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This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters. Learn more about bidirectional Unicode charactersOriginal file line number Diff line number Diff line change @@ -0,0 +1,175 @@ idocs = {} #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3#Gameplay idocs['Super Mario Bros. 3'] = """ Super Mario Bros. 3 is a two-dimensional, side-scrolling platform game in which the player controls either Mario or Luigi. The game shares similar gameplay mechanics with previous games in the series—Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros. 2, while introducing several new elements. In addition to running and jumping found in past games, the player can slide down slopes, pick up and throw special blocks, and freely climb vines. Mario can also fly and float with power-ups. The game world consists of eight "kingdoms", each subdivided into multiple levels. The eight worlds feature distinct visual themes: for example, the second world, "Desert Land", contains sand-covered levels with pyramids, while the levels in the fourth world, "Giant Land", contain obstacles and enemies four times their normal size. The player navigates through the game via two game screens: an overworld map and a level playfield. The overworld map displays an overhead representation of the current kingdom and has several paths leading from the world's entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, and other map icons, and allow players to take different routes to reach the kingdom's goal. Moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that level's playfield, a linear stage populated with obstacles and enemies. The majority of the game takes place in these levels, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping, flying, swimming, and dodging or defeating enemies. Players start with a certain number of lives and may gain additional lives by picking up green spotted 1-Up mushrooms hidden in bricks, or by collecting 100 coins, defeating several enemies in a row with a Koopa shell, or bouncing on enemies successively without touching the ground. Mario and Luigi lose a life if they take damage while small, fall in a bottomless pit, or runs out of time. The game ends when all lives are lost, although the player can continue from the last level played by selecting "Continue". Completing stages allows the player to progress through the overworld map and to succeeding worlds. Each world features a final stage with a boss to defeat. The first seven worlds feature an airship controlled by one of the Koopalings, while the player battles Bowser in his castle in the eighth world as the Final boss. Other map icons include large boulders and locked doors that impede paths. Mini-games and bonus screens on the map provide the player a chance to obtain special power-ups and additional lives. Power-ups obtained in these mini-games are stored in a reserve until activated by the player from the map screen. In addition to special items from previous games like the "Super Mushroom" and the "Fire Flower", new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new options. The "Super Leaf" and "Tanooki Suit" give Mario raccoon and tanooki appearances, allowing him to fly. The "Tanooki Suit" enables him to turn into stone to avoid enemies for a short period of time. Changing into a Tanooki statue while jumping results in Mario pounding the ground and killing whatever enemies are directly under him; this marks the first appearance of the "ground pound" move in a Mario game, a move later given to Yoshi in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island and that became part of Mario's standard move set in later Mario games A new suit includes the "Frog Suit", which increases the character's underwater speed, agility, and jumping height on land. Another new suit, the "Hammer Suit", which gives Mario the appearance of the Hammer Bro. enemy and allows him to throw hammers at enemies and resist fire attacks (when crouching). Super Mario Bros. 3 includes a multiplayer option which allows two players to play the game by taking turns at navigating the overworld map and accessing stage levels. The first player controls Mario, while the other controls Luigi (a palette swap of Mario). Through this mode, players can access several mini-games, including a remake of the original Mario Bros. arcade game, in which one player has the opportunity to steal the cards of another, but may lose their turn if they lose the mini-game. """ #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Crossing#Gameplay idocs['Animal Crossing (Franchise)'] = """ In the Animal Crossing games, the player assumes the role of a human character who moves into a rural village populated with anthropomorphic animals and lives there indefinitely. Gameplay is open-ended: players have no defined objectives, but are instead encouraged to spend their time in the village performing any number of activities, which include collecting items, planting plants or other items, and socializing with the village's residents. Animal Crossing games are played in real time, utilizing the video game console's internal clock and calendar. Thus, passage of time in the game world reflects that in reality, as well as the current season and time of day. Some in-game events, such as holidays or the growth of a tree, occur at certain times or require some duration of time to have passed. One notable feature of the Animal Crossing series is the high level of customization available, some of which affects the outcome of the game. The player character is both named and gendered by the real life player at the start of the game, and their appearance can be modified by buying or designing custom clothes and accessories or changing the hairstyle (introduced in Wild World). The player's house can also be furnished, decorated, and later expanded: the player can purchase and collect furniture and place it anywhere in the house, as well as change both the wallpaper and floor designs. While its terrain, building locations, and initial residents are randomly generated when the game is first begun (except in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, in which the player decides between four given towns), the village's name and anthem, as well as some of the residents' catchphrases, are also determined by the player. Collecting items is a major facet of Animal Crossing: the player can explore the village and gather objects, including fruit from trees, seashells, and discarded items. Nearly all objects can be sold for Bells, the in-game currency. Players collect objects to obtain more Bells, which can then be used to buy furniture and clothing, purchase home expansions, invest in stocks, and play games. A number of specialized tools are available for other activities such as fishing and insect collecting. Special items, such as fossils and paintings, may be donated to the village museum. The player can choose to socialize with the other animal residents by engaging in conversation, sending and receiving letters, bartering, or playing hide-and-seek. Residents may move in or out of the village depending on the player's actions. All installments of Animal Crossing allow some form of communication between players, both offline and online. A single village can house up to four human players, though only one can be exploring the village at any given time. The players can interact via written messages through the village post office or bulletin board. The GameCube iteration allowed players to travel to other villages by trading memory cards written with the game data, but all subsequent installments allow players to travel and interact online via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, although City Folk also allows the DS Suitcase to travel to others' towns. """ #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Sports#Gameplay idocs['Wii Sports'] = """ Wii Sports consists of five separate sports games—tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing—accessed from the main menu. The games use the motion sensor capabilities of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk attachment to control the actions of the on-screen ball pit. The player moves the remote in a similar manner to how the separate games are played in real life; for example, holding and swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club, baseball bat or bowling ball. Some aspects of the gameplay are computer controlled. In tennis, player movement is controlled by the Wii, while the swinging of the racket is controlled by the player. Baseball consists of batting and pitching, with all of the fielding and baserunning handled by the Wii. The in-game characters are taken from the Wii's Mii Channel, which allows the user to create a Mii (a customized avatar) that can be imported into games that support the feature. Wii Sports is the first Wii title to use this feature. Miis saved on the Wii will appear in the crowd during bowling games and as members of human-controlled teams in baseball. The non-player characters in the game were also created using the Mii Channel toolset. Miis created on one Wii can be transferred onto the internal memory of a Wii Remote for use on another Wii with different save data. After a game, a player is awarded or penalized skill points based on performance relative to the computer's skill level, though some games do not calculate points during multiplayer sessions. The game keeps track of these points by charting them on a graph, as well as increasing the size of the crowd in Tennis and Boxing single-player modes. After obtaining 1000 skill points in a sport, a player is awarded "pro" level, along with a cosmetic feature for their Mii in Bowling and Boxing. A Mii newly turned pro will receive a message on the Wii Message Board notifying them. Wii Sports also features a fitness test that calculates a player's fitness age (ranging from 20 to 80 years old, 20 being the best possible). The test gauges the player's performance in three randomly chosen challenges in each test from the training mode that have been played at least once, and can only be taken once a day per Mii. Calculating the fitness age takes into account a player's balance, speed, and stamina. Fitness age results are graphed over one, two, or three months, with daily results posted on the Wii Message Board. """ #https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade/ #https://steamcommunity.com/id/auldwolf/recommended/715560/ idocs['Eastshade'] = """ You are a traveling painter, exploring the island of Eastshade. Capture the world on canvas using your artist’s easel. Talk to the inhabitants to learn about their lives. Make friends and help those in need. Discover mysteries and uncover secrets about the land. Surmount natural impasses to reach forgotten places. Experience how your actions impact the world around you. Features A peaceful open-world exploration-adventure full of character Compose paintings anywhere in the world and offer them to the locals to unlock secrets and gain items Acquire crafting materials and schematics to surmount obstacles and solve quests Make friends along the way through fully-voiced dynamic conversations and unlockable topics I'm so completely in love with this game. I'm an old man, I've grown tired of the continual homogeneity of entertainment that we just accept as a norm. It's saddening. In the grim darkness of the video games industry, where there are only po-faced, mucky heroes who look constipated 24/7, it's the little curios that stand out from the crowd. Those that would buck the trend and appeal to an under-served niche. This is one of those games. I admire its gumption and derring-do. Absolutely, it wears its heart on its sleeve. There are moments of magic, here, masterfully crafted in ways i have oh so rarely seen. In a way, it reminds me of so many of my old loves. Despite being different in its play, it's reminiscent for me of the old Myst games, Uru especially, with their evocative, enthralling, and alien landscapes. It's TES: Oblivion for those with an imagination. And does it ever inspire me. There are times when I'll be caught by a certain angle, a viewpoint just so, where the light strikes the land and its vibrant colours glow contrasted by perfectly fallen shadows. And there are times when I'll leaf through a book. And there are times when the decency and kindness of these peculiar anthropomorphic animals will catch me off guard. It all contributes to a certain warmth that encourages my escapism, which so many other games lack. And, as such, there are times it's brought me to tears. I think the greatest accolade I could give it is that it's clever, worthwhile, and spellbinding because it is, and not because it tries to be. That's an utterly crucial distinction. You'll play so many games which focus on melodramatic tragedy to coax a feeling out of its player, to have them feel melancholic and nihilistic, followed by clever for having known those emotions. I understand that it's a masterful manipulation and there's an art even to that, but it's a trick, an illusion, and those are so easily broken. No one is clever for revelling in tragedy. If I can be frank, this disquieting behaviour is all too reminiscent of those who've read a little Nietzsche and believe themselves to be scholars of philosophy, despite how Nietzsche is the Spice Girls of philosophy. Contentious? Certainly. Undeniably true, though. There are things people do to believe themselves clever, and games will often engage them on that level to help weave strength into the delusion. A person will become convinced they're more clever than they truly are for understanding such "complexity," that tragedy is an adult emotion, standing in stark opposition to the simpler "happy" emotions known to children. This is ludicrous, of course, but it's what people believe. Eastshade hadn't brought me to tears with a tragic theatrical display, a corny soap opera intended to make me feel empowered by the sheer depth of my emotions. I'm autistic and introverted, I'm artistic, I know the depth of my emotions and I'm comfortable with my emotional intelligence. No, Eastshade brought me to tears by being so genuine, so earnest, and so passionate in those traits, in how it plaintively just wanted to share with me moments of unadulterated beauty. It succeeded. There are curios in the video games industry that do so much to spark my imagination, fire my inspiration, and restore my waning faith in humanity. They're far too few and far between. Quite annoyingly so. I don't judge others for what they enjoy but it cannot be denied that there's a deluge of choice for those who wish to murder, they're spoilt by it and they've become entitled, sleepy, and sedentary just chewing the fat of easily acquired meals. They want for nothing. It's left them obnoxiously bratty, feigning faux offence at anything not meant for them. This isn't meant for them. That's okay. This is meant for those of us who're seeking different avenues of escapism, whose escapist fantasies have little to do with power. And I praise this game so openly for understanding that those like that are indeed a demographic, we exist, we have money, and we're under-served. I just want to go to truly fantastic places, converse with the locals, and engage in something other than wilful, sadistic mutilation. I'd be an archaeologist, drudging up the past, exploring forgotten places; a youngling coming of age and undergoing a connivingly clever rite of passage laden with riddles, puzzles, and traps; a dragon king whose magicks and wisdom are used to care for his kingdom and charges; a researcher documenting alien cultures on an unknown world; a werewolf on a rescue team using his natural agility to find and ferry the lost and injured to safety (inspired by the Werewolves of Ossory); I'd be a living ship learning the unusual traits of a strange, ephemeral sea I'd been cast amidst with my own sensors, as an ambassador of my kind seeking to make first contact with its native denizens so that I might learn; I'd be a diminutive thief investigating a conspiracy surrounding the collapsing reality my kind find themselves in; And I would be a painter, capturing the essence of the places I'd seen. I wouldn't limit myself to being a human, either. I've never understood the obsessions brought about by the neurotypical hierarchy of prejudice, preference, and partiality, as perfidious as it is. Obsessed with one's own appearance, down to the skin colour, one's tribe, one's nation, or even one's species. It's a tiresome ordeal to have to wade through such ubiquitous narcissism on a daily basis. Eastshade grants me both. These are the curios I value. The ones that truly allow for the concept of escape, as I feel so few understand. To go somewhere so unlike anything I know. It's just lovely. It's a healing experience for an old, world weary curmudgeon like myself who's tired of humanity, so full of itself and its collective poop. It's nice to just.. go and be something else, someone else, in a world so detached from our own. Just to be away from all the noise for a little while. This exists so far on the outside of the usual human experience that I'm in love with it. It's a dear thing. And, above all, it's a kindness. To the developers, I say this: Open a ruddy merch store already, won't you? There are titles a publisher greedily expects sixty squids for without being worth even one, then there are others that simply understate their own worth and I feel exploitative, guilty that my reciprocation isn't equal to my enjoyment. Help me with my guilt. Give me more Eastshade things to buy! Game promises an open world experience, when in reality you're unable to enter water/streams/ocean, forcing you to go around instead of being able to find your own path. The world is populated by humanoid animals (mostly apes), that converse with you with a stale facial expression. No option to rebind keys, and its mandatory to use pre-defined WASD-based controls! Also, had joystick plugged in and the main menu went wacko; I'm guessing it mistook joystick as a my main controller (no option to change control schemes in the game, see above), and mouse control was completely useless, until joystick was unplugged. """ #https://store.steampowered.com/app/345460/War_of_Omens_Card_Game/ #https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198202336866/recommended/345460/ idocs['War of Omens Card Game'] = """ REFRESHINGLY CLEAR, REMARKABLY FUN WAR OF OMENS features a unique deck building mechanic that enables you to do a multitude of actions per turn. Engage in fast-paced combat with other players. Collect, win, and craft cards to assemble a powerful deck to prove your dominion over your opponents. CHOOSE YOUR FACTION Play as the rich and ancient Vespitole, the ruthless and savage Daramek, the mysterious society known as Metris, or the reclusive and powerful Endazu. Each faction has their own heroes, their own cards, and their own unique play style. Play over 20 different unique heroes as you navigate the dark fantasy world of WAR OF OMENS. FEATURES Unique deck building gameplay mechanic Competitive real-time (player vs. player) strategic combat Player vs. player draft tournaments 4 separate factions and over 24 heroes, each with their own special abilities All cards can be earned through play Rich story-driven campaign mode Beautiful hand-drawn and original artwork Been playing this game way back, before endazu was even a faction, it's free to play and I didn't spend anything for the longest time on this game until I realized how much these devs deserve my coin. Now for long time players- why should you play this version? One thing is you get the steam coin which is a nice little addition to what I assume to be an already hefty coin collection. Than theirs the fact the steam version downloads the card assets and stuff like that so the cards will always show up, no more blank cards that haven't loaded yet! Lastly IDK if it has to do with the preloaded assets or what, but this version of the game plays the smoothest for me, like butter I tell ya! Now as for new players, why should you play this TCG apposed to others? Well pretty sure this counts as indie if you care about that sort of thing. More meaty reasons are it has a unique resource system I've never really come across in other games and this thing called a bank, you use resources to buy from this bank and it gets put into your deck (or discarded after use for a certain devious faction) That's another thing, each faction plays differently, RADICALLY different, there's currently 4 and each faction has 4 heroes with passives that can further personlize your playstyle, they can be simple ranging from listrata's +food each turn to more complex niche things like "30% chance to draw a card from your foe's deck. Foe's coin have a 50% chance to double value" There are alot of cards to earn but the game super fair and I never once felt like it was a grind in the 5+ years I've played it on the web. Definately give it a try, there's nothing to lose and I'd say alot to gain. Additionally, here's a tip tourney mode is great for starters cause it lets you sample all the cards in a smorgasburg kinda way. I've played hearthstone (Mrrrghlurg), pokemon tcg, and yu-gi-oh, tried shadowverse and MTG and this is the only TCG I consistantly come back over the years, literally play it daily and hopefully you can join in on the fun. """ #https://store.steampowered.com/app/607050/Wargroove/ #https://steamcommunity.com/id/Unicarn/recommended/607050/ #https://steamcommunity.com/id/MetroRanger/recommended/607050/ idocs['Wargroove'] = """ Command an army, customize battlefields, and challenge your friends, in this richly detailed return to retro turn-based combat! When war breaks out in the Kingdom of Cherrystone, the young Queen Mercia must flee her home. Pursued by her foes, the only way to save her kingdom is to travel to new lands in search of allies. But who will she meet along the way, and what sinister challenges will she face? Choose Your Commander! A vibrant cast of 12+ characters! - Commanders are at the heart of Wargroove - each with their own distinct personalities and motivations. Four warring factions! - Take up arms with the Cherrystone Kingdom, Heavensong Empire, Felheim Legion, and Floran Tribes. Campaign Mode! - Follow the story of a fresh-faced and inexperienced young Queen on a quest against unworldly forces. Told through animated pixel art cut-scenes and dynamic battles. Get into the groove! Unique ultimate moves! - Commanders can use a special move called a ‘Groove’, activated only when their Groove meter is filled to 100%. Dynamic Gameplay! - Every Groove is unique to each Commander and changes up the battlefield in an entirely different way. Create your own adventure! Craft custom maps, cutscenes and campaigns! - Make the game your own using in-game editors. Advanced editing tools! - The possibilities are endless; from creating your own story-driven missions with sub-quests, plot twists, ambushes, and hidden secrets, to easily changing the rules of the game without any mods or external tools. Share your creations online! - Share your own maps and campaigns or download content built by other players! Online Play! Send your units to victory in both local and online multiplayer skirmish battles, with competitive and co-op play, as well as complete rule customisation. Arcade Mode! Learn more about each character you encounter through a trial of boisterous bouts in Arcade mode, where you’ll fight 5 different opponents in quick succession. Puzzle Mode! Outwit the enemy in Puzzle mode, using all of the strategic skills in your arsenal. Take on a series of tricky challenges where the goal is to win in just ONE turn. Secrets and Unlockables! Earn stars to unlock special content. You might even stumble across some hidden game features - old school style! To be completely forward and honest, I may be biased because I was a beta tester for Wargroove and I am a big fan of games like Advance Wars and Battle for Wesnoth. However, this is my honest opinion on the game. This is the game I’ve been waiting for and has exceeded my expectations. Now at first glance this game looks very similar to Advance Wars, and you’d be right. However, this is much more than “just an Advance Wars” clone and greatly improves the Advance Wars formula and adds its own elements to it, making it much less of a slow-paced meatgrinder and much more aggressive and focused on good positioning. Games go by quickly and are very skill-based with minimal luck. Let’s start with one of the strongest points of the game; the core gameplay. In a standard match of Wargroove you start with a Commander, a Stronghold, a Soldier or two, and a few other structures. The objective of the game is to defeat your opponent’s Commander or their Stronghold. If either of them fall, the player loses. However, there is a sub-objective. Across the map are structures that can be captured. Villages provide income, barracks let you produce land units, towers let you produce air units, and ports let you produce sea units. All units have 100 health, but they deal different damage to different units in a sort of rock-paper-scissors fashion. Each unit has a unique way of dealing bonus damage, called a Critical Hit. There is no luck involved in critical hits. Critical hits occur when certain criteria are met. For example, Archers are a ranged unit that can move and attack at the same time. However, they deal 35% more damage if they stand still and attack, giving you the choice of moving or staying in place for a big boost in damage. The strongest unit in your arsenal by far is your Commander, however. They’re comparable to the strongest ground unit in terms of durability and damage, except they heal per turn and can charge up an ability called a Groove, which can range from summoning a skeleton warrior to dashing through an entire army, dealing massive damage. While it is important to keep your Commander alive, you need to use them because they are such a valuable asset in your army. The only difference between Commanders are their Grooves and the only difference between the factions are how the units visually look. It’s very balanced and various playstyles are viable in multiplayer. Now, fans of Advance Wars may be wary of naval units, but sea is actually useful and healthy for the gameplay. I would argue that the most fun maps are ones that seamlessly combine ground, air, and sea together because they work so well together and gives you so many options. The reason why sea units aren’t worthless or annoying like they are in Advance Wars is because all of the sea units can interact with the ground and air units except for Turtles, which are the kings of the sea but are countered by Harpoon Ships, which also act as anti-air. There are Amphibian infantry units who can capture villages out at sea or on land and all of the units are relatively cheap for their power. For context, the strongest sea unit is 900 gold while the strongest air unit is 1250 gold and the strongest ground unit is 1200. Now, on top of this solid foundation, there are a myriad of singleplayer and multiplayer modes. For singleplayer here’s the 30+ mission campaign that will last you many hours, oldschool-style unlocks, an arcade mode similar to fighting games, and a puzzle mode. For local multiplayer, there are skirmishes where you can either play against the AI or play with someone else on the same machine as you. For online multiplayer, there’s quick play where you get automatically matched up with a random player and play on a random map with a time limit. If you want a slower-paced game, want to play with a friend, or you want to have a specific map or rule set then you can host a lobby and invite people via a code system. On top of these game modes there’s also extremely powerful map and campaign creation tools. The developers used the campaign and map editor to create the official campaign themselves. It lets you create large maps, small maps, and lets you place structures, units, terrain, and even allows you to script your own scenarios or puzzles. It’s comparable to Starcraft’s editor and can allow for some really interesting custom rules and maps. You can play these maps online with other players as well, which is very exciting for everyone and gives the game practically infinite replayability. While I am not a big fan of the campaign, the puzzle mode was fun for a quick dose of Wargroove and the arcade can be a fun challenge. However, I’ve spent many hours creating my own maps and scenarios and playing online with other people is extremely fun and I hope that a competitive scene grows, because I would love to watch and participate in it. For options and other quality of life features, you can have animations only play during certain situations or even flat-out remove the animations. Holding down right-click speeds up unit movement and you can cut animations short by holding down right-click if you like to have animations only occasionally or if you like to have animations play for a very short time. You can turn on the grid and you have various audio sliders, with an option for using headphone and speakers. If you choose speakers, it makes the stereo audio a lot more dramatic while headphones it’s more subtle. The game can be played with gamepad or mouse and keyboard, but sadly you cannot change the keybinds. There are also various colorblind modes that change the army colors to make it easier to see and there is an option to have your gamepad vibrate when it’s your turn if you’re using a gamepad. I recommend this game for anyone who is even remotely interested and I’d definitely recommend anyone who is a fan of Advance Wars or any other turn-based strategy games. The sheer amount of content alone is enough to justify the price and the gameplay is so well-executed it would be difficult to ever go back to Advance Wars. This game is a masterpiece. Wargroove is a charming little game, but it is brought down my major flaws. Unfortunately. These flaws are primarily ‘under the hood’ and I did not notice them until after I had played almost 4 hours, so in addition to feeling disappointed, I feel cheated. The major flaw is a lack of gameplay variety. The steam page boasts four factions, but in truth the units of each faction are exactly the same stats & cost wise, with only the name and sprite to separate them. This lack of distinct faction units and playstyles sours what would otherwise be a fantastic game. Each faction has three commanders to choose from – but again, they are all the same stat wise. Same health, attack, and movement. This can lead to some absurd immersion-breaking moments where the druid leader – in a lore where druids exist as anti-air units – cannot attack air units, and nor can the leader who uses a crossbow, though crossbow units can. The only difference between commanders is their ‘groove’ a unique special move they have access to, though these special moves are hardly enough to build a unique strategy out off, and never feel powerful enough to take centre-stage. One of the commanders can, for example, summon a free weak infantry unit every now and then, while another heals units in an AOE. Once you have played one faction, there is no reason to play any of the others aside from just choosing the sprite set you like, or choosing witch situationally useful special move you will have access to. For me, this lack of faction variety kills the potential of the game – and it had great potential. But it’s difficult to get excited about a long story-based campaign or practically limitless community-made maps if I know the factions I will be playing them with are so dull. War groove does have its charm, and I enjoyed the two matches I played, but I don’t see myself enjoying many more, and that is why I cannot recommend this game. Especially not at the asking price (At the time of writing, 28.95 AUD), with only one faction (Across four sprite sets). """ """ #https://www.giantbomb.com/red-dead-redemption-ii/3030-56725/user-reviews/2200-31003/ idocs['Red Dead Redemption 2'] = [[ REDACTED ]] You can see the article up there ^ document is still used though :) """ """ #https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps4/718920-kingdom-hearts-iii/reviews/167661 idocs['Kingdom Hearts III'] = [[ REDACTED ]] You can see the article up there ^ document is still used though :) """ """ #https://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/the-last-of-us-review idocs['The Last of Us'] = [[ REDACTED ]] You can see the article up there ^ document is still used though :) """ #https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pong idocs['Pong'] = """ Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games. It is a table tennis sports game featuring simple two-dimensional graphics. The game was originally manufactured by Atari, which released it in 1972. Allan Alcorn created Pong as a training exercise assigned to him by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell. Bushnell based the idea on an electronic ping-pong game included in the Magnavox Odyssey; Magnavox later sued Atari for patent infringement. Bushnell and Atari co-founder Ted Dabney were surprised by the quality of Alcorn's work and decided to manufacture the game. Pong was the first commercially successful video game, which helped to establish the video game industry along with the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Soon after its release, several companies began producing games that copied its gameplay, and eventually released new types of games. As a result, Atari encouraged its staff to produce more innovative games. The company released several sequels which built upon the original's gameplay by adding new features. During the 1975 Christmas season, Atari released a home version of Pong exclusively through Sears retail stores. It also was a commercial success and led to numerous copies. The game has been remade on numerous home and portable platforms following its release. Pong is part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. due to its cultural impact. Gameplay Pong is a two-dimensional sports game that simulates table tennis. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left or right side of the screen. They can compete against another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The goal is for each player to reach eleven points before the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other. Development and history Pong was the first game developed by Atari. After producing Computer Space, Bushnell decided to form a company to produce more games by licensing ideas to other companies. The first contract was with Bally Manufacturing Corporation for a driving game. Soon after the founding, Bushnell hired Allan Alcorn because of his experience with electrical engineering and computer science; Bushnell and Dabney also had previously worked with him at Ampex. Prior to working at Atari, Alcorn had no experience with video games. To acclimate Alcorn to creating games, Bushnell gave him a project secretly meant to be a warm-up exercise. Bushnell told Alcorn that he had a contract with General Electric for a product, and asked Alcorn to create a simple game with one moving spot, two paddles, and digits for score keeping. In 2011, Bushnell stated that the game was inspired by previous versions of electronic tennis he had played before; Bushnell played a version on a PDP-1 computer in 1964 while attending college. However, Alcorn has claimed it was in direct response to Bushnell's viewing of the Magnavox Odyssey's Tennis game. In May 1972, Bushnell had visited the Magnavox Profit Caravan in Burlingame, California where he played the Magnavox Odyssey demonstration, specifically the table tennis game. Though he thought the game lacked quality, seeing it prompted Bushnell to assign the project to Alcorn. Alcorn first examined Bushnell's schematics for Computer Space, but found them to be illegible. He went on to create his own designs based on his knowledge of transistor–transistor logic and Bushnell's game. Feeling the basic game was too boring, Alcorn added features to give the game more appeal. He divided the paddle into eight segments to change the ball's angle of return. For example, the center segments return the ball a 90° angle in relation to the paddle, while the outer segments return the ball at smaller angles. He also made the ball accelerate the longer it remained in play; missing the ball reset the speed. Another feature was that the in-game paddles were unable to reach the top of the screen. This was caused by a simple circuit that had an inherent defect. Instead of dedicating time to fixing the defect, Alcorn decided it gave the game more difficulty and helped limit the time the game could be played; he imagined two skilled players being able to play forever otherwise. Three months into development, Bushnell told Alcorn he wanted the game to feature realistic sound effects and a roaring crowd. Dabney wanted the game to "boo" and "hiss" when a player lost a round. Alcorn had limited space available for the necessary electronics and was unaware of how to create such sounds with digital circuits. After inspecting the sync generator, he discovered that it could generate different tones and used those for the game's sound effects. To construct the prototype, Alcorn purchased a $75 Hitachi black-and-white television set from a local store, placed it into a 4-foot (1.2 m) wooden cabinet, and soldered the wires into boards to create the necessary circuitry. The prototype impressed Bushnell and Dabney so much that they felt it could be a profitable product and decided to test its marketability. In August 1972, Bushnell and Alcorn installed the Pong prototype at a local bar, Andy Capp's Tavern. They selected the bar because of their good working relation with the bar's owner and manager, Bill Gaddis; Atari supplied pinball machines to Gaddis. Bushnell and Alcorn placed the prototype on one of the tables near the other entertainment machines: a jukebox, pinball machines, and Computer Space. The game was well received the first night and its popularity continued to grow over the next one and a half weeks. Bushnell then went on a business trip to Chicago to demonstrate Pong to executives at Bally and Midway Manufacturing; he intended to use Pong to fulfill his contract with Bally, rather than the driving game. A few days later, the prototype began exhibiting technical issues and Gaddis contacted Alcorn to fix it. Upon inspecting the machine, Alcorn discovered that the problem was the coin mechanism was overflowing with quarters. After hearing about the game's success, Bushnell decided there would be more profit for Atari to manufacture the game rather than license it, but the interest of Bally and Midway had already been piqued. Bushnell decided to inform each of the two groups that the other was uninterested—Bushnell told the Bally executives that the Midway executives did not want it and vice versa—to preserve the relationships for future dealings. Upon hearing Bushnell's comment, the two groups declined his offer. Bushnell had difficulty finding financial backing for Pong; banks viewed it as a variant of pinball, which at the time the general public associated with the Mafia. Atari eventually obtained a line of credit from Wells Fargo that it used to expand its facilities to house an assembly line. The company announced Pong on 29 November 1972. Management sought assembly workers at the local unemployment office, but was unable to keep up with demand. The first arcade cabinets produced were assembled very slowly, about ten machines a day, many of which failed quality testing. Atari eventually streamlined the process and began producing the game in greater quantities. By 1973, they began shipping Pong to other countries with the aid of foreign partners. Home version After the success of Pong, Bushnell pushed his employees to create new products. In 1974, Atari engineer Harold Lee proposed a home version of Pong that would connect to a television: Home Pong. The system began development under the codename Darlene, named after an attractive female employee at Atari. Alcorn worked with Lee to develop the designs and prototype and based them on the same digital technology used in their arcade games. The two worked in shifts to save time and money; Lee worked on the design's logic during the day, while Alcorn debugged the designs in the evenings. After the designs were approved, fellow Atari engineer Bob Brown assisted Alcorn and Lee in building a prototype. The prototype consisted of a device attached to a wooden pedestal containing over a hundred wires, which would eventually be replaced with a single chip designed by Alcorn and Lee; the chip had yet to be tested and built before the prototype was constructed. The chip was finished in the latter half of 1974, and was, at the time, the highest-performing chip used in a consumer product. Bushnell and Gene Lipkin, Atari's vice-president of sales, approached toy and electronic retailers to sell Home Pong, but were rejected. Retailers felt the product was too expensive and would not interest consumers. Atari contacted the Sears Sporting Goods department after noticing a Magnavox Odyssey advertisement in the sporting goods section of its catalog. Atari staff discussed the game with a representative, Tom Quinn, who expressed enthusiasm and offered the company an exclusive deal. Believing they could find more favorable terms elsewhere, Atari's executives declined and continued to pursue toy retailers. In January 1975, Atari staff set up a Home Pong booth at a toy trade fair in New York City, but was unsuccessful in soliciting orders due to the fact that they did not know that they needed a private showing. While at the show, they met Quinn again, and, a few days later, set up a meeting with him to obtain a sales order. In order to gain approval from the Sporting Goods department, Quinn suggested Atari demonstrate the game to executives in Chicago. Alcorn and Lipkin traveled to the Sears Tower and, despite a technical complication in connection with an antenna on top of the building which broadcast on the same channel as the game, obtained approval. Bushnell told Quinn he could produce 75,000 units in time for the Christmas season; however, Quinn requested double the amount. Though Bushnell knew Atari lacked the capacity to manufacture 150,000 units, he agreed. Atari acquired a new factory through funding obtained by venture capitalist Don Valentine. Supervised by Jimm Tubb, the factory fulfilled the Sears order. The first units manufactured were branded with Sears' "Tele-Games" name. Atari later released a version under its own brand in 1976. Lawsuit from Magnavox The success of Pong attracted the attention of Ralph Baer, the inventor of the Magnavox Odyssey, and his employer, Sanders Associates. Sanders had an agreement with Magnavox to handle the Odyssey's sublicensing, which included dealing with infringement on its exclusive rights. However, Magnavox had not pursued legal action against Atari and numerous other companies that released Pong clones. Sanders continued to apply pressure, and in April 1974 Magnavox filed suit against Atari, Allied Leisure, Bally Midway and Chicago Dynamics. Magnavox argued that Atari had infringed on Baer's patents and his concept of electronic ping-pong based on detailed records Sanders kept of the Odyssey's design process dating back to 1966. Other documents included depositions from witnesses and a signed guest book that demonstrated Bushnell had played the Odyssey's table tennis game prior to releasing Pong. In response to claims that he saw the Odyssey, Bushnell later stated that, "The fact is that I absolutely did see the Odyssey game and I didn't think it was very clever." After considering his options, Bushnell decided to settle with Magnavox out of court. Bushnell's lawyer felt they could win; however, he estimated legal costs of US$1.5 million, which would have exceeded Atari's funds. Magnavox offered Atari an agreement to become a licensee for US$700,000. Other companies producing "Pong clones"—Atari's competitors—would have to pay royalties. In addition, Magnavox would obtain the rights to Atari products developed over the next year. Magnavox continued to pursue legal action against the other companies, and proceedings began shortly after Atari's settlement in June 1976. The first case took place at the district court in Chicago, with Judge John Grady presiding. To avoid Magnavox obtaining rights to its products, Atari decided to delay the release of its products for a year, and withheld information from Magnavox's attorneys during visits to Atari facilities. Impact and legacy The Pong arcade games manufactured by Atari were a great success. The prototype was well received by Andy Capp's Tavern patrons; people came to the bar solely to play the game. Following its release, Pong consistently earned four times more revenue than other coin-operated machines. Bushnell estimated that the game earned US$35–40 per day, which he described as nothing he'd ever seen before in the coin-operated entertainment industry at the time. The game's earning power resulted in an increase in the number of orders Atari received. This provided Atari with a steady source of income; the company sold the machines at three times the cost of production. By 1973, the company had filled 2,500 orders, and, at the end of 1974, sold more than 8,000 units. The arcade cabinets have since become collector's items with the cocktail-table version being the rarest. Soon after the game's successful testing at Andy Capp's Tavern, other companies began visiting the bar to inspect it. Similar games appeared on the market three months later, produced by companies like Ramtek and Nutting Associates. Atari could do little against the competitors as they had not initially filed for patents on the solid state technology used in the game. When the company did file for patents, complications delayed the process. As a result, the market consisted primarily of "Pong clones"; author Steven Kent estimated that Atari had produced less than a third of the machines. Bushnell referred to the competitors as "Jackals" because he felt they had an unfair advantage. His solution to competing against them was to produce more innovative games and concepts. Home Pong was an instant success following its limited 1975 release through Sears; around 150,000 units were sold that holiday season. The game became Sears' most successful product at the time, which earned Atari a Sears Quality Excellence Award. Similar to the arcade version, several companies released clones to capitalize on the home console's success, many of which continued to produce new consoles and video games. Magnavox re-released their Odyssey system with simplified hardware and new features, and would later release updated versions. Coleco entered the video game market with their Telstar console; it features three Pong variants and was also succeeded by newer models. Nintendo released the Color TV Game 6 in 1977, which plays six variations of electronic tennis. The next year, it was followed by an updated version, the Color TV Game 15, which features fifteen variations. The systems were Nintendo's entry into the home video game market and the first to produce themselves—they had previously licensed the Magnavox Odyssey. The dedicated Pong consoles and the numerous clones have since become varying levels of rare; Atari's Pong consoles are common, while APF Electronics' TV Fun consoles are moderately rare. Prices among collectors, however, vary with rarity; the Sears Tele-Games versions are often cheaper than those with the Atari brand. Several publications consider Pong the game that launched the video game industry as a lucrative enterprise. Video game author David Ellis sees the game as the cornerstone of the video game industry's success, and called the arcade game "one of the most historically significant" titles. Kent attributes the "arcade phenomenon" to Pong and Atari's games that followed it, and considers the release of the home version the successful beginning of home video game consoles. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton of Gamasutra referred to the game's release as the start of a new entertainment medium, and commented that its simple, intuitive gameplay made it a success. In 1996 Next Generation named it one of the "Top 100 Games of All Time", recounting that "Next Generation staff ignor[ed] hundreds of thousands of dollars of 32-bit software to play Pong for hours when the Genesis version was released." Entertainment Weekly named Pong one of the top ten games for the Atari 2600 in 2013. Many of the companies that produced their own versions of Pong eventually became well-known within the industry. Nintendo entered the video game market with clones of Home Pong. The revenue generated from them—each system sold over a million units—helped the company survive a difficult financial time, and spurred them to pursue video games further. After seeing the success of Pong, Konami decided to break into the arcade game market and released its first title, Maze. Its moderate success drove the company to develop more titles. Pong has also been used in programming classrooms to teach the fundamentals of languages such as Java and C++. Bushnell felt that Pong was especially significant in its role as a social lubricant, since it was multiplayer-only and did not require each player to use more than one hand: "It was very common to have a girl with a quarter in hand pull a guy off a bar stool and say, 'I'd like to play Pong and there's nobody to play.' It was a way you could play games, you were sitting shoulder to shoulder, you could talk, you could laugh, you could challenge each other ... As you became better friends, you could put down your beer and hug. You could put your arm around the person. You could play left-handed if you so desired. In fact, there are a lot of people who have come up to me over the years and said, 'I met my wife playing Pong,' and that's kind of a nice thing to have achieved." Sequels and remakes Bushnell felt the best way to compete against imitators was to create better products, leading Atari to produce sequels in the years followings the original's release: Pong Doubles, Super Pong, Ultra Pong, Quadrapong, and Pin-Pong. The sequels feature similar graphics, but include new gameplay elements; for example, Pong Doubles allows four players to compete in pairs, while Quadrapong—also released by Kee Games as Elimination—has them compete against each other in a four way field. Bushnell also conceptualized a free-to-play version of Pong to entertain children in a Doctor's office. He initially titled it Snoopy Pong and fashioned the cabinet after Snoopy's doghouse with the character on top, but retitled it to Puppy Pong and altered Snoopy to a generic dog to avoid legal action. Bushnell later used the game in his chain of Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants. In 1976, Atari released Breakout, a single-player variation of Pong where the object of the game is to remove bricks from a wall by hitting them with a ball. Like Pong, Breakout was followed by numerous clones that copied the gameplay, such as Arkanoid, Alleyway, and Break 'Em All. Atari remade the game on numerous platforms. In 1977, Pong and several variants of the game were featured in Video Olympics, one of the original release titles for the Atari 2600. Pong has also been included in several Atari compilations on platforms including the Sega Genesis, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and personal computer. Through an agreement with Atari, Bally Gaming and Systems developed a slot machine version of the game. The Atari published TD Overdrive includes Pong as an extra game which is played during the loading screen. A 3D platform game with puzzle and shooter elements was reportedly in development by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in September 1995 under the title Pong 2000, as part of their series of arcade game updates for the system and was set to have an original storyline for it, but it was never released. In 1999, the game was remade for home computers and the PlayStation with 3D graphics and power-ups. In 2012, Atari celebrated the 40th anniversary of Pong by releasing Pong World. In popular culture The game is featured in episodes of television series: That '70s Show, King of the Hill, and Saturday Night Live. In 2006, an American Express commercial featured Andy Roddick in a tennis match against the white, in-game paddle. Other video games have also referenced and parodied Pong; for example Neuromancer for the Commodore 64 and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts for the Xbox 360. The concert event Video Games Live has performed audio from Pong as part of a special retro "Classic Arcade Medley". Frank Black's song "Whatever Happened to Pong?" on the album Teenager of the Year references the game's elements. Dutch design studio Buro Vormkrijgers created a Pong-themed clock as a fun project within their offices. After the studio decided to manufacture it for retail, Atari took legal action in February 2006. The two companies eventually reached an agreement in which Buro Vormkrijgers could produce a limited number under license. In 1999, French artist Pierre Huyghe created an installation entitled "Atari Light", in which two people use handheld gaming devices to play Pong on an illuminated ceiling. The work was shown at the Venice Biennale in 2001, and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León in 2007. The game was included in the London Barbican Art Gallery's 2002 Game On exhibition meant to showcase the various aspects of video game history, development, and culture. """