A long time ago, video games were not just games, they were great adventures in our childhood.
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In the 21st century, we can sit on the subway, lie on the sofa, or even play PSP in class, and complain about how bad the game resources we downloaded for free are; we can hold the X-BOX controller and play on the TV
Sitting in front of the computer for a day, commenting on the bloody elements and sexy beauties in the game; we will also lament over and over again that no matter how advanced the audio and video technology is today, the PlayStation of the 1990s has still become the last classic console platform.
But in the early 1980s, in that era when even the NES (the Japanese version was abbreviated as FC, which is the red and white console we are familiar with) had not yet been developed, people's tolerance and enthusiasm for games were so simple and simple.
strong.
That was the beginning of a golden age. In the early 1970s, people even flocked to games like PONG (a ball of light and two vertical bars to play table tennis). People today may find it incredible, but back then,
The game PONG has more than ten independent consoles. Please note that it is not a game cartridge, but a game console. In other words, there are more than ten kinds of game consoles specially used to play PONG. In fact, there were no "games" at all in those days.
With the concept of "cassette", they specially developed game consoles for PONG...one after another, each with only the PONG game on it...
It was the "Wood Age" of the video game industry. I don't know why it was called that. Maybe it was because most of the game consoles at that time had a wooden appearance. From the earliest large PONGs (which can be regarded as
is the originator of arcade machines), to those "wide variety" of PONG home machines, to Odyssey (one of the earliest professional home game consoles, with a printer-sized appearance, a handle line that looks like a thickened version of an infusion tube, a toaster
A huge handle in the shape of a game cassette with no name or casing. Well, at least he could change the cassette... Even later, Odyssey also launched the first game gun in the history of home video games.
On the surface, it looks the same as a real rifle, except that the end is connected to a wire that cannot be pulled out). Throughout the 1970s, although the progress of video games was slow, it was also gradual.
Maybe you will ask, who would buy such a thing? Who developed those crude junk gadgets? Let Conan children tell you, there is only one answer: the earliest hardcore players in modern society and the pioneers of the game development industry.
So let us go back to what I just said, the early 1980s, the beginning of the golden age. At that time, the game industry did not have anything to do with the two brothers Nintendo and Sega. Please don't be too eager to try it, sit down and shut up.
Watch.
At that time, the king of the video game industry was Atari. The Atari 2600 was a landmark game console and the longest-lived console in human history. It has witnessed the rise of the Famicom and the White Machine since the Wooden Age.
In the 1990s, when all the heroes were fighting, this aging pioneer was finally discontinued in January 1992. The record of 14 years and 2 months will shine forever in the history of video games.
There is only one button but it is also equipped with a joystick handle, simple operation, simple pictures, and simple sound effects. But at the time, it seemed that this was good enough!
Perhaps today's players can no longer imagine what video games were like before the advent of red and white consoles. I can roughly describe it. You only need to mosaic and blur the images of the eight-bit console, and then simplify the game sound effects into explosions.
You will find that it is very interesting if you add single tone rates such as beeps and beeps, and finally add your own rich imagination.
On such a console, there was a legend, a legend that has not yet been completed...
At the beginning of the 1980s, a game series called "SwordQuest" was successively released on the Atari 2600, consisting of four parts in total. The world view of this game is based on the four basic elements of the universe, so these four games are called "SwordQuest".
World", "Fire World", "Water World" and "Air World". The main theme is what was just mentioned - looking for a sword.
In the game, you control a character to explore some mysterious chambers and find some hidden clues and treasures. Sound like an ordinary puzzle game? No! It's much more than that.
You're not just playing a game, you're on a real adventure and looking for real treasures.
The rules are roughly like this. You buy these four games released by Atari in sequence. In the games, you will find many clues. You just need to find as many clues as possible and then send them to Atari. And that's it.
The person who finds the most clues can go to the company headquarters for the finals. In the finals, Atari has specially designed a version of the game for the players. The first person to complete the game process within 90 minutes is the champion.
Don’t think that a decryption game on an old game platform is easy. In fact, its difficulty is jaw-dropping. Take “Underworld” as an example. If you insert the game card and don’t read the game manual, congratulations.
You don't know what you are supposed to do at all. The character you control walks through some diamond-shaped rooms that look exactly the same, walking in and out, and you don't feel any game progress at all, except of course the explosion sound effect for the moment when you enter the room...
Okay, let's open the game manual, and you will see the instructions. There are twelve rooms in total, each with a different color. Each room represents a constellation, and each room actually has a secret room, which sometimes can
Go in directly, and sometimes you have to play some mini-games across the waterfall of light. In short, when you go in, you can find a few hidden treasures.
Characters can choose to pick up or drop treasures, and as long as you place certain items in a specific order (too confusing), you can see the game screen change and get a clue.
The clue is that two very annoying numbers appear in the middle of the screen, and their meaning is completely unclear. Guess what to do next? You will never expect that now you have to take out the peripherals of this game, yes, you don’t
You heard me wrong, the games on the Atari 2600 also have peripherals, scumbags who don’t buy the genuine ones, go to hell!
We can ignore T-shirts and posters, but each game in the Sword Hunt series comes with a comic book. Then let us open the comic and find the number of pages and grids corresponding to the numbers on the screen. Damn it! There!
There is a word hidden in one frame! You can’t find it unless you look carefully!
When you find all 10 hidden words, you have to find a way to form them into a sentence, but before that, you have to eliminate five words. How to filter? Talent, you guessed it right, let us do it again
Pick up the game manual. There is a hidden hint on the first page. There are two words in a large paragraph with slightly different colors, namely "Prime" and "Number". Then we will use the "Quality" and "Number"
Tip, cut the words found throughout the game down to five to form a sentence.
1982 was not an information age where the Internet was widespread, but believe me, people in those days had a lot of free time, and it was not a big deal to solve this step... Among the five thousand answers in the end, only eight experts solved it
Come up with the correct sentence, and the winner will be named, 20-year-old Steven Bell.
Brave young man, you are simply creating a miracle!
The above is the game situation of "Underworld". Its difficulty may be more complicated than what I described. After all, times have changed and many details at that time were beyond our imagination.
Why do I say that this kind of competition is a legend? Legendary difficulty? Of course not, but the prize.
The winner of the "Earth World" will receive an "talisman" made of 18K pure gold, set with 12 diamonds, and engraved with gold patterns of the zodiac around it.
The winner of the "Fire World" will receive a Holy Grail, made of platinum and decorated with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, jaspers, etc.
The prize of "Water World" is a crown made of pure gold, embellished with diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and aquamarines.
The prize of "Qi World" is a "Philosopher's Stone" (the shape is hard to describe, a bit like a squat version of an obelisk). The body is a large piece of pure white jade, wrapped with a layer of 18K gold and inlaid with topaz.
Ruby, diamond.
According to Atari's advertising, each prize is worth $25,000, but this is not the end. At the end of the four competitions, the four winners will have a final battle.
The sole and final winner will receive the ultimate prize, a sword. The handle of the sword is made of 18K pure gold, and the sword body is made of pure silver. It is decorated with diamonds, topaz, sapphires and rubies and is worth up to US$50,000.
Therefore, the total price of all prizes is a full $150,000! Don’t forget that this was 1982-1983. Even if the prizes themselves no longer appreciate in value, let’s just calculate the value of the U.S. dollar at that time. How much money is this! You now
Can you imagine that you can get this by playing video games while sitting at home?
We may sometimes envy those "professional gamers" who can support themselves by playing games. But this! This is the largest treasure hunt I have ever heard of since the Middle Ages! This is a real adventure!
However, all this has no result so far, but has become the tears of the times...
Soon after, "World of Fire" was released. The basic decryption concept was the same as "World of Earth", except that this time the arrangement of the rooms was based on the Kabbalah tree of life.
This game seems to be simpler than Earth World, because more than 50 high-level players got the answer this time, so Atari held a play-off contest - write down what you love about this game.
Do you know what I would write? I would write "two hundred and five" followed by two zeros.
In any case, they got the winner Michael Rideout from fifty passionate teenagers, and the Holy Grail found its owner.
The third "Water World" brought the entire competition to its climax. However, the infamous Atari Impact incident in 1983 had an impact on the competition, so this game was only sold in limited quantities and became an extremely rare limited edition.
version of the game.
The concept is similar. This time it is based on the "Seven Realms of the World" and is decrypted in seven rooms. However, the finals of "Water World" could not be held. Atari suffered financial setbacks and was acquired. "Looking for the Sword"
The event has come to an end.
The fourth game "World of Air" really lived up to its name and became air. Although there were rumors that some prototype designs of the game were leaked, the game was never released to the world.
This is the ending, and BADEND is often like this in the real world.
Originally, this competition would become one of the most influential legendary events in the history of gaming. Ancient myths and legends, the four elements of the universe, puzzles in the secret room, comic books, game instructions, and real prizes, no,
It should be said to be a "treasure". The combination of all these will undoubtedly be passed down as immortal, but it just disappeared in the wind...
The legend has been discontinued, but a bigger mystery remains, that is, the whereabouts of the treasures. Where did the remaining three treasures go in the end?
Some well-informed sources have revealed that Jack Tramiel, who acquired Atari, obtained them and vividly described seeing the "sword" in the living room of his home, but there was no photo or other credible evidence.
Prove those rumors.
But if, just if, the sword is really with him, then he must also hold the crown and the Philosopher's Stone at the same time.
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Vincent narrated this in combination with the ever-changing big screen, and finally the picture was once again fixed on the four-frame animated poster. Now everyone present understood that it should be the poster for the four Sword Hunting series games.
Vincent cleared his throat and spoke again: "Those treasures belong to the players. Every player who inserts the game card into Atari has a chance to win them. This is a dream." He shrugged helplessly.
Shrugging: "It's a pity that this dream has been thrown into the toilet."
Mr. Cat sighed deeply: "Hey! What do you want to do now?"
"What do you want?" Wang Xu and Li Yadi looked back at Master Mao with their eyes widened, and said in unison: "He made it so clear and you still don't understand?!"
"Even after thirty years!"
"The game must continue!"
"There cannot be no air among the four elements!"
"The balance of the universe must be restored!"
"We must find the true master of the sword!"
The two of them said something to each other, and they cooperated seamlessly. In the end, they shouted together: "The stability of the Otaku Kingdom must be maintained by this sword!!"
