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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 4</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
                in loonygames:</font></b></font></p>

<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1">New!!</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> The Archives have been cleaned up, fead links fixed, and printable versions restored! Also, don't miss the new comments <a href="../../index.html">on the front page</a>!</font></p>
              
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../2.15/feat/index.html" target="">Livin' 
  With The Sims</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: 
  theAntiELVIS explores the wild and wacky world that is Will Wright's <b>The Sims</b>, 
  asking the inevitable quesiton, &quot;is <b>The Sims</b> the first step toward a virtual 
  life where everyone is Swedish?&quot;</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../2.15/pixel/index.html" target="">Pixel 
  Obscura</a></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">: Josh 
  Vasquez on <b>Omikron: The Nomad Soul</b>.</font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../rl/index.html" target="">Real 
  Life</a></font>: <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <font size="-1">Check 
  out our newest comic strip, Real Life! Updated daily!</font></font></p>
<P><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../uf.1" target="">User 
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              <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../1.14/feat">NT 
                + Gaming = ???</a>: Jeff Solomon's investigation of Windows NT.</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"></font> 
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               <p align="CENTER"><img src="../images/thumbs/bnl.jpg" width="129" height="107" align="MIDDLE"></p><p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><a href="../1.13/feat/index.html">Blue & Levelord Get Drunk</a>: Truly the definitive interview with Levelord, Stephen "Blue" Heaslip and the Ritual level designer get drunk and talk about the gaming industry.</font></p>

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        <p align="LEFT"><img src="../images/cover1.4_sml.jpg" width="272" height="248" align="right" hspace="4"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"> 
          Play Where You Like!</font></p>
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<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.15/">Jump to an Archived Issue!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.15/">2.15: Livin' With The Sims</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.14/">2.14: To the Extreme</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.13/">2.13: Not Just a Passing Wind</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.12/">2.12: It's Not Easy Being Green</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.11/">2.11: Inside Origin Systems</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.10/">2.10: Game Networking 101</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.9/">2.9: Tell me a Story</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.8/">2.8: Anatomy of a Video Game</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.7/">2.7: 1999 loonygames Awards</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.6/">2.6: PC Fight Club</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.5/">2.5: Paul Steed '99</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.4/">2.4: Sounds From All Over</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.3/">2.3: Kicking Back with a Bear</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.2/">2.2: End of the Line</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.1/">2.1: American McGee's Alice</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.41/">----- Volume 1 -----</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.41/">1.41: Put a Little Love...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.40/">1.40: Game Programming...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.39/">1.39: More loonygames @ E3!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.38/">1.38: loonygames at E3!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.37/">1.37: The ReRuns Issue</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.36/">1.36: Inside Raven Software</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.35/">1.35: Waking Graeme Devine</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.34/">1.34: Writing the Game</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.33/">1.33: Totally Tribal</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.32/">1.32: Under His Skin</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.31/">1.31: The Glory of G.O.D.</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.30/">1.30: Chillin' w/Jason Hall</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.29/">1.29: Extreme Annihilation</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.28/">1.28: Adventures in ASCII</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.27/">1.27: Serious Brass Ones</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.26/">1.26: Two Programs...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.25/">1.25: The Unreal Cliffy B!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.24/">1.24: Gimme Your Money!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.23/">1.23: Old Crusty Gamers</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.22/">1.22: Bugs!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.21/">1.21: 2001</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.20/">1.20: Can't Please Everyone</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.19/">1.19: The Rise and Fall...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.18/">1.18: romuluSngan HoH!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.17/">1.17: A Very Geeky Christmas</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.16/">1.16: 5 Years of Doom!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.15/">1.15: Tune Up Your Game!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.14/">1.14: NT + Games = ???</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.13/">1.13: Blue and Levelord...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.12/">1.12: When It's Done!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.11/">1.11: Hangin' With John Romero!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.10/">1.10: Still Sick of Games</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.9/">1.9: Gettin' Odd with the loonies</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.8/">1.8: LAN Parties...</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.7/">1.7: The Community Summit</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.6/">1.6: DRAW Pardner!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.5/">1.5: Taking Aim at Paul Steed</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.4/">1.4: Play Where You Like!</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.3/">1.3: *Special Duke Issue*</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.2/">1.2: Are You Sick of Games?</option>
<option value="http://www.loonygames.com/content/1.1/">1.1: Chris Taylor Gets Some!</option>

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        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Jeff &quot;<a target="" href="mailto:jeff@solomania.com">nonick</a>&quot; 
          Solomon</font></b></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br>
          </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../images/letters/g.jpg" width="26" height="40" align="LEFT">aming 
          system. Quick: what did you picture in your mind? A PC or a console 
          system? Was it a <a href="http://www.dell.com">Dell</a> box running 
          Windows 95 with a 2 meg video card and a pair of small, treble-happy 
          speakers? How about a custom built Win98 system with dual Voodoo 2 cards, 
          a subwoofer, a force feedback joystick, and a 21 inch monitor? A <a href="http://www.sega.com">Sega</a> 
          Dreamcast? An iMac, anyone? Maybe a Palm Pilot? Any votes for Linux? 
          Be? </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I could go on 
          for days listing the various machines on which we play games, but the 
          point is that there is no simple definition for the term "gaming system." 

          The gaming industry is at a point right now where there are many different 
          platforms fighting for market share and software support. And while 
          there have always been a number of system platforms to chose from, never 
          before has there been the sheer volume and diversity of units that we 
          have now. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">While it might 
          seem like overkill to have so many different systems to choose from, 
          try to imagine a world where there actually was only one kind of gaming 
          system - say, the XPR 1198 from Acme - and you begin to realize how 
          strange and limited the gaming world would be. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This article 
          aims to provide an overview of the constantly changing gaming platform 
          environment, and to broach the issue to a larger audience. Where are 
          we now, and how did we get here? More importantly, where are we headed? 
          Which platforms will succeed, and which might not? What are the trends? 
          </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm going to 
          start with a brief history of the events that have lead us to our current 
          moment in time, and then move forward and discuss some of the new alternatives 
          that are arriving as we speak. Ten years ago, things were simple. Ten 
          years from now, we might be able to play <b>Unreal XIII</b> on our refrigerator 
          control panel while we wait for our ice to be crushed. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The sequence 
          of events that leads up to our present-day gaming environment is detailed 
          and fascinating. Much like the PC industry, the gaming industry's early 
          days were marked with charismatic people who took unprecedented risks 
          to promote visions that were not widely accepted at the time. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Inspiration 
          teamed with luck helped to propel the gaming industry from a few innovative 
          ideas back in the early 1960s to the massive phenomenon in which we 
          now find ourselves enveloped. Back in 1961, Steve Russell developed 
          <b>Spacewar</b>, the very first computer game (you can play a Java version 
          of <b>Spacewar</b> at <a href="http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/">http://lcs.www.media.mit.edu/groups/el/projects/spacewar/</a>). 
          Six years later, Ralph Baer conceived of the idea to use the combination 
          of a standard television set teamed with a specialized gaming system- 
          as opposed to expensive computer systems - as a delivery mechanism for 
          home gaming. In 1977, Nolan Bushnell oversaw Atari's release of the 
          Video Computer System (AKA the Atari 2600), which introduced the concept 
          of gaming consoles as we now know them. Russell, Baer, and Bushnell 
          are examples of the gaming industry's Alan Turing, Steve Jobs, and Bill 
          Gates. </font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">All of this 
          is detailed very nicely in <a href="http://www.videogames.com">VideoGameSpot's</a> 
          comprehensive <a href="http://www.videogames.com/features/universal/hov/index.html" target="">History 
          of Video Games</a>. In the interest of time and fairness, I'm not going 
          to repeat all of that information here; it's done very nicely at VideoGameSpot.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rather, I'm 
          going to examine the historical trends that have brought us to where 
          we are now, so that we can have a better perspective on what might happen 
          in the future. Let's go back roughly thirteen years- to Marty McFly's 
          good old 1985- to a time when a product known as the <a href="http://www.nintendo.com">Nintendo</a> 
          Entertainment System made its American debut (in a test market scenario). 
          Remember the Robot? Things were a lot different then.</font></p>
        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font></p>
        <p>&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+1">(<a href="feat/index2.php">continued 
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
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      Jeff Solomon. All other content is &copy; 1998 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
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