But I would have to agree that GORF was the cartridge that created the buzz for the VIC-20.
Here's me agreeing with you again. It was everyone's second game. It was *always* running on the VICs on display in the shops
The guy who sold the VIC to my parents was displaying Radar Rat Race in the shop's window. It was also the very first thing I did with a computer: we entered the shop, and the shopkeeper let me put a RRR cart in a VIC he had on the "test table" inside the shop.
Good old times, when you could try computers before buying them .
Now that I think about it, I agree. Radar Rat Race is a wonderful title. Very good at showing off what the computer could do.
But don't you think it might come off as a children's title? They were trying to make it seem like a legit computer (notice the guy doing his taxes on the US box?) A kid's game could hurt the reputation.
I now think GORF would be a better lure because of the name recognition, but the game play could undersell the computer's potential. Were any of you disappointed with that game when you first played it?
Jeff-20 wrote:But don't you think it might come off as a children's title? They were trying to make it seem like a legit computer (notice the guy doing his taxes on the US box?) A kid's game could hurt the reputation.
I agree. I think the best solution would have been to include TWO carts, one for teenagers who after all represented the target buyers (RRR or Gorf are OK, both being the best Commodore produced in the early years), and one to match the picture of the guy doing taxes.
Personal Finance (1982) is the right one, it's so "early 80s office" even in its cover art:
Jeff-20 wrote:Were any of you disappointed with that game when you first played it?
Not at all. Gorf is still one of my favourites. I can play without losing a life after 10 seconds...
I never liked GORF at all. Ugly, blocky graphics in horrible colour combinations plus that it defaults to NTSC position in a non-changeable way if I recall correctly. I'm honestly surprised you think of this as a showcase VIC game. I must get home and play a few rounds soon to see what's all the fuzz is about.
carlsson wrote:I never liked GORF at all. Ugly, blocky graphics in horrible colour combinations plus that it defaults to NTSC position in a non-changeable way if I recall correctly. I'm honestly surprised you think of this as a showcase VIC game. I must get home and play a few rounds soon to see what's all the fuzz is about.
You can change the screen position with the joystick.
PRG Starter - a VICE helper / Vic Software (Boray Gammon, SD2IEC music player, Vic Disk Menu, Tribbles, Mega Omega, How Many 8K etc.)
carlsson wrote:I never liked GORF at all. Ugly, blocky graphics in horrible colour combinations
Yes, you're right in. In retrospect, it is a terrible arcade port. I'm sure someone today could do a much more accurate GORF port to the VIC-20 (and I'd love to see that).
But you have to put it in historical context. People didn't have as high expectations of arcade ports at the time. Atari 2600 Asteroids, Space Invaders or Donkey Kong anyone?
In 1982 this was the ONLY way you could play GORF at home (unless your parents were rich and could buy a real arcade machine), and ONLY the VIC-20 had GORF.
The Atari 2600 and the ColecoVision got it later, but for a while it was the VIC-20's claim to fame (along with Omega Race).
Back then they were not ports. They were loose interpretations. I think they only tried to catch the spirit of the game. Perfect for those of us without arcade access. I never compared the original to the home version. I think I expected them to be different. How it would be transformed for the specific platform was part of the mystery and fun.
Jeff-20 wrote:Back then they were not ports. They were loose interpretations. I think they only tried to catch the spirit of the game. Perfect for those of us without arcade access. I never compared the original to the home version. I think I expected them to be different. How it would be transformed for the specific platform was part of the mystery and fun.
Exactly....and the best/worst example of this philosophy is how programmers would often decide they could make the arcade game "better" by "improving" some aspect of its gameplay or graphics.
The result: totally different graphics in Atari Space Invaders & Pac-Man with little relationship to the arcade versions....those systems were quite capable of making much closer versions, but artistic lisence got in the way! There are better examples of this but I can't think of them at the moment.
I think one of the few times this actually worked was with ColecoVision Zaxxon. They added the "mobots" (moving turrets) which actually improved the game.
Can't remember if Commodore did this but a good pack in would be that 6pack of tape programs and a datasette. Give new users a selection of programs to run. 3k expansion would've been good too but would've run contrary to the Vics lower price range.
Personally, I think that in the VIC's later life they should've packed in the Super Expander or Programmer's Aid rather than games. Around here carts, for whatever reason, weren't that common. I bought 100's of games back in 84-86 and only a handful were cart based. I'd have rather had something in the cart slot that boosted the machines usability along with the collection of game cassettes that came as my pack-in.
3k expansion would've been good too but would've run contrary to the Vics lower price range.
I'd have rather had something in the cart slot that boosted the machines usability along with the collection of game cassettes that came as my pack-in.
Yeah, I've heard of the VIC-21. The packaging and marketing was pretty shady though - typically Jack! It was never released over here although I think it could've done pretty well. The C16 was fairly successful for a wee while in Blighty - that could've been the VIC 21!
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