In Ice Cold Beer, players use two joysticks to control a metal bar that moves up and down a wooden playfield dotted with holes, reminiscent of bubbles in a mug of beer.
The objective is to tip the bar to guide a ball bearing into specific lit holes while avoiding unlit ones. As players progress, the target holes become increasingly challenging to reach while navigating around unlit holes.
Some 40 years ago, my dad took a leap and decided to import and resell the #Enterprise64 microcomputer from the United Kingdom. This was indeed the era of the "micro", and lots of options were available like the #Spectrum, #Amstrad, #NewBrain, #Lynx and numerous others. Unfortunately competition was hard, and the Enterprise was delayed for almost a year. Eventually they went bankrupt and all stock was exported to Eastern Europe where it got a second life among some very hard core enthusiasts. Very few were actually sold in Denmark - I would assume less then a hundred - and today I managed to get my hands on the third one in my collection. Inherited from his dad, the seller had no idea what to use this for. It's very much a special item, and very far from the mainstream like the Commodore 64. It is nevertheless a fascinating machine, sporting a #Zilog#Z80 with support for up to 2MB RAM. The operating system also contained IS-BASIC, and was a bliss to work with.
30 years ago today (April 26), my favorite band released one of my favorite albums. In 1994 my 14th birthday had just passed, I was getting even more into music, and A Date with the Smithereens was MINDBLOWING then. And to me, it still is. This is a RIPPER of a fucking album. From the opening of War for My Mind to lighter tracks to maybe one of my favorite songs of all TIME, Sleep the Night Away.
A Date is also an interesting look back at peak Big Record Label as the rise of big 90s bands like Nirvana (who LOVED the Smithereens, they'd play their tape in their tour van) and kinda 80s rock like the Smithereens (despite being British Invasion flavored) taking a bit of a backseat to heavier, newer rock bands. I loved both.
And 30 years later, I STILL play this one REGULARLY. They recently put out a box set with four 45s and a bunch of extra songs - I don't have the box, but I heard the extra songs, and they are AWESOME.
RIP Pat DiNizio, and long live the Smithereens (who still perform and tour with other singers, something I'm sure Pat would have loved).
"The idea for the film (Video Violence [1987]) came about one afternoon when a young mother with her children asked if the film I Dismember Mama contained any sex. Cohen informed her that he was unsure about the film's sexual content but that he knew it contained graphic violence. The woman decided to rent the film, telling Cohen that as long as the film were devoid of sex, she considered it appropriate viewing for her children." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Violence#movies#horror#80s
I was there with my #Atari 2600 in the #80s and I played the hell outta this game. Looking back, it was...okay. My top is still Yar's Revenge. I'll die on that buzzing, psychedelic hill.
Anyway - Pitfall was released on this date, way back in the beforetimes. #Retrogaming#Arcade
37 years ago today (April 19) in 1987, the first Simpsons short "Good Night" aired on The Tracey Ullman show. I wasn't watching (I was 7), but I was watching when the Simpsons aired as its own series a couple years later.