Asteroids

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
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JaySevenZero
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Asteroids

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your memories and opinions of the Asteroids series for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

Friendly reminder to all that where feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but self-editing (brevity) is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mainly reading. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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MarkHoog
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Re: Our next podcast recording (23.11.19) - 397: Asteroids series

Post by MarkHoog »

I can't say much about this series, other than that 1987's Asteroids sequel Blasteroids is the very first video game I ever played. I vaguely remember seeing the box in a store, featuring Yoda-meets-dog-chewing-toy-ball final boss Mukor on the cover (this was back when box art featured spectacular artwork meant to spark your imagination, sometimes deceivingly so.)
If memory serves, I persuaded my mother to buy the game for me, since my parents had bought a 286 pc not long before and there weren't any games on it yet. I don't remember whether I played the game for days, weeks or months, but I know I played it a lot because there wasn't anything else to play. Time felt way different back then.

Blasteroids had all the things that would keep me coming back to video games in the decades to come; learning the mechanics, 'gitting gud' and the excitement that came with progress, discovering and marveling at new areas, power-ups and enemies, and defeating that final boss in the ultimate test of skill. [insert Dark Souls comparison here]
It's been too long to say anything substantial about the game itself, but for me this is The One That Started It All.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Our next podcast recording (23.11.19) - 397: Asteroids series

Post by Simonsloth »

My mum used to work in Silica shop during its Atari and Amiga trading peak. She remembers Asteroids as a popular cultural revelation with copies flying off the shelves faster than they could fill them. Local and Tabloid newspapers published a story about the 1000th copy of Asteroids which my mum happened to have sold. There’s a photo of her shaking the hand of the lucky customer cut out from the newspaper somewhere in the loft but she sadly couldn’t find it in time for this. She also recalls several celebrities visiting the shop just to buy the game and admittedly I’ve never heard of any of these people but it was a big deal and in her opinion the first time a game was such a cultural sensation.
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