With modern consoles offering gamers graphics so photorealistic that they blur the line between CGI and reality, it's easy forget just how cartoonishly blocky they were in the 8-bit era. In his new book, Creating Q*Bert and Other Classic Arcade Games, legendary game designer and programmer Warren Davis recalls his halcyon days imagining and designing some of the biggest hits to ever grace an arcade. In the excerpt below, Davis explains how the industry made its technological leap from 8- to 12-bit graphics. Santa Monica Press©2021 Santa Monica PressBack at my regular day job, I became particularly fascinated with a new product that came out for the Amiga computer: a video digitizer made by a company called A-Squared. Let’s unpack all that slowly.The Amiga was a recently released home computer capable of unprecedented graphics and sound: 4,096 colors! Eight-bit stereo sound! There were image manipulation programs for it that could do things no other computer, including the IBM PC, could do. We had one at Williams not only because of its capabilities, but also because our own Jack Haeger, an immensely talented artist who’d worked on Sinistar at Williams a few years earlier, was also the art director for the Amiga design team.Video digitization is the process of grabbing a video image from some video source, like a camera or a videotape, and converting it into pixel data that a computer system (or video game) could use. A full-color photograph might contain millions of... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2021-12-25 16:30:11 UTC ]
Overshadowed by the drama-filled mayoral race, a quietly competitive contest is brewing between the candidates vying to become New York City comptroller: the city’s top watchdog and fiscal officer, charged with auditing its multibillion-dollar budget, scrutinizing mayoral agencies and stewarding... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2025-03-27 19:48:06 UTC ]
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The consequences of shutting down the Institute of Museum and Library Services would be particularly dire for smaller museums and rural museums. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2025-03-20 12:49:52 UTC ]
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An executive order slashes much-needed federal funding for these services, but you can aid the effort to save them by signing a petition or joining a protest. On Friday, President Donald Trump issued yet another executive order aimed at gutting our federal agencies in the name of fiscal... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2025-03-18 20:00:00 UTC ]
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Image from the New York Public Libraries Digital Collections The hogmen and shock troops of the Trump-Musk administration have gone after another essential and beloved mainstay of public life: libraries. Trump signed a broad executive order last Friday that puts libraries in existential danger... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-03-18 16:54:24 UTC ]
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Research by the BBC finds libraries are being lost at a rate of about 40 each year. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2025-03-18 01:41:07 UTC ]
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OverDrive will distribute Podium's audiobooks to libraries and schools outside of the United States and Canada. The post OverDrive Distributes Podium’s Audiobooks Outside North America appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-03-07 14:40:34 UTC ]
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From romance conventions to preserving romance history, here's how libraries and librarians support the beloved genre. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-02-28 12:30:00 UTC ]
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Data and analytics resource ProQuest will “phase out one-time perpetual purchases of digital collections” and require libraries to lease content rather than make permanent acquisitions, shocking the library and university press community. Competitor EBSCO responded by assuring customers that it... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-24 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Presidential libraries in the United States today follow the same principle: They become monuments to the former presidents, while giving back to their local communities. Here in Atlanta, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum has been part of my daily life for years. Parks and trails... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2025-02-22 09:30:00 UTC ]
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Using its I Love Libraries website as a platform, the ALA has launched a public supporter program intended to generate donations and keep library patrons apprised of the organization’s advocacy work and grants. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-20 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Theological Book Network ships millions of religious studies texts to scholars whose libraries can't afford costly-but-essential books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-19 05:00:00 UTC ]
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The Portuguese network of libraries has launched a new program for digital book access, provided by Québec City's De Marque. The post In Portugal: De Marque’s BiblioLED Project Is Activated appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2025-02-04 16:05:31 UTC ]
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If you've noticed changes to the digital materials you can borrow from your library, that's because that access is costing libraries way more than ever before. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-02-04 14:30:00 UTC ]
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Libraries are good for you in ways you might not have thought of, an overdue translation comes to English, dystopian novels pop (again). All in today's book news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-02-03 17:25:00 UTC ]
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How Trump’s unconstitutional federal funding freeze put libraries (and everything else) at risk: “They are not afraid to threaten vast swathes of vulnerable Americans—the point is to be cruel and to punish.” | Lit Hub Politics “When I think about it, tucking the label / back into my husband’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-30 11:30:26 UTC ]
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Science has backed up what many of us have long been saying: the library rocks. A study from the New York Public Library surveyed 1,974 users on how the library makes them feel and how it affects their lives, and the results are overwhelmingly positive. The researchers’ analysis (which used... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-28 16:23:23 UTC ]
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Digital borrowing of e-books, audiobooks, and digital magazines rose to more than 739 million checkouts at the libraries and schools who use OverDrive's Libby and Sora apps. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Pediatrician Dr. Genna Ableman juggles the usual clinical tasks at every wellness visit: measuring a child’s vitals, administering vaccines and talking about nutrition. But she also makes time for what she says is one of the most critical ways to improve a child’s health: reading.Ableman,... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2025-01-24 11:03:08 UTC ]
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Librarian of Year John Szabo, of the Los Angeles Public Library, talks about the fires and why libraries are so important in these political times. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2025-01-23 16:45:45 UTC ]
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Kootenai County libraries will create an "adults only" room, revoke library access to minors, and seek to ban purchases of a wide swath of book topics for anyone under 18. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-20 14:25:00 UTC ]
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