The Rev. Rob Times - Science and Technology
Home Videogame Consoles Will Never Die
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Monday, 29 April 2013 22:27
The end of the current generation is nearing. It’s been the longest generation in memory. They call it the seventh generation, and it began in 2005. It’s been eight years. During this time the sleek looking Xbox 360 and PS3 games are looking rather aged when compared to their PC counterparts. “The end is neigh for consoles,” many are beginning to say. PCs are evolving too fast, they’re too powerful. The next generation of game consoles will be the last.
It began on oscilloscopes and in workshops.
It became the side product of television
and electronics
giants. It roared into life with names like Atari and Bushnell, and it
withered in America
and was reborn by Japan,
and the battle of Sega
and Nintendo raged, and even bigger giants have since come and lay claim to territories.
Many have fallen.
Many more will come. Home game
consoles, though, will not ever die.
This isn’t the first time this particular claim has
been made. It’s been made since the very beginning of the home gaming industry.
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Advice Ninjas – Social Media Consulting, Web Development, and Graphic Design
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Saturday, 09 February 2013 00:32
In the modern business world,
social media is the go to method of connecting with consumers. The problem is
that to do it right it requires a lot of elements that not every business owner
and entrepreneur has; in-depth knowledge of the industry, of multiple
platforms, how to get the most return on investment, and, of course time.
These days, in addition to the
big names like Facebook and Twitter, there are hundreds of social media
platforms that cater to all kinds of interests, such as fitness, music, and
technology. Navigating them all and knowing how to get the most out of them is
daunting. That’s where companies like Advice
Ninjas come in.
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SEGA’s 32X: A True History
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Friday, 11 January 2013 19:52
There’s an interesting phenomenon on the internet. If an event took place before the internet was widespread, then the online world sometimes builds up a legend, which is then accepted as history, but in reality is skewed.
SEGA’s 32X console suffers from this peculiar happening. It’s
commonly thought that the 32-bit add-on console was a failure from the start,
had no original software, sold poorly, and was canned as a result, and led to
consumers swearing off SEGA, and maybe a few death threats. I don’t know. I’ve
even been told that these machines are “rare,” if you can believe that.
This is the true story of the SEGA Genesis 32X.
Red vs. Blue - Free Homebrew for Magnavox Odyssey to Celebrate 40 Years of Home Video Game Consoles
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Thursday, 19 July 2012 19:36
Many people may not know this, but this year marks the 40th anniversary of home video game consoles. In 1972 Magnavox had partnered with Sanders Associates and Ralph Baer who had invented the first video game console in 1966. The prototype he called the “brown box.” Several companies passed on the idea of playing electronic games on TV sets, including RCA who would later go on to release the worst video game console ever. Baer, now age 90, won the National Medal of Technology for his many achievements, which was presented to him by President George W. Bush in 2006. All prototypes now reside in the Smithsonian.
It took Magnavox to get video games in households. They were later followed by Fairchild, Atari, Coleco, and others. Now home gaming is a part of normal everyday life.
Add a commentMentis Cohorts – A Board Game and Video Game All-In-One for Magnavox Odyssey
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Monday, 16 July 2012 23:21
Mentis Cohorts is a game that has I have been throwing around since I was 10 or 11 years old.
It started as a board game I made in sixth grade. The game
on its own isn’t really complex enough to stand alone as a sophisticated strategy
game, however. After releasing Odball
for Odyssey I wanted to do another game. I figured this was the perfect opportunity
to do something with that board game I made as a kid.
Mentis Cohorts was officially released on July 16th, 2012. It’s the second official Odyssey homebrew ever released.
The game consists of several games in one. Mentis, Mentis Strike, Ego Mentis,
and Ego Mentis Siege. Unlike Odball which used a brand new game card,
the previously never produced Game card 11, Cohorts
uses Game Card 5, which was included in all Odyssey packages.
Wepolls.com – A Social Poling Network With Something For Everyone
Written by Jeff Lopez Thursday, 13 October 2011 21:06
What is Wepolls.com? It's a social network centeralized around one simple concept: polling. I guess that explains the name "we + polls."
Stumbling across Wepolls’ Spartan homepage doesn’t reveal
the depth beneath the surface. It’s an elegantly simple list of trending polls
similar to the presentation of Reddit or Digg, where the most popular items
float to the surface. But unlike those social sites where videos, articles, and
pictures are shared, Wepolls users ask a question to find out what people
think.
Sonic Generations Preview: A Hedgehog’s Redemption
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Sunday, 12 June 2011 00:50
Sonic is one of the most widely recognized gaming icons in history, sandwiched between Mario and Pacman in terms of fame and notoriety. Over the past decade, however, he’s become something of a joke. No matter how hard they tried, reboot after reboot, Sega couldn’t make a good Sonic game. Even 2010’s Sonic the Hedgehog 4, which saw the long awaited return of the series to its 2D roots, was an incoherent mess.
Going into E3 2011 I had no faith that Sonic Generations could be good; not given Sega’s recent track record of ruining the reputation of their iconic mascot. However, as a lifelong Sonic fan, I was pleasantly surprised by what they’ve accomplished.
POLL: Are you looking forward to Sonic Generations?
Add a commentProduct Review: CraigRep.com – A Free Reputation System for craigslist
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Monday, 14 March 2011 00:38
Launched in 1995 and continually expanding, craigslist has become the premier web destination for buying, selling, and giving away items locally, particularly large items, surpassing even eBay.
However, even though it has been widespread for a decade, it still feels somewhat shading. That’s because what craigslist lacks is a reputation system that is found on giants like Amazon.com. Now CraigRep.com (cregrep) aims to change all of that.
Add a commentTen Great Dreamcast Games That Most People Never Played
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Thursday, 09 September 2010 04:51
To celebrate the closing of the tenth year of Dreamcast gaming in the United States, The Rev. Rob Times proudly presents a synopsis of ten great Dreamcast games that most people never played. They’re not the ten best, but far from the ten worst. The thing they all have in common is style; the originality and quirkiness that defined Dreamcast. That, and none of them were big sellers.
RCA Studio II: The 'Real' Worst Video Game Console Ever
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 01 September 2010 21:23
It’s January 1977. RCA had watched as rival TV manufacture Magnavox successfully released the world's first video game console, Odyssey, five years earlier. RCA executives also saw numerous "pong" systems that came to the market and were met with success and acclaim in the years in between, most notably Atari’s Pong in 1975.
This was particularly upsetting to some folks at RCA because they had turned away the inventor of the home videogame console, Ralph Baer, who had approached RCA with his idea before doing business with Magnavox.
In an effort to enter into a new and lucrative market, RCA decided to counter the popular dedicated consoles that dominated the marketplace by releasing a system that is programmable. The idea was revolutionary. Game programs could be placed on cartridges and sold separately from the console. Cartridges could be sold cheap, and consumers would only need to buy one just one machine to have a platform that could potentially play an unlimited number of games.
An excellent idea, but unfortunately, despite an attempt rush the Studio II to retail shelves, Fairchild, a maker of semiconductors and camera parts, beat RCA to the punch in 1976 by releasing their vastly more powerful Video Entertainment System (VES), which later became known as Channel F.
Upon its release, the Studio II was immediately rendered obsolete. The controllers were integrated into the console; no cords, no wires. The sound came from a speaker on the unit, not from the TV. The color was only in black and white. The Channel F had almost none of these shortcomings.
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Sega Activator: Full Body Motion Controller
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Tuesday, 17 August 2010 09:07
With the success of the Nintendo Wii and the impending launch of the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect, motion control is becoming all the rage, a fad, if you will. And everyone wants to jump on board.
In 1993 Sega had a similar idea. They invited gamers to “Jump Into the Action” with their new and amazing peripheral: Activator.
Add a commentSonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I Preview – Half the Hedgehog He Used to Be
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 11 August 2010 08:37
The following preview is based on gameplay at E3 2010 and may not accurately represent previous or future builds of the game.
Sega is a developer that I'll always have affection for, although it may be for purely nostalgic reasons these days. Genesis was the first game console that was bought just for me as a kid, (I had a hand-me-down Atari 2600 from my dad, and my family could never afford the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System), and with it came Sonic the Hedgehog. I was instantly hooked, and thus began my lifelong love for the fast blue blur.
‘Odball’ for Magnavox Odyssey – Official Page
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 04 August 2010 17:09
Odball is the world’s first homebrew videogame for the world’s first videogame system. Officially released on December 5th, 2009, it ended the longest drought in videogame history: 36 years. No Odyssey games had be released since 1973.
Pac-Man Battle Royale: Hands-on Review
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 04 August 2010 15:54
I love Pac-Man... and Ms. Pac-Man for that matter. Who doesn't, right? So, I was understandably excited to learn that Namco Bandai has been hard at work on a new Pac-Man game. Not another clunky platformer, or downloadable content, but a real game.
Pac-Man Battle Royale is an old-school arcade tabletop, the kind mostly found in pizza joints these days. The cabinet itself is a beautifully styled and appropriately retro. Up to four players can stand comfortable around its flat surface where they can rest their beers as they shout at each other between bouts. It adds up to an immersive social experience in a real world setting. What a concept.
Discovering the World Through a Sega Saturn NetLink
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 04 August 2010 02:19
In 1996 computers were still expensive and not affordable for every family. New technologies, such as WebTV, were emerging to bring the Internet into the living room even for those without a PC or Mac. One such device was the NetLink.
NetLink was a 28.8kbps dial-up modem sold by Sega for its struggling Sega Saturn videogame console. The initial retail price was $199.99; quite high for a game peripheral, but inexpensive for an Internet device.
This marked the beginning of a broad vision, a world where gamers can sit in their living room and play a game against an opponent half way across the country, or around the world, even. Sega teamed up with a company called Catapult, which years before had limited success in online gaming with their XBAND modem.
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Retro Game Review: Cybermorph (Atari Jaguar)
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 23 January 2008 00:00
Cybermorph. The game that launched the Jaguar is perhaps the most memorable when Atari’s final console comes to mind. It embodied the hopes of a once powerful video game company that was desperately trying to claw its way back to the top of the industry. Unfortunately, Cybermorph fell somewhat short, and so did Jaguar when you do the math.
Add a commentWhere are they now? Nolan Bushnell's Axlon
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Thursday, 17 January 2008 16:23
Axlon was a game developer, amongst other things, that was responsible from some of the last, and best games released for the Atari 2600. The little known company was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, and designed a never-released console to compete head to head with Sega and Nintendo at the dawn of the 16-bit generation. Who was this interesting little company, and what happened to them?
Add a commentKenji Eno's WARP - Where are they now?
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Sunday, 13 January 2008 18:02
Astronomy Cast A Podcast Explaining the Universe with Facts
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Thursday, 20 December 2007 03:17
Astronomy Cast (www.astronomycast.com) sends its listeners on a facts-based journey through the universe every week. Sit at your computer as you explore the rings of Saturn. Lay comfortably in bed as your dive feet first into a supermassive black hole, and even learn what one is!
Beginning in September 2006, its first episode dealt with the confusion regarding the IAU’s new definition of what a planet is, leading to Pluto’s demotion. This website’s first science article dealt with the same issue. It’s silly, but I feel a connection there. Since its induction, the show has been produced, without fail, every Monday. At the time of this writing there have been 68 episodes. The topics vary from planets in our solar system to string theory, (my favorite and yours).
Add a commentA Complete History of Online Console Gaming in the United States
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Wednesday, 05 December 2007 00:00
The timeline, history and facts of online console gaming goes back farther than most people realize, all of the way to the Atari 2600, over a quarter of a century ago in 1982. When online console gaming is mentioned today, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are conjured up in the mind, but they have their roots in the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. Explore the history and the people that made modern online videogame consoles possible.
Add a commentMummified Dinosaur Discovery Proves a Young Earth; Dinos and Humans Co-Existed, say Christians
Written by Rev. Robert A. Vinciguerra Tuesday, 04 December 2007 17:46
The last time a dinosaur fossil was discovered that contained “soft tissue” young Earth creationists jumped up and down with joy, claiming that it was proof that not only is planet Earth and the entire universe only 6000 years old, but that 
dinosaurs actually co-existed with human beings. The tissue was found inside of leg bone of a Tyrannosaurus rexm in 2005.
If the thought of an 8 ton T-rex playing with the kids in the back yard isn’t enough to produce a good belly laugh, then I don’t know what is!
Add a commentMore Articles...
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- Game Review: Hockey for Channel F - The Pong permutation to write home about
- Fairchild Channel F Video Entertainment System: The first modern game console
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