DIGITISER
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ

THE DIGITISER2000 FRIDAY LETTERS PAGE

29/7/2016

8 Comments

 
Picture
Well, we've had a slightly quieter week on Digi for obvious reasons. The ruddy pills they put me on to bring down the pressure in my eyeball appear to double up as elephant tranquillisers, and I slept for something like 18 hours yesterday.

The good news is: the docs don't think there'll be any permanent damage to my eye. The bad news is: I now have no valid reason to wear an eyepatch.

I've said it already, but I'm going to say it again anyway - thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write something kind, lovely, and/or supportive in the last couple of days. I'm still reeling from it all, frankly.

I read everything everybody wrote, and apologies if you didn't get a direct reply - one-and-a-half functioning eyeballs, and extreme drowsiness, meant my productivity was down rather in the last few days. Not to mention it was hard to keep up with the sheer number of comments, tweets and whatnot. But it meant so much to all of us at Chez Biffo. You managed to give us something life-affirming in the face of something a bit rubbish. It was pretty profound all told.

Anyway. That's quite enough sincerity. Here's a podcast I did some weeks back with Retro Asylum. You haven't heard it before. It's pretty good.

Now on with the letters. Thrrrrpt!
EVERMORE
​Have you ever:

  1. - bungee jumped
  2. - worked as a chef
  3. - written for a tabloid newspaper
  4. - pleasured yourself to a video game character
  5. - killed a man
  6. - fallen in love with a building façade
  7. - worn braces
  8. - won at the races
  9. - watched a Dario Argento film
  10. - baked pottery in a kiln
  11. - admired a friend's lover too much
  12. - been to Singapore
  13. - created a reveal-o that goes too far, and that you could never, ever show?
​Marc Booth
What is this nonsense, Bolan? Did you just cut and paste this from Facebook? I always ignore those question lists when people tag me in them. Pfft. You'll be "poking" me next. And yet... look at me now, being a hypocrite: I'm going to answer them for you.
 
​1) No. And never would.
2) No.
3) No.
4) No!
5) Yes.
6) Yes.
7) Yes.
8) Yes.
9) No.
10) Yes.
11) No.
12) No.
13) Yes. Teletext had a sort of internal mail system, where you could send teletext pages to other users. Mr Hairs and I - as part of an ongoing prank battle with Dave Hunter, who wrote the Planet Sound music section - sent him a page showing a graphic (in every sense of the word) image of a "real Turner the Worm", whose recently-expelled "sick" was dribbling from its "mouth" to form the word "DAVE". You see, Dave sat with his back to a window which peered directly into the Deputy Editor's office, who would've gotten an unobstructed view of the visual the second Dave opened it up...
EVERLESS
​Somebody just put this through my door then ran off.
​Wrist Flapper

Picture
Why would they put it through your door? Oh wait. This isn't the first time you've had something through your letterbox is it? Press reveal to see what you usually get.
REVEAL:
Picture
EVEREST
I hope that you are feeling better after your attack and that a full recovery is not far away. Please feel free to use some, all or none of the following for the letters page.
  1. What would you rate as the best direct sequels to games i.e. the same generation of hardware (so modern Doom wouldn't count)?
  2. The Sonic series is regarded as one of the defining series in computer game history. However, as there have been more bad ones than good ones, is it also an example of one or two games capturing a 'magic' that they can never recreate?​
  3. Several hardware generations have been defined by a genre or game style; I do not feel this has been the case in the PS4 generation, what do you think?
​John Whyte
1. I think Yoshi's Island is pretty near perfect. In some respects I prefer it to Super Mario World. 
2. Yes. See also Tomb Raider. Though the recent prequels have probably done a fair bit to justify the series' reputation, even if they're not perfect.
3. Arguably - though they pre-date the current generation - the big, Ubisoft-style, open world, map-mopper genre is a relatively new invention, and has come to define this generation.
K2
Seeing another Digi reader's teletext art/homage to Digi of old made me think...

Now that we all have access to the magic of teletext creation, what if other similar efforts were to be produced, to form some sort of weekly gallery?

You could be like Tony Hart and write your comments beneath them while the familiar theme tune plays in our collective heads. Doo-dee-dee-doo, Dee-dee doo-doo-doo...

To this end, I've created my own page, and suggest others could do the same!
Stuart
Picture
People are very welcome to send them in. By the same token, I'm very welcome to pretend they all went into my spam folder.
K9
If Digi were to be made into a game what genre would it be and which characters would be playable?

What are your memories of doing the live Teletext feed/letters for Games Master, would have been for series 4 I believe as I remember someone humorously commenting that their screen was on fire. This being a reference to the Hell theme they were using that year.
Glyn Heaviside
I've been asked this before, and I dunno if I would use existing characters. I had an idea for a sort of choose-your-own-adventure about an indie game designer, which sort of went off at a weird tangent. Whether I ever get around to it is another thing.

The Games Master live feed thing - if people don't remember - had us turning Digi's pages over to a sort of proto-version of live-Tweeting, using the subtitle feature. They'd send us comments, and we'd quickly type them up, and overlay them atop Games Master. 

The main things I remember are: 

1) Being annoyed at having to stay late at the office.
2) Dominik Diamond contributing, and having to speak with him on the phone beforehand, for some reason.
3) Getting into trouble for making sarcastic comments during the ad breaks (we ended up being banned for putting up comments during the ads).
Picture
MAN DIARY - 29 JULY 2016
I got punched in the face while sitting in stationary traffic the other day. Like Stephen King, I've decided to turn this powerful experience into a horror novel, which I'll probably just make up as I go along, and sell millions, even though the characters in all my books are thinly-veiled versions of myself. Here's the opening paragraph:

"A big man in a small town is something to be. The Dan had no idea what was waiting for him that summer day, a day which began like so many others. He got up, brushed his teeth, and took his car into town to grab a burger.

"He was sitting stationary in traffic when he was punched in the face. By A ZOMBIE!!!!! As the world fell apart in the days, weeks, and months to come, he did the only thing he knew how: he wrote a horror novel based upon his experience..."

8 Comments
RG
29/7/2016 02:28:32 pm

In the eyesight chart at the top of the page, the letter V is over represented.

Reply
Spiney O'Sullivan
29/7/2016 02:58:29 pm

In response to John Whyte, I'd argue that the defining theme of games in this generation is remasters and definitive editions.

This generation is the gaming equivalent of a clip show.

Reply
Superbeast 37
29/7/2016 05:20:16 pm

No "valid" reason to wear an eye patch?

Wanting to look like Big Boss ain't a valid reason?

Reply
Mr Biffo
29/7/2016 05:28:31 pm

You make a good point, Superbeast. Actually, I was just looking them up on Amazon!

Reply
Chris Wyatt
29/7/2016 07:21:40 pm

I assume that's a loved-up Turner the Worm popping through the letterbox, seeing as phalluses can't speak.

Also, it's nice that your assailant conjured up the courage to apologise to you. I guess he's not all bad after all.

Reply
Retroresolution link
29/7/2016 08:01:16 pm

Very encouraging news re: your escape from monocular vision. That is all.

Reply
FEoD link
30/7/2016 08:55:27 am

The biffing of Biffo, eh?
Good job your Teletext name wasn't Mr Bummedinthegobo back in the day or something more unwelcome might've come through the open car window and hit you in the face unexpectedly...

Reply
Mr Nibblemyliver
30/7/2016 07:29:32 pm

I concur!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    This section will not be visible in live published website. Below are your current settings:


    Current Number Of Columns are = 2

    Expand Posts Area =

    Gap/Space Between Posts = 12px

    Blog Post Style = card

    Use of custom card colors instead of default colors = 1

    Blog Post Card Background Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Shadow Color = current color

    Blog Post Card Border Color = current color

    Publish the website and visit your blog page to see the results

    Picture
    Support Me on Ko-fi
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    RSS Feed Widget
    Picture

    Picture
    Tweets by @mrbiffo
    Picture
    Follow us on The Facebook

    Picture

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

Picture
This site Copyright Paul Rose 2016 - All images Copyright respective copyright holders
  • MAIN PAGE
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Game Reviews
  • FAQ