On the IBM PC[edit] Side-scrolling had been a well-known phenomenon in arcade and console games of the 1980s, as they possessed hardware optimised for the task. However, it was not considered feasible on the PCs of the time, which did not have the hardware necessary to produce smoothly-scrolling graphics at an acceptable framerate.
MSRP for this is $399.99, without the shifter, which is an additional $59.99. Do people actually buy racing wheels that cost more than the console?
Why not? It's cheaper than upgrading a car. Besides, I think most of us have spent over $2k on a machine that is mainly used to browse porn. I'm certainly not willing to cast stones.
Same here. I bought a 2012 Macbook Pro Retina and other than its video card showing its age, it is still holding up just fine. I thought I'd want to replace it after 2 years but that's not even on my radar.
Somewhere in the last five years I've lost track of the spec wars, I'm just not waiting for my computer anymore. I am, however, enjoying having a primary machine that is easy to move or travel with. On several occasions I've finished up some free-lance work on the couch with my wife while watching TV.
I'm honestly starting to wonder if, in the not too distant future, I'm more reliant on a tablet-style device. I'm not there yet but I'm starting to see the possibility.
Half the speed at best. It was a while after the game came out before the computers could reach 30fps. The NES Super Mario games all ran at 60fps, even back in 1985.
Irrelevant. If a PC can handle complex 3D graphics (or in the case of Wing Commander, 2D graphics that simulate 3D graphics) smoothly...
When Wing Commander was out, it was smooth and Keen was not.
...simplistic 2D scrolling graphics can certainly be and HAVE certainly been done smoothly.
Smooth enough maybe, but not 'smoothly'. You did not play lots of side-scrollers on the PC back in the Wing Commander era because the hardware for it was just plain non-existant. I remember when the first round of Pentiums came out Sega announced they could finally start porting their Sonic games to the PC because the hardware was finally fast enough to do it in software.
Keen was not anywhere as smooth as Super Mario. It might have hit 30fps on later machines, but it never reached the 60fps that Mario ran at, not even on the 486 I had years later. I did eventually run into a 60fps scroller or two, but that was in the 486 era and I'm fairly certain that was in protected mode.
Street Fighter II is the only one on that list that would apply. Anybody who had a 16-bit system and a Blockbuster Card at the time would understand why.
Barely. Side-scrollers were not a significant genre on desktop computers. They lacked scrolling hardware and proper controllers for it. At best Keen showed just how important Super Mario Brothers was to the gaming world.
If I wanted to put forward a game that pushed the limits of home gaming (at the time) it would have to be Commander Keen...
... You can't be serious. Commander Keen was what you played because all you had was a 286 and your dad wouldn't get you an NES. Now I am kidding to a degree, but Commander Keen was trying to be an NES game on a machine that lacked the hardware to do what an NES could do. It did not push the limits of gaming, at best it slightly expanded the genres available to the PC. Games like Keen were a dime-a-dozen on most of the 8-bit consoles.
... followed quickly by Wolfenstein
I could be persuaded to agree with this. I mean, heck, even SNES had a port of it.
That depends on where you sit. I had a guy here once try to push OSS on me with claims of all the money I'm wasting without it. He doesn't even know what I use the commercial software for. I wish I could say my experience with him was unique around here.
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On the IBM PC[edit]
Side-scrolling had been a well-known phenomenon in arcade and console games of the 1980s, as they possessed hardware optimised for the task. However, it was not considered feasible on the PCs of the time, which did not have the hardware necessary to produce smoothly-scrolling graphics at an acceptable framerate.
It's an interesting article. Enjoy.
MSRP for this is $399.99, without the shifter, which is an additional $59.99. Do people actually buy racing wheels that cost more than the console?
Why not? It's cheaper than upgrading a car. Besides, I think most of us have spent over $2k on a machine that is mainly used to browse porn. I'm certainly not willing to cast stones.
Certainly explains why they halted Linux and Mac OSX development
So did the miniscule market share.
Erm... not sure why my comment was modded down, did I inadvertently offend someone?
I thought major cities had pothole databases just bursting at the seams with data entries, it's just that it was set to write-only.
PC's in Keen's time did NOT have 3d hardware. The game ran in EGA. Unreal came out YEARS AFTER Keen and did not run on 286 hardware.
I'm older and better informed than you think.
Same here. I bought a 2012 Macbook Pro Retina and other than its video card showing its age, it is still holding up just fine. I thought I'd want to replace it after 2 years but that's not even on my radar.
Somewhere in the last five years I've lost track of the spec wars, I'm just not waiting for my computer anymore. I am, however, enjoying having a primary machine that is easy to move or travel with. On several occasions I've finished up some free-lance work on the couch with my wife while watching TV.
I'm honestly starting to wonder if, in the not too distant future, I'm more reliant on a tablet-style device. I'm not there yet but I'm starting to see the possibility.
Can't tell if spot-on satire or just stupid.
You mean like MSNBC and Fox News are separately going to do?
Ah, so you like going to plays?
I'm proud of you for not using the term SJW. You showed a little class, there.
Half the speed at best. It was a while after the game came out before the computers could reach 30fps. The NES Super Mario games all ran at 60fps, even back in 1985.
Irrelevant. If a PC can handle complex 3D graphics (or in the case of Wing Commander, 2D graphics that simulate 3D graphics) smoothly...
When Wing Commander was out, it was smooth and Keen was not.
...simplistic 2D scrolling graphics can certainly be and HAVE certainly been done smoothly.
Smooth enough maybe, but not 'smoothly'. You did not play lots of side-scrollers on the PC back in the Wing Commander era because the hardware for it was just plain non-existant. I remember when the first round of Pentiums came out Sega announced they could finally start porting their Sonic games to the PC because the hardware was finally fast enough to do it in software.
No, it's the spot-on criticism of their behaviour that makes it clever satire. Judging from the moderation that comment recieved, he got a bull's eye.
Unreal was 3D and not 2D, entirely different discussion.
Keen was not anywhere as smooth as Super Mario. It might have hit 30fps on later machines, but it never reached the 60fps that Mario ran at, not even on the 486 I had years later. I did eventually run into a 60fps scroller or two, but that was in the 486 era and I'm fairly certain that was in protected mode.
None of the games you listed there were side-scrollers, genius. Guess what hardware the NES had that PCs lacked.
Street Fighter II is the only one on that list that would apply. Anybody who had a 16-bit system and a Blockbuster Card at the time would understand why.
The only reason it was even remotely popular is because it's a blizzard game.
You can tell how boring and flash-in-the-pan it was by the way half the people who played that game were subscribed for more than a year.
It brought it to common desktop computers
Barely. Side-scrollers were not a significant genre on desktop computers. They lacked scrolling hardware and proper controllers for it. At best Keen showed just how important Super Mario Brothers was to the gaming world.
If I wanted to put forward a game that pushed the limits of home gaming (at the time) it would have to be Commander Keen...
... You can't be serious. Commander Keen was what you played because all you had was a 286 and your dad wouldn't get you an NES. Now I am kidding to a degree, but Commander Keen was trying to be an NES game on a machine that lacked the hardware to do what an NES could do. It did not push the limits of gaming, at best it slightly expanded the genres available to the PC. Games like Keen were a dime-a-dozen on most of the 8-bit consoles.
... followed quickly by Wolfenstein
I could be persuaded to agree with this. I mean, heck, even SNES had a port of it.
Yeah!! Remember when South Park had an entire episode done in the style of Ultima Online?
That depends on where you sit. I had a guy here once try to push OSS on me with claims of all the money I'm wasting without it. He doesn't even know what I use the commercial software for. I wish I could say my experience with him was unique around here.
Righteousness does not excuse extremism.
It's definitely painful if you're an OSS zealot. To the more objective person it's a clever bit of satire.
Listening at work.