Battle of the Arcades Games Poll

[VON]

Maybe this poll will hurt some feelings, but I really don't care.  You make me play Zaxxon and Mappy and you're going to hear about it.  I'm also interested to see which games don't get votes, because I'm fairly certain some of these titles are objectively awesome.

Everyone gets three votes, and please detail why you chose the titles you did.

My picks: Zaxxon (with a big #1 for worst game), Mappy, and Q*bert.

Zaxxon and Q*bert get my vote primarily because I don't engage well with the isometrics.  In Zaxxon, I can't gauge my vertical position unless I'm firing, which is stupid, and in Q*bert, the board is constantly inverting on me, which obviously makes things less fun.

Mappy is just slow for me and ultimately not a rewarding gameplay experience.  Some players probably get a little excitement when they hammer all the kitties and Goro with one of the microwave doors for a big bonus, but I just don't care.  I just want the game to be over.  I'm so bored of jumping on trampolines.

I will revisit some of the BotA games for my personal enjoyment after the tournament is over.  I will never play Zaxxon, Mappy or Q*Bert again unless they appear in future tournaments.

(Sorry Ken.  I know how hard you work to setup the BotA and I hope you don't take this criticism of your game selection to be an attack on you.  Different strokes for different folks.  And, for what it's worth, I also find Elevator Action incredibly tedious and slow, and Rally-X on Medium is just painful.  After Zaxxon and Mappy, there was some serious competition for my third vote.) 

[SanTe]

Rally-X, Gravitar, and Zaxxon for me, in that order.  And they all just barely beat out DK3 (boring shooter).

I got my fill of Zaxxon on my Commodore 64 as a kid.  It was a great port, and strangely I think it's better than the arcade version, more fun somehow.  Well, as fun as Zaxxon can be.

Rally-X just isn't fun to me.  I never saw it BITD, but there was a rip-off of it for the C64 called Radar Rat Race.  Basically the same game.  I played it a lot since it was one of the few games I had at the time.  Didn't like it then, don't like it now, so Rally-X just brings up bad memories.

Gravitar I've tried once or twice and it just isn't interesting or enjoyable to me at all.  I know it has its fans, though, and this may be one of those titles that I'd grow to like a lot if I put time into figuring it out and not sucking so bad at it.  Defender are Stargate are like that for me.  Played a game of Defender at Dorky's in Tacoma a few nights ago and busted 10k for the first time in my life.  I was thrilled, but not enough to want to play again.  It's always been a one-and-done game for me, just like Gravitar.

And, for what it's worth, I also find Elevator Action incredibly tedious and slow

It is for the first couple of buildings.  After that it gets faster and more interesting, but it also gets stupid hard.  If you enjoy overcoming stupid hard, stick with it and just grit your teeth through the first couple of buildings.  I know you do the same for the first four levels of DK and that takes a lot longer.

Kudos to Ken for all he does in helping to organize BOTA, acquiring and fixing the selected games, and hosting practice sessions along with the event itself for the Pacific Northwest team.  It's a ton of work.  I don't want to see any hurt feelings either, but I think we can acknowledge that with 30+ players and 12 games in each BOTA it is always going to be impossible to please everybody.  I felt like I hit the jackpot with the first BOTA because there wasn't a single game I disliked, but I knew then that the law of averages would catch up in the future.  It's all good.

[VON]

Kudos to Ken for all he does in helping to organize BOTA, acquiring and fixing the selected games, and hosting practice sessions along with the event itself for the Pacific Northwest team.  It's a ton of work.  I don't want to see any hurt feelings either, but I think we can acknowledge that with 30+ players and 12 games in each BOTA it is always going to be impossible to please everybody.

Indeed.  And I didn't mean it when I said:

Maybe this poll will hurt some feelings, but I really don't care.

Obviously I care, but this poll's intent is not directed at anyone or any game in particular.  I was just curious, and I do hope it produces some interesting numbers.

One of the Battle's best features is that it forces me to play EVERYTHING, and, regardless of how I feel about any one game, I need to at least try and get better for my team.  In some cases the BotA experience has even opened my eyes to games I previously disliked, or thought I disliked - Phoenix was like this for me last year, that game is alright.

So, thanks to Ken, Steve, Richie, Doc mack, all the players, and anyone else I am forgetting.  Tournaments can be charanging, but in the end, fun always wins out in the BotA <-- I can promise you this. 

Its ok Brian..err I mean Ross.... Not everyone can be positive and not everyone knows a good game when they play it.

Love it.

[marinomitch13]

I find that most games I do not initially like. However, as I acquire skills and knowledge of them, and begin to master their distinct and different nuances of gameplay, they become more enjoyable. Breaking down games into their more fundamental pieces (both in terms of skills and strategies) and working your way up, mastering each component one at time, becomes fun for me when looked at in that light. I guess, in that sense, I'm more into enjoying the *method* behind mastering games tan necessarily the games themselves (though there are exceptions) -which helps when some games seem to royally suck at first.

[TheSunshineFund]

I voted for Dig Dug, Mappy and Descent.   

[SanTe]

One of the Battle's best features is that it forces me to play EVERYTHING, and, regardless of how I feel about any one game, I need to at least try and get better for my team.  In some cases the BotA experience has even opened my eyes to games I previously disliked, or thought I disliked - Phoenix was like this for me last year, that game is alright.

This, absolutely.  I always liked Phoenix more for its quirky graphics and its bizarre (and in some ways irritating) music and sound effects than for its actual game play.  It always seemed too hard BITD, and I played it only a couple of times as a kid because of it.  But when I played it over and over again for BOTA I started to figure it out a bit and get better at it, and it became way more fun.  Same with Track & Field.  Never really played it much as a kid but I enjoyed learning it at BOTA and finally getting to the high jump and completing the game.  The hammer throw always ended my game before then.  And I never would have willingly chosen to play Hyper Sports on my own but it was a BOTA title last year, and I'm glad I gave it a try; it's way better than I expected.

For some games we play for BOTA the experience will just reinforce what we dislike about them, but if we gain an appreciation for a game due to BOTA then it's worth it.  A certain other CAG tournament out there lets you choose which games to play.  I'm not sure that's such a good thing long term for the hobby.

[datagod]

I don't like Pole Position, never have.  Just too primitive to be an enjoyable racing game.  I know others love it, and I am good with that.  It is just not for me.

[TheSunshineFund]

Love it.

[kalel]

my 2 cents. i actually like every game on the list. but that being said i have two very small issues. rally x on this setting is now just a luck shoot. get the right configuration of flags. and how many points you have when you get to the blue screens. those were hard enough on normal. effing impossible on this setting.   and Q bert only cause i cant practice it on my mame setting LOL.   gravitar is fun. just effing hard to control.  Im so curoius to see scores this yr. cause i have no idea what the median score is going to be on like 5 off the games LOL 

[muscleandfitness]

wht da.. fkk this chit..lol us Aussies dont even have this kind  of stuff here .. 

so let s make it game  on no matter wht game it  is.. LOVE IT.

[VON]

wht da.. fkk this chit..lol us Aussies dont even have this kind  of stuff here .. 

so let s make it game  on no matter wht game it  is.. LOVE IT.

When you're right, you're right Allen.

It's game on no matter the lineup, and the particular lineup is way less important than the actual getting together with friends and playing the games.  While I won't deny there is vent in my original post, you have to believe that my frustration was not directed at the tournament as a whole, and not even really at my challenge in playing some of its titles.  After all, I was a co-creator of the annual Crap Tourney, which plays abhorrent titles exclusively, on purpose.

Again, the intent of this poll was not to berate any particular title or undermine the monumental efforts put forth by BotA organizers.  Unfortunately, my overall negative tone in this thread shrouded its true intent, and quite regrettably, feelings were hurt.

My intent, just to be clear, was to assess which titles gamers were struggling with, and thereby forecast what the scorebaord might look like come game day - information I could not have extracted as easily from a poll asking which games everyone was enjoying most. 

Im so curoius to see scores this yr. cause i have no idea what the median score is going to be on like 5 off the games LOL

Me too, but after looking at the results of this poll I have a better idea.  For example, it's relieving to me the majority of voters also struggle with Zaxxon.  It means it's going to be an absolute dogfight near the middle of the standings, and that even a little improvement could bring great benefit.  To the contrary, that only a handful of voters are struggling with Q*Bert suggests I'm royally humped on that game, and that I may have to cut my losses and focus my efforts where they can do more damage.

But regardless of intent, or what can be gleaned from the results, starting this thread at all, especially using the language I did, was a huge fuck up on my part, and voting is now locked.  I seem to be on a shit-storm creating roll lately.  The majority of my recent posts have been negative, and I need a bit of introspection to figure out why, and how to stop it from happening in the future.

I deeply regret any hurt feelings or negativity towards BotA this thread may have created.  I am genuinely sorry.

Battle of the Arcades is one of the best classic arcade gaming events around, and if I've spoiled it in some way for anyone, then I'm the biggest ass in the hobby.

[ChrisP]

I dunno, I thoroughly enjoyed this thread and it wouldn't have crossed my mind that not liking certain games could be taken personally. It seemed playful to me. In fact, I'd be beaming with pride if I were running a tourney where people were experiencing agony against games they hated! Isn't that part of the fun?

[stella_blue]

Battle of the Arcades is one of the best classic arcade gaming events around, and if I've spoiled it in some way for anyone, then I'm the biggest ass in the hobby.

For the record, I don't believe you've spoiled anything for anyone, nor do I consider you an ass (and if I did, I would also have to acknowledge that you're one of the most articulate asses in the hobby).   

[SanTe]

I'd be beaming with pride if I were running a tourney where people were experiencing agony against games they hated! Isn't that part of the fun?

That's a good point.  Maybe we should be thankful that there appear to be several games that many of us are going to struggle with.  Look at it this way... if BOTA was all games that a bunch of us could play for an hour it wouldn't be much of a contest, would it? Where's the fun in that?

[TheSunshineFund]

I like the fact that Rally-X is essentially unmasterable and I also enjoy that frustrates people.  It's like life....sometimes that first date isn't always interested in you after dinner.... sometimes the kitchen ceiling has a leak when you are at work, rather than when you are making dinner....not everything is going to be totally rational and beatable like 

You aren't always going to be able to get all the answers.  I like that there are still games that are mystifying 30-35 years later.  Don't go looking for answers Agent Von, you might not like what you find....