We are all accustomed to see 8-bit or 16-bit games making a comeback on consoles and platforms such as Steam, but it seems that movies are set to integrate this as well. Pixels is a new movie created as a homage to the golden era of gaming, and it’s designed around the idea that NASA sent back in 1982 a set of time capsules into space which include footage and images from the culture and life on…
We are all accustomed to see 8-bit or 16-bit games making a comeback on consoles and platforms such as Steam, but it seems that movies are set to integrate this as well. Pixels is a new movie created as a homage to the golden era of gaming, and it’s designed around the idea that NASA sent back in 1982 a set of time capsules into space which include footage and images from the culture and life on Earth at that time.
The downside is that Aliens have misinterpreted those signals and thought that the classic arcade games are a declaration of war, so start off attacking our world using video game characters.
What I like about the plot of this movie is surely the fact that these aliens have the tech to create 3D, pixellated and holographic pixels that can change their form, so they can literally adapt to any form of matter. This opens up numerous possibilities which we will be able to see when the movie appears in theaters.
The president will call upon a team of retro gamers that know everything about the games they are trying to combat.
But is the plot really that important for Pixels? Most of the audience will come from the special effects, however the movie is dedicated specifically to a certain portion of the audience, the retro gamers. This movie is a love letter for the games that appeared back in the 80’s, which were definitely amazing and simply incredible to be honest. These are the games that have started the whole gaming society we can see right now, and they are those that make us fire up our consoles or gaming computers each and every day.
Because of that, making Pac-Man and Donkey Kong the villains in Pixels is pretty nice, and judging from the trailer it seems that they did a pretty good job when it comes to the special effects, and the way they recreated the amazing retro characters from our favorite video games. According to the production leaks, it seems that we will see Space Invaders and Frogger as well, alongside the previously mentioned characters, so we are definitely in for a treat, that’s for sure.
Although the idea seems to be taken from a Futurama episode, the reality is that it’s the first time when such a story is told in live action, with special effects, so I am pretty sure this will be a very interesting experience for the audience and definitely something very impressive for us retro gamers.
Pixels is set to launch on July 24, 2015 in the US, and it had a budget of around $110 million, so Columbia pictures does have a lot of money to recover from it. Based on what I saw this far from the movie, I think it’s pretty cool and a sheer delight for any retro gamer out there. If you like retro games, then bookmark the 24th of July and get your tickets early, you are bound to have a lot of fun with this movie!
Fans of gaming of any sort all know a few basic games that formed the foundation of what we know today to be the number one form of entertainment. One of these original games is Tetris. Known around the world since it’s release, Tetris has long been one of the most popular ways for people to waste some time and have a good time in the same breath. Before we can understand why it is such a great…
Fans of gaming of any sort all know a few basic games that formed the foundation of what we know today to be the number one form of entertainment. One of these original games is Tetris. Known around the world since it’s release, Tetris has long been one of the most popular ways for people to waste some time and have a good time in the same breath. Before we can understand why it is such a great game, lets first examine the history of Tetris and how it evolved into this modern day wonder of a game.
A number of lawsuits have been filed to find out who the actual inventor of Tetris is, to avoid confusion we are just going to let that name remain unsaid. The game was invented in the mid-80s in Russia and quickly became a popular device for people to have fun with. After a brief struggle to get the game on the popular PCs that most people in America used, the game was introduced to the United States in 1986. After the game grew in popularity again, a number of new lawsuits were filed to determine who had the rights to the game. After a while, the system Atari was finally awarded these rights for arcades and Nintendo got them for consoles. After that Nintendo began to release a number of highly successful versions of the popular game, and still do so today even for their newer consoles. Tetris remains popular today even as games with better graphics and more advanced controls are released.
So now that we have a little understand towards where the game from, lets look at why it is so popular. Tetris seems like a very simple game, which makes it appealing to many gamers who do not want to or simply do not have the time to spend on learning advanced controls. Because there are only about five keys that a gamer needs to know, anyone can be playing this game efficiently within minutes. Sweet and simple are two words that make Tetris so appealing to players initially.
After playing Tetris, gamers soon find that the game is much more complex than thought before. While there are no controls, different shapes of blocks, obstacles, and speed of drops all add to the confusion and act to make the game harder to play. It becomes frustrating to lose and a challenge to pass the higher levels. Players find themselves addicted and dedicated to beating Tetris, or at least setting a higher score than their friends and family did before.
Another appealing nature of the game is the accessibility of the game. You don’t need to own a Nintendo console of any kind to play the game, unless you prefer the flashier, new versions of Tetris. The game can be found in many different versions online, the easiest being the flash version. Because of that a gamer can quickly locate this game and be playing in no time. When you have only a fifteen-minute span to squeeze some fun in, this works great for you.
Overall Tetris may seem like a simple game but in fact it is much more complex once played. It is a game that has been around for more than two decades and will be around for much longer than that. A granddaddy to all current games, Tetris is a good experience for all gamers of all ages. So if you are one of the few who has not ever experienced this game, go out and try it and you will have a good time for sure.
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