1001 VG Book #04 - "Boot Hill" - (1977)

commentary about the book article for:

#4 = Boot Hill (1977)
- by JRu (Justin Russell)
- Arcade

  -  The review suggests this as "Pong redesigned by a John Wayne fan?"  Laughable. It doesn't even feel like a pong game, its a totally different genre, with vastly different rules. This kind of inaccurate portrayal makes me feel like these reviewers are not concerned with the actual games, but in writing up some kind of fan fiction. Sorry, but it just bugs a historian like me.

  - When talking about Pong, it doesn’t even get the famous Pong instructions correct.  Article talks about “Avoid missing projectile at all costs”... my goodness.  It's actually "Avoid missing ball for high score."  But again, why are we taking about Pong, this is in the shootout genre.. or head-to-head fighting game if any "genre" fits better.  Not a ball-and-paddle.

  - "Bang, bang, you're really dead." Ugh, I hate that line. There is no "really dead" since this is all a video game. I like the game's animation of having to shuttle off the dead cowboy to the graveyard and a tombstone is erected on the spot... but this is all good simulated fun. 

VIDEO:

(Boot Hill - simulated original gameplay)

1001 VG Book #03 - "Breakout" - (1976)

commentary about the book article for:

#3 = Breakout (1976)
- by SP (Steve Poole)
- Arcade

  - First note - the picture in the book is actually from "Super Breakout" - which is a 1978 sequel to Breakout that introduced three game modes. The picture above is the original Breakout from 1976.

  - The article mentions how many games were influenced by Breakout - including Peggle. Really? How did they make that stretch? It's fine to me to point out some of the closely related games, such as Arkanoid - a game clearly in the genre and tradition of Breakout. But to stretch influence beyond a clear connection is to ignore the many genres and other games that have all had their own influence in this great industry. There are many games that draw inspiration from many sources.

VIDEO:

(Breakout original cabinet gameplay)

(Peggle gameplay example)

While Peggle is a really fun game, I don't think it has much in common with Breakout other than "bouncing balls".  But you're really not controlling much of anything except the initial shot from the top of the screen.