donkey kong jr.
January 5, 2004 6:36 PM Subscribe
donkey kong jr. [note: flash]
Was anyone else's first introduction to the wonderful world of information technology the hand-held video game?
I think mine was actually PONG, if you could call that "information technology." But I do remember taking daytrips into Manhattan, and dickering with jewish electronics store merchants for overpriced handheld LCD games like this one. I distinctly remember purchasing a game that had to do with a juggler, and that I paid $40 for it, circa 1977.
posted by crunchland at 8:09 PM on January 5, 2004
I think mine was actually PONG, if you could call that "information technology." But I do remember taking daytrips into Manhattan, and dickering with jewish electronics store merchants for overpriced handheld LCD games like this one. I distinctly remember purchasing a game that had to do with a juggler, and that I paid $40 for it, circa 1977.
posted by crunchland at 8:09 PM on January 5, 2004
My first IT experience was probably Asteroids in an arcade. I think it predated my LED digital watch. It even told the date!
posted by five fresh fish at 8:22 PM on January 5, 2004
posted by five fresh fish at 8:22 PM on January 5, 2004
I distinctly recall being better at this DK game than I am today. I also remember playing basketball and football games where the players were red dots on a black background.
I expect a lot of lofi retrotech reminiscing in the coming years. That atari joystick with a dozen or so games built in was just the beginning.
Nice post, as always, Crunchland.
posted by shoepal at 8:26 PM on January 5, 2004
I expect a lot of lofi retrotech reminiscing in the coming years. That atari joystick with a dozen or so games built in was just the beginning.
Nice post, as always, Crunchland.
posted by shoepal at 8:26 PM on January 5, 2004
handheld LCD games
In Australia, they were called Nintendo Game + Watch, IIRC. They were HUGE at my Primary School. The first owner (a Japanese student) used to charge 5c PER GAME if someone wanted to use it.
The ones I remember:
Parachute
Octopus
Snoopy Tennis
Fire
Manhole
Chef (I think this is the "juggler" one you were thinking of, crunchland)
Helmet
Donkey Kong Jr was sorta “2nd gen” Nintendo Game and Watch. Well, at least it was in Oz.
ps: I still own a near new Nintendo Game + Watch multiscreen game: Oil Panic. In its box last time I checked. Just thought I'd share that with you all.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:23 PM on January 5, 2004
The worst day of my mollycoddled, middle-class, utterly painless life (at least up until that point) was when I got Oil Panic for my 9th birthday when I'd asked for Donkey Kong (the orange one with the double screen).
Oil Panic sucked. No one was going to pay 5c to play it.
They'd sold out of Donkey Kong in the small Australian country town in which I grew up.
posted by bright cold day at 9:30 PM on January 5, 2004
Oil Panic sucked. No one was going to pay 5c to play it.
They'd sold out of Donkey Kong in the small Australian country town in which I grew up.
posted by bright cold day at 9:30 PM on January 5, 2004
Oil Panic sucked.
Bloody oath. That's why it's still "near new" and "in its box"!
No one was going to pay 5c to play it.
The Japanese kid had Chef and Fire, if I remember correctly. Possibly Manhole, too. Real old skool stuff.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:36 PM on January 5, 2004
Actually. Oil Panic was insanely difficult. That’s mainly why it sucked.
The orange Donkey Kong multiscreen had me drooling in awe when I first saw it.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 9:39 PM on January 5, 2004
Football2 was my first, also.
I remember the monotone beeps like it they're still going off, in my head.
I definitely remembering that I thought I had a strategy when I'd go UP, DOWN, DOWN and hit the left (or right) as much as possible.
That game was built well. I dropped it, dunked it, the dog chewed it, and still it worked last time I put batteries in it...
DK Jr. tortured me (best score, gotten after three months of play, never beaten in another year of trying.)
posted by Busithoth at 11:09 PM on January 5, 2004
I remember the monotone beeps like it they're still going off, in my head.
I definitely remembering that I thought I had a strategy when I'd go UP, DOWN, DOWN and hit the left (or right) as much as possible.
That game was built well. I dropped it, dunked it, the dog chewed it, and still it worked last time I put batteries in it...
DK Jr. tortured me (best score, gotten after three months of play, never beaten in another year of trying.)
posted by Busithoth at 11:09 PM on January 5, 2004
Why the heck was I able to open that flash file with Firebird? Normally it can't do that if it isn't embedded in a website.
posted by zerofoks at 11:55 PM on January 5, 2004
posted by zerofoks at 11:55 PM on January 5, 2004
One of my first introductions to the world of handheld games, the action packed Tomy Demon Driver. Just looking at this picture brings back memories of Saturday Morning Cartoon time during the boring cartoons or around noon when all the lame shows were on.
posted by jeremias at 6:30 AM on January 6, 2004
posted by jeremias at 6:30 AM on January 6, 2004
I also remember playing basketball and football games where the players were red dots on a black background. I expect a lot of lofi retrotech reminiscing in the coming years.
A year or so ago Mattel came out with an old school version of Football (they even put out a mini keychain version) and I see that Basketball is also available.
posted by gluechunk at 6:44 AM on January 6, 2004
A year or so ago Mattel came out with an old school version of Football (they even put out a mini keychain version) and I see that Basketball is also available.
posted by gluechunk at 6:44 AM on January 6, 2004
Oh, and Flagman was the Game & Watch-type game for me back in the day. I almost walked into at least three walls playing it.
posted by gluechunk at 6:49 AM on January 6, 2004
posted by gluechunk at 6:49 AM on January 6, 2004
For me, this game rivaled Asteroids and Real Sports Football for Atari 2600, Solitaire for Windows and Ballpop on my cellphone at work now for most incessantly repetitive game played for hours on end. You transcend the objective of the game and are just trying to see how fast you can reach the max score. It never gets old, like a subconscious, therapeutic drug.
posted by joeadk at 7:18 AM on January 6, 2004
posted by joeadk at 7:18 AM on January 6, 2004
SOS Titanic (self-link) turned me into the video game equivilant of a crack whore. Simple games for simple minds.
posted by tcaleb at 7:28 AM on January 6, 2004
posted by tcaleb at 7:28 AM on January 6, 2004
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Was anyone else's first introduction to the wonderful world of information technology the hand-held video game? My first ever "computer" was a hand-held game where you had to kill people who were climbing up ladders to get into your castle. Video game violence has a long history indeed.
posted by Jimbob at 7:02 PM on January 5, 2004