Could you contradict yourself any more?!?!
First you bash people for not making original games for video game systems. Then you talk about how we shouldn't complain about TI games because ppl put hard work into them. Are you forgeting about the people who put years (yes, years) into games that tured out to be clones. They, like assembly programers invested time, and also money into projects. We should respect them even more. But NO, you complain. "These games aren't new enough for me." Don't get me wrong, I appretiate what all the ASM (and basic for that matter) programers do for us. But, they have to expect us to ask for even more. If not, we would all still be playing Duckhunt on our TI82's.

Finnally! Some one who knows how to communicate to the TI-Community! All of the other articles are about "Don't play games!" "You are dumb for using a calculator in that way!" And here comes a good guy telling us some nice information that we _want_ to hear. Thanks for your article, Justin, I appreciated what it had to say.

~Dan C

All I have to say is I greatly appreciate the programmers who come out with these games. I hope that they will continue programming and the games will only get better and better. To me personally, the best Ti89 game available is Street Fighter II. If you want to talk about a work of Programming art then look at its graphics.

That game is so cool! The only time I ever see someone with another 89 is at school, so I wasn't able to try out the two-player until today when we had some free time. It was so fun!!! Linking, IMO, makes a game a TON better. Thanks to the author of it! BTW SMQ is awesome too!!

P.S. Anyone noticed in SF2T that in 1 player you sometimes get hit jumping at the top of the middle of the screen?

where would i go about learning asm for the 83
i have tried that help file thing but its too complicated
i have mastered pascal cuz we have to take it this year in comp class
is there any pascal friendly tutorial that would explain it easier plz help

Well, i agree with him. Mostly on the part that people get pissed that there are no NEW GAMES out ther or hassle the people making ports. If they want a better game or a PORT than due it YOUSELF! Also, i would like to go off topic at the moment. (Hope you all do not mind) Since i am the founder of NewMillennuim (not to make cash on the new millennium but hey it sounded kewl at the time i chose it) and i have been hackin away at ASM for a LONG while and barely understand it. So i was wondering if TI-Calc or a couple of other people that know ASM and some that don't, would like to start an ASM "School" for ALL ASM as of now i only have an 86. But i would be willing to set it up and or help run it on ticalc or on my site. So if you would like to do that Please E-Mail me and I will se what i can do. (i will most likely be emailing Ticalc in a few hours.)
-=={Zak Kochis}==-

the all caps is not because I am mad, but because I totally agree.

WOW! I SURE HOPE THE TI-COMMUNITY GOES BACK TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS IN THE COMPUTER WORLD. TODAY'S GAMES ARE TOO BLOODY AND I LIKE THE OLD GAMES. MAYBE I WILL HAVE TO GET A '386 FOR A SECOND COMPUTER SO I CAN PLAY COMMANDER KEEN?

hmmm... TI-Keen!! Actually I was thinking about doing just that (I even made sprites) but got caught up in other projects!

--Wingman

Oh yes, quite professional censoring my comments even though there were no effense commments, i wonder.....

i said: I can't believe you care this much...

Comments don't get wiped strictly for being "offensive." Our longtime guidelines have also asked for "constructive and relevant" posts, which is the more likely reason for having your comment disappear.

In fact, if I wasn't planning to reply to your comment here, it would have been deleted for not being "constructive and relevant." Please do not post wondering where your comments went in the future; email us (news@ticalc.org) instead. Thanks,

Chris

I'd just like to say that the discussion on this article basically represents why I wanted our site to have this news system in the first place. People are agreeing or disagreeing in a reasonable manner, actually backing up their opinions instead of resorting to personal attacks.

If every article got the same level of response as this, I don't think there would be much to complain about. My thanks to those of you who have engaged yourselves above; it's a very welcome change from constant complaints and bickering.

Chris

I so agree with the article.

I was never into computer games because they're ALL the same. Crappy quality games running on Voodoo3 with the same genre for every game, and not much creativity. Also, people spend TOO much time on the internet competing against each other and wasting brain power instead of actually ENJOYING the game play.

When I first tried SNES Donkey Kong Country, I was amazed the animation. Now THAT's originality. And with the SNES, we have fun small games like Aerobiz (Airline Simulation) to Uno.

TI-89 games are great because of high-quality pre-programmed libraries, and thanks to the strong CPU. They have Pokemon, Dr Mario, Super Mario Quest, Bomberman, Zelda, Connect 4, Tower of Hanoi, Mega Car Racing (forgot name), grayscaled-Tetris, PacMan...

Cloning is ok provided that same theme doesn't exist already. It's boring to have a Mario Kart and a Donkey Kong Kart. Cloning, when great, could reach near-game-machine quality, if not better. 89's Tetris rivals that of the GB's. In addition, programmers could really take advantage of the 10 MHz 68k over the 4 MHz Z80 of the original GameBoy.

THAT'S variety. The TI community is still not too corrupted, but it's time that we should start to be aware of the potential danger of that. Can't we see better games for Windows and Mac??

89 games aren't great because of libraries, they're only a few bytes shorter (plus you need to have the libraries on the calc, so it all works to about the same in the end)

that's funny... i remember there being dozens of pong clones too. the "good old daye" never existed. you've just washed the bad memories away. if you want innovation... the games by DMA Design have always been fresh. hmmm... and it also has nothing to do with what you had to say about the TI community. you spend the first half of the article talking about how horrible the gaming industry is, and the second half saying how horrible the people who criticize TI games are. next time you want to write an article, try to find a coherent theme and write around that.

I wrote the article pretty quickly and didn't take much time for revision which is my mistake.

Basically I saw that there were 100+ unrelated comments posted in the POTM news post. That set me off and so I wrote my article, stared at it for a few moments, and then said "Oh, what the hey?" and submitted it to ticalc.

I actually have a bigger bone to pick with the video game industry, which is probably why I take up the first half of the article with it. I left it in there though because it illustrates a good example of something starting out good and then going bad. I guess I could have picked a topic that related more to the TI community but I figured this would get the point across enough.

Something good ---> something bad.

That was my point. Anyway I appreciate your advice. It would have came out better if I heeded such words.

-Justin Karneges [Infiniti]

I must say there is at least one thing positive about your article : we've got 76 comments so far, and almost all of them are constructives answers as well as not off-topic. This is what I've been waiting for, and since the POTM incident, I didn't think it would be possible again to see that. It seems like someone just had to talk about the community problems to see them solved. Now that everybody has come back on the good way, I hope that everybody will stay in.

Its makes me laugh my ass off to think that some people are so caught up in calculator gaming that they believe that they are a part of some kind of underground elite society that has some sort of profound effect on the world.

Truth is, it won't matter one iota weather or not a single 'unique' game is ever created for a calculator again. The world will still turn regardless, and the people who dedicate their whole hearts to the 'scene' will be left with a overwhelming feeling of emptiness when they discover that for the most part, nobody really gives a damn anyway.

J. Howard

PRAISE JESUS, HE HAS SPOKEN AND HIS 'sermon' is fairly _off_.

The world turns regardless of what happens. What you have said likens you to the people who say, "Oh what the hell, it's only fifty thousand soldiers, and the world won't come to and end if they die."

It may only be a calculator, but you could say the same for a PC, or civilization itself. There are people who don't give a damn about that too, and the world still turns. Funny how people make a living, and many programmers existing and ekeing out a comfortable existence started out creating these 'unique' games that led to their comfortable lives. You could say that most people don't give a damn about the whole 'scene', but it would be a lie. The scene matters, especially in a civilization that depends on programmers to function at all. We would be left crippled and dying without the people who belong to this 'scene' and will eventually be the things that allow us to carry on.

The whole 'scene' is a lot more than 'calculator gaming', it is preparation for a future, the same as teaching yourself to become a musician. Everyone has to haev something to do as a profession, this just happens to be theirs. The whole music 'scene' could just go away and the world would keep turning, even though people give a damn. It doesn't because someone always gives a damn.

Sorry about the header and the mild profanity, i was just making a point.

I also realize that I rambled and apologize, most people don't revise their posts.

Jon

Seemz lik eue lerned tu spel!

Jesus, may I ask just what the hell you even read articles on this site for? 'The world will still turn' even if mankind is wiped out completely, so... what is your point? You think this is all silly and now we should just stop, praise Jesus for speaking! Personally, I think that most of these programs are great, at least in intent. Programming beyond Basic is, at least for now, above my head, and I respect anyone who at least attempts to learn to program.
Whether_you_give a damn or not is your own business, don't try to sell us on the idea that_no_one_gives a damn.
And if you keep writing articles like this one, you'll never be accepted into the 'underground elite society'. :)

Well, I think that you have a good point, but there's a few things that you have to remember. The naysayers are always more vocal than those who are happy, and probably always will be. Negative feedback is more common than the positive kind in any situation just because those people who give negative feedback generally ignorant of the work that it takes to create a program.
About the video games - there are only so many genres of games to be had. Action/Adventure games are always going to have similar elements, and a RPG is going to be similar to any other RPG that you play. And I can tell you exactly why the NES had so many innovative games - it was so much different than the previous systems that the programmers had so many different paths to pursue in the way of game ideas, and games that were simply not possible before were made feasible. Real innovation comes about in the game systems and the engines. Still, there are many games that are not affected with the clone syndrome. As you said, Metal Gear Solid is a good example, but how about "Parappa the Rapper" or "Mario Party"? True innovation is difficult to achieve, and most of the games that are innovative are certainly memorable. Note the iMac - it is a true revolution in computing and is sure memorable.
Well, I'm sorry if I sounded really harsh, I don't mean to - I agree with much you are saying. Thanks for your time...