Reading 03: Console vs. Computer
The Battle
The most obvious difference between console and computer is the interface. A keyboard just has so many more buttons! You can customise key-mappings and attribute complex sequences to a single keypress. And a mouse has proven to be faster and more accurate than a d-pad or joystick for most applications. Combine that with the left and right clickers and a clever game designer won't even need the keyboard.
Next up is the difference in technology. These are the relase dates for the Playstation consoles: 1995, 2000, 2006, and 2014. That means graphics can't get any better, processors can't get any faster, and games can't get any bigger for 5 to 7 years. Not to mention the systems are designed years before release, so the technology is necessarily already outdated when the first customer purchases the console. PC's do not suffer the same way; their hardware can be updated at will. This also aloows computer gamer designers to design with an eye towards the future; relying on the promise that certain technological advancements will have been made by the time their game is ready.
So it's really these differences that underpin the cultural differences between the two paradigms. PC's have incredible interface and technological capabilities, at the price of steep learning curves and maintenance. Consoles have technological limitations, but they carry a promise to the customer to 'just work'. It's always easier to put a cartridge into a slot than it is to install software. You can be upside down on a sofa 20 feet from your big screen TV and use a controller, but you have to be upright at a desk to use a mouse and keyboard.
And so naturally video-game consumers diverge along these lines. Players looking for a catered, streamlined, 'casual' experience will find themselves leaning towards console gaming. Players looking to micro-manage their own experience look towards a PC to provide that level of customization. Studios are aware of this divide, and produce games accordingly. You won't find games like Civilization or Star Citizen on consoles because they are incredibly complex to play and require complex interfaces and interactions that are only suitbale for mouse and keyboard. Likewise the most popular console games like Super Mario Bros. or Fifa will not be the most popular PC games because they're just more fun and more comfortable on a console.
Early PC Games
Apple II
I never owned an Apple II, and I don't think I've ever interacted with one. I have vague memories of Macintosh computers in our computer lab back in kindergarten in 1998, but I don't think they were Apple II's.
Despite having no personal history with the machine, I'm very aware of its place in history, so I was excited to explore this platform first.
Strip Poker - Melissa & Suzi
Lol, just kidding. I didn't play that game. For class anyway.
Pacman
I'm starting here because so far it's a good standard to compare platforms - everybody's gotta have a Pacman clone.
The first thing I noticed was the weird colors
I was under the impression that the Apple II was
monochromatic. After some research I've found that color on the
Apple II was not simple. On top of that there were a few
different versions of the Apple II, so it's difficult to know what
exact configuration is being emulated. Suffice to say, when color
on the Apple II is just one of Woz's famous hacks, and operates
like it; notice the low resolution and interference between
adjacent colors. In light of these quirks, I assume some
compromises must be made graphically, like the size of the fruit.
The Apple II did not have up/down arrow keys, only left/right, so Pac-Man uses A and Z for up and down. It's weird for me, but probably somewhat natural on that hardware. The game feels a little slower than the arcade version, but leaps and bounds ahead of the Atari 2600 version!
Lode Runner
I decided to try this game next because I've never heard of it, but it's on everybody's top ten Apple II list. Of note, it's the first game to feature a level editor! It's a puzzle and platformer mix, again another first.
The game starts off with a fancy iris wipe, 
so
that's pretty impressive. The designer has chosen his color
pallete to minimize interference. The gameplay feels really
smooth, and only one hand is required (i, j, k, l, u, o), so the
game is very easy to get sucked into right away.
I got to level 3 before deciding to move on. I know, pics or it
didn't happen.
This game was really excellent, and still the work of only one person, Doug Smith. The idea of putting the power of creative expression into the player's hands is an, ahem, game changing innovation.
DOS
I'm not sure if I've ever interacted with a real DOS machine. I barely remember the first computer my family had; it was about the size of a microwave and I didn't touch it because if I did I would probably get blamed for the crashes that plagued the damn thing and destroyed my parents' unsaved work. It might've been running Windows 95, maybe Windows 3.X, or maybe DOS. Can't remember.
Pac-Man
The graphics are much closer to the arcade version than many other platforms. They nailed the melodic sound effects used during transitions, but the gameplay sounds are terrible. They replaced 'wacka-wacka' with varying siren sounds that are just grating. It also appears the color pallete was restricted to the spectrum between green and red, which is not nearly as appealing as the bright neons and high contrasts of the arcade game. The speed seems closer to the arcade than other platforms, but still a little too slow. For an off-brand port it's alright, but I can't get sucked into it like the arcade version, it's just that little bit off.
I mean seriously, these colors look like a set of 70's
plastic-ware.
Prince of Persia
I picked this out because I played its successors on Playstation 2, and they were fantastic!
Boy, this game isn't like those at all. I mean, the protaganist is male, it takes place in Persia, and he can jump, kinda, but that's where the similarities end. This character is sluggish. I feel like I'm pushing him through the effects of a poorly timed Ambien. I have to press jump 2 steps before the gap. The climbing mechanics are obscure. The field of vision is so small I get a claustrophobic sense, but I can't tell if that's artistic direction, technological limitation, or both. And the character is straight up boring; slow, weak, and his outfit makes him look like a young Donald Trump escaping a mental institution.
I spent far too long trying to get past this part. Finally I broke down and watched a walk-through; this place is a dead-end. Crap.
The deaths are pretty brutal though, so there's that
All in all, this game must have been innovative and influential in it's day, but it has not aged well. I found it boring and frustrating.