Send your emails for next week's Friday Letters Page - if there is one - to this place here: digitiser2000@gmail.com
Dear Mr Biffo,
Will you fix it for me to be on a quiz panel at a teletext festival with internet and gaming gurus? I have a clear DBS, and a clean driving license.
However I will require lots to drink as I am very likley to dry up on stage.
Yours sincerely,
C-Dog (Age 40)
PS. Have you watched Go 8 Bit? Me neither.
And if you do "dry up" on stage, I have some lotion that should fix it.
Actually - I have indeed watched the Go 8 Bit properly now, and have rather warmed to the show's mix of unthreatening geekery.
I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I'M IN NO WAY JEALOUS OF EVERYONE ATTENDING DIGIFEST, AND WILL ACTUALLY BE ENJOYING A SUPERIOR EXPERIENCE SAT IN MY PANTS AND CRYING WHILE EATING EXPIRED PICKLED ONIONS IN MY NEIGHBOUR'S DILAPIDATED SHED.
TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE.
DR DAGLESS
As much as I sorely want to go to Digifest, money woes and the 240 mile round trip by car have made me decide that I can't make it, sadly. I could take public transport but I'm constantly sick of strangers giving me the fear, especially the ones that sit next to you on a nearly empty train. Even worse, the ones that don't hide the fact that they too are watching the pornography I'm studying on my phone, headphones on or not.
However, I shall be there in spirit and, on the plus side, I won't have to wear my balaclava and anaglyph 3D glasses to hide my face. That being said, wearing those on a train would definitely attract the weird ones... and possibly the police. I was once pulled over by the police for wearing a fez 'because you looked suspicious sir'. I wasn't charged but I was late for work. Some people are just odd.
Anyway, I hope everyone going has a cracking time, and I'm looking forward to seeing photos and videos from the day!
I am fit and strong, and that is all.
Gaming Mill
I had an achievement streak in excess of 150 days going. Then I got home from work with a temperature of 39C and took to my bed. That was two weeks ago and I've barely played my Eggsbox, let alone pursued achievements.
I fear I'm in a periodic gaming slump. I'm just not bothered if I play or not. I'm deriving more enjoyment catching up on Dara O'Briaiaiain's Go 8 Bit recorded over the last few weeks. Before I know it I'll be watching Twitch streams...
On second thoughts, I think I'll be gaming again with renewed vigour before I know it.
Ian
Recently I reviewed the dreadful Pit Fighter on my Youtube Channel.
The game sparked off a bit of a debate as I feel Pit Fighter represents the slide into the realistic depiction of violence in video games. Sure we'd had games like Werewolves Of London where you went around eating passings by and spilling their guts everywhere, but the cartoonish graphics meant there was a disconnect between the violence/gore and reality.
But Pit Fighter was different. It had actual digitised graphics. I always felt it overstepped the mark and am still uncomfortable with it and Mortal Kombat.
I'm no prude. I had fun with the likes of Doom and every iteration of GTA with no issue. But there is something about Pit Fighter and Mortal Kombat that doesn't sit easily with me.
So what, if anything, makes you uncomfortable when it appears in computer games?
That or draw me a picture of Turner The Worm at a funfair.
Chinnyhill
First can I say I really hope that the Block Party is a major success, I'm rooting for you, and selfishly in hoping that it goes well enough that you bring it north some time (Liverpool is much nicer than Manchester). I can't make saturday but the closer it gets the more i wish i could.
Your recent tribute to Arnold Palmer had me remembering sports sims I've enjoyed playing over the years. As well as some classics (to me) such as early FIFA games and Pete Sampras Tennis on the Dreamcast, I remembered a game called Speedball 2, Brutal Deluxe. I think I had it on the Megadrive and I loved it. Its very existence can probably explain my A-level results. Not sure if it really qualifies as a sports sim but i just wondered if you or anyone else remembered it?
Anyway good luck for Saturday and here's hoping we see you up this way before too long,
Monkey Head.