were fantastic. If I squint my eyes and concentrate, I can still hear the sounds and see the 16-bit climber scrambling vertically up the mountain, dodging falling rocks and avalanches as he/she climbs.

Before coming back to the basement, another device/game must be mentioned. Sometime in 1982, I acquired an orange Nintendo dual screen Donkey Kong game. I must have played this thing for 750 hours. At some point, something fell on it and put a nice dent in the casing. The thing kept on trucking and didn’t lose a step in either play or performance. I still have this device 38-years later and all it requires is the occasional change of batteries. This device is one of my most prized possessions.

Returning to the basement of my childhood, the dark space where summers were spent absorbed in the Intellivision and all it had to offer. Off in one corner of the basement, between the recessed window and the fireplace, was a full-size pinball machine. I do wish that I could remember the theme of the machine, but I don’t. A few friends and I played this machine so much that it literally fell apart. Single-player game on the Intellivision, the other person was on the pinball. Two-person player game? The third or fourth party, if they were present, would be waiting for their turn while playing pinball.

The final memory of the basement doesn’t involve playing a game but designing a game on paper. My friend Bill Pleau and I decided that we wanted to take our hours and hours of experience on the Intellivision and parlay that into an attempt into designing our own game. There was a round poker table in the basement that had an orange felt top. We put a board on top so that we could have a writing surface. I remember taking turns writing down ideas and drawing some screenshots. The game was space-related and it involved battling your way through a series of octagonal walls to get to a central point. Most of the details of what we did are unfortunately very fuzzy. Oh, what I would not give to have these original papers back in my hands. Nostalgia is so strong that it makes you pause.

While living in Denver, my sister had a PC that I used for some gaming. The two most memorable games were Myst and Phantasmagoria. One was a fantastical search and find game, and the other was a very detailed and somewhat frightening horror game. Another way my sister is part of my gaming memories is her acquisition of the PS2 console in mid-2000. The PS2 console from Sony was released in early March 2000. At this time, I was living in Denver and only seven months away from moving back to Montrose after a 12-year absence. My older sister bought a PS2 and I remember going to Blockbuster Video to rent games. She bought two games because they were so much fun to play with. Spy Hunter and Silent Hill 2. These games were played for hours upon hours. About three years ago, she gave me her old PS2 console that was gathering dust in an outdoor storage shed. The console has been revitalized and still works beautifully.

One regret I have is that since 2000 and until about 2015, life brought me away from video games. For some reason, something that was always on my radar fell off and got lost in the shuffle of being an adult. That nonsense has come to a screeching halt. I own a PS4 and an XboxOne, each with multiple games that are listed below. I play multiple games on my old iPhone 6 (with a Game Vice attached controller), and multiple games on my iPhone 11 Max and my iPad 12.9” Pro. My old orange Donkey Kong is still in action as well as an old GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Nintendo DSLite, and two small arcade uprights. I have entered a stage of hardcore nostalgia for games of the 1980s and a new love for games just being released. I am happy to have found my way back to video games of all kinds.

Video Game List (all devices):

 Game Boy:

 Dinosaur

Pokemon

Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Duel Stories

Dragonball Z: Super Warriors

Jurassic Park

Super Mario Land

Rayman

MegaMan II

Judge Dredd

Grand Theft Auto (x2)

Disney’s Tarzan

 Game Boy Advance:

 Battleship/Risk/Clue

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Spyro 2

Megabots AX

Yu-Gi-Oh

Monopoly

Monster Force

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

The Cat in the Hat

Dragonball Z: The Legacy of Goku II

Razor Freestyle Scooter

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Scooby-Doo 2” Monsters Unlimited

Donkey Kong

Dragonball Z: Buus Fury GT

Nintendo DS Lite:

 Atari Greatest Hits Volume I

You Don’t Know Jack Volume I

You Don’t Know Jack Volume II

Call of Duty 4

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Casual Classics

Chess

Chess for Kids

Dragon’s Lair

Game Hits

Mario Kart

Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minos

Mega Man Battle Netu 5: Double Team

Metroid Prime Hunter

Monopoly

New Super Mario Bros.

Pipe Mania

Retro Game Challenge

Space Invaders Extreme

Space Invaders Extreme 2

Space Invaders Revolution

PS2:

Corvette

Baseball 2K6

Salt Lake 2000

Arthur

Agassi Tennis Generation

Top Spin

The King of Route 66

Aeon Flux

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Bad Boys

Evolution Skateboarding

Fantavision

SpyHunter

SpyHunter 2

MLB 2K7

Suzuki TT Super Bikes

ESPN XGames Skateboarding

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Superman Shadow of Akropolis

Racing Evolution

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001

Grand Theft Auto III (x2)

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 3

MLB 07 The Show

NBA Live 07

PS2 Combo El: WW2 Paratroop

High School Musical

RTX Red Rock

ESPN NHL 2K5

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

Power Dormer???

Hannah Montana

City Crisis

Hot Shots Gold 3

NCAA March Madness 2003

NFL Gameday 2003

Getaway

American Chopper

Out of the Chute

MLB 2K7

Full Spectrum Warrior

World Championship Cards

Tony Hawks Project 8

MLB Power Pros 2008

Bode Miller Alpine Skiing

Tom Clancy Rainbow Six 3

NFL Gameday 2002

Kill Switch

NASCAR 06: Total Team Contest

Nicktoons Movin’

Intellivision:

 Swords and Serpents

Carnival

Atlantis

Venture

Demon Attack

Dragon Fire

Microsurgeon

Donkey Kong

Locomotion

Mission X

PGA Golf

Major League Baseball

Auto Racing

NBA Basketball

Skiing

NFL Football

Las Vegas Poker and Blackjack

Las Vegas Roulette

Horse Racing

Royal Dealer

Reversi

Utopia

Space Spartans

B-17 Bomber

Bomb Squad

Astrosmash x2

Space Battle x2

Bowling

Star Strike

Space Armada

Space Hawk

Night Stalker

Snafu

Space Battle (Red box)

Sub Hunt

Lock n Chase

Armor Battle

Tron: Maze A Tron

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons

Frog Bog

Triple Action

Safecracker

Stampede

Burger Time

Pitfall

PS4:

 Until Dawn

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Plants v. Zombies GW

Plants v. Zombies GW2

Fallout 4

Assassin’s Creed: Unity

Bioshock: The Collection

Batman: Arkham City

Galaga Legions DX

Alien Rage

Resident Evil 4

Friday the 13^th: The Game

Prey

Borderlands: Ultimate Edition

Catherine

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime

Pure chess

XboxOne:

 Wolfenstein II

Star Wars: Battlefront 2

Fortnite

Rublox

Rainbow Six: Siege

iOS (Pad):

 Dead Trigger 2

Zombie Shooter

Minecraft

Atari Greatest Hits

Lumosity

Elevate

PS App

PS4 Remote Play

PS Messages

Xbox

Harry Potter

Personality Match

Chess Time

Classic Slots Casino

Twitch

Fine Art

Not A Game

Amico Club

Missile Command

Asteroids

Star Trek Fleet Command

iOS (Phone):

 Dead Trigger 2

Drop Wizard

NYT Crossword

Twitch

Plague, Inc.

Xbox

PS App

PS Messages

PS4 Remote

Dungeons of Chaos

GameVice Live

Minecraft

Personality Match

Scooby-Doo

Crimsonland

Zombie Shooter

Fallen London

Chess Time

Noovie Arcade

Not A Game

Fingers

Missile Command

Asteroids

Star Trek Fleet Command

Gaming devices:

Handheld:

Nintendo Donkey Kong dual screen

Nintendo DS Lite

Nintendo Game Boy

Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Old console:

Intellivision

PS2

Newer console:

PS4

XboxOne

Mini arcade cabinet:

Galaga

Karate Champ

https://youtu.be/MAyKNGudXzA

 

 

 

***Archiving. Originally published in the Fall 2014 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”

***Archiving. Originally published in the Spring 2014 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”

 

***Archiving. Originally published in the Winter 2013 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”

***Archiving. Originally published in the Fall 2013 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”

 

***Archiving. Originally published in the Spring 2013 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”

 

 

***Archiving. Originally published in the Summer 2013 issue of The Monitor magazine***

Original WORD document lost. Column name: “Standard Deviations”