Heavyweight Champ (Arcade) | 1976 Arcade Gaming

Is it Practical to Stream Video Games?

This is an update to an article I wrote five years ago...

Roughly 36 years ago I had an argument with a coworker. He argued that once internet speeds became fast enough to transmit full-screen video, we wouldn't need game consoles, since we would be able to stream video games from a server to our computer screens. Rather than pay for expensive hardware, that hardware could be on a server someplace, saving us money.

I have to admit that he had remarkable foresight literally 30 years ahead of his time. This was at a time when the Internet was text only. However, I saw a number of problems with his idea...

1. Internet speeds were still fairly low, like 1,200 to 2,400 bits per second.

2. Latency is always an issue when playing games. No matter fast your Internet is, there is an overhead to transmitting data back and forth.

 
3. It is always advantageous to have your own hardware. Imagine having to share hardware with other people competing for the same physical resources. I figured that hardware would get cheaper over time, eliminating the need to share hardware with other people.

4. His idea reminded me of the early days of computing where you would have to dial into a mainframe using a *dumb terminal*, which I actually owned and used at the time, whereas the new trend in computing was for everyone to have their own computer.

I argued that streaming video games would *never* be practical. He couldn't understand why I didn't see the obvious wisdom of his idea.

Seven years ago Google introduced Stadia, which was a video game streaming service, and it totally flopped. Other companies like Microsoft and Amazon worked on the same idea, but they all suffer from the same problems like latency.

 
It makes very little sense to be dependent on unreliable Internet communication and shared hardware to play games when you can purchase a video game console like the Xbox Series X for $500*. Putting hardware in a centralized location instead of your living room isn't necessarily cheaper, except that you can share that hardware with other people, but what if everyone wants to use the hardware at the same time?

In theory, this could become practical someday, but the same technology that will make this more feasible will also make it more feasible for you to have your own hardware that is just as good. This is the problem I saw three decades ago

* Now $798.

The Thing You Can't Defeat - DOOM's Creepiest And Most Depressing Mod

I tried playing this. It is like the original Doom, “Knee-Deep in the Dead,” but each new map gets weirder, more distorted, and more annoying. The music is creepy. I quickly gave up because I don’t play Doom to be annoyed.

The WAD does some clever things. It can instantly transport you to another identical area that looks different. So, as you exit an area that you just visited, the textures are now different, and you are left wondering, “Why do things look different?” Or, as I exited an area, I was suddenly in a different part of the map. In one of the maps, I suddenly found myself playing the next map, as if I had forgotten that I had finished the last one.

The Gaming Market is Starting to Break

Space Fury Arcade Cabinet MAME Gameplay w/ Hypermarquee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl6cwysXN1s

@john2001plus
2 minutes ago
It is sort of a combination of Moon Cresta, Bosconian, and Asteroids Deluxe. I prefer Moon Cresta.

Cat'n Mouse (Arcade)

TNT Evilution (100%) Walkthrough (Map30: Last Call)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkvUw1wmc4Q

@john2001plus
1 minute ago
I just finished Final Doom on "Hey, not too rough".  Because of the complexity and difficulty of this game, I think that I need more practice before I move to a harder level.  However, I could just jump into "Hurt Me Plenty" and see what happens.

I have been alternating all the maps in Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom for months.  I love playing this game, but I think that I need more variety, so I'll be looking at what else I can play.  Maybe a different Doom WAD.

The Bounty (Arcade)

THE DIFFICULTY OF FINAL DOOM

Tank 8 & Arcade Video Games in 1976

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDiOqzGa8dQ

The Pac-Man Game You Never Played

Atari Had ONE Great Idea for This Snoopy Game

Night Driver & Arcade Video Games in October 1976

Birdie King (Arcade)

@john2001plus  11 minutes ago

I remember playing Birdie King, maybe just once. 

In 1985, I played the Bally Mini Golf which I loved.

Multitasking on a Z80 CPU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMYGlYO3v9U

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
I programmed games on a couple of different Z80-based systems. The traditional approach is to have a game loop that calls several functions inside the loop. Each function checks whether it needs to update something and performs the update only if necessary.

The Moment Gaming Stopped Trusting Players

Sony Has Spoken. This sucks. I’m not happy

The End of Physical Media

No Escape! on the Atari 2600 - The MASHUP You Didn't Know You Needed

Atari 2600 (It's Better Than You Think)

Bachelor Party

Azurian Attack

The Plutonia Experiment (100%) Walkthrough (Map32: Go 2 It)

@john2001plus

3 months ago
WTF. I played Plutonia Map 32 on "I'm Too Young to Die," and it was a nightmare. The arch-viles kept resurrecting enemies, and I had to kill multiple cyberdemons. I left maybe five of them alive when I hit the exit and still got 98% kills.

I had to keep saving my progress incrementally just to get through it. The map left me with a stress level that honestly feels detrimental to my health. I can't imagine playing it on a tougher difficulty.

@john2001plus

0 seconds ago
I managed to barely get through this map on the second level of difficulty.  Just like my "I'm Too Young to Die" experience, I had to exit before I got 100% of the kills.

I tried to get the monsters to infight in the big area, and this really saved my bacon.  Eventually, I had to do some almost suicide-runs against the Cyber Demons.

There are too many "peek-a-boo" attacks in this map.  You have to do it constantly.  This becomes tedious.

Due to the extreme difficulty of this Wad, I'll probably stick to the second level of difficulty on my next playthrough.

Azurian Attack (Arcade)

This is Amazing! Zaxxon Arcade on Atari 2600

This is what happens when you put a CPU on a 2600 cart.

Astro Pinball

@john2001plus5 minutes ago (edited)

10:43 The attract mode looked really fun, but the actual gameplay seems to have problems. That lower bumper blocks most of the angles that you could shoot. 

Having worked in the videogame industry, I know that companies are more concerned with making release dates than they are with quality.

Galaxian Atari 2600 Livestream Casual

Swoop (BBC Micro)

Zoo Keeper (Arcade)

Air Raid (Atari 2600)