MetaFilter posts tagged with amusements

Woodward realized that it was only a question of being pestered forever or quietly throwing open his place

jessamyn — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:25:14 -0800

"The What Cheer House catered to men only, permitted no liquor on the premises, and housed San Francisco's first free library and first museum." Opened in 1852 by Robert B. Woodward it became immensely popular. "[S]ailors enjoyed staying there... [he] was such a well-liked man that they would often bring him trinkets from around the world when they’d come to town. For Woodward, these gifts were the beginning of what would become a life-long obsession with collecting." He moved the collection and opened Woodward's Gardens in 1866 between Mission and Valencia at 13th-15th streets. Called the Central Park of the West, it was San Francisco's most famous public resort. - more information, photos and rememberances on this lost landmark - guidebook entry from 1879 describes the gardens - what San Francisco was like in 1856 - SF Chronicle article about the gardens from 1913, photos from the SF Call in 1907 - the origin of the phrase "what cheer" - what's there now

An interesting take on galactic conquest

XMLicious — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:53:57 -0800

An interesting take on galactic conquest for a Flash game, at least.

A new approach to first contact

XMLicious — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:58:16 -0800

Hacking aliens to pieces with a machete (flash game) Amorphous+ [walkthrough 1, walkthrough 2] is the clever first offering from Caleb Rhodes / Innocuous Games. He obviously delights in designing horrifically gruesome cartoon violence sequences that you just have to chuckle at. Wielding a sword with a mouse cursor is a trick to get the hang of. Each of your enemies, various subspecies of a race of crawling blobs, exhibits a distinctive personality. Compared to other browser games I've played of the arcade genre where there's often inadequate balance and consequently a fairly linear route to invincibility Amorphous+ gives you alot of texture and character with a variety of challenging aspects. Plus there's a cool jazzy-electronic soundtrack by Revolution Void with many selectable songs.

Perfect Game: 900

Miko — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 08:07:53 -0800

Skee-Ball! (warning: music) Perhaps the longest-running branded arcade game ever invented was created in 1909, originally with a rotator-cuff-injury-inducing 36-foot long alley. Once shortened to a more manageable 14' (10' for the Chuck E. Cheese kiddie model), the game's popularity took off, remaining largely unchanged except for the 1970s electrification of the scoreboard. It's both a nostalgic pastime and a present-day boardwalk staple, even enjoying some hipster revivalism in the form of BrewSkee-Ball. You can even try building your own game.