Forums > Submission Feedback > Felix_Arabia's Video Life review

That was pretty genius. A great approach to an obscure game. Atari titles are really fun to review, because they are almost all of them mystically bad. Combined here with a mystical price tag it makes for an entertaining read.

I've never really taken the time (admitedly a small amount) required to download and instal ROMS so the old Atari titles elude my critique. Well, for the most part. I actually had a friend who owned an Atari, and the only games I ever played on it were the fabled Pac Man (with terrible controls), ET (I know, I know... he had a great collection), and Star Wars Tie Fighter (surprisingly good, actually). He also had some obscure ninja game, but I don't remember ever playing it.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Thanks for the kind words. I think some people can make a strong argument that virtually all pre-NES games are so overly primitive that they're not really worth playing. After playing a plethora of Atari 2600 titles, some for the first time and others after more than a decade, I think even I would have difficulty saying I really enjoyed most of the titles I encountered. Some were good (Adventure, Frogs 'N Flies). Most were not (too many to list). Video Life fits more into that second category, but it's nevertheless important. All games contain some element that's worth writing about since we really can't understand today's technology without first having learned about the old stuff from ages ago. I'm glad you found this review entertaining.

I don't have to boost my review resume because I have a real resume.

Haha. Finally got around to reading this; sorry it took so long.

Yeah, this was pretty entertaining. For a game that doesn't have a lot to talk about, you find something to talk about, something that's surprisingly interesting. I loved that "Or just sit there!" line in the intro, too; that was amusing. I also liked how you talked about this game's rarity, though I think something like that wouldn't work everywhere... I think that worked so well because this is a really old (lame-sounding) game whose ridiculous price can only be explained through its rarity.

But I agree, anyway, that it's important to see how the new came out of the old. That's always interesting, and is probably why I like history so much.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Felix

In my opinion, what you said might explain why I've had so much fun in recent times writing about my old Atari 2600 games. They were the building blocks towards the games we play today....primitive and crude, but with their own story. And it's very educational for me to look back on that day with a modern perspective. I never knew about the '83 video game crash back then.....I just knew I was more likely to find games in the bargain bin at dollar stores than in K-Mart, Ames, etc. I've honestly learned more about the era in which I started playing video games from my recent 2600 reviewing than I knew about it beforehand.

And it's fun to write about, because from a modern perspective, so much of what got released then, even considering the technology of the time, was so bizarrely ludicrous that it's almost surreal to put into words. I mean, when you think about today's games, how can you explain Airlock or Custer's Revenge or any number of other titles? The worst title imaginable in this era looks like the second coming compared to those games.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle