26 replies to this topic

[Wester]

To have a game like Typing of the Dead. Where you use an alphabet overlay on the touchpad controller to hit targets or enemies.

Possible?

Or no?

[djmips]

Possible.

good idea.

Typing of the Dead was extremely fun in two player mode.

Would be the basis for a good two player game on the 2600 or Colecovision.

[ZylonBane]

It's sad, really (and annoying), that people rave on and on about Typing of the Dead as if it were the only typing videogame ever.

When clearly, it is not.

Edited by ZylonBane, Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:17 AM.

[mojofltr]

I have one called TyperShark on my PC where you ocean dive and shoot sharks and other man-eating fish with words on their bellies. It's pretty fun, but your hands start to hurt after awhile.

@Wester: It's definitely possible. You might want to take a look at Holey Moley

It might be interesting to hack Holey Moley into a game where you kill Zombies. And get docked when you kill innocent victims. I don't know that Bob Polaro would be happy about any sort of release though.

Edited by mojofltr, Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:10 PM.

[Wester]

ZylonBane, on Tue Feb 21, 2006 11:14 AM, said:

It's sad, really (and annoying), that people rave on and on about Typing of the Dead as if it were the only typing videogame ever.

When clearly, it is not.

Relax, I wasn't raving about it only using it as an example. It is usually a good idea, if you are using something as an example, that it be something that most people have heard of.

[ZylonBane]

Nonetheless...

The entire point of the "typing" subgenre of games is, unsurprisingly, to test your TYPING skills. Thus it would be utterly pointless to create such a game on a system that didn't have a keyboard available. Anything less than that is glorified whack-a-mole (as referenced above, via Holey Moley).

So as far as consoles go... that pretty much leaves the Odyssey 2.

[Wester]

I suppose the O2 would be the better choice for it, I figured it would just be interesting to do on the Atari, especially since the touchpads aren't used for many games. The O2 never crossed my mind because I don't have one yet. Also TYPING games, besides testing your typing skills, are meant to be fun. As it could be on the Atari as well.

[Shawn Sr.]

Typing Of The Dead 7800? That would be cool as hell seeing as the keyb for the 78 is comming out soon. Even Alien Brigadish graphics would be neat but not aliens, ZOMBIES!!

[ZylonBane]

Wester, on Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:06 PM, said:

Also TYPING games, besides testing your typing skills, are meant to be fun. As it could be on the Atari as well.

Yes. IF YOU HAD A KEYBOARD.

Without a keyboard it's not a typing game, it's a button-pushing game.

"Hey kids, let's play Button-Pushing of the Dead!"

"Yay!"

[Wester]

Overlays

[ZylonBane]

Overlays! Squawk! Overlays!

Look, a sheet of plastic isn't going to magically transform 12 buttons into 40+ keys.

[Wester]

Look at your phone touchpad. It's not magic smartass. Whay do you have such a problem with this idea? All you had to do was say you didn't like the idea and let it go.

[NovaXpress]

So it would be practice for typing on a phone? Handy for those who call a lot of late night infomercials I suppose.

How about Ten-Key Of The Dead?

[ZylonBane]

Wester seems hung up on the idea of typing, rather than the physical actuality of it.

In which case he should be satisfied by just taking a Sharpie and writing "A-Z" on a joystick button.

[Big Player]

I'm an accountant and I wouldn't want to see a Ten Key game.

Though I would kick ass at it.

[sku_u]

ZylonBane, on Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:54 PM, said:

Nonetheless...

The entire point of the "typing" subgenre of games is, unsurprisingly, to test your TYPING skills. Thus it would be utterly pointless to create such a game on a system that didn't have a keyboard available. Anything less than that is glorified whack-a-mole (as referenced above, via Holey Moley).

So as far as consoles go... that pretty much leaves the Odyssey 2.

Um, no:

Atari 2600:

http://www.atarihq.c...e/compmate.html

Atari 7800:

http://www.atariage....showtopic=80490

Colecovision:

http://www.coleconat...com/051105.html

I physically own the 2600 keyboard and it can be had for around $75-100. There are a few South American interpretations of it as well, so your statement that the 2600 didn't have a keyboard available for it is completely wrong.

@Wester--A typing game could potentially be a good idea for the 7800 depending on what Curt's keyboard attachment will be capable of when he is finished with it. I'm not sure how well a typing game would translate to the 2600, however.

[Allan]

I think one of the games Curt has for the 7800 keyboard is a typing game.

Allan

[brpocock]

Wester, on Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:06 PM, said:

I suppose the O2 would be the better choice for it, I figured it would just be interesting to do on the Atari, especially since the touchpads aren't used for many games.  The O2 never crossed my mind because I don't have one yet. Also TYPING games, besides testing your typing skills, are meant to be fun. As it could be on the Atari as well.

10-key entry is used all sorts of places. I carry around a 10-key keypad for my laptop because of how often I want to do so (and a 12" iBook has a kinda lame one).

It's still one of the basic clerical skills.

[ZylonBane]

sku_u, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:05 PM, said:

I physically own the 2600 keyboard and it can be had for around $75-100.  There are a few South American interpretations of it as well, so your statement that the 2600 didn't have a keyboard available for it is completely wrong.

You know perfectly well that all those devices are rare/unpopular/expensive/useless/all of the above (and you forgot to mention the Intellivision and Astrocade keyboard attachments). I have no interest in phrasing my posts in molecularly precise legalize simply to thwart those desperately attempting to catch me out in some factual error.

Yes, I implied all those non-Odyssey 2 systems don't have keyboards available, and for all practical purposes, this is true (well okay, there's the XEGS too -- if you consider that a console and not just a repackaged 65XE. But then the XE already has its own typing games).

Odyssey 2 installed base keyboard availablity: 100%
All other systems installed base keyboard availabilty: so low as to be insignificant

[sku_u]

ZylonBane, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:39 PM, said:

sku_u, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:05 PM, said:

I physically own the 2600 keyboard and it can be had for around $75-100.  There are a few South American interpretations of it as well, so your statement that the 2600 didn't have a keyboard available for it is completely wrong.

You know perfectly well that all those devices are rare/unpopular/expensive/useless/all of the above (and you forgot to mention the Intellivision and Astrocade keyboard attachments). I have no interest in phrasing my posts in molecularly precise legalize simply to thwart those desperately attempting to catch me out in some factual error.

Yes, I implied all those non-Odyssey 2 systems don't have keyboards available, and for all practical purposes, this is true (well okay, there's the XEGS too -- if you consider that a console and not just a repackaged 65XE. But then the XE already has its own typing games).

Odyssey 2 installed base keyboard availablity: 100%
All other systems installed base keyboard availabilty: so low as to be insignificant

In other words, you are wrong and rather than admit it, you choose to skate around the issue. You stated that there is no keyboard attachment for the Atari 2600 which is 100% wrong. The keyboard is not hard to come by if you are patient. There is also the 7800 keyboard which is being released by Curt. In fact, many systems from that generation had keyboard attachments. You mention the Astrocade attachement in the useless category? Maybe you haven't seen the 100s of applications created for it in the Astrocade community. You are quick to point out the errors of others and haven't actually contributed anything positive here but yet you are also incapable of admitting that you were wrong. Unbelievable.

Maybe you should shut your big mouth for a change, especially when you have no idea what you are talking about.

[vdub_bobby]

Ummm...the tone is getting a little harsh here. Can we please leave the nastiness in the P&R, 7800, and Jag forums, where it belongs?

[ZylonBane]

I would appreciate a link to the hundreds of applications that were created using an Astrocade keyboard. Presumably sku_u is referring to the Blue RAM or Viper keyboards, and not the Z-GRASS keyboard (which was apparently never released). Of course he can't be thinking of the hundreds of Astrocade BASIC programs, because those were programmed using the keypad built into the console.

But then, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[NovaXpress]

Just make sure that you don't link to any wikipedia articles this time, you inhuman swine.

[supercat]

sku_u, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:22 PM, said:

In other words, you are wrong and rather than admit it, you choose to skate around the issue.  You stated that there is no keyboard attachment for the Atari 2600 which is 100% wrong.

Zylon's original remark was "The entire point of the "typing" subgenre of games is, unsurprisingly, to test your TYPING skills. Thus it would be utterly pointless to create such a game on a system that didn't have a keyboard available." His point stands. There is at present no alphanumeric keyboard whose market penetration would justify trying to write and sell software for it unless the software was being written to try to sell the keyboards. The fact that a few dozen people have assorted keyboards for the 2600 does not change that fact.

There are enough keypad controllers and SuperChargers that anyone if someone creates a 'killer ap' for one of those things, anyone who wants to use it will be able to get one. There aren't enough keyboards. Even if someone write a wonderful game for the Compumate and everyone wanted to play it, only a few dozen people would be able to. There aren't a lot of them in people's closets waiting to be found and eBayed as there are with the other items I mentioned.

[batari]

supercat, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:30 PM, said:

sku_u, on Thu Feb 23, 2006 2:22 PM, said:

In other words, you are wrong and rather than admit it, you choose to skate around the issue.  You stated that there is no keyboard attachment for the Atari 2600 which is 100% wrong.

Zylon's original remark was "The entire point of the "typing" subgenre of games is, unsurprisingly, to test your TYPING skills. Thus it would be utterly pointless to create such a game on a system that didn't have a keyboard available." His point stands. There is at present no alphanumeric keyboard whose market penetration would justify trying to write and sell software for it unless the software was being written to try to sell the keyboards. The fact that a few dozen people have assorted keyboards for the 2600 does not change that fact.

There are enough keypad controllers and SuperChargers that anyone if someone creates a 'killer ap' for one of those things, anyone who wants to use it will be able to get one. There aren't enough keyboards. Even if someone write a wonderful game for the Compumate and everyone wanted to play it, only a few dozen people would be able to. There aren't a lot of them in people's closets waiting to be found and eBayed as there are with the other items I mentioned.

Good to hear I'm not alone in thinking that some of ZB's opinions are worthwhile. Sometimes people here are just too nice and are hesitant to express a little dissent. Though ZB's brutal honesty is sometimes a bit too brutal...