Welcome, my friends, to
something new and hopefully entertaining; if not for you, at least for me.
Actually, it is just a ruse to play games, while making my wife believe I
am doing something constructive...
My name is Jon, and I am a
vidiot. "What is a vidiot?" I hear echoing in the minds of thousands,
if not millions (hey, I can dream, can't I?). A vidiot is a person that
was raised playing video games. It all started when I was but a lad;
instead of “Chutes and Ladders” or a replay of “Candy Land”, Santa brought us
something new… PONG! Oh my gosh!
Pong shortly changed to the
Atari 2600. It was at this time that my
dad brought home an interesting contraption, it was a magnifier, projector
thingy for our brand new color television.
We laid our TV on its back, placed this thingy on the TV screen and
projected the image on a larger silver screen.
Suddenly “Adventure”, “Defender” and “Pitfall!” were larger than
life! Okay, the resolution was terrible
and we had to cover the windows with blankets so the sun wouldn’t drown out the
image… but my siblings and I were on cloud nine! Countless hours of my youth were spent
slaying Centipedes, battling Space Invaders and blasting Asteroids.
As I got older, and started
becoming more mobile and self-sufficient, I realized that 8-bit just wasn’t
enough. Throughout my teen years I
dropped countless tokens at the local Detour (video arcade). Every spare minute and every spare quarter
was spent pumping the slots and pounding the buttons of the likes of “Galaga”,
“Tempest” and “Missile Command”. From 17
to 26 (minus one or two years) I worked at a Family Fun Center with the largest
video arcade in the San Diego area… the Video Mecca if you will. It was during this time that I entered a new
age of vidiotism.
In 1987, at the age of 23,
I purchased my first personal computer, the Commodore Amiga 2000. What a technological masterpiece! 1MB RAM, a 12-bit color palette (that’s 4096
colors!), and not one… but two, yes, TWO! 3.5 floppy disc drives. That baby set me back a cool $2000.00, but
was worth every penny! I have owned
numerous computers through the years, but no other system lasted as long as my
A2000. Those floppy drives ground away
at my favorite games for over a decade.
“Dungeon Master”, “Populous” and those adorable “Lemmings” gave me
countless hours of enjoyment. Even now,
I wish I had held on to that enduring bit of machinery. I think we finally got rid of it in 2004 after
it had sat in a box in our garage for four years. What a travesty…
Through the years I have
played countless MUDs, MMORPGs, FPS’, and other acronyms. There have been bad, good and great in the
mix. The graphics and play are now
reaching the realm of realism and I still find myself caught up in them, much
to the chagrin of my wife. Handheld
devices are now all the rage and the apps that can be found are so far beyond
what my first computers were capable of handling. I love playing all the offerings that are
available. I have even been known to
spend a buck or two on some of the more creative offerings. And that brings us to today, and the purpose
of this undertaking…
A short while ago I purchased “The Bard’s
Tale” app by inXile entertainment. The
app is the largest I have loaded to date, taking over 3G of space on my Android
device. This is, however, space well
spent. The reason for the purchase
wasn’t for the actual “Bard’s Tale” (which judging the bit I have perused will
be excellent as well), but for the “Original Bard’s Tale Trilogy” that is
included in the app. “The Bard’s Tale
I: Tales of the Unknown”, “The Bard’s
Tale II: The Destiny Knight” and “The Bard’s Tale III: Thief of Fate” defined
gaming for me in the 80’s. I remember
being up until the wee hours of the morning with graph paper and pencil, mapping
and questing, trying to figure out that last challenge before calling it a
night. I admit it… I am a vidiot!
I
must take up the quest again! And I
invite you to join me… I plan to blog my
adventures in Skara Brae and the surrounding environs. I will post my findings, and share my
knowledge, and I welcome any who wish to adventure with me! So ready your weapon, gird up your loins and
let us sally forth to riches and glory!
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