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Albert on NPR's "Morning Edition"!


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I just finished listening to the new King Crimson EP on my way to work, and I turned on the radio to catch the end of "Morning Edition."

 

Imagine my delight when I discovered they were in the middle of an interview discussing classic video games, especially the Atari 2600!

 

Imagine my even greater delight when, at the end of the interview, Bob Edwards announced that the interviewee was none other than Albert Yarusso of AtariAge.com!

 

Congrats, Albert!

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Excerpt copied from the NPR site for Oct. 17, 2002

 

http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm...%2F2002&PrgID=3

 

»

Old Video Games Now Collectibles

 

 

Host Bob Edwards speaks with Albert Yarusso about the growing popularity of vintage video games first introduced in the 1970's. He is the co-creator of AtariAge.com, a website devoted to vintage video games. (3:50)

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Krytol wrote:  

I made an mp3 of it here:  

 

Albert on Morning Edition[/url]  

 

Thanks K!, I've just d/l it and it works great. Cool having a mp3 of it, instead of the crappy streaming Real version they put on the NPR website.

 

It took me forever to go through all the tracks to get to this one, so I thought I'd save everyone the trouble. :)

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Thanks for the MP3.

 

Albert, you rule, baby! Good work!

 

Two comments:

One, they totally cut you off at the end, which was lame on their part.

 

Two: "there are what you call emulators" This quote from you is priceless! Talking to the Morning Edition guy like he's a six year old! I can hear the part they edited "And you play these 'emulators' on what you would call a 'computer' that may be located in what you call a 'living room.' If I call them emulators, what do YOU call them?

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

 

Cracking me up, dude! Nicely done! :)

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It was great to have a national - and in some cases, international - radio station give significant attention to the "retrogaming" movement. The interview went well and Albert touched all the key bases - Tennis for Two, Spacewar, the typical Atari player demographic, emulation, and most importantly, that Atari games are still enjoyed because the game play is key.

 

Well done Albert!

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What's up with everyone showing up on NPR recently?  First megamanfan and now Albert.  And I missed 'em both.  I swear, I listen to NPR every day.

 

Cool interview, BTW.

 

NPR seems to be showing some interest in the classic gaming hobby. I was on NPR back in May of 2001. They sent a reporter to New Hampshire to cover the Funspot/Twin Galaxies tournament. I spoke with the guy for about 10 minutes. Roughly two minutes of my comments made it on the air.

 

We were mainly discussing collecting classic coin-op games. We also talked about competitive classic videogame contests, and why Billy Mitchell's perfect game of Pac-Man was such a big deal.

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*Found! Complete Interview tape!*

 

It seems Albert was not cut off! This reporter has obtained the original tapes from a dumpster next to the NPR building. It seems those fiends at NPR had altered the taped interview. What follows is a partial transcript of the full interview.

 

NPR Guy: So how exactly are these games played?

 

Albert: The games are played on what are called "televisions"

 

NPR Guy: Ah yes, I did once hear about these devices.

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*Found! Complete Interview tape!*

 

It seems Albert was not cut off!  This reporter has obtained the original tapes from a dumpster next to the NPR building.  It seems those fiends at NPR had altered the taped interview.  What follows is a partial transcript of the full interview.

 

NPR Guy: So how exactly are these games played?

 

Albert: The games are played on what are called "televisions"

 

NPR Guy: Ah yes, I did once hear about these devices.

 

 

:lol: Good one! Those silly radio geeks ;)

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You guys are cracking me up! Yes, I was cut off mid-sentence in that last question.. It went something like, "The main difference is you're not sitting on the couch with a bunch of your friends, [sNIP!] drinking a few brewskies, and sharing in the delight of the spectacular graphics some of the adult titles on the 2600 offers."

 

..Al

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What the heck?!?!? :?

 

Radio guy: You have to have to be 12 years old to have the reflexes to play the modern games don't you?

 

Albert: {something to the effect of casual agreement, then ending with 'but I expect my reflexes will be going downhill".. sometime}

 

Radio Guy: So you'll have the old stuff around then! :)

 

WTF?! uhh.. Did he just insinuate that the old Atari games didn't require quick reflexes? So yeah you need those 12 year old reflexes in those modern games such as Metal Gear and Final Fantasy but at least Albert can go back to those comfy OLD GEEZER games where his creaky reflexes and skills would be more at home. Now excuse me while I play a relaxing game of KABOOM. :roll:

 

Yeah sure you got fast relflex games today (DDR comes to mind). But for my money, the gameplay response, speed, and tight control of many a 2600 game has yet to be matched in the majority of the "modern" consoles. It is truly the KING of TWITCH GAMING.

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I agree with NE146. People seem to have an idea that Atari games are "slow" because of the 2600's comparatively feeble hardware.

 

I think it comes from people's now-familiar experience of old computers being incredibly "slow" to process more recent software (which the computers were never designed to handle).

 

I have always been amazed at how FAST and INTENSE some Atari 2600 games are. It is part of the magic/art of programming for the 2600.

 

I think modern games have lost something simply because modern systems are so easy to program for, compared to the 2600. It's easy for game designers to be sloppy or careless with their programming now; back in the days of the 2600 you had to know what you were doing!

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