HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: e2mano7@etek.chalmers.se (Magnus Norling)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx,rec.games.video
Subject: Re: (Lynx)Is Baseball Hero any good?
Date: 17 Dec 92 09:40:02 GMT
Reply-To: e2mano7@etek.chalmers.se (Magnus Norling)
Organization: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, SWEDEN


In article <1992Dec16.212157.10245@oclc.org>, wjc@fssun09.dev.oclc.org (William J. Curry) writes:
 
|>   The things that bug me the most are:
|> 
|> - the lack of the infield fly rule.  If you have a runner on first and
|>   hit a popup in the infield you're screwed...

I dont't want to be peckish but even in real baseball the infield fly rule 
doesn't apply unless there is a forceplay on third. But I understand why you would want it here since the doubleplay frequency is much too high compared to the real thing.

/magnus
From: cpage@adobe.com (Chris Page)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Whaddabout the so-called Jaguar? (was Re: Atari)
Date: 15 Dec 92 05:20:05 GMT
Followup-To: alt.games.lynx,rec.games.video
Organization: Adobe Systems, Inc.

In article <kf_ah0O00VBLQaf0o0@andrew.cmu.edu>, chinman+@CMU.EDU (Chinarut
Ruangchotvit) wrote:
> 
> > No, it isn't.  In fact, 24-bit is better colour resolution than the average
> > TV or monitor can manage.  However, if you have extra colour planes you can
> > use them for masking and other effects.
> 
> Generally, "home" systems like the SNES and Genesis (and even the
> Neo-Geo) readily hook up to a normal TV even though they do have the
> capability to hook up to RGB.  If the Jaguar has 24-bit, people will
> want to take advantage of it and use their existing monitor or have
> enough dough to run out and get one when purchasing the system.  Now
> that's extra overhead that I think will cause the Jaguar to fall into
> the niche that the Neo-Geo has.  They could still have the ole RF
> adapter included but it seems like you would be missing out on quite a
> bit for it to be worth while.

In fact, 24-bit color provides color resolution that is at about the limit
of human vision. As far as the display capability of a television goes,
it may not be able to provide much visible difference between, say, two
very similar shades of blue. However, if you have two hundred shades of
blue running from the top of the display to the bottom, you can produce a
shaded background without visible "steps" between colors.

Because of this, I don't believe that an RGB monitor would be "necessary"
to benefit from 24-bit color. On the other hand, a good RGB monitor will
provide an improved display over a T.V., even with only 16 colors.

Chris Page
Adobe Systems, Inc.
cpage@mv.us.adobe.com

Disclaimer: these are my own opinions and not necessarily those of my
employer.
This is the Minimalist(tm) .sig, not to be confused with the Null(tm) .sig.
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
From: erik@westworld.esd.sgi.com (Erik Fortune)
Subject: Re: Battlewheels
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 20:48:16 GMT


In article <1992Dec18.193637.7055@zip.eecs.umich.edu>, tazzzzz@quip.eecs.umich.edu writes:
> <glowing review of Battlewheels deleted>

I was waiting to actually lynx up battlewheels before posting a review, but
I can pretty much summarize it with: "what he said."

Battlewheels is a great game.   Order one now.

I haven't even scratched the surface of Custom Mode or multiplayer games
and I'm hooked.

-- Erik
From: kens@psc.lsa.umich.edu (Ken Small)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Question...
Date: 18 Dec 1992 15:47:14 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan
NNTP-Posting-Host: stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]
Originator: news@stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu

Jonathan Scott Haas (positron@engin.umich.edu) wrote:
: I'm just wondering, here... did Atari learn all it knows about
: marketing from Commodore?

Actually, yes.  Guess what computer company Jack Tamiel founded before
he bought Atari-- C=.

--
Ken Small           kens@umich.edu
"I used to be disgusted; now I try to be amused."
Consulting and Support Services, University of Michigan
From: jensd@tubkom.prz.tu-berlin.de (Jens Dengler)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Overused Joy-Pad
Date: 15 Dec 92 10:53:38 GMT
Organization: TU-Berlin TUBKOM, Germany

> I've had to replace my lynx twice because of the joy-pad being overused
> with Robotron. Has anyone else experienced this ?

Not with Robotron, but with Rampart. My first Lynx (classic) was gone sick
with the known power plug malfunction where the Lynx gets an unpredictable
loose contact (but the classic is still in use as a Klax machine: a piece
of a toothpicker pressed under the power entry prevents the lost of power -
doesn't look nice but works).  My second Lynx (II) got an extra contact
at the joy-pad down direction after the joypad was getting a little bit
slobbery, but this happend into warranty time, and although the serial
number was rubbed off the console they (one of the last Atari dealer in
Germany) take the Lynx for repairing and I'm in good hope to get it back
before Christmas.
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Whaddabout the so-called Jaguar? (was Re
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 16:31:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

wastrel@jotunheim.EBay.Sun.COM (William Osser) writes:
> Have you ever programmed in RISC?  It really is (IMHO :) easier than CISC.  

Depends how R your IS in your C is.

For instance, some RISC chips have heavy pipelining, so that when they hit a
jump they've already decoded the next couple of instructions.  Rather than
waste all that effort, they execute 'em anyway before jumping.

Some RISC chips don't have stacks; you have to use registers to pass all your
arguments.  Because this could lead you to run out of registers quite
rapidly, some RISCs have 128 or more of the little buggers.  Sometimes
they're arranged in banks, so that a single instruction is equivalent to
swapping out all the registers and another instruction swaps them back in
again.

Some RISC chips have unlikely addressing modes.  Since you've got
instructions of fixed width, something simple like "move 1 into register D1"
leaves lots of bits unneeded.  So they implement operations like "take
registers A1 and A2, add together, add the specified offset, indirect through
that location, get the value stored there, exclusive-or with the value in the
memory location pointed to by A3, and increment A3".

Even CISC chips have odd little tricks.  For instance, on the 68000 the
quickest way to multiply a register by 4 is to add the value to itself twice,
because there's no hardware barrel shifter.  RISC chips have similar "tricks"
because of the stuff that's left out in order to ensure that all instructions
take 1 cycle.

These sorts of features mean that it can be very hard to write good RISC
assembler by hand.  In fact, today's compilers can produce faster, more
compact RISC code than all but the finest assembler programmers.

None of this has anything whatsoever to do with the Lynx, so could the thread
be taken elsewhere please?


mathew
-- 
You can communicate with me securely via PGP 2.1.  For information, send mail
to pgpinfo@mantis.co.uk.  For a big block of keys, mail pgpkeys@mantis.co.uk.
PGP public key fingerprint = B2 41 30 5F 5B 20 B9 D5  7C 8F 75 88 7C DA D8 C5
From: malay@sae.com (Bob Malay)
Subject: Re: Atari Advertisement (Sunday's Paper)
Reply-To: malay@sae.com
Organization: Template Software
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 15:31:03 GMT

In article 1gfk25INN74e@uwm.edu, bond007@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Matt R Burback) writes:
>Hello,
>
>Just opened the Sunday Paper (Milwaukee Journal) to the ad section and there
>it was, an individual Atari Lynx advertisement just in time for Chirstmas.
>
>Way to go Atari!!!!!
>
>

Same for the Washington Post!





Xref: sparky alt.games.lynx:1319 rec.games.video:25406
From: tjerk@nikhefh.nikhef.nl (Tjerk Heymens Visser)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx,rec.games.video
Subject: Dirty Larry COMMING SOON (+tech question...)
Date: 18 Dec 92 16:23:46 GMT
Organization: Nikhef-H, Amsterdam (the Netherlands).


Dirty Larry: Renegade Cop is waiting at the airport......
They said that they want to send it to the shops on Monday.


Atari Benelux has finally got it. They also say that Dracula is
comming by boat from England along with Joust, but its the second time
they said that......


BTW is it possible to connect some Lynx screens, and make 1 big
screen out of it? Like the Video-Wall. This would be great for displays
in shops and at fairs.....

Tjerk Heijmens Visser
tjerk@nikhef.nl
Xref: sparky alt.games.lynx:1334 rec.games.video:25490
From: rjung@aludra.usc.edu (Robert A. Jung)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx,rec.games.video
Subject: Re: No new Lynx games for Xmas - optimistic view
Date: 19 Dec 1992 16:23:48 -0800
Organization: Southern California Lynx Enthusiasts
Distribution: alt
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In article <BzIMuD.JxI@ais.org> plucky@ais.org (Chris Adamson) writes:
>In article <BLK.92Dec19102129@vanity.mitre.org> blk@mitre.org (Brian L. Kahn) writes:
>>Have y'all noticed how many games seem to be poised for release just
>>after christmas?  Some really good ones in the pipeline, coming maybe
>>1st quarter '93.  Here's an optimistic view.
>
>	Maybe your hypothetical "let's not release lame games" meeting
>[omitted from this follow-up] actually happened, but if the Game Gear
>wipes the Lynx off the face of the earth this holiday season, good
>games in '93 won't make a damn bit of difference.

  Oh, wow, this just ties in perfectly with the latest bit o' gossip I gleamed
today...

  According to two separate wholesale/retail sources I have (one of each),
JOUST, DRACULA THE UNDEAD, and HYPERDROME are schedule to be released for the
Lynx literally any day now. JOUST was supposedly released from the warehouse
on Wednesday, and DRACULA and HYPERDROME were expected to arrive in stores
today (Saturday), according to the shipping invoice at Electronics Boutique.

  Maybe there _will_ be a few new titles out right before the 25th...

                                                --R.J.,
                                                who thought HYPERDROME
                                                was cancelled...
                                                B-)

//////////////////////////////////////|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
   Send whatevers to rjung@usc.edu    |      If it has pixels, I'm for it.
--------------------------------------+------------------------------Lynx up!
"You weren't chosen because you are the best pilot in the Air Force. You were
    chosen because you are the class clown and frankly, you're expendable."
From: dylan@cs.washington.edu (Dylan McNamee)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Yahoo!  A Great lynx ad
Date: 14 Dec 92 04:25:06 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computer Science & Engineering, U. of Washington, Seattle


My Sunday paper today came with a great suprise:  An insert devoted
exclusively to the lynx.

The cover says:  Christmas Past (picture of game boy)
	Christmas Present (picture of a lynx)

Both units are playing a baseball game, and the Lynx looks great.

The inside has a bunch of copy comparing the two systems, and announcing
the limited time offer of $79 for a Lynx (1-800-327-5151) at your door
by Xmas, via Fed Ex, if ordered by Dec 21.  The copy is surrounded by 
terrific screen shots from most of the games available (California Games'
surf looks almost photographic!) and is pretty impressive.

This is a good sign.  I just wish this hadn't been the first Lynx ad I've
seen in 6 months.

On their "coming soon" list were:
Joust, Pit fighter, Dracula, Dinolymics, Power Factor, Dirty Larry, 
Renegade Cop "and many more every month".

Good going Atari -- keep it up...

dylan
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Re: Jaguar, Falcon, Atari generally
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 92 12:04:46 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

tmkst6+@pitt.edu (Theodore M Kostek) writes:
> What I want to know about the Atari Jaguar is simple (as far as I can
> see): will it be supported/advertised.

Of course not.  Atari have never been any good at advertising their products.
They rely on technical merit and evangelism to sell their machines.  That
they have managed to do so well using such methods is a credit to their
hardware designers -- can you imagine anyone buying an NES because of
evangelism or technical merit?

There have been a few adverts for the Atari ST in the UK -- a couple of TV
ads before Christmas, and some rather staid magazine adverts.  I've seen one
Lynx advert, which was basically a picture of a Lynx with some technical
specifications and quotes from reviews.  I have a Lynx flyer, which is a
picture of a Lynx, a list of games (with some screenshots), and a set of
technical specifications.  And, er, that's it.

Compared to Nintendo's push for the Super NES or Sega's push for the Game
Gear, Atari's adverts might as well just say "By the way, we sell stuff too."
That Atari manage to sell anything is little short of a miracle.

It's always been that way, too.  I remember the old 400 and 800; I only ever
saw one advert for them, and it was desperately unexciting.

So why did I get two Atari STs and a Lynx?  I liked the software they ran.  I
don't really care too much if there's never another Lynx game; there are
already plenty for me to waste my meagre wages on.  I got rid of the STs
because I needed the money to get a Mac so I could run Hypercard.


mathew

Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
From: rich@grebyn.com (Richard Lawrence)
Subject: Re: Question...
Organization: Grebyn Timesharing
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 06:38:21 GMT

In article <_AV=C3_@engin.umich.edu> positron@engin.umich.edu (Jonathan Scott Haas) writes:
>I'm just wondering, here... did Atari learn all it knows about
>marketing from Commodore?

You're closer to the truth than you think. Sam "The Man" Tramiel, head
of the Atari clan, was the person that made commodore. It was he that
took the C64 and tackled the Atari 8-bit with it, when the Atari had
technical superiority (albeit a slight margin) and much larger market
penetration.

The history of the two companies gets very convoluted. Basically, Warner
dumped most of Atari after the video game crash, Sam left CBM, funded
the end of the Amiga project, tried to have Amiga default on their loan
(so the product would belong to Atari), and let CBM buy the loan out
from underneath him. 

Unfortunately, the people left at CBM were all incapable of seeing past
the end of their toes in terms of market direction. And Atari based its
next few years of existence on a machine that was created in six months
flat to compete with the as yet unreleased Amiga. 

Put simply, both companies were screwed. There seemed to be no hope for
Atari at all, until they bought out Epyx's design for the Lynx (since
Epyx had sadly gone zero funding, and wasn't able to release it on their
own).
-- 
Rich Lawrence, Synoptics Systems Engineer  DOD#9630  rich@grebyn.com
     '92 Seca II "Yuri"  CI$:71101,2272  GEnie:R.LAWRENCE14
   216 years ago my government gave me certain inalienable rights.
     Since then, they've been trying to correct their mistake.
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx,rec.games.video
From: Stephen Jonke <jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: (Lynx)Is Baseball Hero any good?
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A7561BD88F015C5D@joe.gsfc.nasa.gov>
X-Xxdate: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:58:16 GMT
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:58:19 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.212157.10245@oclc.org> William J. Curry,
wjc@fssun09.dev.oclc.org writes:
>After playing BH for several hours, I have gotten accustomed to the fielding.
>In fact, I'm now glad they made it this way.  I don't like baseball games
>where it is so easy to field that you go into the 13th inning with the score
>tied 0-0.  I can also appreciate it being more difficult to catch in left or
>right field (a very low percentage of the balls go to left or right
>field compared to the number that go to center field).  (Something to
>remember when fielding - the ball changes in size (pulsates) which can
>make it difficult to tell where it is on the ground.  Go to where the
>ball was when it was small and fielding is much easier.)

On the other hand it makes finding another player to play against more
difficult.  If I say, "Hey Joe, want to try this new baseball game?" and Joe
says "yes" and we try it, I'll crush him simply because he'll do incredibly
bad with fielding through no fault of his own.  Joe gets frustrated before
long and says "lets play something else."  End of story.

I prefer baseball games where pitching, batting and base running/stealing,
etc. are the emphasises.  In fact my two favorite games don't even allow you
to field -- World Series Baseball and Relief Pitcher.  In the case of R.P. you
don't control the fielders when the go to catch or first pick up a ground
ball, but then you control them as to who they throw to or where they run
toward.  Those types of games put more emphasis on strategy and yet still have
plenty of action.  My all time favorite is W.S.B because it had the most fun
pitching and batting of any game (with spring loaded analog joysticks for both
pitching and batting.)

Steve
------------------------
jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov
------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
From: malay@sae.com (Bob Malay)
Subject: Jung's Reviews
Reply-To: malay@sae.com
Organization: Template Software
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 16:08:33 GMT


Can Jung's Reviews be ftp'ed from someplace?? If so, I need the address. Apparently,
the Atari Sunday paper insert is working - two people at my wife's workplace
have called the (800) number and ordered Lynxs and took their recently
purchased Gameboys back to the stores they bought them from. Anyway, I'd like
to give these people some Lynx info.

Bob Malay
From: dlk0ms9s@umiami.ir.miami.edu
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: EA does LYNX?  was RE:1-800-Batman
Date: 11 Dec 92 18:29:09 EST
Followup-To: alt.games.lynx 
Organization: Univ of Miami IR

In article <1992Dec11.181500.6706@netcom.com>, clarka@netcom.com (Andrew Clark) writes:
> I <still> haven't gotten my "free" Batman Returns cartridge yet.
> Someone posted earlier that Atari had set up a 1-800 number for people
> who hadn't gotten it yet.  Whoever it was, please post it!
> 
> BTW, the "Lynx Christmas" offer appears to be from Electronic Arts. 
> -- 
> clarka@netcom.com     Andrew Clark     My ignorance is my own fault.
> "We have virtual reality today: Pete Wilson lives in it." | Bad cop! 
> "Macs are to computing what television is to journalism." | No donut! 
> Secondary account at aclark@UCSD.EDU -- prefer mail at netcom site.   


  What do you mean EA is doing the $79.95 LYNX deal?  Whyt would they, they
don't support it.  Unless some deal has been struck to support it and this is
the beginning...

Mark Santora

Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
From: thomase@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Thomas Esamie)
Subject: HELP : Shadow of the Beast
Organization: /etc/organization
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1992 10:56:01 GMT

	Well I've just got this game, and have done alright so far but
I have a problem. After coming up through the well and going towards the
castle I come across these buzzing fly thingies. Where those Dragons
fly overhead and drop bombs. Anyway I lose masses of energy here because
all I can (seem to be able to) do is run through them. None of my tools,
well there's a key and a torch, seem to work. Help?
	Also does anyone know any practical uses for that jumping kick
you can do, or is it just a programmers whim?

	E-Mail or post, as long as I get some help.


			Thomas the Tank Engine
			aka Algor

+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Email : thomase@extro.ucc.su.oz.au   | The only way to deal with temptation |
|    or   ak586@cleveland.freenet.edu  | is to give in to it.                 |
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
From: rhoenes@picasso.ocis.temple.edu (Richard Hoenes)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Vindictors?
Date: 17 Dec 92 19:15:12 GMT
Organization: Temple University
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]


Is there any word on whether or when a lnyx version of the arcade
game Vindicators will be out? I've heard the rumor that it was
coming out some time ago but haven't heard anything lately.

Richard
From: mkleczka@gacvx2.gac.edu
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: LYNX SUKX
Date: 17 Dec 92 02:06:29 GMT
Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota

I own a LYNX and I havent played it in six months. I own four good, fun games,
but I dont see any new ones coming out anytime soon.

I am trading it in for a Genesis.

Sorry, but if Atari would have gotton its lazy butt in gear and marketed the
LYNX against the gameboy they would have gotton somewhere. Who wouldnt but a
LYNX over a gameboy for the same price if they had the same game library
(assuming they even knew what a LYNX was). I still find people who dont know
what it is.

I am turning over a new leaf.

Matt at GAC.
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
From: tolman%asylum.cs.utah.edu@cs.utah.edu (Kenneth Tolman)
Subject: Re: Jaguar, Falcon, Atari generally
Date: 15 Dec 92 21:30:00 MST
Organization: University of Utah, CompSci Dept

>Basically, I am of the opinion that Atari must not have a marketing 
>division.  Or if it does, they all need fired yesterday.

Agreed.  Atari does not appear to have any sort of marketing ability 
whatsoever.  And the few stores they sell in they are understocked.
The whole situation is ridiculous!

Atari should at least send LYNX owners a periodic list of new game titles
with phone numbers and addresses to order them immediately.

I think Atari must be owned by the competitors who have taken the marketing
division out to lunch for life.  Marketing is one of THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS
and Atari seems to be trying to go broke by neglecting this important facet.
Xref: sparky alt.games.lynx:1286 comp.sys.atari.st:18504
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 03:02:40 EST
From: <SML108@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Batman Returns: sneaky suspicion

Does anyone else get the feeling that Batman Returns was supposed to be
a completely different game that was hastily made into a Batman game?
I just got it today and I had a big big disappointment when the game's
opening theme was not the Danny Elfman movie theme, sheeeshhhh...
  The game itself ought to really be titled Batman gets Burned but I'll
keep it...  It's kind of like Death Scrapyard Dog 2000....

Scott
From: tmkst6+@pitt.edu (Theodore M Kostek)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Comparison wanted: Zarlor Merc, others
Date: 14 Dec 92 16:28:43 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: tmkst6@unixd2.cis.pitt.edu

Recently I have noticed that my collection of games lacks a certain genre: 
fly around and kill lots of stuff.  From what I've read, Zarlor looks my
game, but I was wondering if there were others that were better.  What 
about Hydra, for example.  

Any thoughts, opinions, etc. would be welcome.  

I was also wondering....maybe we should conduct a vote of favorite games.
A couple months ago somebody sent me one that was done in rec.games.video 
for the lynx.  Since it's been a while, new games have come out, and 
more people have played other games that have been out; since it's almost
Christmas, this would be a nice thing to have. I'd volunteer, but it's finals
week, and since I'm not that good a programmer, I'd be doing it by hand.


Thanks in advance for whatever help/advice I get.


TEd
From: bond007@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Matt R Burback)
Newsgroups: alt.games.lynx
Subject: Atari Advertisement (Sunday's Paper)
Date: 13 Dec 1992 15:15:17 GMT
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4
Originator: bond007@csd4.csd.uwm.edu

Hello,

Just opened the Sunday Paper (Milwaukee Journal) to the ad section and there
it was, an individual Atari Lynx advertisement just in time for Chirstmas.

Way to go Atari!!!!!