Rating:
4
Game Reviews: 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
15 thoughts on “Game Reviews: 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10”
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Games at Work: Participation, Procedure and Play
BARD COLLEGE — IDEA 135
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This is probably the least game-y game we have played so far. When I went into the game room, I was kind of excited by how many commands were in the code books. I think it is pretty cool that there were methods such as these to teach kids coding, and I can understand why this would be exciting when this technology was new. The Commodore VIC-20 is a pretty cool machine, it is really cool that we have access to one. The codes are very long and complex, though, and it can be a drag when you have to type in three pages of abstract text to view a clock, but it is still good to experience the beginnings of consumer programming.
I super respect anyone who took the time to try and type in any of the codes from the Commodore VIC-20 game book. This experience took the frustration of making syntax errors to a whole new level. I wish I could have given the Commodore VIC-20 the time it deserved!
Also! Attempted making a digi-clock and totally failed. Just thought I should mention that.
Despite this being the least game like out of the rest of our gaming experiences, I still had a very positive experience that will stay with me. After typing in the 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 I was very satisfied with the result. Following, I decided to pick up one of the books and enter code. This took a painstakingly long time but forced me into a computer like “trance” that allowed me to really focus and understand what I was doing. I believe that this experience proved to be incredibly educational because it allowed me to confirm my understanding of variables. I think that messing around with the VIC 20 is a crucial role in any computer science or electronic arts course because it forces the beholder to truly understand their decisions. This is similar to nearly every medium such as photography and music in that the analog method of creation provides the beholder with a state of mind like no other.
I can understand why people read more books back then. Besides being extremely exact–a single misplaced character renders the whole thing defective–there’s just so much you can do with this. In terms of experience, or entertainment, I didn’t find much in the VIC-20. However, the current reading of “Flow” assigned to us lines up perfectly with the VIC-20. I can see why people would spend hours on this thing. It’s hard to do, and it takes time, thus demands attention. A such it’s easy to just get lost in it, man vs. machine, just trying to get the next line to work.
Forgot my rating.
I keep thinking about when Ben and Keith laughed at our confused responses when we first saw this program run: “Did people actually enjoy this?”. At first I thought it was funny too, the fact that my generation will never understand how revolutionary this home computer was simply because we weren’t alive then. However, I realized this response was actually disheartening; In my opinion, the gaps between generations only grow larger and larger as technology advances, and this hinders communication. Getting to actually use this program and see it in action gave me more perspective on the ways in which the meaning of computers have changed over time, and in a sense, bridge some of the gaps between my generation and previous ones. I am thankful for being able to see such a rad and ancient piece of technology in the present day.
Now I know as a whole, our class was relatively unimpressed by this game, perhaps because we are used to such beautifully intricate forms of entertainment. I will say, after seeing the dashes run and form a maze-type pattern I was a little mesmerized (and I emphasize the word “little”). The actual inputting of the code was sort of tedious, but it was not very difficult at all and the result was gratifying. There is a beauty in the simplicity of the game and it is visually compelling. It’s a nice decoration for the screen
I’m honestly still in awe of how a line of code can create that. I’m definitely interested in looking at more of these, and it’d be so cool to be able to make my own (if it’s possible to). I also really want to try to navigate this maze to see how far I can actually get before it becomes impossible.
I liked having the opportunity to get my hands on some older tech. It was an interesting experience to type in some codes I didn’t understnad at all and see their result.
However, I’ve been over exposed by modern computers and games. Hopefully understandibly, I was a little bored.
posting this late but I was really interested in this. Despite it being kind of tedious to type in the codes it I was really taken by the idea of this being completely revolutionary when it came out. It’s so easy for us to dismiss it now because technology has come so far and we’re so used to seeing it, but I think that there’s a real beauty to how simple this is and knowing sort of what it represents in a techno-cultural landscape.
I don’t really consider this much of a gaming experience but it was still a positive experience. It’s interesting to see where we started with technology compared to where we are now. In the class we have the luxury of working with tools that make our coding experience infinitely easier and more accessible. This particular “game” helped me to understand that I shouldn’t take that for granted, it took a lot of work from a lot of people to get from this to where we are today.
The idea of basic as an accessible language is quite cool to me. I talked to my dad about it and he remembered trying out different programs as a youth. The program we tried out was obviously not dynamic, but it was certainly mesmerizing. I got lost looking for patterns in the randomization. Sometimes it feels like the games we have now are a bit too immersive, and this was certainly a remnant of a bygone era when people played outside after getting bored of watching an infinitely generated maze.
Although not really a “game”, I still thought it was really cool that such a simple line of code could create such a intricate design. I can definitely understand the novelty of this and why people thought it was really amazing when it first came out.
I like this old game because this reminds me of some game i play when i was young. In general, once people saw this game, i don’t think many people will enjoy play this game so far because this makes me feel so “dizzy”, and sick. But, people always can find entertainment in some “boring” game like this. I mean this game looked not very beautiful and attractive but it is very easy to get addicted to it. I am in this game now and can never get out. lol