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|| -------- -- ----- A E R I E O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 074--12/22/95 <------- || OsoaWeek || Issues || Book 6 || -------> (Cup OWis074, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [[BEGIN074OW]] [[01074CV]] * * * O S O A W E E K 0 7 4 * * * December 22, 1995 "The weekly ezine of Obliviana Super Occult Amusement!" by Frank Edward Nora CONTENTS 01 074 CV--Cover 02 074 LA--Lord of Obliviana 03 074 NH--Nihilistica 04 074 SU--Superior 05 074 SR--Severe Repair OsoaWeek074, December 22, 1995 9th issue of OsoaWeek Book 6 Written by Frank Edward Nora Published weekly by Obliviana Super Occult Amusement (E-mail address in transition) 1-800-OBLIVIANA http://www.obliviana.com/~osoa All contents copyright 1995 Frank Edward Nora Regarding this file, you are free to make digital copies, so long as they're not altered or sold. All other forms of reproduction require permission. A CupFrontier containing this file will be available. Stay tuned for more details. Character count: 56562 / Line count: 1459 / Days late: 34 *OW* [[02074LA]] Lord of Obliviana Mon 1/22/96 * 8:34 AM * NJT car 1452 Huh--I just realized that by putting the train car number, I'm pinpointing my exact location. Kinda scary--time travellers could pop back here anytime. This of course assumes (A) that time travel will one day exist, (B) that they'd be interested enough in me to try and contact me, and (C) that they wouldn't just make it easy on themselves and visit me at home as opposed to on the train. Yeah. One thing I'm working on now is to present some transcripts from online chat rooms that I participated in. Most of the chat was in early 1994, during the first few months that I had America Online. It's pointless, depressing stuff. But probably worth presenting to y'all. Also, in this issue, I'll reprint my editorials from Classictronica, the classic video game price guide thing I've produced two issues of for Mike Etler of Video Game Connections. So--1996 is over three weeks old, and I'm still searching for the answer. But I think I've created the answer, in my new idea for Obliviana. With this new idea, I'm thinking there should be some changes in OsoaWeek. OsoaWeek has always been changing, but it's been kinda stable recently. I guess I may as well hold off the major changes for Book Seven, starting with OsoaWeek079, 1/26/96. That's four days from now. But of course, it'll be late in starting, since this issue is already 31 days late (exactly one month!). So--I'm thinking that I might include some of the changes right here, right now. Cuz it seems that Book Seven is gonnahafta be another "loose book" in order to get stuff back on schedule. I mean--I won't be done with Book Six until well into the scheduled run of Book Seven. Yeah. Oh man, I just looked up and there's a super hot girl standing there. Jesus Christ. If I'M ever a time traveller I'm gonnahafta come back in time to meet her. Why not meet her now, you ask? Cuz I'm sitting between two other people, and besides, I'm too lame to just go up to a girl and start talking to her. Guess me sitting here would complicate matters in terms of me coming back here, but I could use a disguise. What the fuck am I talking about? I gotta reorient myself. My laundry and my bills and my dishes are more or less in order. That's a big accomplishment for me. But my apartment is still an amazing mess. And, by the way, my guitar has been sitting in a corner, unused, just as I predicted. The girl has caught me looking at her several times. Guess I gotta lay off. The guy next to me is meditating or something and acting weird. Approaching station Metropark--I used to live just a few minutes walk from here. I kinda miss the old town. But not much. It's only been 7 or 8 months. Just imagine if I was actually printing OsoaWeek on paper--there's no way I'd go on and on like this. So digital changes the nature of the work. Not that it HAS to, but different mediums definitely steer one in different directions. I find this Lord of Obliviana feature to be quite therapeutic for me. Writing about problems and issues takes the crap out of your head, and preserves it as data. Your mind knows this, and so it relieves the backlog of unresolved issues. Speaking of which, I made the decision to try and let go of all the unfinished, ill-designed plans for Obliviana from the past. Well, I don't think I've had much luck. Guess I gotta try harder. See, I've been at this for a long time, and my plans have constantly metamorphosed. OsoaWeek is the only project that has succeeded; it has become at least in part what I envisioned it to be; the fact that this is issue 74 is a strong indication of that. But I have so may little side projects and sub-projects, which I keep in my mind but never work on. So maybe I should start writing these down... [1] FOVY--continuation of Codingseed posters--at least one more, for which I have the Codingseeds. [2] DELUGE OF PRIMACY--develop new rules for candle-drip game, contact candle company, idea for licensing game to sites, such as bars. Danger of drunken people playing with lit candles. [3] INTERWEB--write a definitive essay about it. Contact people who sent stuff in but never received anything--transcribe comments. Etc. [4] 26 CLEONA--reconstruct the system--revive and recreate it--dream "26 Cleona is the big new thing on campus." [5] ROVING GUNNER--classic video game I just thought of this morning--Pac-Man-like mazes, gather boxes, but they get smaller when you run over them, so you gotta do it multiple times. Divided into areas (maybe six), and if you clear one area entirely, other boxes reduce in size by one. Unlimited number of enemies--you can fire artillery over the walls--maybe the distance the shells go will be determined by the size of the square you're currently on. I was also thinking of calling the game "Pearly Gunner"--it would take place in heaven, or just outside heaven at the pearly gates. But I like "Roving Gunner" better. [6] WEIRD SWORDS--a Super Objects release, original idea from a long time ago, they were going to look like swords. But the new idea, the things will just be random objects, thus they are massively weird and deformed swords. They'll have names like Ruinbringer and Starbane--typical sword names. But they'll just be these random things. Very high concept. [7] ARCADE GUIDE--an idea to go around to various arcades in NJ and beyond, and list the games they have there. [8] MATT J. BUTCHER--kid who did "Scientific Teddy Bear: Invention" comics for Halfevil back in 1986. Contact him and interview him as to his experience with me back then. Remember he was one of the first fans of Zope. [9] HALFEVIL FUZZ--this is something I'm definitely gonna be working on--cataloging all my video footage, and then putting it together into short episodes. Other people's work in the same vein may also be included. [10] PELTER--I've gotten back into creating Pelters in a big way--and with 512 official ones done, and more on the way, I gotta figure out something to do with them. I don't want them just to be "clip textures". Now, I was working on a project called "Obliviana War" for awhile--it would have been a digital collectible card game, something like "Magic: The Gathering". I even have 40+ prototype "cards" done (as PICT files). The idea was that people could download the cards and then--in a program like Photoshop--lay them out on a board, save the file as JPEG, and send in over the Internet to an opponent, who would open the file, add his own cards, and send it back. This was the idea, and I like it--I think it can work. But I need to work on it a lot more. [11] BALBITYPE--I've had these 26 typefaces completed for months now--but recently I've been thinking about pairing the faces up (since some of them started out as the upper- and lowercases of the same font anyway) to come up with 13. In any event, I have to get these fonts finished and released--I want people to start using them! [12] BEUBLIN A. RICHARDSON--I created 13 episodes of this on video, starring Peter Litkey. I want to continue the project, by doing more videos and also doing audio with a radio show hosted by Beublin. This is part of Halfevil Fuzz, and really can't take off until I get my digital video setup happening. But the audio version, I could start that soon. [13] ANALOG PINSER--the last physical publication I created was "Get All Obliviana", a Forge of Wander Packet. It was the most ambitious and experimental publication I ever created. The Packets were 8 pages, 4.25" x 5.5", on blue paper, with two holes on the side. The Analog Pinser is strip of rib matting, around an inch wide and 12" long. It has four holes in it, so that when you fold it over, it lines up with the two holes in the Packets. Then, with two sets of wingnut, bolt, and washer, you secure a number of Packets from just one, to hundreds. That was the system, and it was a great idea. I want to do something with it in the future. [14] NAKED GIRL--This was going to be a Packet in the Forge of Wander system--and it would simply be 8 pages of pictures of a naked girl. She'd be clothed and in the course of her normal life on the cover, and naked on the six inside ages, with some text on the back cover, perhaps. The only thing I was lacking for this project was a camera and also naked girls. But I would like to go something like this in the future. All Playboy-level nudity, you know--not really pornographic. I believe that seeing a beautiful woman is a tonic for most guys--it makes you feel good--and not necessarily in a sexual way, but in an overall way. That makes sense, right? [15] TV TRAIN WINDOW--this was an idea for videos of train rides, looking out the window. I made one, back in '87, I think. It's pretty cool to watch--maybe just put it on the TV as background visual and audio "noise". I might want to do more. I also did an hour or so of video on the rooftop of my apartment building in New York, right by the intersection of Thompson St. and Houston St. (pronounced "how-stin" for those non-New Yorkers out there--NOT like the city in Texas). It was perhaps not as compelling as the train video. But it was along the same lines. [16] LITTLE FRANKIE NORA II--Back in 1987, I created a whole lot of music as Little Frankie Nora--I even "released" two best-of tapes, an hour each. I think my whole body of work was about 6 hours. And in this audio archive, there's a whole lot of great musical ideas. I was thinking of using these old songs as the basis of new songs, using a computerized sequencer of some sort. I know someone with the equipment, but of course, like so many other projects, I never quite got around to doing it. [17] ABM RADIO ARCHIVE--I did a college radio show with Mike Massotto back in '86, '87, and '88 (I think). I have a huge number of tapes from the show, and one time, back in the early '90s, when I was unemployed, I sat in my parents' basement, playing a helicopter game on my Mac Plus, and listened to ALL of the tapes. It was a very hypnotic experience. Well, the practicality of releasing 10+ hours (just an estimate) of tape seems extravagant and pointless--but this material requires neither stereo or CD-quality audio, therefore it could all easily be stored on a CD-ROM. I think it would be cool to have such a great amount of radio show, to listen to on your computer. Yup, could be a very appealing release. [18] HEMISINISTER REVIEW GUIDE TO LIFE--Taking all the reviews I've done, I could put together a singe work covering all sorts of stuff, from music to movies to TV to personal hygiene products. Could be pretty cool... [19] VIDEO DEVIL JR.--A character I created as the mascot of Classictronica--and I developed a classic video game in which he would star. The game involves a number of separate screens, depicting VDJ's world. As he explores, he gathers fruits and meets up with friends. He also builds fortresses. The cool part is that he can give fruits to his friends, and encourage specific friends to marry and have children. The couples need fortresses and plenty of fruit to procreate. There are various friend types--such as foxes, knights, lizards, etc. The idea is to get the succeeding generations of friends to finally get to the Last Generation, when VDJ finally gets to destroy the world. Lots of varied classic mechanics involved. Was to be the "in ROM" game of the fictional Halzapular Fuzz. But now, I might just develop it as its own game--it would even work in text. [20] OBLIVIANA OS--An Obliviana "Operating System"--it would be a program with a text interface--similar to Zorklike games. But in it, there would be a number of different games and diversions, which can be played without limit, in all different ways. One theme is the idea of building things slowly over time. Reaping and sowing. The program would keep track of everything that happens, and keep detailed stats as to your performance. If CD-based, it could contain all of OsoaWeek, and a lot of other stuff too. I want Obliviana to be more than text-based, but a program such as this could serve as a wonderful core for Obliviana. Mon 1/22/96 * 11:07 PM * home Wow. Alotta cool stuff up there. I gotta do that more often--the more of this stuff I get out of my head and into digital, the better my mental state will be. So, what is this all leading up to? It's leading to the game system of Obliviana--a system with a whole lotta facets, all of which are centered around Fonostas. That is, you play the various diversions to build up your own Fonosta. And I think that the core function of a Fonosta will be fighting and warmongering. That is, Obliviana is a big war, and the better your Fonosta is, the better you'll be able to fight. Some of you might think it's wrong to base something like this on war, that some sort of positive, creative interaction would be better. But let me tell you--the audience I'm seeking is mostly male, and I want to keep their attention--and you don't keep a man's attention with positive interaction, but with war, cars, women, and mayhem. Believe me, there IS a positive, creative side to Obliviana, but it has to take a back seat, so that Obliviana will be able to succeed. So--gambling, fighting, warmongering, women, sex, vehicles, insanity, subterfuge, risks--all this stuff is at the core of Obliviana. When you buy your Fonosta, it starts out at a very limited, weak level. You have your work cut out for you to make your Fonosta powerful. But the cool part is that everything you do in Obliviana adds to your Fonosta. In terms of mechanics, Obliviana can exist as simply as--records being displayed publicly on my WWW site, and players sending in their game commands via E-mail. It might start off as a monthly thing, with a bunch of decisions to make each time. This could include a variety of opportunities to invest and/or gamble your game coins in a variety of ways. Also, you can permanently "drop" certain special coins in the various places of Obliviana, forming a permanent bond to that place. Now, being that I already have Coins and Cups in Obliviana, I may as well go ahead and have Swords and Wands as well--completing the four suits of the Tarot. Obliviana will not be Tarot-based--the four suits will be the extent of the Tarot theme--but these four basic objects seem pretty good. The Swords for fighting, and the Wands for magic or something like that. The Cups are for digital infostimulation, and the coins are the currency and power source in the game. This system is very expandable. With a dedicated server and an advanced system, Obliviana turns could be processed instantaneously. One idea I like is to base time/turns in Obliviana on my "Tarb" system (see OW001)--Tarbs being four hour spans of time, there being 42 in a week, and 2184 in a year. This could be the "date" system of Obliviana--the number of Tarbs that have passed since Obliviana officially begins on July 27, 1996. I guess it would be 2 AM, cuz that's the first Tarb to begin on that day, the previous Tarb starting at 10 PM the day before, July 26. Well, I'll continue this on the train tomorrow morning. I gotta be on time for work tomorrow! Got a lot of work to do! Alright. Good night. Tue 1/23/96 * 7:20 AM * Amtrak Well, whattaya know. I HAD to be on time today, but even though I took a lot of measures to insure that, I'm still gonna be at least a half-hour late. See, I went to bed last night around 11:30, and I had to get up around 5. Right there, I'm only getting 5.5 hours of sleep, but y'know, it's not that bad, I could do it. So I go to sleep, only to wake up a little after 2, having just had the most incredible dream, which was too good to let slip away, so I got up and spent the next hour writing it down (see "Diary of a Dreamfrank" in Nihilistica, below). Then I spent most of the 3 o'clock hour trying to get back to sleep, I was so wired from the writing session. The night before I had set TWO alarm clocks--the Japanese chicken for 5 and the piece of garage sale garbage for 5:26. Well, the chicken finally went off at 6:43. The other failed totally. I knew the chicken was having problems, but I shook the hell out of it, figuring it'd do some good. But no. So I got dressed and ran out, without a shower, without my vitamins, nothing. Then I got to park for $6, and run all the way to the train, which was already in the station. I made it, but managed to just about lose my breath, being that I'm totally out of shape. So here I am now. Slowly recovering from the run. But I made it, and I shouldn't be exceedingly late, except if Amtrak or Metro Transit have any surprises in store for me. 7:54 AM Feeling a little better now. But I'm still a little sick from the run. Or from only having some french fries and iced vanilla coffee on the train last night for dinner. Or from lack of sleep. Could be all three. Foggy this morning. And weird. Woman across from me, reading Barbara Taylor Bradord's "An Act of Will". But now she's abandoned it and is napping. 8:08 AM I was just looking back on OW001. Man, I was offering FREE Fonosta registration and Obliviana game play. What was I nuts? No way is it gonna be like that this July 27, when the game REALLY begins. It's funny though--the idea I've finally came up with as the current plan is more similar to the stuff in OW001 than I remembered. Thu 1/25/96 * 7:14 AM * Amtrak Time to finish up this issue. Get all Obliviana! *OW* [[03074NH]] Nihilistica ***DIARY OF A DREAMFRANK*** Tue 1/23/96 * 2:12 AM I just woke up, and this dream is so fucked-up and wild, I'm in front of my computer, writing it down The earliest thing I remember is being in a restaurant at a new Walt Disney hotel, which was pirate-themed. There was a stage, with all sorts of cool stuff happening on it. Then, all the tables and everything were moved on a huge assembly around the back of the stage--a very impressive and shocking mechanical achievement. Then, I was outside in my apartment community (different than in reality), and it was a cold, clear winter day, with snow on the ground. I was hearing an ad for a $25,000 Cadillac "X700" maybe (I don't clearly remember). So there was one there, and I began driving it. I had rented it before, and I really liked driving it. But as I drove toward the exit of my apartments, I realized I had just taken the car, without registering for it or anything, so, a little worried, I passed one Hertz Rent-a-Car station, with a phone, but I kept on going. It was a Sunday, but I thought the office might be open. The office, in a crummy little building near the exit of the apartments, was open, and I pulled the car into a space. But as I got out of the car, I made a terrible realization--the entire chassis of the car was gone! I was driving just a platform with wheels and seats, little else! Jeez, where had I gone wrong? It must have come off at some point on the trip over--but it wasn't more than a quarter mile! I was with a dreamfriend at this point, and he agreed to help me. We backtracked and it was a lot farther getting back than I thought. We passed one icy intersection where I thought the event might have occurred, but there was nothing there. Finally, we came to Disney World, and to the hotel restaurant with the fancy mechanics, and in a big restaurant, there is was--the chassis. Shit! So I had to go BACK to the rental office, drive the chassis-less car BACK to the fountain, and get my friend to help me put the chassis back on, or else I was screwed. But--it occurred to me to play dumb and do nothing. I mean, no one really saw me drive the car over to the rental office--I could just walk away, and most likely they'd never catch me. But... there was always fingerprints... Mine aren't on record anywhere! I never committed a crime! How could they catch me? But I thought better of it, and decided to go on--even though of they caught me driving the defunct vehicle, it could get me into a lot of trouble I might otherwise not be in. So, we recruited several other people for the journey back, including my brother John. I think there was a girl or two with us also at that point. It was night and we were crossing a hilly snow-covered field, toward "the city". Again, the distance between the office and the lot where I got the car had grown considerably. We eventually did get to the city, and went into a comic book store, even though it was the middle of the night. I wanted to buy some of the bootleg cassettes of sci-fi stuff that I knew they had, but as I looked for the white cardboard boxes I remembered them to be in, stacked along the wall, I couldn't find them. There followed a period that is vague to me now. I think we were all living in an abandoned building of some sort--then we were at my parents' house--maybe rain, flooding, trying to play games, power failures--but it's sketchy in my mind. But THEN the journey had gotten to the cross-country level, and there were other members of our party--including a couple of robots. We were on a plateau overlooking the sea--a blue sea, maybe the California coast. There were these swimming pools there, but some weather disaster was going on. This all of us were naked, and this one guy in our party wanted to go swimming, but a Japanese guy in our party said that the conditions were just the same as when he was swimming in a swimming pool also built precariously on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the ocean. It was the same conditions he said, and there was a thought balloon over his head, I think, where we could see "footage" of the disaster, very realistic--of this pool collapsing, and people falling out of it, to their certain doom. But the guy ignored the Japanese disaster victim (who had somehow survived, obviously), and the guy went swimming anyway. It was raining hard, and somehow, blue water from the ocean was washing into the pool, overflowing it. I felt sure the pool would collapse, but it didn't as far as I can remember. Then we get to the last scene, which I remember most vividly. Me and a few others, including two robots, one of which I saw clearly--he was a dull red color, and looked like "Tick-Tock" or something from the Wizard of Oz sequels--squat, with a metal mustache, etc. We were in a bleak field covered with frozen snow, and it was shaped like a big long rectangle it seemed--sort of like we were in a big room, sort of not. I had the sense that I was in a story, and I even knew what was going to happen--stuff I shouldn't have known. For example, I knew the enemy (the folks from the Hertz Rent-a-Car office, I guess) had an amazing airship, which they were using to travel all the way across the country, back to where I left the chassis of the car. Then, the squat robot pointed upwards into the mostly-cloudy sky and said he saw something. While he had telescopic vision and the rest of us saw nothing, I knew full well he was referring to the airship. As the airship dropped lower, I saw it--it saw silver-gray, and pointed at the ends--kind of like a balloon or blimp, kind of not. Definitely had a "Jules Verne" era feel about it. Then the robot yelled out and warned up that something was coming down from the thing. Soon, I saw some sort of cord or wire flailing down at us. It happened very quickly, but I saw it heading my way. I was on my back on the ground (seeming to be by a wall--remember I said it seemed to be an enclosed space), and the cord was coming right at me. At the last possible second, I spun out of the way, and the end of the cord struck the frozen snow right where my mouth had been. For a split second, I saw the end of the orange cord--it was a two-pronged electrical plug. I was totally freaked out, and I got up and ran. Why had they targeted me? I started getting paranoid--did they know my "secret" (whatever that was--I think in the dream I was secretly some sort of supernatural being, disguised as a human). And as I began to run, the robot explained to me that the cord attaches to your teeth/mouth and it allows them to take over your mind. In a panic, I ran into "the one place where I can feel safe"--an office building located conveniently nearby the field. I went into the lobby--figuring it would hinder the cord to be indoors. I ran in as the cord was making another go at me. Running across the lobby, I realized that the cord was coming through the door after me! So I ran into a little phone vestibule, and it narrowly missed me and retreated. I ran across the lobby to the elevators, and got in. I was sure the thing would try again, but if I was in a totally enclosed space, I should be safe. I got out on the third floor--a place I knew I could find the help I needed. But there was a walkway that was partially open to the lobby below--a big atrium sort of space, you know--but I figured the angles involved would have been too tough for the cord. So I crossed, and some security guards were looking at me strangely, but I ignored them. Ahead of me, I saw the office I was seeking--it was inside, but it had glass walls or something, and lots of plants, and it was looking out at maybe the atrium and stuff--it was opposite the elevators and the walkway. Inside, at his desk, was the same Japanese guy, I assume. He had long hair, maybe a mustache, and was now a successful scientist. It was in part because I knew "the story" that I had come up here--I knew he would have the answer. But just as I approached him, he stood up at his desk and looked a little shocked. At first I thought he was shocked by me, but then I realized there was someone else approaching him--all I remember was it was a short, kind of hunched-over guy wearing ragged clothes--he seemed like a bum. He spoke quickly and told the scientist that he had figured it all out, why all this was happening. The scene changed to scenes depicting his narrative. He said that there was this family or group of people, who took a boat out to a private island, where they were to have a party. Somehow, they got stuck out there. Also, when they got there, some of them discovered that an old housekeeper that had been there had died--but they didn't call the authorities, and instead put her in a bathtub. Then, the captain or pilot of the boat also died--again, of natural causes, but some of the people hid his body and didn't call the authorities. So--what happened was that there was a big party and feast planned--but whoever was responsible for it was negligent, and didn't bring any food. So, the people who had hid the bodies decided to cook them and serve them instead of admitting their error. What followed was a cannibalistic feast, attending by many, including children, who loved the mystery meat and ate it all up. But, as the bum-like guy explained, this case of pointless cannibalism caused a massive curse to befall the group of family and friends. There were depictions of the various people with little cartoon icons of the sundry horrible deaths that most of them suffered very soon thereafter. But a few of the children survived, and they grew up, and before dying their own horrible deaths, had their own children (this part I'm pretty sure of--it could have been adults that survived)--and now, at the present, he was grown up, and the last victim of the curse. (It could also have been a very young child who had been at the feast, but I got the idea of a new generation from the story). Anyway, he was the last, and because he was so distantly removed from the curse, it didn't kill him outright, but caused all sorts of bizarre, disastrous things to happen around him. I was shocked at the explanation of everything--but then I woke up. Now I have to wonder--I think that last victim of the curse was ME in the dream, although in the last few moments of the dream, I hadn't made the connection. Anyway, at that point I was definitely viewing the events around me as a story that I was only participating in or acting out, maybe like a game. But that was it for the dream. I woke up, and quickly realized I had to write this sucker down--it was just too good. One observation was that the rectangular field, in retrospect and with full waking consciousness, could have been some sort of virtual reality game place. I think that's the impression I got as soon as I woke up. Now, as is often the case, I remembered another part of the dream while writing the final scene. It took place during that ill-defined period of abandoned buildings and stuff... It was a balmy day--if that's the right term--it was warmer than usual for the winter or early spring, and the ground was soggy from recent rainfall. There were these plateaus, rising up. I was on one, and there was something with a flea market or garage sale. Then I was down farther, with these two old women. (Thought--I WAS with two young women earlier, right? Connection?) And they were playing chess, and they were talking about this really rare chess set--the pieces were plastic, but they were exquisite and strange. I talked to them about it for awhile, and then I realized that I actually HAD the chess it. I told them I bought it at a flea market a long time ago (how much time had passed since I was at that flea market?). Somehow, I produced a clear plastic ziplock-like bag stuff full of chess pieces. I took one out--it was amazing--at least 8-10 inches tall, it was an angelic Mother Mary sort of deal, painted in great detail, with great flowing robes and everything. The ladies saw it and they were like "a piece like that, it SCREAMS OUT that you wanna fight!" I had to leave temporarily, but I started showing them more pieces. The other side was all Sherlock Homes based. (I assume the side of Mary was religion-based). Then I came back, and it was like my grandmother's laundry room--and they had the board set up (they had to find a bigger board because of the pieces)--but I saw that I had a lot of pieces missing. Apparently, I had bought the bag and never bothered to examine it. I was just there in passing, but I marveled at the pieces, especially some of the weird stocky fairy/troll pieces on the Sherlock Holmes side (one was most likely a Knight). I think they were going to play by using pieces from another chess set to fill in for the missing pieces. That's it for that segment. Wow. I just wrote over 2400 words on this dream! Man! I gotta get back to sleep! But a few comments. First of all, how cool is a religious icons vs. Sherlock Holmes and the fairies and trolls chess set. Come on! Definitely an epic dream. Glad I wrote it down. Just think--if I hadn't woken up--there's no way I would have retained in--after three more hours of dreaming. Interestingly enough, though, the phone rang about ten minutes after I woke up--a wrong number for Alitalia most likely. So maybe I would have woken up anyway, but not with the dream so vivid in my mind. Well, that's it. If I recall any more, I'll add it. Good night (or morning) or whatever! Oh yeah! Almost forgot! When I got out of bed, I had a charlie horse in my left calf. I feared the worst, but it wasn't too bad (I've had bad ones which are like, unbelievable pain.) But this one wasn't too bad). Now I gotta try and get two hours of sleep! I only got 3 hours before I woke up! ***CLASSICTRONICA INTROS*** CLASSICTRONICA Volume One, Fall 1995 Completed 10/12/95 If you go by the predictions of many futurists, the future is all video games. Specifically, there's gonna be a mystical "convergence", where all the electronic devices in your home—TV, radio, stereo, video games, telephone, fax, answering machine, computer, modem, etc.—will be consolidated into a single unit. From then on, our entire electronic interface with the outside world will be filtered through a digital interface—it'll be something like playing an enormously advanced video game. We may not be there yet, but when we are, you can be sure that we'll all look back and wonder where all this home digital madness began. The answer is clear—it began with the Atari 2600 Video Computer System, and a wave of other cartridge-based home video game systems that appeared in the time period of roughly 1978 through 1984, known to some as "The Golden Age of Video Games". Sure—you could say that it all REALLY began with the home Pong machines and the obscure, primitive cartridge-based systems—but these units were random shots in the dark compared with the 2600, which was the first true video game standard. It was at centerstage in the dawn of home digital entertainment. A lot of people feel that the early days of video gaming are pathetically outdated, mostly due to the rudimentary state of the graphics back then. But the 7-year Golden Age contains a plethora of unfathomable mysteries and wonders. The quality, variety, concepts, originality, and game play mechanics of the games from this period remain pretty much unmatched, even with today's ultra-high-tech game systems. There was something MAGICAL about the dawn of video games—a magic so many of us in "Generation X" hold dear in our hearts—and a magic that was almost totally gone come 1985. Indeed, 1985 marks the end of the Golden Age, and the beginning of the Nintendo Age. For the past ten years, the home video game market has been dominated by the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, and the Sega Genesis. The Golden Age was American, and the Nintendo Age is Japanese. And to me, it was the wild and pioneering American spirit that made the Golden Age so mind blowing. The Japanese just don't have the vitality that we have. Right about now, there may be another new age of video games dawning, with the 32-bit CD-ROM-based systems, most notably the Sega Saturn and the Sony Playstation. This shift in the video game landscape is minor, though, in relation to what we experienced in the mid-'80s. Today on the Internet, classic video games are being aggressively traded, and a collector's market is quickly emerging. Right now, this is a field where you can still find amazing bargains at flea markets and garage sales—finds that might be unthinkable a few years from now. So now is the time to start collecting! This is the first edition of CLASSICTRONICA, and because of that, is somewhat sparse. What we have for you, though, is our most up-to-date checklist of every game for all the major classic home video game systems—Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Colecovision, Mattel Intellivision, Magnavox Odyssey, and perhaps the most awesome system of all time, the inimitable Vectrex. In future volumes, we plan on bringing you our first price guide, along with data on game hardware, game secrets ("Easter Eggs"), history, and a whole lot more. This issue, in addition to the checklist, we present a look at some video game ads from 1983. Who knows—maybe collecting these ads will become a collector craze in itself! So that's about it. By the way, I'm not the true editor of CLASSICTRONICA—that title belong to Mike Etler, President and CEO of Video Game Connections. He was too busy to do an editorial this time around, so I had to take the plunge instead. Being that I'm nowhere near the expert that Mike is, I'm sure he'll be correcting a lot of what I've said here, but y'know, that's the way things go in the madness that is the world of video games. Enjoy! Warmest Regards, Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana P.S. Check out my ad on the inside back cover for my own company, Obliviana Super Occult Amusement! CLASSICTRONICA Volume Two, Winter 1996 Completed 1/11/96 RESET GAME This month in Wired magazine, they trash the Activision 2600 Action Pack for Mac and Windows, based on the primitive level of the "Reagan-era" sound and graphics. They go on to say how stupid you'd be to buy it, cuzza the superiority of today's games sounds and graphics. Now, those of us who are intimately familiar with the classic games know that these games are far superior to anything being produced today. The most common defense of classic games is that they have superior game play mechanics—but I think the problem with the newer games runs far deeper than that. Take the PlayStation game Ridge Racer for example. This 3-D car racing game has quite good play mechanics—but somehow, I got totally disgusted with it after a few weeks. Now here's the interesting part—I think that the same exact play mechanics—but with simpler graphics and sounds—would make it a far better game. Absurd? I don't think so. The graphic simplicity of classic games ENGAGES your imagination. When I play Enduro on the 2600, I am not seeing fully-rendered race cars, but strange little blocky sprites which might pass for the back of a car. With Enduro, my mind is filling in the missing information—and at some level, I'm imagining what the cars might really look like. Simple graphics stimulate the mind on a far deeper level. The fantastically simple cars of Indy 500 for the 2600 could represent just about ANY car—and therefore, they touch our deepest, most basic conception of the car. In Ridge Racer, the cars leave absolutely NOTHING to the imagination. The connection is just not there. This is why 3-D games suck. They suck because their graphics and sound are TOO GOOD. Games with good play mechanics are always coming out. The only problem is, as the sound and graphics approach reality-level, the primal connection the games used to grasp us with is quickly falling into oblivion. 3-D is the wrong way to go for interactive media. I finally realized this about a month ago. Virtual reality, which hasn't even arrived yet, is destined to be the Edsel of tomorrow's technology. Making new games in the classic idiom is the right way to go—and that's just what I intend to do! (See my ad for Obliviana Super Occult Amusement on the inside back cover). The future is classic! Entropy Yours, Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana ABOUT THE CHECKLIST/PRICE GUIDE Our checklist/price guide lists every game we know to exist from the following systems: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Arcadia 2001, Bally Astrocade, Colecovision, Fairchild Channel F, Intellivision, Microvision, Odyssey2, and Vectrex. These are the major systems from the "Golden Age of Video Games"—from about 1978 to 1984. The prices are based on actual prices paid in Internet auctions. In the case of multiple pieces of the same game selling for different prices, we go with the average. Many games do not have prices because we have no auction data for them. We feel that it's better to keep the prices based on reality rather than start making stuff up like some other people do. The three checkmarks by each title are provided so that you can track not only if you have a game, but also its individual components—cartridge, box, and instructions. As well, some systems have overlays. We recommend using the first box for cartridge, the second for box, and the third for instructions. If you gotta do overlays too, use the third box, and condense box and instructions into the second. Because of the nature of the classic video game market, there's no way our list can be 100% complete or accurate—so if you notice an omission, error, or anything else—or if you have any comments, please E-mail us at: mikeetler@aol.com. Special thanks to Marc Pahlenkaemper for the list of German 2600 releases. Internet ground zero for classic video games: the newsgroup rec.games.video.classic. (P)=prototype Enjoy! *OW* [[04074SU]] Superior SUPERIOR 429 Hi. Join now. Creates. Silent cold dawn, walk down the street, see no one. Hi hitchhike. A summer in the '70s. What can I say? She's having sex, drugs, and rock music on the road. Today, you gotta wonder. It WAS hedonism, was there a price to pay? Just skiing. SUPERIOR 430 Avoid escalator in office building train station, they who sing, who confuse in a fish bowl, and the sporting event, calibrate. Sometimes well a year never ever, kissing, dreams of relationships wake to nobody next to me. I am hurt. It's good though. The more I get hurt emotionally and get over it, the more I grow up. I am a wristwatch made of mist. Didn't I tell you that. Too weak, needs editing, but I never do that. SUPERIOR 431 A time of Arctic air, driving on Route One, say patterns in ice, and all the girls at all the malls I've ever explored. Yesterday, I mused that if I write an autobiography, one chapter would definitely be called "Malls". Say building in the distance, I remember my first college friend trips to Manhattan, and how overwhelming the place was. Yeah, I'd like to soft time travel back to one of those days in 1985 or 1986, one of those trips to New York. 80 pounds lighter. SUPERIOR 432 Many ices. Imperfect footing, you start off behind. Young, the innocence of being a Dr. Who fan. Why scorn the beautiful fragility there? It felt good, but the fear of it all falling apart, and the stress of starting to face life. School, girls, future. I don't know. There was something more to it. SUPERIOR 433 Dim-it. A female Alexander Hamilton. Gaga. Gump. Forsaken woman, she evil. Hazzaha haha. Ga ga ga! You gotta wonder. Enterway to office and... SUPERIOR 434 Duck I am loopy the fog rail. Is it causal, caramel? I pretend that this is me here--you have to see--I might really be somewhere else--my state of being is totally unfamiliar to man. Randolph? Maybe that was the town I went to--once--always wondered how to get back... SUPERIOR 435 No mood for scratch-off madness. Smiling nobody, like to destroy him, movie theater. Badlight, under the streetmess, power mass forces, the waiting for the waiting. Another. Open lit window, strange transaction, the fall wit the redemption in mind, fun and the nuclear muscle. Family buffet. Dog dreams. The dread of flight, the thrill of flight, writing it down, using levels of power. Too much tool. You cannot, Tracy, it is not... like. SUPERIOR 436 Dashing. Hallway yellow brown theory. Drinkers of pine trees, the band, the movie. Cold college nights, the chill and the thrill of ladies. Yeah, no. Bo. Think and drink. The way of the wave, I am of it. True. Soviet aspirations, you are a little cougar and I love you. Enough refear--the dogs of rage are angelic ponies in your of dream faze. *OW* [[05074SR]] Severe Repair SEVERE REPAIR 61: "I Love Bailey Cong" BTayoght (16): Man theres this girl down at the arcade, her name is Bailey Cong and shes hot, man SlimVacc (33): Yeah, what does she look like BTayoght (16): Man shes awesome - she always looks so confiednt and has lng brown hair and man what a body SlimVacc (33): cool BTayoght (16): yeahman let me tell you. If I could choose anygirl, I would choose her SlimVacc (33): why ont you ask her out:? BTayoght (16): I don't know, maybe I should SlimVacc (33): why not man? what have you got to lose? BTayoght (16): I don't know, it's just like how am I gonn just go up to her, what am I gonn a say? Just like your hot, go out with me ? SlimVacc (33): Why not man? BTayoght (16): I don't know. Maybe I'm just too cared to, SlimVacc (33): dont be scard man--whats the wosrt that can happen? she can just laugh in your face so what? just walk away man, who cars? BTayoght (16): Yeah SlimVacc (33): So what are ome games your into these days? BTayoght (16): Oh man, there's this new one I can hardly ever get on theres so many kids playng it. Kings of Pyromania its the best game I ever saw, the graphics are totally unrweal dude SlimVacc (33): i saw it when I went with my family to Honorcora a few weeks ago But I didn't get to play it unfortunatley, it looks really good though BTayoght (16): Yeah I tell you, when I played I did alot etter than alot of kids older than me. They even got a little upset at me becausse they had to keep putting their quarters in when I kept going for free. SlimVacc (33): cool BTayoght (16): Yeah--I think the best character I play is Donny--king Donny I think--he has magical powers and throws fireballs and can make fire rain down from the sky. Man I burned down a whoe forest one time an got te high score SlimVacc (33): I like kings of promania but my mom says that games ike that promote bad behavour in kids. BTayoght (16): What do you mean? SlimVacc (33): I mean, sdon't you think that some kids might go and burn stuff down after they play the game? because it glorifies burning stuff down and stuff? BTayoght (16): no way man no way, I know the differnce between a gmae and my real life. No wy am I gonn a go burn down my house after playing Kings man! SlimVacc (33): No but maybe it does encourage you BTayoght (16): No way <<<HesterPA (4) has entered Video Game Chat>>> HesterPA (4): hello SlimVacc (33): hi Hester BTayoght (16): hello HesterPA (4): whats the topic tonite? BTayoght (16): talking about games like Kings of Pyromania and stuff HesterPA (4): what is that? SlimVacc (33): Hey, are you a girl or what? BTayoght (16): the coolset new game out there, you eget to burn down all sort of stuff, and each guy has his own fire powers and everything HesterPA (4): why, does it matter? BTayoght (16): the best part is the forest screens where you have to burn down as much of the forest as possible in a limted amotn of time Also theres a part where you burn down a vllage or something but I only saw one guy get that far SlimVacc (33): just wondering HesterPA (4): what's th matter, can't a girl talk about video games? SlimVacc (33): Of course they can HesterPA (4): well you dont now if I'm really a girl or just using a girl's account. you know. SlimVacc (33): You could just be a guy who gets his jollies prtending to be a girl online to satisyy his sick urges HesterPA (4): that;s what I don't like about online, peope are always pretending to be soemthing they are not BTayoght (16): i'mnot pretending SlimVacc (33): me neither you wanna go out baby? HesterPA (4): you guys proably arent even ld enough to go out. Wher do you live anyway? BTayoght (16): <--- Gullia Fair SlimVacc (33): isionab HesterPA (4): your not too far away. I'm in Powerssippi. but your still probably too young for me SlimVacc (33): your not fat are you? BTayoght (16): thats not a nice thing to say, Slim. take it back HesterPA (4): if I was do you think I would admit it on line? HesterPA (4): Than you, BT SlimVacc (33): I was just wondering- you cant be too carful these days BTayoght (16): It's B. Tayoght, not BT. My real name is Bill HesterPA (4): well your a jerk HesterPA (4): not you Bill, your frind there Slim BTayoght (16): He's not my friend SlimVacc (33): Gee thanks alot bill! Im trying to make my move wth the lady here and you go and make me look bad! HesterPA (4): you do that well wnough yourself Slim BTayoght (16): how old are you Hester? HesterPA (4): 22 next week SlimVacc (33): ouch BTayoght (16): thats alot older than me, I'm 14 SlimVacc (33): Imean, I'm 25 so its cool BTayoght (16): your not 25 Slim give it up!!!!!! HesterPA (4): I knew you boys were too young for me. At least Bill is honest about it, unlike Slim hos proabaly 10 or 11 HAHAHA SlimVacc (33): thats not funny chester BTayoght (16): chester? HesterPA (4): Could we talk about video games? That's why I came in here afterall. There are a lot fo dating rooms elsewhere so here I watnt to rtalk abotuthe real subject SlimVacc (33): i think she is a guy HesterPA (4): I am NOTTTT a guy! Go ahead, ask me a girl question and I'll answr it. SlimVacc (33): okay--when you pee, where does it come out of, above or elow your vagina? BTayoght (16): that's a real nice question Slim HesterPA (4): I'll answer you but how do I know that you know the answer? SlimVacc (33): Iknow don't you think I've seen one? HesterPA (4): no BTayoght (16): you've never seen one Slim!!!! Give it up!!!!! SlimVacc (33): Yes I have. You want the girl's name an address? HesterPA (4): yeah, why don't you give us her name and addres? BTayoght (16): no BTayoght (16): he's full of shit SlimVacc (33): I'd give it to you but I think she'd get mad at me HesterPA (4): At least give us her name BTayoght (16): There IS NO NAME Slim is full of SHIT!!!!! SlimVacc (33): he rname was Heter SlimVacc (33): I mean Hester HesterPA (4): Wow that's an amazing coincidence SlimVacc (33): maybe it was you BTayoght (16): shut up slim HesterPA (4): You know, you really are an annoying litle shit. I don't haveto put up with this. I cam ehere to talk about videogames not get insulted by some gross little teenager who jerks off in front of his computer insulting people BTayoght (16): Yeah get out of here slim. If you don't want to tlk abotu video games get out. And stop insultingpeople HesterPA (4): What am I doing with my life, hanging around online with little boys? BTayoght (16): Not all little boys are bad. SlimVacc (33): fine!!!!!!!! This room sucks anyway. I'm going ojver to LESBIAN CHAT man,. thats the place to be!!!!!!!! HesterPA (4): Maybe not HesterPA (4): yeah I know a lot of lebians named "Slim" BTayoght (16): Go ahead they'll kick you out of there too SlimVacc (33): you stupid! I don't use this name, I have alot of names! and I have the perfect namewhen I go into the lesbin room--Vicky Fun BTayoght (16): Who cares what your name is??? Your such a jerk everyone hates you HesterPA (4): Yeah boy, if I was a lesbian and I heard the name Vicky Fun I'd soak my undies for sure SlimVacc (33): dont piss in your pants its not lady like HesterPA (4): that's not what I was referrring to, but you're such a little idiot you didn't even know. You claim to know about female anatomy, but you just revealed you ignorange! SlimVacc (33): Fuck you BTayoght (16): Get out of here slim. Your not allowed to say words like that,, I'l get th monitor and he'll kick you out SlimVacc (33): Fuck you billy boy!!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!! fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fk cufkc fuc fuck fuck fuc shit shti ass asss pussy cunt bitch fuck shit god damn coscksucker bitch!!! HesterPA (4): sorry Bill. but I can't put up with this. Bye. BTayoght (16): No no wait Hester! e can kick him out! And if you leave I'll be all alone in here. SlimVacc (33): Fuck you all I[m going over t see some LESBIANS! I'm gonna beat my beat Hester! Liek you said I love beating my meat in front of computer! HesterPA (4): Goodbye, moron BTayoght (16): good ridance SlimVacc (33): screw you billy boy!! why don't you tell Hester about that girl you lve at the arcde but are too chicken to talk to you little WORM!!! FUCK YOU FUCKER!!!! BTayoght (16): go beat your meat you loser <<<SlimVacc (33) has left Video Game Chat>>> HesterPA (4): What a relief! BTayoght (16): yeah HesterPA (4): Ihope he's having fun beating his meat with the lesbos BTayoght (16): Im sure he is HesterPA (4): So do you want to talk abotu video games or should I just sign off and go to bed? BTayoght (16): No let's talk about them, that's why I came here too. I was even talking to slim about them till youc came in HesterPA (4): Yeah, some little jerks have to prove themselves when there's a girl around. BTayoght (16): yeah. so what games do you like these days? HesterPA (4): I play games mostly on my computer. My sister Fake got me one last week, as an early birthday present because she always disappears for months at a time and no one knows where she goes. But anyway it's called Prairie Brat, and it's really good BTayoght (16): I heard of it in the magazines but I never played it. My computer sucks, all I can do on it is text. I play most of my games down at Cong's Arcade, plus I have an old Conninood 45 that I hav alot of cartridges for, but Im tired of most of them. I want t get the new Conninood 1300 but my mom can't afford it HesterPA (4): Yeah, but Prairie Brat is really good, you should try it,. BTayoght (16): I'd like to butthey don't have in in the arcades HesterPA (4): They should. It would be perfect as an arcade game BTayoght (16): So why does your dister disappear? BTayoght (16): sorry, I mean sister HesterPA (4): I wish I knew! My parents are in such denial, they act like nothing's wrong. She comes around in these weird clothes, smelling very odd--some kind of spices I never smelled before and other weird stuff. She has all this weird stuff too--I have a lot of stuff she's brought me. But we ask her where she's been and she just shrugs and says she can't tell us becuase we wouldn't beieve her anyway BTayoght (16): That's weird, HesterPA (4): Definitely. I was glad he got me a normal present fo rmy birthday--usually she gives us such weird stuff! BTayoght (16): well I think you should find out where she is going HesterPA (4): I tried to follow her once, all the way back to her college in G.F., but I lost track of her. She knew I was follwig her anyway, I think. Maybe I should hire a private detective!! BTayoght (16): that 'd be a good idea HesterPA (4): Yeah. Now tell me-I don't know if I should even ask-but wwas Slim telling the truth about that girl? I could give you some advice. Being a girl myself. BTayoght (16): Yes for that ONE thing he was telling the truth. There's this girl whose father owns the arcade, and she's there every day after school. Her name is Bailey Cong, and I think I love her HesterPA (4): You should be careful, love is a very serious emotion BTayoght (16): I know. It's just-when I think about her, I don't know. I think about her al the time. But I don't know how to ask her out HesterPA (4): How old is she? BTayoght (16): I don't know, but she is in the grade above me, so maybe she's 15. But she could be 14 because Im a little old for my grade. HesterPA (4): Does she have a boyfriend? BTayoght (16): I don't know. I think guys are afraid to go out with herbecause her father is so mean HesterPA (4): He runs the arcade? BTyoght (16): He's usually there only at night because thats when things can get a little rough. Durig the days he has some guys from college running the palce. I know one of them likes Bailey but he's a total dork, plus he knows her father would beat the crap out of him if h touched his daughter HesterPA (4): Are you scared of her father? BTayoght (16): No, because I think I'm the right sort of guy for her. I mean, I like video games, am aroud the same age as her, and not all that bad looking HesterPA (4): Well, you know it's not going to happen by itself-you have to start talking to her and ask her out at some point BTayoght (16): I know but I don't know how to do it. I mean, I know I have to go up to her and ask her on a date, but it's just I feel so weird about it. HesterPA (4): Let me give you some vauable advice, my young friend. The first time you ask a girl out is always the worst. The next time it will get a little easier. And don't worry about rejection--expect it! This should be your strategy--If there's a girl you like, ask her out--even if you know she will turn you down. The more girls you ask, the more confident you'll become, and also-the more girls you ask, the greater the chace that one will accept! BTayoght (16): I guess so. It's just, since I am at the arcade so much, I think it 'd be weird to ask her out and then have her reject me totally and then be there with her knwoing I like her and stuff HesterPA (4): She won't be upset. I mean come on-it's flattering for a guy to ask you out. No, she won't be mad at you. In fact, if you ask her out, even if she turns you down, it'll plant a seed in her mind, and she'll look at you differently. And who knows? Maybe in the future she WILL go out with you. BTayoght (16): I dont know. All I have to say is I love her. I really love her. *OW* [[END074OW]] -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- ----- |