Are some games too fast or am I too old?

[javeryh]

Recently I have been playing a lot of Eyes, Nibbler and especially Pepper II.  All great games but all seem to control a little too fast for my primitive eye-hand coordination.  Anyone else feel this way and is there any reason certain games were designed like this (other than to eat quarters)? 

I swear these three games in particular would be considered all time greats if they were just a hair slower to allow you to plan a little more in advance.  It's a miracle on Pepper II if I can clear an entire stage and many times my character misses a turn or something because my hands aren't fast enough for my brain.

[negative1]

Recently I have been playing a lot of Eyes, Nibbler and especially Pepper II.  All great games but all seem to control a little too fast for my primitive eye-hand coordination.  Anyone else feel this way and is there any reason certain games were designed like this (other than to eat quarters)? 

I swear these three games in particular would be considered all time greats if they were just a hair slower to allow you to plan a little more in advance.  It's a miracle on Pepper II if I can clear an entire stage and many times my character misses a turn or something because my hands aren't fast enough for my brain.

depends on the game and version.

sometimes the actual game might seem faster.

sometimes the emulation could be slower. if you really want to try it slower,
run it in mame, and ajdust the speed to your liking.

other than that. i've gotten better at most games with age, just because practice
is helping.

later
-1

[EvilNuff]

Where are you struggling with Nibbler?  I love that game and it only gets uncontrollably fast around 40-50k points for me.  I have to plan ahead and start joystick movement timed in advance of what is seen on the screen it feels.

[bobbyb13]

Blame it on your joysticks being lame!

Which stick are you using anyway?
It could actually be part of the issue.

[Xiaou2]

If these are 4-Way Joystick games... are you using a 4way that has a diamond restrictor?

 The diamond shape allows the stick to move from one direction to the next,
must faster... as its cutting out any movement towards the outside corners of the stick.

 That alone, could probably give you a quarter of a second shave off of your reaction times.


 As for overall reflexes... they tend to be based on your recent training and usage.  If you have not been
drilling them for some time... then go back to a fast hardcore game... you are likely going to get
your butt handed to you.

 As one ages, certain things do not function quite as well as they used to.   But I do not think the visual
to hand coordination, is slowed enough to be significant.

 That said... I have noticed a persons abilities reaction times dropping drastically, from smoking too much weed.

[Zebidee]

That said... I have noticed a persons abilities reaction times dropping drastically, from smoking too much weed.

Interesting. For regular or long-time users of weed there is no or negligible effect on reaction times or (for example) ability to drive safely. Not that I want my bus driver stoned, just saying.

Noob smokers are in another category altogether! Too busy laughing to hold the wheel.

By comparison, alcohol has a dramatic effect on your reactions regardless of your tolerance.

Bank Panic is a great game for testing your personal reactions in these different scenarios. If I play it while drinking my reactions just get steadily worse, 3-4 beers and I'm done. But the other thing has no effect at all, maybe even helps with the focus.

[Xiaou2]

That said... I have noticed a persons abilities reaction times dropping drastically, from smoking too much weed.

Interesting. For regular or long-time users of weed there is no or negligible effect on reaction times or (for example) ability to drive safely. Not that I want my bus driver stoned, just saying.

Noob smokers are in another category altogether! Too busy laughing to hold the wheel.

By comparison, alcohol has a dramatic effect on your reactions regardless of your tolerance.

Bank Panic is a great game for testing your personal reactions in these different scenarios. If I play it while drinking my reactions just get steadily worse, 3-4 beers and I'm done. But the other thing has no effect at all, maybe even helps with the focus.

 Well, the one dude I used to work with when I was a young kid, was so spaced out... that there was an actual long pause
between when you would ask him a question, and when he would actually respond.  He was doing weed nightly, at the
restaurant we worked at.

 The other dude grew his own.. and also was a daily user.  He was the one that I noticed some delay with.. but I cant
know for 100% certain, if it was the drug.   Spy Hunter is a brutally difficult game... I just noticed that in certain days
he had lightning quick responses... and on others, he was delayed, and kept getting worse and worse in performance.
Far worse than his typical average level performance.

(of course, maybe he also had something to drink those days, that I didnt realize or remember)


 As for Bank Panic... I believe there is a minimum threshold in the timing of the basic responses.  So long as you stay
within that range... its then all down to what you chose to shoot or not-shoot.   IMO, its a decent test.. but.. its not
as intense as something like a game of Robotron... where you are a pixel away from death, like every 3 seconds.

(IE:  "millisecond reactions"  rather than  "1 second"  based reactions)

 I have been around some that went into Paranoid states, that were kind of flipping out.

 My uncle was both a drunk, and a drug user.  While staying at my grandmothers place, he used to have
"Parties" when she stayed the nights over at her BFs house.  One night, at like 3am.. dude was talking to
this female on the couch.  His voice was always way too loud, so I could hear him through the walls.

 She asked him a question, and he spat out this long 2 min response.  Then, she asked the same question
again... and he repeated,  "Word for Word"  the exact same long response.  This happened at least 3 times
in a row... back to back.   I was blown away.. that they both could not recall the last 2min, and went on
a perfectly Looped cycle of questions and answers.


 My overall guess, is that the drug may effect certain peoples brains differently.


 I only tried the stuff once, more recently.  I didnt get to feel much of anything... as I just got so
messed up, that I was either completely unable to move, or was throwing up. Eventually passing out
completely.

 When I have the cash, Ill stick to Long Island's,  instead.  Three of those, and I light up
the dance floor... or I start doing some random  "Drunkin Kung Fu".

[Zebidee]

Fair and valid observations!

Everyone is different of course. I wouldn't be surprised if those people you were talking about were co-abusing other drugs (ludes, oxy, slow, meth etc.) and/or booze. Or maybe just lack of sleep or other parts of their lifestyles (even staying up all night playing computer games will make you a mess the next day).

Almost everytime I hear someone tell me a negative story about being stoned, they were co-abusing another drug. Particularly alcohol. Like, having a few too many drinks and then smoking up. This often leads to spinning heads, nausea, paranoia, even aggressive behaviour (this last one is definitely an alcohol effect).

If one must, then get stoned BEFORE drinking - not the other way around. However what often happens is people have a few drinks, lower their inhibitions and then decide to share a joint      

Of course, some of the weed strains about nowadays are very strong and appropriate care should be taken, even for long-time users.

One of the biggest problems with long-term weed use is lack of motivation. This is more important than it first seems, because it can lead to compounding other life issues until it all ends up as a mess. Regular weed users who also "succeed" at life must be very motivated people indeed.

Some of the stupid ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- people say when stoned is very funny indeed. It can slur your speech a little too.

Not advocating to anyone - make your own choices but be smart and safe.

[gildahl]

This sounds completely normal.  When I visited the arcades in the 70s and 80s I never expected to play a game for more than about 2 minutes--especially anything new.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that 2 minutes play time was something that manufacturers shot for as the desirable not-to-exceed play time for maximum profit.  Naturally, there were great gamers who could smash those limits, but those weren't your average player.  So yeah, games were fast and hard.  I recall going to the arcade with my weekly stash of 4 quarters while my parents were food shopping.  To make my money stretch for 45 minutes, I'd spend most of the time watching over the shoulders of other gamers to learn the game mechanics and strategies of the latest machines.  But invariably, once it was my turn, I rarely came even close to the kinds of almost miraculous reaction times I saw in some of those other gamers.  I still love these old games--and even find my lack of gifted reaction time to be of some benefit because it allows me to still find the games challenging.  But if you really want to improve, try this:  Simply setup your arcade machine to play just one game for, say, a month, and dedicate your time to just that one game.  You just may find it to be a whole new experience.

[Zebidee]

I was quite poor for most of the arcade era. It significantly influenced how I chose and played games.

One way I extended my coins at the arcades was to avoid the Streetfighter-style vs fighting games. They were attractive, but cost a lot more and were over fast. Plus, the richer, older, rougher, noisier and stupider kids played them a lot, and I always found it wise to avoid those.

Instead, I would enjoy a nice long game on something like Elevator Action or Ghosts n Goblins. Or Double Dragon, which gave you both a decent story and game, and as a bonus at the end you get to Vs fight your buddy (for the girl). Something for everyone, and all with one credit

#Tip For improving at games, always (well, 95% of the time) start again from the beginning, instead of continuing. Yeah yeah yeah you might start to be bored with the early parts, but you also learn to be *good*, and not die. You always pass through "bored" on the path to being great at something (I just made that up, but it seems like a good quote). Plus, if you press continue, you'll probably just be dead again in 30 seconds so where is the value for money?

[leapinlew]

This may not be a "or" question, but a "and" question. They are too fast and you're too old. I swear Fast Ms. Pacman got faster from when I was a kid.

[bobbyb13]

Use it or lose it!
At 40 my eyesight went to ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- and by 45 I could tell I was getting slower and weaker.

I'll blame it on not getting to surf and/or play games enough.

 

[negative1]

play smarter, not harder.

thanks to savestates, youtube playthroughs, and faqs, you should be able to crush
most games, or improve.

i've beaten all my old 80's scores. latest centipede score last week, 999,999.
i could barely break 100k in the 80's, now learning the strategies (blob strategy, or filling up the screen),
it doesn't matter how fast it gets. i can play it much better.

i still have to work on my missile command timing, and also major havoc, and maybe gravitar, and asteroids.
its just a matter of putting in the time.

later
-1

[Zebidee]

  For me it is a moot point as I rarely have time to play games anyway. Too busy 

[Gilrock]

You guys actually play the games?  I thought we just built them....haha.

[Mike A]

I play games everyday.

[Xiaou2]

In fact, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that 2 minutes play time was something that manufacturers shot for as the desirable not-to-exceed play time for maximum profit.

 To appease arcade operators complaints.. they aimed to ramp up the difficulty around that 2min mark, so that playtime
was reduced for new, and casual players.  That said... they tended to be very fair about it, in most games.

 They almost always start out the game fairly easy, allowing the player to get used to the game, and feel good about it.
After that, the difficulty tends to jump fairly dramatically.  Either you learn and develop the skills to keep going.. or that
is the extent of how far you got.

 Games like Sega's  "Turbo", and even Spy Hunter... basically gave you infinite lives... until the timer ran out.  After that,
the player was easily taken out, unless they had developed some pretty high level skills.


 I wasnt that good at most of the classic 80s games, as I was quite young at the time.  I used to play Sega's Turbo the most,
because of the infinite lives / timer.  This actually caused me to be able to develop some real skills in that game... where as with
most games.. I wouldnt last even half as long,  so didnt get much practice.  As a result... I believe I got to the 3rd or 4th
Extended-Play round... which was no small feat for such a young kid  (If I had to guess, maybe I was 9yrs old at that time).

 The other game I played a lot, was Bump and Jump.  I wasnt nearly as good... but I could last a pretty decent amount of
time on that machine.

 Back then, I hated Robotron.  I played it once... and all of my lives were gone, in like less than 50 seconds.  However, as
an adult.. I found a machine, and got hooked on it.  Its now one of my top favorite games.

 That said, there were many other very difficult games that kicked the crud out of me.. but I still loved and played them.
Such as Sinistar, Satans Hollow, Tron, Journey, Spy Hunter, Rock n Rope, Jungle Hunt, Congo Bongo, Haley's Comet,
Super Zaxxon, and countless others.

 Eventually making it to stage 2 in  Rock n Rope,  and  Congo Bongo,  was an awesome feeling of accomplishment,
for young me.

[gildahl]

This may not be a "or" question, but a "and" question. They are too fast and you're too old. I swear Fast Ms. Pacman got faster from when I was a kid.

Yeah, I'd say my objective these days is to play, not to get better, but to not get worse.  If I can continue hitting my old high scores, or somewhere in the neighborhood, I consider that a good day. 

[javeryh]

I play games everyday.

Me too.  Or just about every day.  I'm not getting any better but I'm having fun.

[negative1]

got the arcade 1up centipede a couple a weeks, i'm rusty, but
have topped the leaderboards for 8/14 games
---
centipede 999,999
millipede 380k
major havoc 950k
super breakout 1200
gravitar 80k
crystal castles 400k
liberator 120k
akka arrh 130k

got the joust machine
--
got 1.2 million yesterday





getting the dig dug cabinet next,
hope to top pac-man, pac-man plus, galaga, dig dug, dig dug 2, and more....

later
-1

[Phreakwars]

I used to play Ms. Pacman with hot pursuit button all the time back in the arcades. That game is even faster then the regular sped up version.



Now I can barely keep up. I watch my son play it, and he is way better than I EVER WAS. He can play that game with his hand on the hot pursuit button the entire time and never miss a turn. Don't know how the hell he does it, just boggles the mind. But yeah, he knows he is better than me, so I always pull the "I'M JUST GETTING OLD" line to comfort myself.

[leapinlew]

I used to play fast Ms. Pac-man all the time when I was a kid. I never had an issue with it, or missing turns, or whatever. I will miss turns more frequently now when I play at home with a 4 way WICO leaf with little use. It was NOS a few years ago and it's still a pretty tight joystick.

I just played Ms. Pac-Man at a barcade and it had a happ anniversary stick in it. I had no issues with that stick, which was also well broke in, and felt easy to play the way I used to play when I was a kid.

So.... the hardware definitely has to be factored in.

[csnow]

i've beaten all my old 80's scores. latest centipede score last week, 999,999.

That is an impressive score especially on a 1up Arcade with microswitch buttons.  You would be insane with a true leaf switch fire button.

[negative1]

maxed out dig dug, at 999,990 and quit with 15 men left.

this is the fast namco ROM, so no slow boards after level 114 or so.



this is an easy game, that repeats 4 levels. from 12-31, then gets faster on level 32 to 256 (killscreen)

later
-1

[RandyT]

I just played Ms. Pac-Man at a barcade and it had a happ anniversary stick in it. I had no issues with that stick, which was also well broke in, and felt easy to play the way I used to play when I was a kid.

*off topic*

Probably the biggest comment I hear about the anniversary stick, which is a very well-built stick and also happens to be the foundation for our Pac-Pro Leaf stick, is that it feels stiff.  Springs need to be worked to soften them up, but for a real commercial stick, manufacturers naturally select a stronger spring when new, so that in a few weeks of use, it won't feel "floppy".  For those who don't want to deal with breaking it in, proper use of a vice and a propane torch can perform wonders in adjusting spring tension.

*on topic*

You are too old.  It's proven that the older one is, the more one's perception of time changes.  According to this from Harvard, it's likely due to growing more complex neural networks over the course of your life, leading to longer pathways and more time spent processing data in your brain.  IOW, you probably had a lot of important $#!+ to think about in your life which added complex biological "code" to your natural processes, so your "framerate" isn't what it used to be.

Like anything, you can adjust with way more practice and effort than it took in your youth, but it will catch up with you.  Don't sweat it.  Just have fun playing the games and leave the e-peen measuring to others who are younger and/or have the time for such things 

[pbj]

I've found that going back to some console games that confounded me as a kid has been a much easier experience as a grizzled jackass.  Maybe I've seen it all or something, but the patterns are much easier to recognize on some of them.  There's also a lot of cheesy BS to make games artificially hard that we can cut through with a Game Genie so I can move on with life.

 

[RandyT]

Maybe I've seen it all or something, but the patterns are much easier to recognize on some of them.

I'd say that you were on the money with that assessment.  There are only so many ways to skin a cat and once you have skinned a few dozen it becomes second nature (metaphorically...don't skin cats)

[Xiaou2]

I used to play fast Ms. Pac-man all the time when I was a kid. I never had an issue with it, or missing turns, or whatever. I will miss turns more frequently now when I play at home with a 4 way WICO leaf with little use. It was NOS a few years ago and it's still a pretty tight joystick.

I just played Ms. Pac-Man at a barcade and it had a happ anniversary stick in it. I had no issues with that stick, which was also well broke in, and felt easy to play the way I used to play when I was a kid.

So.... the hardware definitely has to be factored in.

 The original machines used a 4-way stick assembly, which is very different from the Wico.
Big Metal beast, with a rounded ball actuator, and a Short Ball-Top stick.

 Not sure how different the Diamond shape is between the two... but Id bet that the much shorter
balltop, is one of the main reasons for faster reaction times.

 Longer hand movement Distances = Longer reaction times.

[negative1]

some more maxouts or near ones:

nearly maxed out galaga on practice mode 999,740



nearly maxed dig dug needed a little more dirt 999,960





maxed out pac-man at 999,990





later

-1

[javeryh]

OK now I think I'm just bad at games.

[LTC]

OK now I think I'm just bad at games.

Same. Those scores look unreachable to me.

Best I can do is a full Black Tiger run through without losing a life on pretty consistent basis.

[leapinlew]

Like -1 said, it's a matter of having enough time. So many options available nowadays. Most games you can really ramp up your scores. Of course there are some exceptions. I can't do great in Defender it seems. No matter how much time I put in it.

[EvilNuff]

...Best I can do is a full Black Tiger run through without losing a life on pretty consistent basis.

That's pretty good though, Black Tiger is a hard game.

[csnow]

The scores are impressive but the LCD image not so much.  Where I find age limiting my game play is with modern FPS games.  I am 52 so I was in my late 20's and early 30's when FPS became popular.  I don't even bother playing online anymore because I just get roasted these days.  I have lost signifigant msec response times which just makes online play brutal.  I wish the XBOX Live and PS Network algorithims would look at kill to death ratios and put like skillled players into the same games.  As it stands, the frustration is higher than the enjoyment these days.

[RandyT]

I wish the XBOX Live and PS Network algorithims would look at kill to death ratios and put like skillled players into the same games.  As it stands, the frustration is higher than the enjoyment these days.

They did that for a while.  The problems with that system are that if you are in a party with someone much better than you are, you still end up in hell.  The other problem is the d-bags who reverse-boost by just standing around getting killed to lower their K/D so that when they finally do feel like playing, they end up in lower-skilled lobbies and commence to slaughtering everyone.  Add to that the sophistication of hacks using packet sniffers on PCs for seeing through walls and the application of AI for targeting, and it ends up being a recipe for the death of a genre.  It was fun while it lasted.

[csnow]

It was fun while it lasted.

It was for sure.  Being a Star Wars fan growing up, my favorite FPS is Star Wars Battle Front which has a decent enought single player with bots that I enjoy solo.

[pbj]

Battlefront 2 cost me like $5 on ps4 and has a decent solo campaign.

The first one had a good psvr mission.

Still need to finish up Rogue Squadron or whatever the VR one was.

Ginger Jedi still taunts me.

Been some good Star Wars games lately, to be honest.

[negative1]

ms pac man 280k, 1st on leaderboard


first on galaga 999k, leaderboards






been play ms pac man, got 280k, and working on turbo, should be able to hit the killscreen soon enough.

later
-1

[RandyT]

Being a Star Wars fan growing up, my favorite FPS is Star Wars Battle Front which has a decent enought single player with bots that I enjoy solo.

The bot AI is getting to the point to where there isn't that much difference between them and human controlled opponents.  They still do some dumb things at times which can be taken advantage of, but I don't think it will be too much longer before you can't tell the difference.  I can see the genre transitioning at some point to more developed campaigns, and multi-player with more emphasis on co-op against AI opponents.  If someone is cheating in the party, it won't be as game-breaking or it'll be self-correcting.

[Scotty]

I have a pair of Dominux 8 sticks from Randy at Groovy Game Gear, and LOVE them.   Worth every penny.   Is a direct drop-in replacement for an X-arcade stick.   No modifications needed.   I also have a custom panel I built with a pair of Ultimarc Ultimate 360 sticks.   These also are phenomenal.  I am old (55) and grew up with leaf spring buttons and sticks.  I never really got into the fighting games.  I would play Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, but they did not have the addictiveness like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong did.    Both the sticks mentioned above do not have that clicky sound/feel of a micro switch stick.  One advantage of the Ultimate 360, is you can do 4-way, 8-way, 2-way (is this really even needed?) Diagonal (Q*Bert, Congo Bongo) and true Analog very easily via software (PC only, so will not be able to switch on Mac, Raspberry Pi, MISTer etc...).  Both sticks are highly recommended.  Pricey?  Yes, but worth the money.

PS, Hey Randy!!  I just got a Tron stick (with you still sold them), and will be ordering a trigger from you soon.