I get a considerable amount of e-mail from people who are trying to recall the name of something from their childhood -- sometimes I know it, most of the times not. I've grown pretty accustomed to such inquiries, but this one was too good to keep to myself. It's from "Chris," who loves boldfaced Tahoma fonts.
Chris, I can't help you there, but lemme say this: if X-E had a e-mail of the month award, you'd so be in the top three. Does anyone know what game he's referring to?
REPLIES: 38 comments
hey matt you never said if you got thst e-mail I sent you.
Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 09/04/2003 10:50 PM EST
Unfortunately all e-mails to my x-e address are half-lost in a sea of blaster worm shit. Resend to xemattmail@aol.com?
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 09/04/2003 10:57 PM EST
I don't think this is it, but the description and the images remind me of one of those damn annoying minigames from the old Sierra game Manhunter: New York. (Unlike most Sierra games of the era, this was more a collection of arcade mini-games and puzzles, not walking around a screen, walking to the next screen and then waiting a minute for the screen to redraw, like the King's Quest/Space Quest/Police Quest games.)
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 09/04/2003 11:12 PM EST
Matt, all your food articles are outstanding. This new wendy's one takes the cake. Or rather, the cookie-puss. Anyway, the titlebar reads that xe prefers cherry to raspberry. Is that referring to lame ol "red raspberry"? Certainly you dont prefer cherry to say "X-Treme blue raspberry" or "Razzin Pink Tingleberry"? Not that i would know, i only eat human brains.
Chestnuts roasted by Zombie Clay @ 09/04/2003 11:15 PM EST
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the sequel, Manhunter: San Francisco, which was essentially the same thing, but in "Frisco"... maybe it was one of the mini-games in that one? We have 'em both, but I don't recall playing the second one nearly as much as I played the first one (my brothers liked them more than I did).
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 09/05/2003 04:09 AM EST
So you're redoing the site...does this mean that the Archives will have actual content instead of that text message that's been there for months?
Chestnuts roasted by Paul @ 09/05/2003 06:00 AM EST
Ye-hup. To be honest, part of the reason I've never been in a big rush with the archs is because I generally don't like the older articles. But whatever, if people wanna see 'em, there's no reason to hide 'em. The retooled design will have very easy-to-navigate archives.
Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 09/05/2003 09:40 AM EST
Matt, Please give the go ahead to a complete archives (like maybe do it by category or something); your old stuff that I just happen to bump into here and there as related articles is either hysterical or else it hits me like a hammer to the face in total recall, when I'm reminded of stuffing Huffer and the Mini-spies into Metroplex's various orifices and such, especially your old stuff.
p.s., I'm really curious as to what demon-ichor hue that halloween blackberry kool-aid will turn in water
Chestnuts roasted by Krappy Kat @ 09/05/2003 10:00 AM EST
Can't help on the computer game ... But can anyone help me with a game from MY past whose name escapes me? I think it was called "Fur Trapper" (or "Fur Trader"?) and we used to play it on those old TRS-80 computers back in grade school; your character was a Canadian fur trapper from the early 1800s, and the object was to collect the most pelts (from different animals) and sell them for cash before the weather/rival trappers/"Injuns" got you.
Any help (links maybe)?
P.S. Oh Matt, when you re-do the archives, will you bring back the articles from former XE writers as well?
Chestnuts roasted by Al Boondy @ 09/05/2003 10:44 AM EST
Al Boondy: Can't help you with Fur Trapper or Trader, since the computer teacher at my elementary school when I was in grade 7 (technically the first year of high school in Quebec, but the nearby high school didn't have a grade 7 at the time) was, evidently, an unpatriotic Canadian, and we played the American computer game Oregon Trail on our high-tech Apple II computers most of the time. (Were they called Apple IIe? They were a little more high tech and modern looking than the Apple II young Chas Tenenbaum is using in the "Hey Jude" flashback montage at the beginning of The Royal Tenenbaums.) Ah, the epitomy of wit for 12 and 13 year old boys, writing "FUCK" on your gravestone when you lose... oh, wait, I'll be 29 in a few weeks and that's still making me snicker.
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 09/05/2003 01:08 PM EST
I don't know the name of this game, but, after reading the description and seeing the accompanying picture, I'm can't help but think about the word 'wessel' (their "Russian" for vessel) from the original Star Trek.
Chestnuts roasted by Travis @ 09/05/2003 01:20 PM EST
Is this it? http://members.aol.com/fractal101/odyssey.htm
There was another game by The Learning Company in the same vein with the same kinds of wiring logic puzzles, but I can't recall the name.
Hope this helps.
Chestnuts roasted by BriteNite @ 09/05/2003 04:15 PM EST
Hey Steve I turn 29 in a few weeks too. What's your birthday? And do you have a mysterious scar on your side, as if something was once attached to your body but cut off? We could be Siamese twins!
Even if we have different birthdays and we're not Siamese twins, I'm telling everyone we are.
Chestnuts roasted by Hellpop! @ 09/05/2003 05:40 PM EST
So wait, is this an entirely new design, or just the halloween one?
I'm confused. :(
Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 09/05/2003 05:41 PM EST
Hellpop!: My birthday's October 2nd (as is my sister's birthday, but she's 3 years younger), but I'm from Britain originally, so, really, you'd have to have been born there...
I'm thinking of setting up one of those Amazon.com registry thingies so all 3 regular readers of my own blog can buy me stuff (with the key word there being "can", not "will").
Chestnuts roasted by Steve Brandon @ 09/05/2003 05:54 PM EST
I believe the game you are referring to is in fact "Robot Odyssey". That was one of the games that really got me interested in computers and electronics when I was a kid.
There was a similar, but less complicated game called "Rocky's Boots" that let you build circuits to solve puzzles. I played a ton of "Rocky's Boots" because "Robot Odyssey" was just a little too hard for me at that age.
Chestnuts roasted by Brian Sebby @ 09/05/2003 07:02 PM EST
As a note, you can download images of these games (and a ton of others) at asimov.net's Apple //e FTP site, which is a great source for retro gaming.
The main FTP site is:
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/
You can get disk images of "Robot Odyssey" and "Rocky's Boots" at:
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/educational/
Lots of other goodies, like the Oregon Trail can be found there, too.
Chestnuts roasted by Brian Sebby @ 09/05/2003 07:10 PM EST
Hey Steven, you're one day older than me. But I was born in Korea, so with the international date line and time differences, I'm actually...let me calculate this...14 years older than you. I don't know, I'm Korean and can't do simple math, it's my greatest shame.
Chestnuts roasted by Hellpop! @ 09/05/2003 09:51 PM EST
I'm looking forward to the retooled archives. Matt may not be overly fond of some of his older articles, but I miss some of them, like the "Search for Bulbasaur" series that doubles as a guide to the boardwalk at my hometown of Wildwood, NJ.
Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 09/05/2003 10:37 PM EST
Well, if game name questions are gonna happen, I have one of my own. It was a game on the NES which used the gun. It was kinda a carnival themed game with shooting-gallery type games and such. I remember spending many hours shooting but I have no idea what the name is.
Chestnuts roasted by Elliott @ 09/05/2003 11:55 PM EST
@Elliott:
that game sounds like a few that i remember. this list of zapper games might help you narrow it down...
http://www.pelikonepeijoonit.net/neslight.html
Chestnuts roasted by zann @ 09/06/2003 12:42 AM EST
after about 3 years of looking on the web, i didnt find even a clue. thanks to zann, she told me of your boss site. thanks to matt posting my request, thanks to Brian Sebby having the steel trap of a brain to remember the name Robot Oddesey, and to top it off, BriteNite knowing the webpage to dl it. all i can say is... thank you thank you thank you and one more thank you to boldface tahoma font. you guys did it in like 24 hours too. sigh. its like a weight lifted off my shoulders. geeks be proud. useless information makes people smile.
Chestnuts roasted by chris black @ 09/06/2003 12:54 AM EST
if anyone that helped me find robot odyssey wants a thank you letter, just email me chrsblck@aol.com . i thank you guys so much. my brain hurts less now.
Chestnuts roasted by chris black @ 09/06/2003 01:04 AM EST
now let's just hope there wasn't a Robot Odyssey 2... O_o
Chestnuts roasted by zann @ 09/06/2003 01:06 AM EST
YEAH!!! Halloween is coming, get out the x-mas decorations in the stores and rejoice. Dentists and Richard Simmons will jump for joy with all the sugary, fatty goodness. available. Halowen kicks so much arse I think Cadbury's needs to come out with a carmel filled pumpkin just like the easter eggs. Twice the tooth rot. Hey, easter and halloween are almost six months apart anyway (which is how often you need a dental cleaning) so your teeth would have the time to recover. C'MON EVERYONE!!! Let's lobby cadbury, WHO'S WITH ME!!!
Chestnuts roasted by Lumberjack Matt @ 09/06/2003 05:37 AM EST
The game DOES look like "Robot Oddyssey". I had a Tandy 1000 back in 1985 and I remember playing that game. You had a robot shell that you could add parts to and "program" to maneuver around a labrynth gaurded by various sentries. I dont' remember the goal of the game, but it sure was interesting, and turned me onto electonics in high school. Now (ten years later) I have a bacheclors degree in Computer Science with a minor in Electronic Engineering. Who says games aren't productive?
Chestnuts roasted by Chris @ 09/06/2003 03:58 PM EST
Oh, yeah... my favorite part of Oregon Trail was giving party members names that spelled out various sundry things... "THE BITCH has a broken leg" or "DUMB BASTARD has cholera". Always good for a giggle.
Chestnuts roasted by Chris @ 09/06/2003 04:00 PM EST
On Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family all gathered at my grandfather's house, where an Apple IIe (or whatever) lived. Papaw didn't use it much, (an uncle gave it to him), so while the adults were all out in the kitchen telling stories about how a snake got in the car engine or the bathroom or whatever, we'd take turns playing Oregon Trail and watching each other. I really hated one particular cousin who'd come, and I'd always name a character after her, in a party consisting of several other people I hated, and then kill them all off. She never caught on.
Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 09/06/2003 08:01 PM EST
I absolutely can't wait to get home and download Oregon Trail. That was the best game to play at school. I can remember having to do some stupid typing exercise, and rushing through it as fast as possible so we could get the highly-prized enormous black floppy out of the closet and get to be the first in the class to play. And yes - the stupider the names the better.
Did anyone else play "Word Munchers?" You had this little green muncher guy, and you had to munch all the words that rhymed with the magic word at the top. And there were some kind of monsters trying to eat you. I think there was "Number Munchers" too, but I was stupid at math so I avoided that one.
Chestnuts roasted by PaloPinto @ 09/07/2003 10:49 PM EST
Holy SHIT, Word Munchers. It seriously does not get better than that orgasm of an Apple II game.
Chestnuts roasted by Kalmazoo @ 09/07/2003 11:13 PM EST
the Munchers games have been a source of recent nostalgic frenzy for me. i tracked down Number Munchers for PC download very easily...
but does anyone know where i can d/l the old version of Word Munchers~?
Kalmazoo is right; it doesn't get any better ;)
Chestnuts roasted by zann @ 09/08/2003 06:42 AM EST
I tried to find a download of Word Munchers, but couldn't. People are actually selling copies though.
However, I did get Oregon Trail and Rocky's Boots last night... bliss... :-)
Chestnuts roasted by PaloPinto @ 09/08/2003 07:33 PM EST
I distinctly remember when a girl in my fourth-grade class put "You big asshole!" on her tombstone in Oregon Trail. I was the one who happened to encounter it and it was the big joke of the day in my fourth grade class.
Later on, I played the Mac version, but you couldn't write your own tombstone in that one...damn.
Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 09/09/2003 03:32 PM EST
OREGON TRAIL!!! OREGON TRAIL!!!! OMFG!!!! Man, good times, good times. I remember playing Odell Lake and many a person agrees that the damn bird suck major ass and no one wanted to play the plankton cuz they'd always get eaten.
For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about....Odell Lake was one-a those games that tried to teach kids about natural processes like food chains, but only ended up in encouraging kids to scream profanities when you got eaten. Man, Odell Lake rocked....
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Chestnuts roasted by nike shoes @ 11/02/2004 06:42 PM EST
X-E's resident graphical guru, Mike, is putting the finishing touches on the design changes both here and on the main site that we've been working on for the past eighteen years. Remember when the changes to the bloggagh were made? That was kind of a sample run. Now that I know I'm digging it, we're doing the longer, more in-depth version. You should start to see some of this stuff implemented by the weekend. This is going to entail tons of annoying grunt work to pretty much every page on the site, but when all said and done, I think you'll like it. And yes, we're real close to X-E's spooky season kicking off. Prepare to SHIT WITH FRIGHT.
