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Pantheons: Hermes

Author: Balsam

History: Ancient Mediterranean; Greek Pantheon

Which god in the Greek pantheon do you see the most of in your everyday life? If you had anyone who wasn’t Hermes in mind, you’re wrong. You’ll find images of him just about everywhere from his caduceus carved out of the stone of a hospital, to his head being shown on a car’s logo, to his winged sandals painted onto Goodyear tires. He’s literally everywhere. We even have a planet and a heavy metal, both existing under his Roman name Mercury. But who is he, really, in the scheme of pantheons? 

Hermes, known to Rome as Mercury, was the Ancient Greek god of roads/journeys, travelers, merchants, trade/commerce, athletes, thieves, and trickery. His name shows up in Mycenaean scripts like Dionysus’ does, but in the pantheon itself he is rather young. Predominantly, he was recognized as a messenger god, but in a similar sense to Mycenaean Dionysus he was also revered as an underworld god due to being a psychopomp and being responsible for guiding the souls of the dead in addition to being responsible for guiding dreams. In his myths he has a habit of helping out the mortal heroes when they run into issues of some kind. Now, to understand his characterization and historical context, we need to understand where exactly in the realm of Ancient Greek mythology Hermes stands. Let’s get into it.

Hermes is incredibly young in Olympian standards, with Dionysus being the only one canonically younger. Born to the pleiad Maia and the son of Zeus (like just about everyone else), his birthplace is a cave in the mountains of Arcadia. He sets himself apart from other Olympians by getting into trouble literally the day he’s born. According to Homer’s Hymn to Hermes, the first thing to happen after being born was his finding a tortoise and turning its shell into a lyre. He gets hungry and decides the only sane thing to do is steal 50 of Apollo’s sacred cattle, turning their hooves backwards to attempt and prevent Apollo from noticing they’re gone. Stowing the cows, he sacrifices some to the gods and then shows up back in the cave to pretend to be a helpless baby. Maia doesn’t buy his bullsh*t so instead he takes his time and explains to his mom that he’s attempting to get the Olympians to notice him, and that he’s trying to get the respect and honor they deserve instead of being stuck in a cave for the rest of his immortality.

Meanwhile back in Narnia, Apollo can’t find his cows so he plays Sherlock Holmes and finds Hermes back in the cave. While Apollo tries interrogating him, Hermes basically pulls a Miles Morales and says “What cows?” So, Apollo drags him up to Zeus, who’s cackling like a madman and then tells him to show the way to the cows. On the way, Hermes starts playing his lyre and wins Apollo over. Apollo is enchanted by it and promises Hermes will be messenger of the gods, promising he and his mother will be honored among the Olympians. Hermes and Apollo exchange the lyre for the role of herdsman and return to Olympus, where Hermes promises never to steal from him again and gets his caduceus (small staff with two snakes around it; symbol of heralds/messengers). And so, Hermes makes an arrival as a trickster and underdog wrangling an improbable victory via cunning and tricks. One who, despite winning untold power/fame, still comes across as the underdog for multiple centuries following.

Hermes regularly appears in the mythology, playing a support role in the Iliad and the Odyssey. In the Iliad he is allied with the Achaeans for the majority but protects King Priam when he went to the Achaean camp to retrieve Hector’s body, and in the Odyssey he regularly provides help and advice for Odysseus including how to get Circe to break the enchantment on his men and then later guiding the suitor’s souls to the afterlife. This might have been because Odysseus is actually Hermes’ great-grandson (son of Autolycus).  One of Hermes’ most well known accomplishments is killing Argus, a hundred-eyed giant hired to watch over Io after she got turned into a cow. Zeus asks him to free her, so Hermes shows up as a shepherd and bores him asleep with the story of panpipes then cuts his Argus’ off. This is what gave him the epithet of Argeiphontes (slayer of Argus). He’s also got a bunch of other appearances in Greek mythology, frequently helping out heroes like Perseus and Orestes by giving them the means to succeed. This trickery is one of Hermes’ major characteristics as the god of liars, thieves, and the other stuff in his purview. While these seem like things that maybe shouldn’t be attributed to a god, most Greek heroes were underdogs or tricksters in some way and trickery was well respected when used in moderation.

Before we get into the rest of the history, we have one kind of wacky thing about Hermes: The Herms. The Herms were boundary/border markers commonly found along roadways, usually with a depiction of Hermes’ face and always with a carving of a dong on them. I don’t know why that’s what was non-negotiable either but I wish I did. With Hermes being a god of borders and boundaries, it makes sense that he’d be the one to show up on most of the border markers but it’s also a little weird (not because of the dong). So we’re going to shove that into a corner for a bit and get into the history.

First off, Hermes used to be Pan (not pansexual, the god Pan). Let me explain that. Pan is a mysterious figure due to how old he is. Because of his age, we don’t have much clear information on his origin or development. As he was characterized in Ancient Greece, Pan is the god of the wilderness, shepherds and flocks, nature, mountain wilds, fields/groves/glens, sex and fertility, and theatrical critisism. He was a companion to the nymphs, is responsible for panic (as a concept and word), and he’s literally the legendary dong. His worship was almost exclusively in the mountains of Arcadia, which also happens to be the birthplace of Hermes. Arcadia is known for being inland, mountainous and forested, and extremely old compared to the rest of Ancient Greece.

As a wild god, Pan wasn’t worshipped in manmade structures. He was mostly worshipped in natural caves and only ever had two built temples (one in Peloponnese). In the mythology, Pan is older than the Olympians are, and is credited with giving Artemis her hunting dogs and Apollo the gift of prophecy. Most commonly, he is known for two things that bear his name: panpipes (syrinx) and panic (panikos). He created the syrinx when a nymph he was chasing became reeds to try and escape, and then he turned her into the syrinx so he could put his mouth all over her like a weirdo. As for panic (for people who don’t know what it is), it’s a kind of fear that is intense enough it borders madness. He is credited with it as, supposedly, he would yell in the wood and anyone who heard it would be inflicted with said panic, which could rout entire armies. And while we know some stuff about him, there’s even more that we either don’t know or it’s vague and fuzzy. For example, his parentage is incredibly vague and varied, which suggests he’s very old since that kind of myth takes a long time to drift.

In fact, it’s highly likely that Pan is older than even Mycenaean Greece. Comparative mythology scholars that are working on reconstructing Proto-Indo-European religion that spawned from the Vedic, Norse, and Greek mythologies theorize that Pan is an offshoot from the god PÉH2USōN (no I don’t know how to say it), whose only other offshoot is the Vedic pastoral deity Pushan.

The Rigveda mentions Pushan, and may be as old as 1700 BCE. This means that if Pan is an offshoot from the same deity, he also predates Mycenaean Greece (age started in 1600 BCE). However, due to lack of written sources, we don’t actually know how Pan was characterized at any point before the Mycenaean age, but we can learn by proxy by looking at Pushan.

Pushan is the Vedic god of roads/journeys, marriages, cattle herding/feeding, and the sun as a guardian figure. Like Hermes, Pushan also served as a psychopomp, but is associated with goats and got all his teeth knocked out that one time. So, the generally accepted theory we have is that way, way back before or during the Mycenaean age is when Hermes split from Pan, and before even that, the original Pan was incredibly similar to Pushan, a liminal god of navigating between places like roads, general wilderness, and the journey to the afterlife. When the original Pan got subdivided, current Pan retained the pastoralist and herding connotations, but the roads and journeys stuff went to Hermes and left Pan reduced. It’s worth noting that Hermes also has herding connotations. 

Now, this isn’t just based on the fact that Hermes is somewhat similar to a Vedic deity. There are also some other, stranger connections the two have. For one, both of them have an origin in Arcadia along with their centers of worship. In some versions of mythology, Pan is Hermes' son for some reason. Which is a weird connection, but at the same time it does make sense to link them in a reverse way. It’s also surprisingly relevant; Hermes and Pan are both notorious in the mythos for having large dongs (I wish I didn’t have to talk about it but here we are). So, time to go back to the Herms mentioned earlier. 

The word itself translates into “piled stones”. So Hermes’ name isn't even a name. But the concept of Herms is an extremely old concept in the region, older than Ancient Greece and Hermes both. Back before Herms were sculpted, roads were marked with large piles of stones. Lack of human features didn't make them less sacred, though, and Herms were revered. Custom was to put another stone on the pile or to anoint it with oil, and messing with them or defacing them was a horrible thing. Pan, as the old god of roads and journeys, was likely the god who was revered through said Herms. Now, remember how I said Hermes had an epithet because of killing Argus? Well he isn’t the only god who had them, in fact most if not all of them did and they described the capacity a god was worshipped in. In Pan’s case, the one I’m going to mention is ‘Pan Hermes’ (although we aren’t really sure) or ‘Pan of the piled boundary stones’. What we do know is that around the time he likely had this epithet, he got split into current Pan and the god Hermes. This happened at a very early time, and so we aren’t quite sure why Pan got separated from his epithet and Hermes got to be his own god.

What’s likely is that old Pan was a fairly specialized deity and so his worship was having issues expanding beyond rustic areas and wild lands. Whatever the reason, we know Hermes shows up in Mycenaean Linear B writing (or a word like Hermes), meaning he split from Pan before proper records. By the time we get to the 800s, Homer is writing epics and Hermes is firmly seated in the Olympians as is shown by his role in the Iliad and Pan is simply a wilderness god. 

Oh, and for the people well acquainted with Greek Mythological esoterica or the Percy Jackson books; Pan is (technically) canonically dead. According to Plutarch writing from around 100 CE, a handful of decades earlier during the reign of Tiberius, a divine voice supposedly called out from Paksi to a man named Thamus telling him “The Great god Pan is dead.” Thamus then told everyone and they were reasonably bummed out about it. But for every sense that matters, Pan didn’t actually seem to die since his shines were still frequented and worship of him continued as usual. So what the hell? 

Well, it’s likely that this is a big misunderstanding. See, the goddess Ishtar had a dead boyfriend named Tammuz who had a cult that got bright over to Greece. And in the Ancient Greek language, the sentence “Thamus, the Great god Pan is dead” is read as “Thamus panmegas tethneke”, however due to ‘pan’ being both the name of a god and the prefix meaning all, the sentence can also be read as “Tammuz the all-great is dead”. So this whole ‘Pan being dead’ thing might have just been some dude overhearing the cult of Tammuz praising him for his sole achievement and thinking they were talking about the god Pan being dead. So yeah.

Back to Hermes. In early Ancient Greece, Pan and Hermes didn’t look too dissimilar,and between 800 and 500 BCE Hermes was shown as an older man with a beard. But in Classical and Hellenistic Greece, he is shown the way we recognize him now; a young, beardless, mostly naked athlete. Dionysus also underwent a similar change but this isn’t about him. Time to talk about Roman Hermes; Mercury. 

Most Roman and Greek deities started as gods in their own right. Mars, who is Ares’ roman counterpart, started as a god of war and as an agricultural deity and was treated notably better than Ares is. And for the most part Rome’s other gods were also fully-fledged deities, though sometimes other gods got mashed together like play-doh. For example, Pluto (Roman Hades) was accidentally the god of wealth, Plutus, and the god of the underworld, Pluton. But Mercury didn’t even exist. The name has sketchy etymology, but likely comes from either the Latin root for ‘merchant’ or a much older word for ‘boundary’. In either case the name is a descriptor of one of Hermes’ divine duties and nothing farther. He did absorb the Roman Dea Lucrii, a handful of minor deities in charge of immoral profit coming from bad sources, but Mercury was basically just Roman Hermes. 

During the Roman era, Hermes was extremely popular. And since Rome was the expansion kings, Hermes’ status as a trade and merchants god saw a bunch of use. He showed up on coins, imagery of him is in Pompeii, and he has another quirk making him so popular. Rome had a policy of taking and incorporating the gods of places they conquered into their pantheon in one way or another, finding the Roman god closest to whichever god it was and insisting they’re the same. This happened with the Greeks and the Celts where they likened Mercury to Lugh/Lleu who was a big deal seeing as he was the creator of all arts along with being a warrior-hero-king. Rome saw him as a commerce god and so he was equaled to Mercury. And when Rome dealt with the Germanic peoples, Mercury god likened to Odin, of all people. The Ptolemaic Greeks (oh god) equated Hermes with gods like Thoth and Anubis. 

Hermes was all over the place, which is very appropriate, even showing up in Aesop’s fables for some reason. But for being such a versatile deity, why is he so (literally) iconic? We don’t know. Perhaps his mobility and speed resonates with our modern society? Maybe it’s because he’s one of the few of the Olympians to combine likable traits with a lack of distractingly terrible character flaws? Maybe it’s because medicine, communication, and capitalism are central qualities of many societies as well as his character. But his liminal status gets him in most every society and kind of just stays forever, turning up in places centuries later down the line. 

If you read all of this, thank you and please reblog so more people can see and learn!

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[holdharmonysacred]

Hey Elizabeth! I'm trying to get into the Fates series since your blog inspired me to want to watch it. Where would I start? Is there a manga that is recommended to read first or just the anime? Thanks!

Actually, if you want to join me in Fate hell you’ll want to start with the original Fate/stay night visual novel! This post has some download links if you want to pirate it (and sadly you WILL have to pirate it if you want to play it in English, since I think the PC versions are out of print or require some serious searching to find, and DEFINITELY not legally available overseas). If you would prefer a text-based LP, the Let’s Play archive has you covered.

The plot involves main protag boy, Shirou Emiya, accidentally summoning King Arthur and getting dragged into a battle royale between a bunch of wizards and dead guys over a magic cup, though you might have already known that. The first route, Fate, is Saber’s route and an introduction to the setting. The second route, Unlimited Blade Works, is supposed to be Rin’s route, but kinda gets highjacked by her Servant, Archer, and Shirou’s character development. The last route, Heaven’s Feel, is Sakura’s route, and is infamous for being absolutely hardcore. You’ll want to do each of these routes in the order I just listed, since they were designed to be played in that order.

Important notes: The original game was an eroge, which means there’s some badly written porn scenes you’ll need a censor or content-replacing patch for unless you want to read Nasu constantly compare sex to food (they’re like 30 minutes total of a game that takes 24 hours to complete so you’re not missing much at all). The posts I linked already come with censor patches however, so you should be fine. Also, be warned that there are some major themes of sexual assault and abuse throughout the game, so if those are triggers for you I do not recommend it.

If you’re confused on the two versions, the original Fate/stay night VN is ye olde porn game from 2004 for the PC, while the Realta Nua versions are the various updated releases for Playstation devices and PC. Realta Nua is also the worksafe version of the game, cutting the porn and adding new scenes. 

After that is Fate/hollow ataraxia, a sequel of sorts that infamously took a full decade to get a proper English patch out. The game focuses on our boy Shirou, who’s found himself dragged into a time loop as the Grail War starts again, Bazett Fraga McRemitz, the original Master of Lancer who has somehow gotten ahold of a new Servant, Avenger (or as I like to call him, Hobo Satan), and Caren Ortensia, the daughter of evil priest Kirei Kotomine from the first game. Also everyone’s alive again except Kotomine, and the game is half serious, half shenanigans. I’m not sure where you can download this one, but the English patch is right here. Be warned that there’s more NSFW and themes of sexual assault, and no censor patches this time, so be warned!

Then there is Fate/zero, a prequel series of light novels. This time the focus is on the Grail War prior to the one seen in F/sn, and the main character is Shirou’s adoptive father Kiritsugu Emiya and his many personal tragedies. No one really gets a happy ending here and it’s a bunch of edgy old dudes being Grimdark, so do be warned. There’s an official English of the manga, but the light novels are stuck in hell, though a fan translation of the light novels can be found here.

For anime, there’s the DEEN animes and the Ufotable animes. The DEEN animes over the Fate route (TV anime) and UBW route (movie), and honestly they fucking suck, I do not recommend them at all unless you want to see the origin of the “People die when they are killed” meme.

The Ufotable animes, meanwhile, are absolutely gorgeous, and cover Fate/zero (TV series), Unlimited Blade Works (another TV series), and Heaven’s Feel (upcoming film series). If you want to watch the animes, these are what I recommend. Everything that’s out is up on Crunchyroll for free, so you should be able to access it pretty easily if you have adblock on.

That’s all of the main, non-spinoff stuff. The spinoff stuff would require a post of its own and would get overwhelming fast, so I’ll give it to you only if you want it. If you want something to just jump into, Fate/Grand Order is the really popular mobile game spinoff that everyone’s talking about. It’s about an organization called Chaldea that’s devoted to protecting humanity’s future survival by going back in time to correct anomalous time bubbles called singularities, summoning Servants to do so. While the premise is radically different from most Fate works, it’s pretty welcoming for newbies and there’s an official English version for iOS and Android, so you can just download it and start playing. If you want to get into the spinoffs, hit me up again, but that should be plenty of content for now. Have fun!

[hindiworld]

August 08, 2018 at 03:36AM Microsoft Surface Laptop Review

HIGHLIGHTS

The Surface Laptop has a unique Alcantara fabric layer on its inner deck

Performance is good for everyday work, but connectivity is limited

The Surface Laptop is available in five different configurations in India

We waited years for Microsoft to launch its Surface tabletsin India, and it's taken even longer for the Surface Bookand Surface Laptop to arrive. This family of devices is meant to showcase Windows to the best possible extent - they're all unapologetically premium, but more than that, they're genuinely fresh and interesting. Microsoft is competing with its own partners by pushing out PC hardware, and is emphasising design and engineering to set itself apart. It's pretty obvious that Apple's success integrating hardware and software has influenced this strategy.

Of all the Surface devices, the Surface Laptop is the most conventional. It isn't a 2-in-1, and it doesn't have a fancy engineered hinge or kickstand. It's meant to strike a balance between portability and productivity, and will appeal to those for whom the Surface Pro with its keyboard cover won't cut it.

Microsoft Surface Laptop design

Everyone who sees photos of the Surface Laptop will want to know how its fabric deck feels, and honestly, it isn't easy to describe even though we've used it before on the Surface Pro's Type Cover. Alcantara is a material that's 68 percent polyester and 32 percent polyurethane, and it's a bit like suede with a slightly waxy coating. It isn't perfectly smooth, but it doesn't have the texture of cloth either. It didn't fray or come undone even when we scratched it hard, and it's moulded like plastic around the keyboard tray. The Alcantara extends all the way to the edges of the deck and is pinched down, leaving room for a fingernail to help you lift the lid when it's closed.

The material is supposed to be resistant to spills and stains, and Microsoft even says it can be cleaned with warm water and mild soap, two things we wouldn't want anywhere near a laptop. We can't yet say how well it will hold up to long-term use, especially for people who tend to use their gadgets while eating.

It's worth pointing out that the fabric has one major downside - it's permanently stuck on to the metal chassis. The only way to replace or repair anything on the inside of this laptop is to rip the layers apart with a knife, and there's no putting it back together after that. In fact, when the Surface Laptop first launched in the USA, it famously received a repairability index score of zero from iFixit.

As for the rest of this laptop, it's fairly minimalist but still very noticeable. The lid has a simple matte aluminium finish, but with a prominent and highly reflective Windows logo in the centre. Microsoft has said that it isn't bringing the Burgundy, Cobalt Blue, or Graphite Gold options to India, which is a pity. The lid is pretty thin and it does bend and flex under pressure, but surprisingly there's no distortion whatsoever on the screen. The hinge is sunken and completely hidden under the fabric layer. It feels firm, and at least on our brand new unit, the lid didn't fall even if it was left just barely open. Overall, despite its waif-like appearance, the Surface Laptop seems to be built very well.

The lack of connectivity will be a huge concern for many buyers. The Surface Laptop is even more minimalist than the MacBook Air, with only a single USB 3.0 port, a 3.5mm audio socket, and a Mini-DisplayPort for video output. There isn't even an SD card slot. Many ultraportables are light on ports, but the Surface Laptop isn't even that thin or light. In this day and age we would have expected USB Type-C and preferred Thunderbolt 3, but most people will be fine with the far more common Type-A standard.

Your only relief comes in the form of Microsoft's Surface Connect Port, the tab-like slot on the right used by the bundled charger, which also supports Microsoft's Surface Dock. This accessory will give you four more USB 3.0 ports, two more Mini-DisplayPorts, Gigabit Ethernet and another audio output, but it's listed for Rs. 17,560 online in India, which is an absurd amount to pay.

The ports are also a little hard to reach thanks to the Surface Laptop's inward-slanting sides. Slotting the charger into the narrow Surface Connect Port in particular is an extremely fiddly process, and we wound up having to lift the laptop and bend over to see exactly what we were doing each time.

Next to the ports on either side of this laptop are white patches that look a lot like the antenna lines that are now common on smartphones. They stand out quite distinctly, and unfortunately they look like additional ports or slots that have been blanked out.

The keyboard has one major quirk, which is the placement of the power button. Microsoft obviously wanted the Delete key to be in the corner above the Backspace key, but we found ourselves still likely to hit the power button by accident. It also isn't flatter or stiffer than the keys surrounding it, which would have been the obvious precaution to take. The Fn row has been displaced by the paging keys and various shortcuts, but you can swap the keys' primary and secondary roles by simply tapping the Fn modifier once, which is quite convenient.

The Surface Laptop is only 14.47mm thick at its thickest point, and weighs only 1.25kg. It's super portable and super convenient to whip out of a sling bag or backpack. The only thing you get in the box with the Surface Laptop is its proprietary 44W charger, and we love its integrated USB port. You might not have enough ports on the laptop itself, but you can at least charge your phone on the go. However, we found the power cable to be a bit too short.

Microsoft Surface Laptop specifications and software

Microsoft is selling the Surface Laptop in five different configurations, ranging in price from Rs. 86,999 to Rs. 2,33,999. At the bottom of the stack you get an Intel Core i5-7200U CPU with integrated Intel HD Graphics 620, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The top-end variant has a Core i7-7660U processor with Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. This is a pretty wide range, and so the Surface Laptop competes with premium thin-and-light models including the MacBook Air as well as luxury laptops and 2-in-1s such as the Lenovo Yoga 920 and Dell XPS 13 9370. It's worth noting that these 7th Gen Intel Core processors are nearly two years old and significantly weaker than current offerings. It's also surprising that Microsoft has launched such expensive variants here but not the entry-level ones with Core m3 processors and 4GB of RAM.

We're reviewing the variant priced at Rs. 1,14,999, which has the Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Considering that the RAM and SSD are soldered to the motherboard and there's no access to them anyway, you're going to want to account for future needs right from the start. Upgrades are simply not possible.

The touchscreen measures 13.5 inches diagonally but has a unique old-school 3:2 aspect ratio. Microsoft chose this squarish shape for its Surface tablets, and it makes sense when trying to use a device in portrait or landscape. While the look is consistent here, it isn't necessarily useful. You might think of it as extra vertical space or reduced width. It isn't the best choice if you watch a lot of videos or need to work on two documents side by side, but it works well for general productivity.

The resolution is completely non-standard at 2256x1504, and makes for a density of 201ppi. Windows 10 scales to 150 percent by default and we found this to be comfortable and crisp. This might not be a 2-in-1, but the touchscreen can still come in handy. We didn't wind up using touch a lot, but it's always nice to have. The Surface Pen is supported, but won't be particularly comfortable to use.

One thing that we don't often see even on premium laptops is an ambient light sensor, which means that brightness adjusts itself automatically. Above the screen is also a 720p webcam and the sensors needed to support Windows Hello face recognition. Stereo speakers are embedded beneath the keyboard. Microsoft isn't publishing an exact battery capacity, but iFixit has discovered that it's a 45.2Whr unit. It's rated for 14.5 hours of video playback which is impressive on paper, but we'll see shortly how well it really performs.

Our review unit was running Windows 10 Pro. The Surface Laptop was initially meant to ship running Windows 10 S, a reduced-functionality version of Windows. Somewhat like Windows RT, Windows 10 S made Edge and Bing the default Web browser and search engine respectively, without any ability to change them. Users could also only install apps from the Windows Store rather than just downloading anything they like. This was meant to usher users into an iOS-like walled garden, but due to massive backlash, this edition of Windows has been discontinued. Instead, the Surface Laptop ships with Windows 10 in "S Mode", which behaves the same. This mode can be disabled at no cost - as long as you find an option that's buried within the Microsoft Store app. With no clear direction, this might confuse a lot of buyers who just want to download Google Chrome or any other common software.

from Blogger https://ift.tt/2vvzyoq via My Channel on YouTube

[ciathyzareposts]

Missed Classic 77: The Institute (1981) – Introduction

by Will Moczarski

The Institute is the first game in my Med Systems marathon that I will actually replay as I’ve played (and solved) it before. It has been decades, however, and my memories of the game are pretty unreliable. Also, I only know the later port for the Commodore 64 which features nice graphics – I have never played the original TRS-80 version. What I remember most distinctly about this game is that it feels like a compilation because you have to solve puzzles in four or five different dreams in order to bring the background story to a close (i.e., escape from a mental health facility). I also remember that I really liked this game, maybe I even finished it two or three times just for the sake of it.

Because The Institute used to be very renowned, much has been written about it. I will thus unusually start with an introduction of contemporary and retrospective quotes as a framework to set the stage for this unusual game.

Introduction: Press Review

The Institute was apparently such a long-standing mainstay of Med Systems Software that they – after having changed their company name to Screenplay in 1983 – released some new ports for the two-year old game in 1983, boasting completely new graphics but otherwise promoting the same game. This was not uncommon in the 1980s as you can see in Joe Pranevich’s posts about Infocom’s company history; the Zork trilogy, for example, stuck around for even longer – one could even argue that the Infocom games even have the distinction to be the only classic text adventures to make the transition to the touchscreen age (as reflected by the iOS compilation The Lost Treasures of Infocom).

The renewed ports of The Institute were reviewed and advertised in some of the contemporary magazines, such as Softalk vol. 4 no. 10, an issue that was published in June 1984: “The Institute, by veteran writer Jyym Pearson, is a psychological drama with clues to help you escape from dangerous situations. Available from Screenplay […], the adventure game puts the player in a prehistoric jungle or aboard the doomed Titanic. Dreams provide clues on how to escape. $29.95.” Young and wild Jyym Pearson had already turned into a “veteran writer” four years after starting his career. The 1980s were a dangerous time! By the way, $29.95 in 1984 dollars roughly equals $73.95 in 2019 dollars – for a repackaged 1981 game!

The website Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe which has been dedicated to interactive fiction games since 1996 also has a lot to say about The Institute. Namely, they regard Jyym Pearson as “probably the most recognized adventure game author to come out of Adventure International”, second only to Scott Adams, of course. The Institute was “Pearson’s first game released outside of Adventure International, though it uses the Other-Ventures game file format and interpreter. Jyym was still writing games for AI at the time, and after, so I’m going to speculate that AI directed him to MedSys[tems] / Screenplay whenever his work ventured into the territory of questionable taste.” This may well be possible considering the topics of his later work (notably Lucifer’s Realm), however, I tend to disagree as all of Jyym’s post-OtherVentures work appears to have been published by Med Systems – he probably just changed horses there, although the chronology of Saigon: The Final Days is far from clear. It’s definitely a 1981 game but may have remained unreleased well into 1983. The plot summary in Ye Olde Infocomme Shoppe is short and concise: “The plot of [The] Institute casts you as a mental patient who escapes his cell, raids the medicine stores, and takes drug-induced trips to various remote locales.”

Taking a look at the game’s own 1981 manual, there are two descriptions – one inside and one on the back. The first one goes like this: “The Institute is an extremely complex adventure. The scenario of the same is a psychological nightmare. Trapped in a mysterious ‘Institute’, you know that you are not mad, and yet many of your fellow inmates are. The Freudian solution to your entrapment becomes a series of vivid dreams, induced by a strange powder. Each of the dreams takes place in a different location, making the adventure actually five adventures in one. Each location contains objects and information that you must use in other places in order to escape. You may actually have to let yourself be killed in order to escape one dream and proceed to another.” The “five adventures in one” phrase was heavily used for the marketing of the game. It’s not completely untrue, either, and makes the game feel strangely modern when held against more recent IF efforts. The other description is more of an ad blurb: “Med Systems Software is proud to present The Institute, a rousing adventure game by Jyym Pearson. You begin in an institution populated by a dwarf, counselor, guards, and other inmates. You can enter whole sentences as well as one and two word commands, as you strive to retain your sanity. You must escape, but the key to escape is not in the building itself. Your dreams, brought on by a mysterious powder, hold the key to escape, as well as four whole worlds of bizarre characters and locations. It’s like playing five adventures in one!” The parser is, of course, not nearly as potent as would be suggested here. It’s interesting that the first description already refers to the “Freudian solution”, leaving the player with a means of interpretation for the (potentially?) confusing game.

There is also one review by Mark E. Denne for the September 1982 issue of 80 Microcomputing Magazine which is rather interesting. I’ve abridged some sections of it but I feel that it’s too valuable to exclude here. It’s also a very good summary of Jyym Pearson’s specific adventure game style: “The Institute is a very unique entry into the game market from the company that brought us 3-D adventures. It is not 3-D nor does it have any similarity with Asylum, Labyrinth or Deathmaze. Graphics are used in the game only for decoration or to signify dramatic changes in the plot. However, it’s one of the finest adventure games I’ve ever played. […] The game features a hybrid screen, a cross between the now famous split-screen and a new concept. At the top are visible items, if any, a description of the room or its contents is next. Your input is entered at the next level followed by an area which displays the result of ‘talks,’ ‘listens’ or special happenings. This last area is where the most important information is shown. ‘Talk’ and ‘listen’ are commands that most adventures do not use; in this adventure they are probably the most important. That’s right, you talk to characters (dwarves, counselors, midgets) and they talk back. If you don’t keep your ears open, you’ll never get anywhere. […] There are many exits that are not indicated in any manner at all. These are found by trying all directions from each room. Nobody said this game was easy. The input routine is very critical, descriptions must match exactly or no action occurs. For example, ‘get bottle’ may not pick up the red bottle. However ‘get red bottle’ works fine. […] The game has five different levels. The first one is your starting point at The Institute. By use of a strange powder you physically enter your dreams to complete your escape. Dreams include a giant forest on another planet, a voyage on the Titanic, an ancient temple, and a prehistoric forest. It’s much like five adventures in one. Sometimes you must be killed to wake up or pass into the next dream. Also, if you’re killed you keep whatever inventory you had and you start over— nice feature!”

It’s interesting that even the reviewer mentions the “five games in one” tagline. Another short ad from the same issue stresses that feature as well: “Five games in one! You begin in an institution, and must successfully negotiate not just the Institute itself, but tour other dream adventures as well. Objects in each dream help solve problems in the next. Concentrate, or you may never escape the nightmare of the Institute!”

It’s likely that all of this was meant to make what’s essentially an experimental adventure game more comprehensible, even to experienced players. All of these descriptions sound like their authors were convinced that this was something special, something new and unique – but still they were afraid that players might not get that.

Finally, “Mill Burray”, the blogger responsible for I Play All The Games gave The Institute a 8 out of 10 in his 2016 review. “Written by Jyym Pearson in 1981, this text adventure is so close to being a masterpiece, it’s not even funny”, he writes, and that “the game is very dark and the dialogue is poetic and sinister and obviously geared towards a mature audience. The puzzles are obscure and sometimes cryptic, but it works in the whole dream/hallucination context. It’s truly unique.” The final verdict is no less euphoric: “In its best moments, this is the greatest game for the TRS-80 and in its weakest moments, it’s still better than any Scott Adams game.”

One more remark before we jump straight into the game: all of the reviews as well as the credit of the TRS-80 version attribute The Institute to Jyym Pearson, and Jyym Pearson only. However, the 1983 ports tell a different story: the Apple ][ version was “written and produced by Jyym and Robyn Pearson”, programmed (I guess: ported) by Norm Sailer, and illustrated by Rick Incrocci. The same set of credits can be found in the Atari 800 and the Commodore 64 versions. Either Jyym “forgot” to credit his wife for helping write the TRS-80 version, or there’s some other story behind it we might never be able to uncover anymore. As the game is apparently, potentially a joint effort, I will attribute it to the Pearsons from this point on.

But now enough with the fluff. Let’s see how The Institute plays from a 2019 perspective, shall we?

First hour of gameplay: The drugs do work, and I know I’ll see your face again.

Before I jump into the next Pearson game I make a list of actions I need to try out on every screen in order to thoroughly explore the gameworld:

I’ll look, listen and smell in each room several times.

I’ll look at, listen to and smell each object mentioned in the room description.

I’ll talk to every NPC repeatedly and several times.

In the dark I’ll feel for objects.

I’ll try every exit including N,S,E,W but also OPEN and CLIMB.

I’ll look UNDER items, too.

I’ve made a list of unusual verbs they’re usually fond of – like unfasten, lift or chop.

When I feel like I’m stuck I’ll wait around in each room for a minimum of five turns.

I expect this to be particularly necessary for The Institute as I remember it to be a rather complex game. The dreams are discrete structures, and although you can carry items from one dream to another there are some items you will need on your person all the time and the game still has the usual six-item inventory limit. For today’s post I will be exploring in detail the first dream which is by far the largest. Before even thinking of dreaming, however, you start your journey inside the titular institute.

A beginner is me.

I begin the game in a stark, white room with a hospital bed. My most thorough examination comes up with nothing but as I try to look under the bed, the game comes back with a suspicious “not now.” This is just like in Asylum! I wonder if that’s a coincidence or if Jyym Pearson actually played (and liked) that game and if that may be the real reason behind the change of publishers? After a few turns of looking, listening and smelling, a “disfigured dwarf” enters and delivers sort of an opening monologue when I talk to him: “Welcome to the institute, John! May you see more mercy than has been shown me. They will tell you that you are insane, but you are not. You may suffer tortures but don’t give up. Escape!” Then he leaves. And I have a hunch but it’s probably from a previous playthrough: what if I looked under the bed again? Success! The dwarf apparently dropped an old and dirty coffee cup which I can pick up.

I proceed to explore the long hall which is made up of three rooms. To the north there’s a mirror, and looking at it feels like another William Denman moment, since Jyym Pearson never resorted to this kind of humour at the expense of the player before: “Boy, are you ugly!”, the game exclaims. Trying all sorts of things with the mirror results in nothing before I try to break it. It may be bad luck but at least I now have a jagged mirror in my inventory. If the slots keep filling up at this rate, I’ll hit the inventory limit in no time!

Breaking the mirror did not reveal a new exit, so I continue south and explore the other parts of the hall. To the east there is a closed door leading to a dispensary with white shelves. Looking at the shelves repeatedly first reveals a red bottle and next a scalpel. I pocket both and find that the bottle contains magic powder. There is a label on it saying “Eat me”, so I assume this is what will eventually take me to wonderland. When I attempt to eat the powder right away, however, a guard kills me (!) for stealing. That’s abrupt! Luckily the game is just as lenient as its predecessors and I start over at the beginning with my inventory intact. Or is it? The red bottle is gone but the guard did not take offense at my stealing the scalpel. I’ll probably need to find some other place to eat the powder in secrecy. When I explore the dispensary some more I stumble over the solution right away. Going south makes me enter a small, dark closet which seems like the perfect place to develop a little drug habit. I attempt to steal the red bottle, enter the closet and eat the powder but see that I can’t because the powder sticks in my throat and I cough it up before it goes down. Better go ask Alice for some liquid then.

I find out that I can drop the red bottle inside the closet instead of carrying it around with me which would only result in me getting killed by a guard once more. With no more leads to explore and my list of actions exhausted I proceed to walk to the southernmost part of the hall. I find a door to the south but check the other exits first. To the west, there is a large ward room full of patients. This is where I find two potentially necessary messages. Firstly, looking at the room reveals a sign that reads “peace = death”. Not quite Orwellian but still interesting. I take a note and listen to the patients who “wander about moaning and crying.” This prompts the game to single out a voice crying “Shafla is the word.” Hmm, Shafla. Might be a magic word for all I know. Better take another note, then.

The final room lies south of the hall and consists of a small green office. There is an evil looking man sitting at a desk and a locked door to the south. When I try to interact with either of the objects, I am sprayed with mace and thrown out immediately. My only option is to talk to the man which reveals him to be my counselor. The conversation is rather one-sided: “Hello John, I’m your counselor. How are you dealing with your insanity?” The only answer that makes sense is “fine” to which he replies “Good, someday you may leave here.” He then prattles on: “Society must be protected from you, John, and you must be protected from yourself.” Then he decides that our conversation is over and I get thrown out again. I attempt to lead the conversation a number of different ways but it always ends with the same result. If I try to insult the counselor, the parser doesn’t understand me – if I try to kill him, I get thrown out regardless. Having exhausted all of my other options I stay in each room for some turns before coming to the conclusion that the solution must lie within the small green office. This is correct, and “attack counselor” finally works. I am locked up in a softly padded cell but the disfigured inmate who came to visit me in my room suggested that would probably be a good thing.

Looking at the cell reveals nothing special but when I listen, I can hear water dripping from the ceiling. If I drop the coffee cup the game tells me that water drips slowly into the cup. This is just what I need for my first drug trip, I assume! After a few turns I am released from lockup. I haven’t finished my investigation properly and missed my chance to pick up the coffee cup. Hence I return to the small green office straight away and attack my counselor yet again. Am I not somehow proving him right by doing this? In terms of role-playing, it surely is a strange situation.

I am glad I didn’t pick up the coffee cup earlier because only now it’s described as a “cup of water”. I investigate the cell some more and, possibly due to an earlier memory, also try to cut the padding with my scalpel, and fortunately so, as there happens to be a long rope behind it, and you never know what ropes will be good for in an adventure game!

But for now it’s back to the closet – I eagerly eat my powder and this time the screen is wiped and I pass into my first dream. I am now in a lovely, green forest full of huge willow trees. As my examination comes up with nothing interesting, I continue east where I find myself in a small, peaceful meadow. What a lovely dream! There is a sheer cliff to the south and wait, I had this kind of puzzle before. The solution is a little bit different than in Escape from Traam, though, because I can’t find anything to tie the rope to but rather have to “throw rope” – for the same result: the rope catches (where, I don’t know) and I am now able to scale the cliff.

On the narrow cliff I find a telescope. I can’t pick it up and looking through it reveals that it’s blurry. I try to clean it but that doesn’t work. Maybe it’s a question of focus? I try to come up with a verb to describe what I want to do but simply typing “focus telescope” helps me out here. That’s quite an unusual verb for a text adventure but nothing too bad. I add it to my list of “Pearson verbs” regardless, to help me with my next game. The next “puzzle” is essentially the same as discovering the diamond in Earthquake – San Francisco 1906. I need to look at each newly discovered object – first planet Earth, then its continents, then a metropolis, a tall building, a billboard and, finally, some numbers are on it. They read “5 6 6 2 1” and I write them down right away.

Looking at the forest I can see a huge statue to the southwest but as I can only move to the south or the west (and can’t do either from this room) there is no way for me to reach it (yet). With nothing left to do, I check out the other locations again and remain in the meadow for a few turns in case I miss some event before I return to the starting location in order to do the same there. Just one look reveals that there’s a corpse now, however. It turns out to be my father! This got Freudian pretty quickly! Also, when I listen again there is a “mumbling noise” coming from a tree. I talk to the tree (my mental health deteriorated rather quickly, I’m afraid! Am I sure I don’t belong in the institute after all?) and a willow responds, moaning “Where are you from?” That’s a good question. Do I know anything about John’s background yet? I first assume that the metropolis I was able to see through the telescope might have a name, or that it may be recognizable somehow if I managed to turn it. Or is the answer simply “Earth”? I try that, and also “planet Earth”, but the parser doesn’t understand me which is never a good sign. So I fiddle with the telescope some more but that won’t help me either. I talk to the willow one more time and notice that the title of the game is positioned very close to the question onscreen. Hmm, could it be that easy? It’s worth a try! “The Institute”, I say, and with a crack the willow opens and exposes some stairs leading downward. As there seems to be nothing else to do, I move on.

I find myself in a circular clearing in front of a large oak door. Quite strangely, I’m not alone: the counselor is here, and he holds a gun to his head. Better than mine, I think, and proceed to talk to him. He simply taunts me and decides to be unhelpful: “Face it, John – this dream won’t help you escape. The key to your insanity is your father.” My father, the corpse? Should I have searched him some more? He then changes his tune a bit: “I’ll do anything, John. I’m here to help!” But then it’s back to the same old song: “Society must be protected from you, John, and you must be protected from yourself.” Then the conversation loops. Since violence helped me before with the counselor, I try to shoot the gun. It’s actually the solution, and the counselor disappears in a flash. This is my dream, you better deal with it! With nothing more to explore, I open the door and find myself in another serene location: a beautiful valley with a tiny stream. The huge statue is now to the south but I still can’t interact with it. I proceed to investigate the tiny stream but nothing I do (even tasting) reveals anything helpful. I decide to jump right in and drink from the stream. To my surprise, my skin turns blue. If I drink some more, my skin turns red, and after that the pattern seemingly repeats. I don’t know what this may be good for but I make a mental note for later.

To the south there is a forest, and now I am immediately north of the large statue. The game helpfully informs me that “the iron base of the statue stands 30 feet tall.” However, the statue itself is “bronze, and very tall.” Looking at the forest reveals a tube of glue which I pick up. There are two exits, one to the west and one to the east. Going west lets me investigate the statue some more. I find that it has my father’s face which is peculiar – I still get the feeling that the counselor has been right about me all along. Maybe I’m in for a twist ending! Also, I discover a huge door in the base but there appears to be no keyhole. My first thought is that this may require a magic word, like “open, sesame.” Did I learn any magic words? Yes, I did! Saying “Shafla” makes a keyhole appear but sadly I don’t have any keys yet. I’ll postpone this for now.

It’s not easy being green

On the other side of the statue there’s a rocky ravine. A tiny midget in a diving suit (what is it with this game and insults aimed at little people?) is here. He resembles Harry Truman. Oh well, I already discovered a statue of Dick Nixon on the alien planet Traam, this won’t shock me. When I try talking to the midget, the solution to this puzzle becomes a lot clearer: “What does death mean?”, he shouts, “answer right and I’ll fight!” Err..fight? Do I want to fight? Do you mean it? Or do you just say it for the sake of the rhyme? Let’s find out! As I’ve already learned, death equals peace, so that is obviously the correct answer. It also prompts the midget to punch and kick my legs while screaming. Hm, can I return the favour? Punching doesn’t work but kicking does: The midget sails over a tree and I can proceed.

I emerge on a grassy knoll, and this time it’s a recycled setting from Saigon: The Final Days: A log bridges a stream. This time it’s a different puzzle, though, and if I try to climb the log I find that my shoes slip on it. I investigate the environment first and then decide to go with the most obvious solution. Unfortunately, “put glue on shoes” does not work, and I wrestle with the parser for a bit before I remember that Pearson games often require the whole description. “Put tube of glue” prompts the parser to ask “on what?”, and if I answer “on shoes”, it seals the deal. I can now climb the log and cross over to the north side of the stream. Naturally, I also drink from this stream but the game simply tells me that I drink too much – another bit of Denman influence?

I am really thankful for my thoroughness here because I definitely would have overlooked the next part. From this side of the stream it’s possible to discover that there’s a hole in the log. Because I can’t find any way to interact with said hole, I try to enter it before I remember that Pearson’s synonym for “enter” is always “climb”. “Climb hole” works and I find myself inside an old hollow log. There’s a shovel and a bronze key there, and I know just what the latter might be for.

First I check out the other exits. At the side of a large log wall which is just north of the stream I encounter a huge green man. He tells me to “leave here or die, stranger”. I can’t attack him or kill him, and he won’t say anything else. But I immediately think back of that strange stream that turned my skin blue and red when I drank from it.

I decide to backtrack to the stream. First I think I need to mix the water from the stream with something else but then I discover that it requires only persistence to solve this one. Drinking from the stream six or seven times in a row makes your skin turn green at some point. After that, the same game begins again – you turn blue, then red, then…wait a minute! My skin is glowing? I don’t know what this means and I’ve just discovered this because I wanted to see what happens when I keep drinking after turning green. When I saw that the pattern repeated, I wanted to get back to green. But glowing? Huh.

I go back to the huge green man to see what he thinks of my new look but I fear and suspect that he won’t let me pass because I’m no longer green. Or am I? I’m honestly not sure. As I talk to him he’s much friendlier now: “Welcome, go on in”, says he. I can open the crude door and find myself in the center of a small village, surrounded by green skinned natives. Looking at them reveals an umbrella which one of them just dropped. To the east, there is a large grass hut. Inside there’s a huge fat man sitting on a throne made of skulls. Great, more body shaming! The man is rather friendly although he can see that I’m an outsider. He even knows my name! “Hello John, welcome to my village, my name is Rudy Bega”, he begins. Does anybody know who he’s supposed to be? I know Lou Bega, sure, and wish I didn’t, but who’s Rudy Bega? He adds some more detail: “I’m from Chicago but the labor unions drove me out back in 1937.” After that he sneezes violently and it blows me out of the hut. Another bit that feels like William Denman’s humour to me – isn’t that pretty close to farting across pits in the continuum games?

I find another hut to the north, this one described as a small grass shack. In order to enter it, I need to cut some bamboo strips but that’s not a problem for my scalpel. Inside I find out what my glowing body is for: It reveals an Acme tool box! Would I have been unable to see it without lucking out? I start from the beginning once more (later) to try it out: yes, the shack is too dark to see anything if I don’t drink from the stream eleven times instead of seven times or something like that. Would I ever have come up with that? I’m not even sure how I solved this puzzle way back when. I must have been just as lucky!

The box is locked and I don’t have the right key. Thus I continue to a smooth stone wall where I discover a glowing face. It turns out to be “the oracle” and demands that I show it “beauty equal to [its own] and [it] will reveal [its] power.” This one is easy as well. I just show it the mirror and it is so enthralled with itself that the surrounding wall cracks. When I climb the crack, I drift out of the first dream and find myself back in the closet. Stay tuned to see what the other three dreams look like in my next post – and don’t forget to guess the score for this one!

Wake up, little Nemo!

Session time: 1.5 hrs Total time: 1.5 hrs Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There’s a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it’s an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won’t be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 20 CAPs in return. It’s also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.

Med Systems Marathon Overview:

(a) 1980 Summary (b) Reality Ends (1980) (c) Rat’s Revenge / Deathmaze 5000 (1980) (d) Labyrinth (1980) (e) Asylum (1981) (f) Microworld (1981)

Jyym & Robyn Pearson Mini-Marathon Overview: (a) Curse of Crowley Manor (1981) (b) Escape from Traam (1981) (c) Earthquake – San Francisco (1981)

(d) Saigon: The Final Days (1981)

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-77-the-institute-1981-introduction/

[ntrending]

Last week in tech: Jony Ive left Apple, 'The Office' is quitting Netflix, and we tried the iOS 13 beta

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/last-week-in-tech-jony-ive-left-apple-the-office-is-quitting-netflix-and-we-tried-the-ios-13-beta/

Last week in tech: Jony Ive left Apple, 'The Office' is quitting Netflix, and we tried the iOS 13 beta

BMW’s electric motorcycle concept would communicate with electronic ride wear that could have built-in lights. (BMW/)

You don’t need to be the kind of gadget enthusiast who scours obscure websites for product info to appreciate Jony Ive’s influence on the gadget world. Apple’s chief design officer is largely responsible for a handful of iconic products, including the iPhone, the iPad, and the MacBook. Now, Ive is leaving Apple after decades of service to start his own design firm with his pal, Marc Newson. Apple will be the firm’s biggest client, at least to start, so it seems safe to assume Jony will still spend a fair bit of his time designing Apple products and wearing sweaters that shouldn’t look cool, but somehow they do.

However, no one is sure how much influence Ive will have any more, or really how hands-on he was in recent years anyway, so take all of those “end of an era” blog posts about Ive’s new gig with a pinch of beautifully-rendered salt.

But Ive’s departure wasn’t the only news of the past week. Here’s what else has been going on beyond the drama at Cupertino.

Listen to the Techathlon greatest hits

There’s no new Techathlon podcast this week—we’re on a summer hiatus, actually, reading old copies of Popular Science by the beach—but that makes this a perfect time to dig into the archives and find some of the episodes you may have missed. For instance, the gem posted above includes a food delivery derby and will take you back to that whimsical time before you knew how Game of Thrones ended.

Netflix will lose streaming rights to The Office in 2020

NBC Universal announced that it will take back streaming rights to The Office next year. The network is launching its own paid streaming service and hopes the show’s migration will bring devoted fans along with it. I’ll personally miss it, as I’ve fallen asleep to the sweet sounds of Dunder Mifflin for years. But at this point I could probably recite most of the show from memory, so maybe it’s time to move on like Pam did after she broke up her engagement with Roy . This is a good opportunity, though, for all of your pretentious friends to get on social media and blather on about how much better the British version is.

Watch Volkswagen’s ID.R set a speed record

The Nurburgring race track is a benchmark for cars. Clocking a fast time around the dangerous course is a testament to any vehicle’s engineering. Volkswagen’s ID.R racecar recently set a new record for electric cars—and you can watch the video of the process. The course is just shy of 13 miles and the VW did it in 6 minutes and 5 seconds.

Oppo released a phone with a camera under the screen

Fingerprint sensors have lived under smartphone screens for more than a year, but now cameras are sneaking under there as well. Oppo’s new smartphone hides the front-facing selfie camera under the display, rather than cutting out a notch. The placement affects the image quality and you can see it under the screen in certain light, but it’s still pretty impressive as long as you don’t get barbecue sauce smudges over it before trying to get the shot.

BMW showed off an electric concept motorcycle

You can already buy an electric motorcycle from Zero, and Harley-Davidson’s Livewire goes on sale soon, but now BMW is showing off a concept electric bike. The Vision DC Roadster takes design cues from the current gas-powered two-wheelers, but replaces the combustion engine with electric motors.

Philips released smart bulbs with Bluetooth

The new Philips Hue bulbs have Bluetooth built in and can connect directly to a smartphone for control. That means you don’t need an extra piece of hardware called a bridge, which connects them all together when the bulbs rely solely on WiFi.

YouTube is giving users more control over recommendations

Google’s monstrous video service sometimes throws some truly confusing videos into my recommended feeds. Now, users can block specific channels from popping up in certain recommendation slots in the app. So, if you want to score small victories over insufferable YouTube influencers, feel free to enjoy blocking them.

The iOS 13 and iPadOS beta are out

If you’re feeling adventurous this weekend and you have a slightly older iPhone or iPad laying around, you can try out the beta version of the upcoming operating systems. You’ll get access to iOS’s Dark Mode or iPadOS’s revamped home screen before everyone else downloads it later this year. Just be warned: They’re buggy and if you install them on your main device, you could be stuck using that backup phone with a cracked screen that you usually keep in the junk drawer next to the can opener and like 30 AAA batteries with various levels of juice left in them.

Written By Stan Horaczek

[writin-bout-games-blog]

Goty 2k18

Here are the best games I played in 2018; honorable mentions are for either games I played this year that released outside of 2018 or remasters that don’t count.

Honorable Mentions: 

Hollow Knight (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - I didn’t play this 2017 release until the Switch version this year, but it’s the best game I played in 2018, and maybe the best Metroidvania I’ve ever played as well. It has a bit of a slow start in terms of seeing new areas and gaining new abilities, but stick with it and it becomes one of the most rewarding games I’ve ever experienced.

Yakuza 0 (PS4/PC) - Narrative oriented games have never been my bag, but I’ve rarely felt this invested in a story in any medium. The characters are immediately memorable, at once both over the top caricatures of goofy hyper masculinity and oddly thoughtful yakuza members concerned with their community and just being human. I’ve never seen a story so masterfully jump back and forth between overwrought anime nonsense and down to earth character beats, all while retaining its unique sense of self. It’s a lovable soap opera starring handsome criminal boys with hearts of gold, and shouldn’t be missed by anyone.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4/Switch/PS Vita) - This series has been around for decades, and I never gave it a glance until I heard a bit of the soundtrack for this entry. It lacks polish and has a pretty simplistic combat system, at least on the default difficulty setting, but it’s one of the most interesting JRPGs I’ve ever played, as the entire game takes place on a deserted island after a ship is destroyed by a kraken-esque creature. Oh, and the aforementioned soundtrack is absolutely delightful, with cheesy electric guitars around every corner. It’s the perfect game to unwind with before bed on your Switch.

Katamari Damacy Reroll (Switch/PC) - It wouldn’t be fair for the best game of 2004 to also be the best game of 2018, so it’s been excluded here. But make no mistake, this is the best purchase you can make this year.

Actual games of the year:

12. Far: Lone Sails (PC) - I fucking love games where you operate a large vessel by controlling a small character inside of it. I’m not sure how to describe this type of sub-genre, but Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime and Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime are the only other examples I know of. And while those are fast, goofy, frenetic and colorful experiences, Lone Sails takes the concept and applies it to a linear, artsy indie game. And it turns out, making one of “those” indie games and coupling it with a fun and relatively unexplored gameplay conceit makes for an extremely memorable experience; the first time my train-shuttle-car-thingie reached full speed as I perfectly managed my fuel, steam and acceleration is something that’s stuck with me all year. The only thing keeping this game from rising higher up this list is that I think it’s painfully short at around 2 hours long, and I say that as someone that loves shorter experiences. A more fully fleshed out sequel or spiritual successor has the potential to be considered an all-time great.

11. Donut County (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC/iOS) - The soundtrack for this game alone is clever enough to deserve a spot on this list, honestly. And clever is the best word to describe Donut County as a (w)hole. Having not heard pretty much anything about the game going in besides general good word of mouth, I was genuinely stunned as I realized the entire game was nothing but moving a hole around and growing bigger as I sucked up objects in a stylized world. In all respects, this game feels like the western equivalent of Katamari Damacy, though there are probably some poignant think pieces to be written comparing Katamari’s building with Donut County’s destruction. Regardless, Donut County is delightful. The humor may not be for everyone (I personally loved how accurately the dialogue captures the tone of texts between 20-somethings), but there’s something for everyone to enjoy here.

10. God of War (PS4) - God of War is interesting. It feels like a mish mash of pretty much all the non-shooter related hot trends in video games right now, and yet doesn’t really excel at any of them. The story’s fine, though I think both Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption 2 told far more nuanced and interesting ones this year in the western-developed AAA space. The combat feels great for the first couple of hours, and BOY DOES THROWING THAT AXE AND RECALLING IT FEEL AMAZING, but encounters aren’t really changed up at all past the halfway point of the game, and the combat in general feels like it’s shown you its entire hand within a couple of hours. And yet, everything about the game is so memorable. From punching indestructible gods through mountains in the first 15 minutes of the game to hanging out with a sardonic decapitated head, I feel like this is the most I’ve thought about an action game after completion besides Bloodborne. It doesn’t hurt that this might be the best looking game I’ve ever seen, either. It might just be the meatloaf and mashed potatoes of video games, but it’s some pretty damn good meatloaf.

9. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC later) - There are plenty of sidescrolling indie metroidvania throwbacks these days. Oddly, there’s also been a fair few games in the oft overlooked Wonder Boy vein lately, the series Monster Boy belongs to. There aren’t a lot of downright pleasant games made in this style lately though, and pleasant is the perfect word to describe the time spent exploring this game. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack is second only to Celeste this year, and the game somehow manages to feel like playing a Master System game without all of the drawbacks a statement like that would normally entail. What holds this game back from true greatness for me is that some of the later dungeon and boss designs are remarkably unclear in their progression, mostly the haunted mansion area. That said, these are relatively small complaints in a surprisingly large adventure, and the different animal abilities are truly brilliant. Monster Boy occupies the same space for me as last year’s truly incredible SteamWorld Dig 2, and if that doesn’t sell you on the game then nothing will.

8. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4) - Everything stated above in the Honorable Mentions section applies here; Yakuza is a series about lovable handsome crime boys playing the role of boy scouts in their community, if the boy scouts kicked motorcycles at bad guys. I will say that Kiwami 2 never approaches the pure brilliance that was Yakuza 0, but most of that can largely be attributed to the fact that this game is a remake of a 12-year-old video game from two console generations ago. And don’t let that statement deter you; the story is as engaging as ever, and Kiwami 2 also shares with 0 the most fun game within a game I’ve ever played - the cabaret club management sim, which tasks you with recruiting hostesses to take on an evil circuit of club owners in a tournament of taking money from lonely Japanese businessmen. It’s as absurd as it sounds, and far more engaging than it seems, which kind of summarizes the series as a whole. My only caveat with this entry is that I would consider it absolutely crucial to play through 0 and Kiwami 1 before this, as there are some emotional seeds planted in those two games that come to tear-jerking fruition here.

7. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age (PS4/PC/Switch later) - With the sales and reception of both this and Octopath Traveler, 2018 seems like the year in which throwback JRPGs came into vogue, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I grew up loving the genre, but post high school my love largely faded for any of them that weren’t Pokemon or Mario adjacent. While I still think there’s a lot of self reflection for the genre to accomplish that Dragon Quest is existentially incapable of doing (as its own design and fandom have prevented it from making any meaningful mechanical progression in decades), DQ11 succeeds in that it’s just a really fantastic video game. Its story is always captivating and repeatedly goes in directions I never expected. Its characters are simple and painted in broad strokes (I mean that in the best way possible) while remaining some of the best written and most engaging party members I’ve ever encountered. And its battle system is oldschool, somewhat archaic and even punishing without ever feeling unfair, and it has just enough new mechanics to constantly give the player a wider swath of options than the series has ever had before without relinquishing the series trademark simplicity. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed a tradition JRPG since Chrono Trigger, and I was never once bored in my 70+ hours of playtime. Really, the only complaint I can level against the game is that the series composer is a monstrous piece of homophobic trash that deserves to be launched into a brick wall via trebuchet.

6. Mega Man 11 (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - Who would have imagined that a new Mega Man game under contemporary Capcom could end up being great? The soundtrack is extremely disappointing and the Wily stages are a series lowpoint (especially when compared to the previous two Mega Man games), but everything else in this game is operating at heights the series has never previously achieved. The mark of a good Mega Man game is how versatile the robot master’s weapons are within the actual platforming segments, and 11’s level and enemy design are completely built around using these weapons and the new double gear system as well, which allows a player to increase their firepower or slow down time at will. Every ability is not only useful but fun to use as well, even the obligatory shield weapon. Much like what last year’s Sonic Mania did for Sonic, there has never been a better time to try out Mega Man.

5. Call of Duty Black Ops 4: Blackout (PS4/Xbox One/PC) - The way in which the battle royale genre has overtaken video games is remarkable, though not as remarkable as the fact that a Call of Duty game is being included on one of my game of the year lists. I could go deep into how Blackout feels like a best-of compilation for the genre, or how remarkable it is that it retains the goofy, unpredictable nature of PUBG while actually feeling like a polished video game. But what’s most notable about the game for me is just how much fun I’ve had playing it with my friends. Video games mean a lot to me, and having a game in which our party chat can go from discussing poor life choices made by people we know to yelping as shots soar over our head as quickly as it takes for an armored truck to appear outside the house we’re hiding inside of is something truly special, and it’s something I’ve only encountered with this genre of games. Blackout may not add much of its own flavor to battle royale, and what little is there (the perk system and zombies) feels either broken or weirdly inconsequential. But sometimes, a less broken game with a slightly faster pace is all you need to become the most playable game of the genre, as well as the most I’ve ever enjoyed a multiplayer console shooter.

4. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) - Smash is my all-time favorite multiplayer series, so the biggest character, stage and music roster to date makes this entry a no-brainer. I mean, I could spend multiple paragraphs absolutely gushing about how excited I am for all of the love the Castlevania series (another all-time favorite video game franchise) has received here alone. And that’s kind of the point. From Isabelle’s accidental murder sprees to K. Rool’s big belly rude boy moveset to Kirby sporting a beard after eating Solid Snake, with Ultimate it feels like nearly anyone that has ever played a video game can find something within that brings a smile to their face. And this is to say nothing of the over 1200(!) “spirits” in the game, all referencing even smaller and more obscure video game things. Will the game have an interesting competitive scene? I think so; I’m no pro, but the game feels so much better to me than any game in the series post Melee. Only time will tell how fun of a tournament game Ultimate ends up being, but as a celebration of the medium as a whole, this is a love letter to nearly all corners of the industry, no matter how niche. And that’s where my love of Super Smash Bros. has always stemmed from - its unflinching love and celebration of the things in my life that I love and want to celebrate. Plus, there’s Castlevania stuff in this one.

3. Tetris Effect (PS4) - Positivity in my life has been in short supply the past couple of years. To be more straightforward, the world has been an absolute fucking nuclear wasteland of hopelessness for the past couple of years. Hell, there’s an argument to be made that it’s been on this level for a while, and it’s my privilege that has prevented me from seeing that, which is even worse. My eyes have been opened, they cannot be closed, and while part of me wishes they could be, most of me can only stare with a grim sense of foreboding and wonder where the hell we’re going and how we fix all of this. So, Tetris then.

Tetris is simple and Tetris can be overwhelming. Add psychedelic visuals, spac- Enya-world music and the option to experience it all in virtual reality, and you have something simple, something overwhelming, and something oddly powerful. To say I had an emotional response to Tetris Effect is an oversimplification. Losing myself inside of my VR headset to clearing lines while dolphins made of light surrounded and splashed around me was beautiful, ridiculous, cheesy and, somehow, empowering. I’m under no illusion that the world is going to get better  while I hide inside, literally blind to everything going on around me, and no one should be. But the best art never was able to save us; it reminds us of what there is to lose and why the things we love are worth fighting for while also giving us the strength to do so. This sounds like a lot for what basically amounts to Tetris with cool music and visualizers, and I get that. But while writing and editing this piece, not only do I not feel like any of this has been hyperbolic per my experiences, re-reading my own words really just makes me want to play some more damn Tetris Effect.

2. Celeste (PS4/Xbox One/Switch/PC) - If Tetris Effect is your overly positive friend that can seemingly never be brought down by anything, Celeste is the friend that’s been through more than you could ever imagine and came out through the other side a better person, and not only knows you can as well, but actively pushes you to be the best you can be. This is both narratively true, as the surprisingly great story deals with depression and self-loathing and overcoming anxiety, but also what the game beats into you through your own act of playing it. Well, “beats into you” might be putting it lightly; “gently yet forcefully stabbing into you” is a bit more accurate. Yes, the game is an unbelievably hard platformer (at least on the B and C side levels), and it does take a lot of inspiration in its design from fellow platformer classic Super Meat Boy. But while Meat Boy makes your repeated deaths part of the punchline, Celeste prefers those failures to be recontextualized as experiences to be learned from. “You’re going to beat this level, and you’re going to beat this game. Just keep trying.” is what Celeste wants you to take from its harsh design. And maybe that kind of motivation doesn’t work for everyone, but the people that stick with the game found what will go down as one of the all-time greats in the genre, and certainly one of the best games of the decade.

Oh, and the soundtrack is fucking incredible too.

1. Monster Hunter World (PS4/Xbox One/PC) and Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate (Switch) - I knew something special was happening when I saw multiple Playstation friends who usually only play Call of Duty and sports games devoting dozens (or even hundreds) of hours to Monster Hunter World this year. I was skeptical, having tried to get into the series previously on the 3DS, but something just clicked this time that hadn’t before, and soon I was farming Nergigantes for entire evenings. The game was full of nothing but memorable moments, but realizing for the first time how the insect glaive worked and flipping through the air whacking a giant electric flying squirrel as we were both being chased by a fire breathing t-rex was the most out of control I’ve ever felt playing a video game while simultaneously being the coolest thing I’ve ever done in a video game. And to revisit that same scenario over a hundred hours later, armed with the knowledge that only experience can give of how to actually control my insect glaive flips, was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. All of the knowledge gained from World was then taken to MHGU on the Switch later this year, where my girlfriend and I put over 200 hours in and still have not seen all of the content within. If two grown adults sitting in a hotel room and screaming with delight when they see how cool the weapons they can forge from hunting a bubble dragon are isn’t an indication that their families should seek help, it means that Monster Hunter is pretty great.

So which game is better? My heart of hearts tells me World wins out by an inch for its extremely intelligent streamlined design and accessibility, but MHGU has dozens and dozens (and dozens and dozens) of different monsters to hunt and hundreds of weapons and armor sets to choose from, and having a full blown Monster Hunter on a portable with a decent screen and dual analog sticks is a great argument for the Switch entry. Really though, it doesn’t matter; these are both amazing games, and I wanted to give them both their due without using two slots. If weirdos on your friends list you haven’t talked to since high school who usually only buy FIFA can fall in love with Monhun, so can you.

[jamiekturner]

Why most redesigns fail

A product manager walks into a design department and orders a website redesign. “Our website looks so old! All our competitors have flashier websites. Let’s redesign it. Buttons with colorful shadows are the future!”

Designer: “Ok, let’s start by conducting a usability test — ” PM: “You have 3 weeks and I want all colors to be changed to hot pink, edgy blue or millennial orange.”

Skype Redesign 2018

This is how you murder your conversion rate. While the above scenario might be a wild exaggeration, the number of companies radically redesigning their brand every year is certainly not. Just look at Facebook, which seems like a new website almost every time I open it. There’s an entire group on Facebook consisting of 3k members who track every minute detail the company changes.

Any user facing product must inevitably stay current and fresh in the ever-changing market. Redesigns are vital for websites, apps or any product that interacts with any kind of users or stakeholders. If done correctly with a data-driven process and clearly defined design KPIs, a redesigned product can increase conversions, get more sales and make your users happy.

But more often than not, redesigns feel pretty unwelcome with dip in conversions, angry users and negative app reviews. Be it small players like Snapchat or bigwigs like Microsoft with Windows 8 and Skype — it seems that no one is safe from a redesign failure.

Why does a redesign fail?

A redesign, be it visual or functional, is a change in how a user remembers your product. People don’t like changes. When you change how a user accesses the settings page on your app, you are asking them to break a habit.

Users who were previously able to navigate to the settings page on your app without thinking about it twice are now fumbling to find it. This results in a microaggression. Your job as a designer is to minimize these microaggressions and motivate them to build new habits.

Snapchat’s Navigation Redesign

Let’s analyze how snapchat redesigned one of their core user stories — viewing stories from friends.

The older version of snapchat had set up the following structure for navigation: swipe left to view stories and swipe right to chat with friends. To view stories from your friends you had to swipe left from the main camera screen and then click on your friend’s story.

Promoted stories from celebrities and media outlets were a part of the stories page. They appeared alongside your friends’ stories.

In the redesign, friends’ stories were moved to the left and combined with chat. Promoted stories got their own page. This redesign saw Snapchat move away from its previous split between “chat” and “stories”. It focused on the division between friends and publishers. Snapchat could promote paid content while grouping everything from friends in one place.

The primary area to click for viewing the story was also shrunk in the redesign. Previously, users had a rectangle bar which they could click to view their friend’s story. After the redesign, it was shrunk down to a much smaller circle which was shoved all the way to the left to the screen.

Area to click to view story

At least two rules-of-thumb were changed: the navigation structure and the area to tap to view a story. Needless to say, users didn’t like these changes very much. Within a week Snapchat’s average rating dropped from 3.1 to 2.4.

I did a sentient analysis of user reviews using Appbot. We can clearly see the spike in negative reviews after the redesign was rolled out to users.

Histogram Legend

  sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.

— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) February 21, 2018

This tweet cost Snapchat a billion dollars

  Snapchat’s redesign was a disaster. It dropped its daily users by 2% to 188 million users from 193 million. Ad views and revenue went down by 36%. Many publishers switched platforms and started calling Instagram their new home.

6 months after the redesign rollout, Snapchat made amends and announced a reversal. Friend’s stories would be moved back to the right alongside publisher stories. In a direct quote:

We learned that combining watching Stories and communicating with friends into the same place made it harder to optimize for both competing behaviors. We are currently rolling out an update to address this by moving Stories from friends to the right side of the application.– Evan Spiegel, CEO Snapchat

Windows 8 Start Menu Redesign

Now let’s look at how Microsoft redesigned their start menu in Windows 8. Let’s try to open the control panel in Windows 7 and 8.

To open control panel in Windows 7, you need to click on the Start button to list all the applications. And then you click on the control panel.

In Windows 8, you already start at the Start menu. A good head start, right? Wrong. There is no control panel to be found in the apps listed. Nor is any option to list all programs.

To get to the panel, you need to open the Charms menu. The menu can be opened by hovering your mouse on the top-right or the bottom-right portion of the screen. After you have managed to open the Charms menu, you click on Settings and then on Control panel.

This gesture-based process to access panels was completely alien to users when Windows 8 launched. Windows didn’t provide any onboarding to help users discover the charms menu. Even after users discovered the charms menu by googling or from their friends, they were still not comfortable with it. Gestures and hovering both were new concepts to the OS.

Are all redesigns bad?

Redesigns are changes and people don’t like changes. It’s easy to think from the above examples that putting time in a redesign to change how a product works might not be a good investment for your product. But products that don’t evolve and keep the same design to ‘play it safe’ are inevitably phased out by faster moving competitors.

Lightweight and progressive changes that users are able to pick up easily makes a redesign bearable. Sometimes that might translate to skipping flashy animations, gestures or navigation structures to using simpler alternatives that the user is already comfortable with.

Facebook’s Navigation Redesign

In 2012, Facebook was gearing up for a major redesign how people navigated on its apps. Up until now the way to navigate to your friend requests, messages and notifications was through the iconic blue action bar on the top. This action bar was meant to emulate how users navigated on the website. It was made to look and feel like what the website header looked like.

Both the Android and the iOS implemented navigation in similar fashion with identical action bars.

But the mobile user base was catching up and mobile-first users were about to shadow desktop-first users. Mobile only social networks like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine (rip) were gaining popularity. It was pretty evident that people were going to be spending more time on their phones than on their computers in the coming future.

So when Facebook decided to simplify their navigation structure for mobile, they decided to ditch consistency and treat Android and iOS as two different products. Facebook introduced two different navigation structures for respective apps. The Android app got the slidable tab bar that stuck to the top while iOS got the static tab bar that stuck to the bottom.

These changes were new to the app but not to the users. While the redesign did require users to break their habit of heading to the blue action bar to navigate, users were already familiar with their platform specific tab bars. Slidable tab bars had been in the Android ecosystem for a couple of years. It didn’t take a lot of time for users to switch from the action bar to the tab bar. Similarly, the iOS tab bar had been present since the platform’s inception, and didn’t feel alien to their users.

Facebook’s separation of tabs in Android and iOS played out really well for them. They became an industry standard shortly after. Most apps implement navigation.

Learnings

The most effective redesigns are usually not the prettiest

Redesign is not a process of beautifying things. The visual aspect is a part of the redesign but it’s not the redesign. If you are redesigning your product just for the sake of better-looking visuals, drawing inspiration from retina-ready mockups from Dribble, and implementing design trends without any research to back it, your redesign is bound to fail.

Sometimes the problem might be that your outdated design language is diluting your brand’s value. Your customers are moving to a competitor with a better-looking design system. And it’s perfectly fine to redesign your design system to look better. But blindly following design trends without any strategy or research to back it up will lead to unfavorable results.

Redesigns are meant to solve problems with specific business constraints and requirements.

  This Google redesign concept from Dribbble uses bold colors and heavy shadows to draw your attention. While it does look fly, this redesign has some major flaws and would not ever see the light of the day at Google. First off, Google’s iconic colorful branding that the brand has stuck to since the last 20 years is missing. Secondly, all Google websites have the profile avatar to the right while here it is on the left. I could go on but hopefully, you get the gist of what I’m trying to convey.

Redesign is a process, not a destination

Product design is a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. A redesign doesn’t mean that the product is completed. It just means that it’s “completed enough” to satisfy any current requirements. No product or user interface is ever “finished”.

Focus on micro conversions

It is important to read between the lines to help you paint a better picture of your users and their activities. Typically, when we talk about conversions in the tech vertical, we focus on the number of app installs, users signed up or sales generated.

Micro conversions are often forgotten and sometimes not tracked. Micro conversions are the low-hanging fruits, precisely, actions that lead users to the end goal, that is, macro conversions. Examples of micro conversions could be number of users using the search feature, number of users updating their profile pictures or number of users confirming their phone number. Micro conversion acts as a process milestone in the conversion funnel and impacts the ultimate step, or macro conversion.

How are these micro conversions doing? Do you see a dip in a particular micro conversion metric? Are users not able to add their buddies because the new search bar is hard to find? Did your call-to-action to sign up for the free trial got buried behind a new layout and users are not able to find it anymore? Defining precise micro conversion goals and tracking them will help you assess points of friction in your redesigned platform’s user journey.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading! This analysis was part of my internship application which I didn’t end up applying to. Hopefully, this post helped you better understand some redesigns and what we could learn from them.

The post Why most redesigns fail appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing https://www.designyourway.net/blog/design/why-most-redesigns-fail/

[stephmolliex]

How to pick the best MacBook or MacBook Pro for any price point

You have to buy what you can afford -- but make sure you're only paying for what matters to you. AppleInsider did the math, and has some recommendations for every price point. We had to double-check this when our Numbers spreadsheet told us: there is one case where you have a choice of two different Apple portables for exactly the same price. If we ever doubted it, then, that is one clear situation where cost is not the deciding factor. It's just that we think it never is. What you always need to do is balance the price, the performance and many other factors regardless of what budget you have or what Mac portable you want. Mind you, money is usually one of those factors. There's no getting around the fact that if you want the absolute best MacBook Pro with maxed out everything then just a good reason isn't enough, you're also going to need $6,699. We've looked at what you can get for budget price points from under $1,000 up to that fully-loaded top price. We've also given you reasons to move up to the next tier if you can. Keep in mind The more you spend on your Mac portable, the better it will be. That doesn't mean, though, that you'll even notice the difference. Your MacBook Pro 15-inch with Touch Bar will be capable of rendering VR video all day but if you just type in TextEdit on it, you're not seeing the benefit. Equally, there are always three things that make the greatest difference between MacBooks today or really any computers, any time. The processor and now particularly its number of cores defines how fast the MacBook is. Even a small increase in processor speed costs money and gets you a performance benefit. RAM makes your machine seem faster too. The more RAM you've got, the more the MacBook can do at the same time and the more responsive it will be at all times. When we've bought machines before, we've even taken more RAM over a higher processor speed when necessary. With MacBooks you get 8GB, 16GB or 32GB RAM and you want the most you can afford. Whatever work you do, get the most RAM you can. However, not all models have these three choices and whatever RAM you get, you're stuck with it forever. There's no adding more later. Lastly, storage. Every Apple portable device on sale today uses solid state drives that Apple refers to as flash storage, instead of the older spinning hard disks. These are much faster, they last much longer without problems and they are the future. They've been the future for a long time, though, and while the price per gigabyte has dropped gigantically in recent years, it's still expensive. Which means that very often the only difference between two of Apple's current models is in how much storage. The smallest SSD in MacBooks is 128GB but some models offer you 512GB, 1TB, 2TB or 4TB. Again, not every model has all of these and, again, whatever you buy you're stuck with. Plus this can currently be the most expensive part of a MacBook: of that top $6,699 price tag. $3,200 is down to the 4TB drive option. Consequently you want the biggest SSD drive you can get but it's probably the thing that you're going to compromise on first. If you work on huge files or projects like photographers or video editors do, take it on the chin and pay. If you only type poems in Microsoft Word, you can settle for the lowest SSD but remember they fill up faster than you think. Under $1,000 There is only one Mac portable under a grand and it's the base MacBook Air which retails at $999. For that you get a 12-inch screen with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD. It's a good, solid machine but you won't use it for games and you shouldn't use it for video editing. It's real appeal, though, is that price point: every other model of MacBook offers you more and sometimes for not a great deal higher price. If price is the overriding issue, however, think about skipping MacBooks entirely and instead buying an iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard. Other keyboards and keyboard cases are available but to have something you can just nip into the Apple Store to buy, this combination is powerful. It's also a little cheaper. The MacBook Air has a 12-inch screen and for $31 less, you could by an iPad Pro with 12.9-inch screen plus the Smart Keyboard. This is a bulkier package to carry around than the MacBook Air and it's hard to quantify the differences between macOS and iOS. However, the iPad Pro is newer and will feel faster. Plus the iPad Pro has a hugely better display than the MacBook Air. In fact, the first reason to move even a little bit up the budget scale above $1,000 is to get a better screen. But, here's the thing. There's always used. There is a healthy market on eBay for used MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and it can be worthwhile to scope them out -- if a bit beyond the scope of this article. From $1,000 to $1,500 There's still reason to look at an combination of an iPad Pro with a Smart Keyboard in this price range. Apple's iPads don't have options yet for choosing how much RAM you get but they do all come in different storage sizes. The 12.9-inch model can have 64GB, 256GB or 512GB storage with the top one making a total cost of $1,448 with the Smart Keyboard. Also, that price is for the cellular model. No MacBooks can directly use a cell connection for the internet so the iPad Pro has more benefits than just price/performance. Though note that you would still have to pay a monthly cell phone bill on top of the iPad Pro purchase price. This price range also still has a version of the MacBook Air: a $1,199 model that comes with twice the storage space at 256GB SSD. That's a good price for the storage but this is still a MacBook Air with its slower processor and poorer screen than in the rest of the range. Instead, this is a case where you get better value spending slightly more money. Spend $100 and get a basic MacBook for $1,299 which has 256GB SSD. Its processor is also newer than the one in the MacBook Air. That's easily enough to make us prefer the MacBook over the MacBook Air -- but this is where we found two models with the same price. For that same $1,299 price could instead get you a MacBook Pro 13-inch with Function Keys. That's faster than the MacBook or MacBook Air, though for this price it does come with a smaller SSD of 128GB. This MacBook Pro has with a 13.3-inch display, however, and that's like having the size of the MacBook Air's one with the quality of the MacBook screen. There is weight and heft to consider, though. The MacBook is the lightest at 2.03 pounds while the MacBook Pro 13-inch without Touch Bar is 3.02 pounds. For comparison, the MacBook Air is 2.96 pounds. When you read these figures you know there isn't a giant difference between them. However, when you use the machines, you realize that actually there is: the MacBook feels impossibly light. The MacBook Pro 13-inch with Function Keys feels solid. The MacBook Air just feels old. Still sticking within the $1,000 to $1,500 range, though, there is one more option. A budget of $1,499 gets you the higher-specification MacBook Pro 13-inch with Function Keys which contains a 256GB SSD. That makes the MacBook Pro 13-inch a better machine in nearly every single way except for weight -- and the $200 price difference. It's the best price to performance you'll get for under $1,500, though. If you need more storage, you have to go up to the next price tier. If you want more RAM than the 8GB all the models so far have come with, it's the same. Plus you keep reading about MacBook Pro 13-inch models with Function Keys. If you want a Touch Bar or you want a bigger MacBook Pro, that will take you into the next tier too. From $1,500-$2,000 That MacBook Air does keep hanging on. It is a trooper and we did go wow when Steve Jobs pulled this incredibly thin machine out of an envelope. However, he did that ten years ago and now we have faster, slimmer and lighter machines with much better screens. Today $1,549 will get you a MacBook Air with its poorer display and its slower performance than those other devices but with a 512GB SSD. This is another case where it's worth your spending just a little more. For just $1,599 gets you a MacBook with the same 512GB SSD for just $50 more. We don't think that's even a choice. The MacBook is lighter, faster, newer with the same storage and a Retina-quality display. Spend your money on the MacBook and never look back. Unless you happen to have an extra $400 in your budget, that is. If you do then $1,949 gets you the absolute best MacBook possible with 512GB SSD and, crucially, 16GB RAM. Yet this is probably the one point where the theory that the more you pay, the better your portable Mac is falls down considerably. With the exception of weight and RAM, you can get a better machine in the new MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar. That's with Touch Bar. What you also get in the Touch Bar models is Touch ID, which is very nice. Also quad-core processors instead of dual core, which is dramatic. This is the biggest performance boost you'll see between portable Macs and here you're getting it for $1,799. That's $150 less. True, you get a heavier machine and more significantly you get 8GB RAM instead of the $1,949 MacBook's 16GB. However, you can configure your MacBook Pro to have 16GB RAM for $1,999 or just another fifty bucks more. This MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar also has more configuration options than the MacBook. You can increase its processor speed and you can upgrade its storage to 2TB. That does come with a cost: this gets you the maxed-out 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and the price is $3,699 or way out of the $1,500-$2,000 tier. From $2,000 We're into the territory of the newly updated MacBook Pro 15-inch models with Touch Bar now. These start at $2,399 with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD. You can update either of those at time of order to get 32GB RAM and up to 4TB SSD storage. That combination takes you to $6,199 and if you update the processor speed, that's $6,599. To top out at Apple's most expensive MacBook Pro ever, you can add a choice of faster graphics processor to bring it all to $6,699. If you're going to be doing intensive work then you need processor speed and you also tend to need storage space. What all of the 15-inch MacBook Pro models give you, though, is a six-core processor. You won't notice anything like the difference in the jump in performance from dual to quad-core but video editing and rendering will be quicker. But, we're still not sure if the jump from the six-core i7 starting at $2,399 and the six-core i9 for $3,099 more is worth it. That very much depends on if those seconds or minutes a day you save are worth that kind of cash to you when amortized over several years. It's obvious to say that if what you need the maximum power and storage, then it could be well worth the $6,699. However, we look at it this way: if that's what you need to do and it is cost-efficient to spend that kind of coin, then spending less is wasting your money. Three more things We haven't even mentioned battery life in all this but that's for a reason. The battery life you get for all of Apple's current portables is 8-10 hours and that's plenty. More significantly, we haven't mentioned that you're not tied to Apple when you want to buy Apple machines. There are online authorized resellers, such as Adorama and B&H, which will offer instant rebates and coupon savings on even the latest models (to compare prices across all product lines, see our Price Guides). As they're discounts, they tend to vary a lot and they also often only last for short times so here we've only considered Apple's retail prices. The logic and your reasons for choosing a particular model remain the same, though, and if you happen to find a machine on sale for $200 off, it's a very nice bonus. And, that third thing. While having a pile of on-board storage is convenient, like we said, is also very costly and should probably be the first thing to back off on to save some dough. Storage is easily added external to the device, perhaps with an online service, or even a USB-connected drive. We pick a faster processor or more RAM over more internal storage every single time. https://goo.gl/vNH4bA

[garrygreenhalgh-blog]

Are actually Mobile Phones Dead?

As the sliding glass doors of the hospital energy open, the mid-day sunlight blinds me. While my eyes adapt to the glaring lighting, I cannot assist but see the paradox of the scene before me. A spouse is actually gingerly helping his wife away from her mobility device. However other car organizations are heavily skeptical, keeping in mind that an all over the country scrappage scheme would not target the urban areas where air contamination is actually a problem which many contaminating diesel cars are actually fairly new, therefore extremely pricey to scrap. However, final month purchasers likewise hurried to acquire autos prior to new lorry excise role rates enter into power. The typical cars and truck business has progressively been actually raising its result from true electricity and hybrid diesel/electric designs, yet in few. Dr Caroline Watt of the University of Edinburgh says that this is actually the belief in the Friday 13th superstition that could, as a matter of fact, prove the greatest danger to the typical person: If people rely on the fear of Friday the 13th at that point they believe they remain in better danger on that day. As well as bear in mind to constantly inquire the vehicle garage whether they work with your insurance provider. Since Mazda's small auto lineup possesses all got SkyActiv facelifts, its own depending on the CX-9, the last left automobile based on a Ford system as well as its own only vehicle that can fit seven travelers. This does not take 30 days to earn a refund on a credit card repayment, a repayment I have to add that they took when I positioned the order, a good ten times just before the bike was transported. The unit is actually matched regular child seat and could give out auditory, visual and also text message informs when it senses that the baby remains in danger. The time to get more details is right now if you want to keep your vehicle and also get back on your feet along with personal debt. This is actually a depressing simple fact and also although we have lost the vehicle field war, perhaps our experts can easily reform this underlying problem prior to even more from our industry goes the same way. General Motors reported a 11% rise in sales over from final August compared to the estimate at of 6.4%. They almost doubled the estimates in auto purchases. If you can, that's likewise worth inspecting whether the parking area runs its return buses regularly, or even whether they ask you to phone them first. This is a terrific method in order to get a private finance at a good interest rate without must possess good credit history. This blend from price and grow older is the closest our experts must a metric from desirability - if a fifteen-year-old cars and truck commands a rate of ₤ 15,000, this is actually possibly something very interesting. Apple's move reveals that the business is actually boldy going after the car as the following extension from the iPhone, having determined that yet one more method to secure consumers into Apple's community. Wi-Fi connection is consisted of, however the Regera is actually stuck to a 3G net link that's almost as fast as the auto itself. Update: Evaluation and also credit rating improved to show the current software program update that includes Android Vehicle and Apple CarPlay to the Tucson along with navigation. Listed below is actually a checklist I would certainly give away to my clients prior to they purchased a vehicle along with me. This was a straightforward fact-finding way to assist my clients load their needs and assist all of them. At that point you can start tightening your auto search through trying to find cars that suit your budget ... and certainly not trying to acquire your budget to accommodate the car you merely selected. If you loved this article and you simply would like to receive more info concerning Click Link i implore you to visit our own internet site. And after that there are the sidetracked nimrods that steer me. I quiver each time I'm owning with other people as they hunt for merely the right Sirius gps radio station or even playlist or even adjust their GENERAL PRACTITIONER while rushing down the strong winding and tight-laned New York City thruways loaded with outrageous car service and cab drivers. Turning off the car motor, she secured four canisters of alcoholic beverages - grape, V-8, orange and apple. Lincoln eventually has a worthwhile main auto with the brand new manufacturing Continental, which was a principle automobile debut at the 2015 New York Car Program. Ticla camping tents are created to deal with the car backpacking gap, much heavier and extra large than you will bring in to the backcountry, but still quick and easy to suit the trunk and also set up. Each companies possess a just image for building eye-catching and reliable automobiles supported by industry-leading manufacturer's warranties. Although I had not been meeting Linda today, that I had actually been at the films was true. Offered prevalent uncertainties in the population at large over the viability from driverless cars and trucks for public roads, the many things are going to likely have to be as economical as achievable to promote widespread adoption. Chrome on modern vehicles really isn't my strong suit and also I consistently thought this was actually a cheesy means to spruce up a car. Unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Program, CarPlay is actually the next development from Apple's iphone in the Vehicle, which linked apples iphone to auto stereos using the now obsolete docking connector that included on apples iphone and iPods up till the release from the iPhone 5 with the latest, smaller sized Lightning Port. Job Vehicles will certainly push your COMPUTER. Among one of the most attract attention features concerning Project Autos is its own graphic fidelity, there is actually no doubt about that, it stands out. When this pertains to carbon dioxide exhausts, for that concern, the Earth all at once already possesses too many automobiles. On the other hand, while our team question Apple is intending to have iphone entirely incorporated right into cars, CES 2014 could observe auto suppliers utilizing iOS units to energy in-car user interfaces. Along with the very same excellent power reviews as the Thrustmaster T300RS, the Ferrrari 458 Italia Version thinks quite smooth, as well as has the power making managing your automobile a satisfying problem. EA did consequently launch DLC packs, and also a few of it was actually certainly really good things that would certainly possess created the initial launch a far better activity. Google.com also is actually maintaining its cars and truck momentum, announcing today that through Google.com Residence, the Google Associate can right now interact with any Hyundai car.

[tumblethemuse]

How Sonic Mania Has Rekindled My Personal Sonic Mania

Anyone who has known me for any length of time knows that my hands down, no contest, absolute favorite character of all time is Sonic the Hedgehog. My love of the Blue Blur began innocently enough back in 1991 when my older brother received a Sega Genesis for Christmas. At that time, Sonic 1 was bundled with new Sega Genesis systems, so it was actually one of the first Genesis games we owned. My brother, being the sports fan he was, stuck with Madden and other titles of the time, but me, being 6 years old and very much into things that were flashy and bright (something that really hasn’t changed much to this day), and much less into sports, stuck with Sonic. I was immediately drawn in by the colors and intricacies of the maps, the exploration and hidden sections of the levels, as well as the implementation of the momentum physics, which were often used as the primary way to progress through levels. Back then I didn’t understand any of that, all I knew was “Ooh, pretty colors”, “Ooh, where does this lead?”, and “Ooh fast!” It was a game that even my brother enjoyed (and help me try [in vain] to collect all the chaos emeralds), and a fun bonding moment for the two of us.

Cut to 1992, Sonic 2 is released, and it’s all I want for Christmas. Santa heard my incessant 7-year-old babbling about wanting it, and delivered. I really don’t remember what else I got that Christmas, as Sonic 2 was the only thing I wanted. The colors were more vivid, the levels more complex (and there was the two-player split-screen mode which made things exciting), Sonic was faster, he had the spin dash, and he had a little orange flying companion named Tails. You could’ve repackaged Sonic 1 with brighter colors and I would’ve been plenty happy, but these new additions were exciting kept me more than content. The special stage was the highlight for me. The “3D” half pipe course was fast, had plenty of traps and bombs to keep you on your toes, and the kind of positive reinforcement that any 90s kid would appreciate when they do a good job.

Damn right it’s cool!

Fast forward to 1994, I catch wind of Sonic 3, and I immediately knew what I wanted for my birthday. My dad gave me a small wad of cash, wished me happy birthday, and I was on my merry way to buy my copy. Sonic 1 was awesome. Sonic 2 was awesomer. Sonic 3 eclipsed the two of them. A new look for Sonic, new shields that gave Sonic added abilities, a killer new special stage along with a gumball machine bonus stage, larger, faster levels to explore, and a brand new character, Knuckles. Even though he was the antagonist for most of the game, he became a new favorite for me. A good guy at heart, well meaning, but gullible at times (insert moment of self-realization here).

He’s hard as nails. It ain’t hard to tell.

I loved everything about Sonic 3. I didn’t think it could get any better than that. Then Sonic & Knuckles comes along and it locks in (literally!) seamlessly with Sonic 3. My brain short circuits from the excitement. An amazing game made even better with this continuation of Sonic 3. It felt like an even more epic journey for me. An amazing challenge, so much so that I needed my older brother to help me beat Doomsday the first time around.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the two Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons that came about during this time. The weekday morning series and the Saturday morning series were companions to a series I was already deeply mad about. Sonic, voiced by Jaleel White (who is to this day the only Sonic voice actor I acknowledge [or remember, honestly]. Nobody else did it better than him, fight me bro!), brought new life to the exploits of the Blue Blur and his crew, whether it was though dramatic action scenes, or though making crass jokes about Dr. Robotnik’s ass.

Years go by, I jump from the Genesis to the Sega Saturn. Yes, Sega Saturn. Judge me if you must. I was the only person in my entire junior high school who owned one. Everyone else had PlayStation. I regret nothing. Having NiGHTS Into Dreams alone made it worth the isolation.

No regrets.

But I digress, Sonic 3D Blast and Sonic R entered my life. Fantastic games in their own right, I played them endlessly with my younger sisters, but didn’t give me the thrill that the Genesis games gave me. Post junior high, the last two Sonic games that really piqued my interest were Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. Fun forays into the actual 3D realm. Exciting, but not Sonic 3 & Knuckles exciting for me (S3&K is the rubric in which I judge all the other Sonic games in terms of excitement and greatness). From that point on, my excitement levels for the Blue Blur dropped significantly.

I thought it was just me growing up and evolving into different interests. I came to realize down the line that it wasn’t lack of interest, but more a lack of solid, or for that matter, decent games. Sega tried different angles with the Sonic franchise, but they mostly ended up falling quite flat. Sonic Unleashed was a noble attempt, but bad camera angles and a confusing as hell storyline killed that effort. Then there was Sonic 4. Sonic. 4. *long, discontented, disappointed sigh* It was an attempt to appease the Sonic fans around the world that wanted a new side scroller, and Sega refusing to give up on making a 3D Sonic platformer. It was the worst of both worlds. I bought Sonic 4 Episodes 1 & 2. The only reason I don’t completely regret doing that is because I only spent $20 for the both of them. I tried so hard to like them. But they were bad. The gameplay was bad. The gimmicks were bad. The music was even worse. Ugh, just downright awful. The one thing I feel makes or breaks a game is its music. The entire Sonic franchise made its reputation on its music as much as it did its gameplay. Sonic 4 was the proverbial combo-breaker. I was done. It was time to leave the Blue Blur behind and move on with life.

Or so I thought.

Cut to last year. A trailer comes down the pipe from Sega about a new entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Normally it would fly under my radar, however, one aspect immediately piques my attention. It’s a 2D side-scroller!! A pretty great looking side-scroller at that! It’s like Sonic CD, but kicked up about 12 notches. The colors are bright and vivid, the gameplay is fast and furious, and the music…oh the music. 6-year-old, 7-year-old, and 9-year-old me all screamed with excitement simultaneously after watching that trailer. Sonic Mania looked to be the answer to the prayers of so many Sonic fans around the world that just wanted a great modern 2D side-scroller. It looked impressive, and it was being put together by an incredible team of game designers, programmers, and sound designers.

Simon “Stealth” Thomley and Christian “Taxman” Whitehead made their names with the incredible job they did porting Sonic 1 and 2 for iOS and Android, and PagodaWest Games, who got their start creating an HD reimagining of Sonic 2, were recruited by Sega to breathe new life into a franchise that honestly had seen much better days. As the months passed, and more gameplay started to appear, my excitement began to build, as it seemed as though this game would be exactly what I was looking for all these years. Adding to my excitement was the soundtrack, created by the amazing Tee Lopes, whose Sonic remixes I have been a fan of for years. This was the indie dream team, and I couldn’t wait to have my chance to play this new game. But alas, it was at least 1 year away from release, so I had to find ways to both pass the time, and temper my ever building excitement.

Most people who know me and have ever heard any of the music that I create know that one of the biggest influences on my musical style was the Sonic the Hedgehog series. From Sonic 1 all the way to Sonic R, my earliest tracks took at least one element from something I heard in a Sonic game. For the sake of my fragile ego I will spare you any samples of my early work because they’re like 17 years old at this point and have not held up well over the years. Back in high school I would recreate various Sonic tracks in MIDI form as an exercise in learning how to sequence, and subconsciously break down the tracks to understand and take in all the elements. Thinking about it, it makes perfect sense now why the Sonic influence is so strong. I hadn’t written anything Sonic-adjacent in more than a decade, but the ensuing Sonic Mania opened the floodgates to my creativity, and before I knew it, I had put together a 16-bit tribute to my all-time favorite video game character.

It was something that came straight from the heart of my 6-year-old self. It had more meaning than a lot of songs that I put together in the last 6 years. It was my childhood. It was my teenage and college years. All rolled into a song that took surprisingly little effort. It make me feel like a musician again, and made me remember how much of an outlet music is for me. And then before I knew it, Act 2 came along.

It always feels good to express yourself through creative means, and these felt pretty damn good! They were tributes to my childhood, as well as tributes to Masato Nakamura, Jun Senoue, Masaru Setsumaru, Spencer Nilsen, Richard Jacques, and now Tee Lopes among the countless composers that made my life great through their musical contributions to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

By the time you read this, Sonic Mania will have mercifully unlocked in my Steam library, as the PC version had to be pushed back two weeks for “optimizations”. I have not seen a single Let’s Play of this game, or any other videos save for the initial reviews. The reviews confirmed my excitement, and the excitement of all the die hard Sonic fans out there. Sonic the Hedgehog is a character and a franchise that means more to me than any other game series, not just for the entertainment and the inspiration, but how it forged a bond between myself and my siblings, and its role in me becoming who I am today. It’s something I will hold dear for the rest of my life.

I am so ready. And so is 6-year-old, 7-year-old, 9-year-old, 11-year-old, 12-year-old, 14-year-old, and 16-year-old me.

from How Sonic Mania Has Rekindled My Personal Sonic Mania

[jamiekturner]

Best Arcade Games for iPhone and iPad

Arcade games are the first sources of 1970s kids entertainment and the following 20 years.

Later in the 1990s, arcade games saw a decline but today the devices are allowing you to play arcade games on your Iphone or iPad.

Here you can find some of the best arcade games to spend time on. You will find arcade games for iPhone and iPad.

Also, if you are a 1990s kid, you will remember the feeling while playing video games, electro-mechanical games, pinball machines, merchandisers and redemption games.

Candy Crush Saga

This has become a household name as you must have received at least hundred requests on your Facebook profile to play this game with your friends. The game takes you through wonderlands, mysterious places and meeting deliciously kookie characters.

Challenge your friends to score higher than you; the game is absolutely free to play. You can switch off the payment feature if you are asked to buy in-game items like extra moves or lives.

Temple Run

Temple Run is a favorite among kids. It is one of the most exciting running games on the App Store. Test your running skills while you are racing down temple walls and steep cliffs. During your run, you will find some obstacles which can be avoided with the swipe.

Buy power-ups by collecting coins and see how far you can go. Temple Run is popular as the best endless running game in the App Store. Enjoy the fast and frenzied iPhone experience.

Subway Surfers

Even the kids would love to play Subway Surfers on iPhone. Run as fast as you can and save yourself from the fast coming trains – this is the simple way to play this game on your iPhone and iPad. On your run, collect coins and other cool stuff to increase your score.

If you get Shoes on the way, it will be great fun to jump over the trains and other obstacles. Hoverboard Surfing is especially loved by kids.

Angry Birds

Arguably one of the best games for kids and adults alike to keep them busy. Angry Birds is a game that has around ten different variants – Angry Birds (Paid), Angry Birds Go!, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Star Wars Free, Angry Birds Star Wars II, Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Friends, Angry Birds Star Wars, Angry Birds POP! – Bubble Shooter, Angry Birds Seasons, etc.

In this free version, the story is about taking revenge on the green pigs who steal the Birds’ eggs. You will have 175 unlockable levels to unleash the destructive power of the Angry Birds.

Hill Climb Racing

Hill Climbing Racing presents eye-soothing background and colors that will capture your attention. It is about a young uphill racer, who is on a journey that takes him to a bumpy ride.

Defying the laws of physics, our racer Newton Bill will conquer the highest hills up on the moon. During the steep climbing of hills, you will face many challenges; if you can tackle the challenges, you will get bonuses and coins to upgrade your car and reach even higher distances.

Fruit Ninja

If the slicing fruit is your favourite pastime, Fruit Ninja is your game for sure. Go further and explore the nuances of three different modes like Classic, Zen, and Arcade; the last one is quite popular among users.

Want to swing your blades for multiple times? Go for the multi-slice Pomegranate or you can use power-ups and special bananas to the full effect. Unleash your power to swing your blade and enjoy Fruit Ninja!

Toy Blast

Toy Blast can also be slotted into puzzle game as the user has to match two or more blocks of the same color to remove the level and collect the stuck toys. However, this is not as easy as it sounds because your moves are limited.

The game can be addictive once you use your talent to solve puzzles. Just bust the blocks and enjoy this colourful adventure. You don’t have to crush candies, break diamonds, crunch cookies or farm.

Bowling King

This one is the best multiplayer bowling game that can be played on The Internet – it could be the only disadvantage of Bowling King. The game features intuitive tap and swipe control and beautiful bowling alleys from Las Vegas, New York, Sydney, Paris and other cities.

Display your class with more than 60 bowling balls, 27 pins, and lanes. While playing with your friends, you can win millions of chips; moreover, you can bowl together with your friends from anywhere, anytime.

Soccer Stars

Indulge in online table soccer matches all over the world! Soccer Stars boasts a simple gameplay and excellent physics to boost your competitive style. You can challenge your competitors in different tiers from different countries.

You can also play the game against your friends. You will be required to log in with your Facebook account to challenge your friends. If you don’t have internet access, you can play offline with your friend on the same device.

Jetpack Joyride

Jetpack Joyride is an award-winning game from Fruit Ninja. The game is now updated to support retina display of your new iPad. Jetpack Joyride takes you to a secret laboratory of evildoers who are developing a jetpack.

And the hero Barry Steakfries secretly enters the lab to take that jetpack. Once Barry gets hold of the jetpack, touch the screen to ascend and leave to descend. Save him from bullets, bubbles, rainbows and lasers.

Hook Worlds

Players try to survive as long as possible across four game modes, using grappling hooks as transportation. The game modes, along with unlockable hats to customize your character, complement the simply fun swinging gameplay.

Canabalt

This endless runner game, initially popularized on Flash before being introduced on iOS, is well-known for its perfectly-tuned gameplay. Do you try to survive when the game accelerates to high speeds, increasing the possibility that an ill-placed window or a sudden obstacle dooms you to fail?

Or, do you slow it down by cleverly utilizing the boxes in your path? The tradeoff requires more than reflexes, but strategic brainpower too.

The Blocks Comet

While playing Tetris, have you ever imagined you were jumping over the blocks that constantly descended down, down, down? Well, that’s what this game is!

Plus, enjoy a bonus mode that pays homage to handheld games of the past, and all the pixel art you can handle.

Whale Trail

This is one of the most pleasant endless runner games around. The music and graphics create a happy and charming world. The game is easy to play: Just hold down on the screen to fly upward and loop-de-loop.

Hitting bad cloud obstacles doesn’t mean game over, but it does reduce your score multiplier, so fly carefully and score as many points as possible!

Bit Pilot

Players try to survive while being bombarded by asteroids. A unique dual-swipe control system works great for trying to precisely navigate the asteroid menace.

The game boasts a rocking chiptune soundtrack, unlocks rewards accumulated throughout the game, and takes total advantage of the high-resolution retina display and iPad screens.

Super Crossfire

Fans of Galaga, Space Invaders, and other retro shoot-em-ups will love this game too. Players flip between both sides of the battlefield in order to avoid damage, and to attack vulnerable enemies. Despite new elements and modern twists, the game still features old-school shooting fun.

Forever Drive

Speed along neon-colored tracks in this endless racing game, while trying to unlock new cars and designs. All the tracks in the game are user-generated, so prepare for tracks with devilish twists and turns and amazing futuristic city scenery.

Pac-Man Championship Edition

This isn’t quite the Pac-Man you know and love. The basics are the same: Run around a maze and collect power pellets to eat ghosts. However, the maze constantly warps with each fruit that you eat, leaving players wildly attempting to survive!

Thousand Heroes

Formerly entitled 1000 Heroz, this running game presents a new challenge each day: courses fraught with new perils and new leaderboards to conquer. Part of the fun is the ability to join custom leagues and compete with friends.

Penarium

Help a character move across a dangerous circus arenas. Move on the platforms, jump over gaps and avoid traps. Get to the exit and don’t let the main hero die in a sinister circus.

Die with glory

Help a viking to go to his forefather to Valhalla. Travel across incredible locations together with a flying skull. Fight against monsters, destroy fortresses, make friends. Interact with surrounding objects and don’t let the hero die.

Toca life: Hospital

Take part in events happening at a big medical center. Cure patients, take care of them, rescue lives and complete other interesting missions. Apply modern equipment to make a diagnosis. Find a secret laboratory in the department.

Lanota

Start an exciting adventure across a magic world together with two courageous heroes. Explore local territories and find a rare magic element thanks to which you can recover the planet after natural disasters. Bring bright colors to dull locations.

Dragon’s Lair

Dragon’s Lair was another huge hit at the arcade. For its time, it had stunning graphics, and the embedded humor in the game made it a blast to play. But what really kept kids like me pouring quarters into it was the addicting difficulty of the game.

Like most games of that era, it was built around seeing how far you could get and how long you could play, but unlike games that racked up a score, Dragon’s Lair pushed you along because you wanted to see what would happen next.

The only downside of this HD version is the $4.99 price tag, which is a little steep for any classic arcade game ported to the iPad.

Street Fighter II Collection

When I was a kid, people lined up to play Karate Champ. It was the first fighting game to feature martial arts, and it was always a popular game. But it was Street Fighter that really set the mold for all fighting games to come and paved the way for classics like Mortal Kombat.

This collection includes the original Street Fighter II, the Champion Edition and Hyper Fighting, which is Champion Edition on steroids.

Double Dragon Trilogy

Talk about a blast from the past! Double Dragon did a double whammy on arcades in the 80s. Not only did it take the side-scroller to the next level, it revolutionized the idea of co-op game play.

Mostly, you had a choice between playing a fighting game or similar player-vs-player game or taking turns trying to hit the high score in Donkey Kong, but with Double Dragon, you got to team up with your best friend and beat the crap out of people.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Mortal Kombat is a game that needs no introduction. There are few games that have become so popular and are so recognizable. But despite its popularity in the arcades, the original port of this game to the iPad wouldn’t make it on this list.

It was a tad overpriced and had too many glitches, especially with unwieldy controls. In some games, you can work around bad controls, but in a game like Mortal Kombat, that’s impossible. Luckily, EA has patched it since its release, with the latest patches fixing a lot of the initial problems.

They’ve also reduced the price, making this one a good download for any fan of the series.

Midway Arcade

The Midway Arcade is the only arcade developer collection with a price tag, but you do get a nice selection of games for the $1.99. The price tag includes Spy Hunter, Rampage, Joust and Defender among several others.

You can also download some game packs, including a fantasy game pack that includes Gauntlet, Gauntlet II and Wizard of Wor. These were all favorites at the arcade, and with the game packs only costing $.99, they are a good deal.

The Namco Arcade

The Namco Arcade contains classics like PAC-MAN, Galaga and Xevious. The game features two ways to play: buy the game machine to play all you like or buy coins. Unfortunately, you only get 10 coins for a dollar, so that quickly becomes too expensive.

And the game machines are usually $2.99 , so of all the game collections, this one is the most expensive. Still, with the full-fledged Galaga game no longer working with iOS 7, this is the only way to play this particular classic.

Most of the games on this list support the iCade.

Activision Anthology

I’ve listed Activision Anthology last not because it is the worse app on this list, but because it really doesn’t meet the ‘arcade’ criteria. The Activision compilation is of games for the Atari 2600, which is close enough that I include it here.

Certainly, anyone interested in reliving their arcade past will get a kick out of getting some 2600 games as well. The anthology includes Kaboom! for free and has other activision classics like Decathlon, River Raid and (of course) Pitfall. You can buy game packs for $2.99 or the entire collection for $6.99.

Activision Anthology is compatible with iCade.

Growing up in the 80s, I have fond memories of dimly lit arcades, incessantly feeding quarters with reckless abandon. When you took control of a machine, you would line up your quarters, letting others know you’d be there a while.

I must have dropped hundreds of dollars over the course of a few years, all worth it. Nothing can bring back the excitement of first playing Space Invaders, my absolute first experience with an arcade game, but you can relive those moments on the iPhone. There are others, but these are the best 8 classic arcade games from the 80s for iPhone.

SPACE INVADERS

Originally manufactured by Taito and picked up in the U.S. by Midway, Space Invaders was basic, yet incredibly addictive. As you lay waste to the invading aliens, they would increase their march, reinforced by the game sounds and your heartbeat.

And when that spaceship would fly across the top, you’d forget about any strategy, as you sent as a stream of bullets trying to blow the mystery ship out of the sky. Now you can strap yourself to the laser cannons and fight this battle again, this time on your iPhone.

PACMAN

No one ever admits to liking PacMan in the same way they don’t admit to wearing parachute pants. Admit it friend, you did both and loved it. Chomp on those pellits, grab fruit where you can eat those ghosts while they are weak.

POLE POSITION REMIX

Prepare to qualify! How many times have you heard that echo into the corridors of the mall? In a remixed version of Pole Position, you race to glory using the tilt wheel controls of your iPhone.

Bring yourself back to 1983 with the game that set records for being the most-successful game of that year. Crank up Down Under from Men at Work and race to the winner’s circle.

FROGGER

Want to feel old? Frogger just celebrated its 29th brirthday. Still, after all these years, this frog hasn’t learned that busy streets might not be the best thing for an amphibian.

You can choose from the classics or opt for new modes that include turbo, night time inferno (in-app purchase required). Feel up to the task of navigating your frog past cars and trucks.

GALAGA

You are just one space ship, fighting a legion of ships. As you do battle, they send kamakaze fighters down forcing you to go one on one. Galaga sprung onto the arcade scene in 1981, developed by Namco.

Despite making it to the list, I cannot recommend buying this one, at least not yet. While it checks most of the boxes (awesome, retro, awesome), the developers have yet to update it for iOS 7.

So if you are rolling with a retro iPhone circa iOS 6, then go get yourself some Galaga. If not, just add this one to your wishlist and hope the developer gets on the ball. Despite this major oversight, Galaga was simply too important of a game to not make this list.

Atari’s Greatest Hits

Atari’s Greatest Hits features a collection of some of their best classics, like Tempest, Asteroids and Centipede. It also includes their library of Atari 2600 titles. Controls aren’t too bad, and the games are emulated pretty well.

The token system is pretty stupid, but if you spend $10 you’ll get all 100 games available to play anytime you want. Tokens? We don’t need no stinkin’ tokens.

Karate Champ

Oh, it’s so good … it’s sooooooo good. The original one-on-one karate game was a huge hit in arcades and it’s been faithfully ported over to iOS. It looks great on your iPhone, but wait until you see the iPad version.

Beautiful crisp graphics and responsive touch controls make every match just as intense and stressful as they were in the arcade. Now if only I could master that darn jump kick, I might actually get past the fifth stage.

Pinball Arcade

Surprised by my #1 pick? Who said the best retro arcade game had to be an arcade cabinet game? Pinball was just as incredible an experience as arcade games, and FarSight Studios has gone above and beyond with their faithful ports of Funhouse, Bride of Pinbot, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash and more.

New tables are being added every month, so the game is constantly being updated with the pinball classics you grew up playing. They even secured enough Kickstarter funds to get the rights to adapt the heralded pin The Twilight Zone.

If you’re an arcade junkie, you owe it to yourself to download Pinball Arcade. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.

Death road to Canada

Become a leader of a group of survived under the conditions of zombie apocalypse. Get from Florida to Canada. Get food, resources and weapons to fight against walking dead and enemy bandits.

Look for the survived and add them to your squad. Destroy as many zombies as you can and try to survive!

Vive le Roi

Rescue the king of France from execution. Move across dangerous locations guarded by watchful guards. Penetrate the castle, remain unnoticed and rescue the king from execution. Pick up useful objects which will distract soldiers.

Mujo

Place tiles on the playing field in the best order to defeat monsters of Ancient Greek mythology. You will face Cyclop, Minotaur and other monsters. Join as many tiles with swords as possible to deliver maximum damage to beasts.

Ancient Greek gods and heroes will help you in the battle with the help of mighty power-ups.

Bethesda pinball

Play pinball on original pinball tables. Return the ball and score points. Fight against dragons, mutants and other beasts.

Each challenge will bring you bonuses and upgrades. Compete with the participants from all over the world and demonstrate best high score results.

Euclidean lands

Is an exciting journey across a hexangular world. Rotate the levels to move the main character forward. Help the warrior cope with villains wearing black overcoats. Think over every move of yours carefully in order to move and avoid attacks of enemies. Use teleports, tiles and other objects to reach the destination.

Ghosts’n goblins mobile

Adventures of a brave knight in a pixel world. Take the hero across dark forests, underground tunnels and gloomy castles full of monsters, ghosts and other evil spirits.

Move on the platforms, jump, dodge tricky traps and destroy opponents. Get to the den of villains and rescue the stolen princess.

Ellie and Max

Play as a girl whose name is Ellie and her faithful dog Max. They got into a unique cubic world by chance. Help the characters overcome moving platforms, unsteady grounds and other geometrical figures.

Turn locations and lay new ways. Use the found switches and useful objects. Take the characters home!

Cosmic express

Travel across endless cosmic spaces. Your task is to create routes along which an express will move from one galaxy station to another and pick up aliens. Lay rails in the best way, avoid obstacles on the way. Every passenger must get home!

Ball transformer 2

Roll a ball across tropical jungles and lands of Arctic. Avoid various traps and overcome numerous obstacles. Take the ball to the finish on each of the levels.

You will face moving platforms, swaying pendulums, sharp thorns, water barriers and other dangers on your way. To overcome obstacles use an original feature of the ball – it can become wooden, metal or paper.

Kingdom: New lands

Build your own pixel kingdom. Expand and fortify your territories and defend citizens from enemies. Use resources in the best way, build defense towers and other constructions.

Ride your horse and discover new lands. Be careful because many dangers are waiting for you on the way!

Summary:

Kids today would likely thumb their nose at this list and rightfully so. They are growing up games like Infinity Blade. While some of these developers have certainly used their historic cache to cash in, these apps have a place in arcade gaming history.

  The post Best Arcade Games for iPhone and iPad appeared first on Design your way.

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