You are in a warm, dark, comfortable place. This has been your place since you became aware that you are alive. It's almost time to enter a different world now.
In 1986, Activision published a roleplaying computer game called
Alter Ego. Unlike the action and fantasy titles that ruled the day, this game simulated the course of a single ordinary life. Beginning at birth, players navigated a series of vignettes: learning to crawl, reacting to strangers, getting a first haircut. The outcome of each scenario subtly influenced one's path, and with every choice players slowly progressed through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age.
Graphically minimalist -- one's lifestream is represented by simple icons, and the scenarios are all text -- the game was nevertheless engaging, describing the world in a playful, good-natured tone tinged by darkness and melancholy. And it had quite a pedigree; developer and psychology PhD
Peter Favaro interviewed hundreds of people on their most memorable life experiences to generate the game's 1,200 pages of material. Unfortunately for Dr. Favaro, the game didn't sell very well. But it lives on through the web --
PlayAlterEgo.com offers a full copy of the game free to play in your browser, and the same port is available as a $5 app for
iPhone and
Android.
More: Port discussion group -
Wishlist -
Vintage review - Original game manual (
text or
scans)
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 31, 2010 -
46 comments
Let's
hear it for SID.
The
MOS 6581 SID was the voice box of the famed Commodore 64, and an inimitable speck of silicon that to this day sparks musical imagination and techno
tinkering (YouTube). Reborn as a
commercial synth, and remade in software (
PC|
MAC), the original SID chip is
still employed by musicians for its 8-bit crunch, and a retro warmth that may charm you back into childhood.
Have an old Commodore in the basement? Know how to solder?
As a project for 2K7, why not
DIY a SID box with MIDI?
posted by kid ichorous
on Dec 17, 2006 -
29 comments
TPUG - The Toronto PET User's Group. Founded in 1979 and still holding monthly meetings. For all your "
PET,
SuperPET,
CBM,
B128/256/1024,
VIC-20,
C64,
C128,
Plus/4,
C16,
C65 and
Amiga" needs.
posted by GuyZero
on Dec 13, 2006 -
16 comments
c64s is a pretty amazing site. Much of the popularity of the old c64 was in its wide array of games and this site offers a way to play most of the popular ones all in your browser (in java). Waste time today by reliving those old early 80s memories.
posted by mathowie
on Jan 23, 2006 -
44 comments
Hey, Hey, 16K! What does that get you today? Perhaps the best bit of nerd nostalgia since the
NESBuckle?
Catchy song, dodgy animation, and the disembodied floating head of Clive Sinclair... what more could you ask for? Other than your old
C64 back...
[via AccordionGuy]
posted by krunk
on May 7, 2004 -
8 comments
