Category Archives: shooter

Joust arcade video game and Sinistar arcade video game

Two Late-Stage Williams Electronics Arcade Classics

A couple of great video games by Williams Electronics, 1983.

Joust was a late-stage Williams classic, with John Newcomer as project lead, getting players slapping the flap button furiously while trying to get the upper perch on their opponents…. either computer controlled or with another ostrich-riding human knight. There’s a first from Williams in the ad I’m posting here too… a side-by-side cocktail version of Joust. As for manic shooter Sinistar, designed by Noah Falstein and Newcomer, who doesn’t love a game with voice synthesis that sounds like Johnny Cash?

I am Sinistar!

For the history of the astounding work by Eugene Jarvis and other Williams video games here at The Dot Eaters, where you can read, watch, listen and even play these great games, flap on over here: https://thedoteaters.com/?bitstory=bitstory-article-2/defender-and-vid-kidz

Williams video games for the arcade: Joust, Sinistar and pinball Defender
Williams video games for the arcade, 1983: Joust, Sinistar and pinball Defender

Oh, and also in this 1983 trade ad? Pinball Defender, featuring all the alien baddies you love to hate from the 1981 video game.

The 12 Video Games of Christmas: Doom Classic for iOS

As the 12 Video Games of Christmas extravaganza continues with a nice little gem from id Software. Doom Classic is a faithful recreation of one of the most popular FPS games of all time. If you’re here reading this you probably don’t need Doom explained to you but for the sake of context here’s a little background.

In 1993 id Software released Doom much to the chagrin of office Managers everywhere. By 1995 the game was estimated to be installed on more computers than Windows 95. The game catapulted id from an obscure Texas based game developer to the holy ground of shooter game development. Now, the game that filled a thousand BBS’s in shareware form can be yours for Christmas for the bargain price of $4.99. 
Doom Classic isn’t just a cheap cash-in port either. There have been features implemented like tilt strafing and tilt turning and “auto use” which opens doors or pushes switches automatically that take advantage of the unique idiosyncracies of the iOS platform. 
If you’re expecting some iTunes cards for Christmas then definitely put Doom Classic on your “list of things to get with that iTunes card I got for Christmas” – or that Dimensional Shambler won’t be pleased. Here’s a link to expedite potential Doom-ing: Doom Classic

If you (like myself) wasted much of your young life playing way too much Doom then share some experiences in the comment section. Whether it was forgetting to eat or talking back to the quit messages it’d be great to hear them!