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 ]
Libraries in Medellín, Colombia, help overcome pandemic-induced isolation with “Love in the Time of Coronavirus,” an anonymous letter-writing program. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-30 14:08:32 UTC ]
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Libraries in Medellín, Colombia, help overcome pandemic-induced isolation with “Love in the Time of Coronavirus,” an anonymous letter-writing program. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-07-30 14:08:00 UTC ]
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There are 22 libraries in the world with a whopping 15 million items catalogued. Here are ten of the world's biggest - with a few facts and some pictures. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-27 10:30:43 UTC ]
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Hampshire County Council has revealed it intends to close eight of its 48 council-run libraries and reduce the opening hours of those remaining by an average of 20%. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-20 14:34:26 UTC ]
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Quaranzines collecting people’s quarantine experiences are growing in popularity, and provide important information, and libraries are noticing. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-20 10:30:51 UTC ]
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The program was first announced in March to encourage digital read-aloud sessions for libraries and schools forced to close by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-20 04:00:00 UTC ]
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With the August recess looming and a second round of coronavirus relief in the works, $2 billion in funding for libraries hangs in the balance. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-07-17 04:00:00 UTC ]
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There have never been so many extremely personal ways to communicate with your user base. Social media, email, push notifications—we’ve never had more options, and the ability to personalize based on medium and preferences. But it’s hard to manage all these messaging platforms and then... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-07-15 16:27:23 UTC ]
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Taking a look at some of the helpers who are turning their Little Free Libraries into Little Free Pantries to help neighbors in need during the pandemic. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-15 10:32:56 UTC ]
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Werner Herzog did it with Grizzly Man, Adam McKay did it with Vice – from archival libraries to old film canisters from charity shops, the past is waiting to be brought to lifeA child sits on a rock ledge buckling his shoe. The camera zooms towards a mysterious dark shape behind him as the boy... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-03 09:00:16 UTC ]
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Buzzy original series may drive attention to streaming services, but the bulk of most major streamers' programming catalogs are their libraries of licensed TV shows. And those licensed titles often account for the highest-quality content available on the service, according to data from streaming... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-07-02 10:30:51 UTC ]
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Drew and Christopher chat with Hilary Leichter in three different Damn Libraries for another first of its kind digital episode—our first Zoom guest! We discuss Hilary’s novel Temporary which leads to talk about things like gig work, her love of pirates, and how the book started as a short story.... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-26 09:33:39 UTC ]
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OverDrive—the digital learning platform for libraries and schools—has announced it is acquiring RBmedia's library business. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-24 09:38:04 UTC ]
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As libraries begin to reopen around the country, patrons are excited to get back to borrowing books—but they’re also still nervous about COVID-19, which is understandable. At least some of them have been “getting creative” in their attempts to protect themselves, prompting at least one public... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-23 18:08:53 UTC ]
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Libraries in England will be able to reopen from 4th July as the country's lockdown measures continue to ease, Boris Johnson has announced. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-22 22:02:41 UTC ]
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A reader considers how social media has given libraries a new tool for community engagement, outreach, and promotion. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-22 10:32:03 UTC ]
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With most schools and libraries closed across the country closed, parents are left scrambling in a lot of ways: distance ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-19 10:39:09 UTC ]
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Schools and libraries have been closed for months, but some kids aren’t going to get away with playing video games all summer. Kelly Passek -- a middle school librarian in Montgomery County, Virginia -- is sending out summer reading via drones. After... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-06-12 18:18:26 UTC ]
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Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library initiative, which made more than 1.3 million books available online for free, will end early as publishers sue for copyright infringement. The nonprofit began offering free books during March as the coronavirus pandemic forced Americans to quarantine... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-12 14:06:26 UTC ]
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The nonprofit has said its National Emergency Library was a public service to people unable to access libraries during the pandemic, but publishers and authors accused it of theft. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-06-11 19:56:08 UTC ]
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