The Atari Lynx. If mentioned in everyday conversation, you’ll get one of two reactions:
1) What the hell is that?
or
2) That thing must have sucked.

But you’ll get a different reaction if you ask someone who owns one. Read this review to find out why.

The Atari Lynx came out in 1989, mere months after the Game Boy. It was originally designed by Epyx in 1987, when it was known as the Handy. Epyx did not have the money to launch the system, and Atari wanted to venture into the handheld market. So, Atari agreed to slap their name on the product, distribute it, and advertise it. Both Epyx and Atari developed games for the system after its release.

The Lynx was truly a revolutionary piece of hardware. It was the first color handheld, the first handheld with a back-lit screen, the first major handheld with a horizontal layout (along the lines of a Game Gear or a PSP, as opposed to the vertical layout of the Game Boy or TurboExpress), and the only handheld with an ambidextrous layout. If a player was left-handed, he could flip the screen and turn the system upside-down to switch the directional pad to the right side. Beyond these impressive features, it also had incredible hardware for its time. It was actually as powerful as many home consoles of the time, to put it in perspective. It supported sprite zooming and pseudo-3D effects. The Lynx was years ahead of its time, and wouldn’t be fully surpassed by another handheld until the Game Boy Advance was released (the NGPC and Wonderswan had some advantages over the Lynx, but also some disadvantages). Compare all of this to the original, monochrome Game Boy for a sense of perspective. The last notable feature of the system was the ComLynx cable, which enabled multiplayer gaming. Some games supported as many as 17 players, which is still amazing by today’s standards. The Lynx predated the SEGA Game Gear and TubroExpress, yet was still superior in nearly every way.

But that is not to say that the original Lynx was flawless. The system was the size of a small truck. If you thought the Game Gear or Nomad were bulky, then you’ve obviously never seen a Lynx in person. Calling the Lynx a “portable” is hard to do without chuckling. Access to the cartridge slot was an issue, as you had to flip open a hinge on the side to insert and remove games. Getting games in and out of the slot proved to be a cumbersome process. Many Lynx owners feared that they’d break a cartridge trying to insert or remove it. The Lynx was known to devour batteries at a near Game Gear rate, and Atari attempted to remedy this by releasing bulky battery pack which held 6 D batteries. The public didn’t exactly jump at the notion. Finally, though the Lynx had incredible power for a system of the time period, it also had a relatively low resolution screen.

The Lynx’s strength was in its game library, as is the case with any good system. The system was home to many solid conversions of popular arcade titles like Ms Pac-Man, Joust, Missile Command, Asteroids, Double Dragon, Klax, Paperboy, Qix, Raiden, Rampage, and Robotron: 2084. Everyone knows what they’re getting with games like those, and fans won’t at all be disappointed. The Lynx also had many great original titles like Battlewheels 2000, Hydra, Chip’s Challenge, and Steel Talons. And of course, you have great entries in other series like Ninja Gaiden, Pac-Land, Gauntlet, and Lemmings. Like many other Atari systems, the Lynx has a thriving homebrew scene. New games are published by the handful every year, and many of them are great. There are also rare prototypes floating around, which are a joy to collect and play. Even though I’ve spent a great deal of time with the Lynx, I am not even fully qualified to talk about the depth and quality of its library. I have not yet played every title in the system’s modest-sized library, but most of the titles I have played have been great. The Lynx has a very good ratio of quality titles to total titles. To put it simply, the Lynx has something for everyone. Fans of any genre will find something to occupy them on the Atari Lynx. There are no major holes in the library, and what I’ve mentioned here does not even begin to do the system justice.

Despite the system’s incredible features and solid game library, it was met with a lukewarm reception. It had sold less than 500,000 worldwide units when it was discontinued. The Game Boy was its chief competitor, and it had many advantages out of the gate. Nintendo’s reputation was soaring due to the massive success of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Atari, on the other hand, had just produced back-to-back failures with the 5200 and 7800; Atari never truly recovered from the great Crash. Beyond that, while Atari’s little system did have a good library even in comparison to Nintendo’s juggernaut, the Lynx didn’t have a killer application. The Game Boy had Tetris and Super Mario Land, and there wasn’t much anyone could’ve done to compete with those games. Finally, the Game Boy was a lot more portable, a lot better on battery consumption, and 80 dollars less expensive. Atari was fighting an up-hill battle from the start.

The Lynx II, launched in 1992, remedied many of the original system’s problems. It was a staggeringly-low 99 dollars at retail, it had a better battery life, easier access to the cartridge slot, stereo sound via the headphone jack, better ergonomics, and above all a reasonable size. The Lynx II was not much bigger than the Game Gear. But unfortunately, the Lynx II proved to be too late to save Atari’s system. Atari had done a pretty poor job of advertising the Lynx from the start, and not many third parties published a great deal of titles for the system. Though the games and hardware were good, Atari never really threw its whole weight behind the platform. It seemed more like a way for Atari to bridge the gap between the 7800 and the Jaguar than anything (which was ironic, because the Lynx had far more potential than either of them). The great features of the Lynx II were lost on the general public. Atari failed to demonstrate them and the public already had a negative perception of the Lynx name and the Atari brand in general. Besides; gamers were all too busy with their Game Boys to care.

The Atari Lynx should be a part of any right-thinking gamer’s collection. It is an incredible piece of history, it has a great library, and it’s just a cool thing to have. I highly recommend the Lynx II, as it is far superior the original. It is also cheaper. You can find many lots of games on eBay for a very low price, so building a respectable Lynx collection should not be very difficult. You can lots of five to six games, still factory sealed, for less than 30 dollars. Pay between 35 and 65 dollars for the system, depending upon the condition and what else is included in the package. If you know someone else with a Lynx, it only gets better. The multiplayer was outstanding.

Atariage.com is a very useful resource. It provides a rarity guide, screen shots, collections of reviews, and a great forum populated by friendly users. When viewing screen shots, keep in mind the fact that the images themselves are several times larger than the screen of the Lynx and that the games look a lot better in motion.

Look at the epicness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMTF6OVsvxg

Verdict: 8.5/10
Buy one.

 

 

If you like free stuff as much as I do, then you probably do a lot of downloading. The thing is, most of the free-ware out there is crap. To save you time I’ve compiled a list of little applications I’ve found and the reason I love them. This way, you won’t have to spend your time searching for free programs and can use the Internet for it’s intended purpose. Searching for free porn.

 

OpenOffice.org- Whenever a new set of Microsoft products come out, there is usually a period of time between it’s release and the point when it is offered for free. Enter Microsoft Office 07. This collection of task oriented programs is, with out a doubt, the worst version of Office I have ever used.

Microsoft moved all the operations and tools into little groups and subdivisions you have to select individually, making what used to take two seconds, take two minuets because you have to hunt down the correct group.

Honestly, it looks like Microsoft tried to make ‘07 look nice without worrying about the ease of use. Or they were trying to make it more user friendly (read “make it seem more like a mac”) and Microsoft is staffed by a bunch of retards. I actually watched someone at work curse at his computer for fifteen minutes because he couldn’t figure out how to print a document. To add insult to injury, they expect you to pay for this coding abortion. Your only other options are to use Word Perfect or download free-ware. That is why I love OpenOffice.org. It is compatible with most document file types and transfers information with other office programs well.

 

The Good:

Retains all the elements of other office programs you know and love.

Infinitely customizable.

Has a myriad of tools not included in Microsoft’s office brand; just waiting for you to discover.

 

The Bad:

It has a terrible spell checker. (Sometimes its suggestions are way off)

It does not have a dictionary.

It always retains source formating. (So you won’t find a ‘keep text only’ option in its text writer.)

 

Paint.net- I love this little guy. Think of this application as a casual version of photo shop. It has a lot of the features of a major photo editor with out the three thousand page manual. Simplicity is the major selling point of this piece of code. It is not meant to be the most comprehensive editor out there but, for the average user, you’ll find all the photo manipulating tools you’ll need. Without actually having to do something crazy like pay money to somebody.
The Good:

Easy to pick up

Fast and simple photo manipulating

You can draw straight lines.

 

The Bad:

Long load times (god only knows why)

 

 

Skype- This program allows you to call cellphones from your computer for very cheap; or other Skype users for free. Its simple to use and great for people who have friends and family spread out over wide areas. It even supports web cams so everyone can see your dorky face (Did you know the word “dork” was an old nautical term for a whale’s penis? Thats right, you have a whale penis for a face)

 

The Good:

Instant access to all of your friends and family.

Call conferencing allows you to talk to multiple users at once.

The program has a built in IM feature.

 

The Bad:

Your family and friends have instant access to you.

The program features a web cam snap shot application so any embarrassing thing you do will be preserved for eternity.

 

Speakonia- is a text to speech converter that offers a wide range of voices. The program is intended for handicapped people but I use it to proof read articles. And to make my computer say funny things in a robot voice.

 

The Good:

Whenever you copy something to your clip board, Speakonia will read it for you. (Try copying a forum argument, its hilarious.)

Its a real time saver if you need an article you wrote proof read. Or if you were too busy to learn how to read in kindergarten.

 

The Bad:

You can make your computer talk dirty to you, I’m pretty sure that voids the warranty.

 

 

So there you go, four cool programs you should download. They are all free so what are you waiting for? Ya big whale penis.

I just got done playing the Motorstorm Pacific Rift demo on my PS3. The game is difficult. The maps are laid out in such a way that there are all sorts of obstacles to avoid. The floaty physics engine does not help this. There are multiple classes of vehicles you can use to race with, 3 of which were available in the demo. You could race with a monster truck, a motorcycle or a 4×4 racing truck. The monster truck was good for nothing as it was too slow. The bike was very fast and agile but obviously was the most easily taken out by rival racers due to it’s small size. The 4×4 was the most balanced.

I had to play the demo track well over a half-a-dozen times to take first place (motorcycle ftw). The game is definitely a rush but if the demo is an accurate indicator of the finished product as far as the physics, general track layout and difficulty is concerned then color me jaded before I’ve even fully played it. I’m seriously considering passing on it at the moment. I’m kinda bummed as I was looking forward to this game…

Later,
Dave

Man am I glad to be home.  Work was awful today and I’m just glad that I don’t have to go back until Friday. Now onto the point of this post. I stopped at Gamestop on the way home from work today and got some new games. I got Pure for PS3, Line Rider 2 for DS (which  I’m probably going to give to my mom after I play it for a bit to see if it’s something she’d like for her DS) and I preordered Guitar Hero 4.

The minimum deposit for the whole band bundle was 25 bucks but I went ahead and paid for the whole thing. This Saturday night me and a buddy of mine are going to go out and pick it up at the midnight release and play it all night. What’s a bummer is that it comes with only 1 guitar yet you need 2 for a full band. I’ll have to hold off on that though. It does come with 1 wireless guitar, 1 wireless drumkit, 1 wired microphone and a set of drumsticks.

Something really cool is that the Guitar Hero instruments will work on Rock Band and vice versa so I can buy just the Rock Band game and use all my Guitar Hero stuff on it and it’ll all work fine. There’s some really good songs on Rock Band 2 that aren’t on Guitar Hero and since the instruments work cross platform, I can play them all without needing to buy 2 sets of instruments.

This weekend is going to rule.

Later,
Dave

I have begun reading the Kamasutra… but seriously, there is an academic purpose to it, I swear.

My personal interest that is fueling my desire to choose Vatsyayana’s text for my paper topic in my South Asian History course, without it I wouldn’t want to spend the many hours researching it. However, unlike most people in the world who read the text, I will actually be reading the whole of the text, not just the chapters on “congress” positions.

The text itself is quite interesting from an academic perspective. In the Hindu religion, there are four stages in life (Purusharthas): Kama being sensual pleasure; Artha being worldly prosperity (wealth/status); Dharma being morality, virtue and ethics (basically “religion”); and Moksha being “liberation” (that is, spiritual liberation from the cycle of reincarnation). Each of the four things have their own “shastra” outlining the practices a Hindu must follow in order to obtain the desired goal in their life.

Like everyone else who learns about the Kamasutra nowadays, I originally learned about the text as a book of “exotic sex positions.” Not what it was originally designed as; before being translated into English by Victorians who saw it as extraordinarily “taboo.” It just doesn’t cover sex but the whole experience of love and both physical and emotional gratification. My interest in using this text as a basis for my paper was spawned by learning about what it truly is and not what you see on book-store shelves in the West (usually a bunch of pictures of naked people or diagrams showing you how to perform such things as the “congress of the cow” or as we know it: “doggy-styIe”).

Out of the six chapters I’ve read so far (36 in total) there has been covered a variety of things pertaining to; as Vatsyayana calls it: “the game of love.” Of course “congress positions” are covered but everything down to various types of kissing, embracing and caressing as well as a most interesting discovery; the “art” of nail marking, teeth marking, erotic slapping and “love-wagers” (which I find to be incredibly fascinating). This of course is not a “wife-beating guide” but an outline of “courtly love” rituals (similar to those of chivalric knights during the Medieval period in Europe) that existed in courtly life around 2000 years ago in India.

And that brings me to the focus of the paper itself. I will attempt to find out how this text actually effected “normal” people’s lives. That is, people who lived in villages and were not given significant forms of education. I will look at various points throughout Indian history (if there are any sources whatsoever) as to whether it effected everyday Indian life in marriages and relationships or not.

Oddly enough, Vatsyayana introduces the text as something that “all Indian people should read and practice.” Contrary to what I’ve read so far, especially those pertaining to preparing oneself for the daily routine, would actually only pertain to people who would have lived in “high-society.” Those people who sat back, enjoyed life, made babies and entertained a plethora of courtesans (basically very sophisticated prostitutes who had incredible educations and were hired to delight a person in every way possible, not just with sex).

With that said, what I find most interesting about the text itself is the dichotomy between things I see as still relevant (in the sense that they could be easily integrated) to modern day loving relationships and things that make absolutely no sense whatosever in the same context. I expect to find far more irrelevant things in the chapters pertaining to marriages since the Hindu system of marriage, which is based on the laws of Manu and the superiority of men over women, has no relevancy here in the West (no offence to Hindu’s but Manu is a fool and misogynist). I do very much like the relevant stuff though and I find the arts of nail marking and teeth marking most intriguing. This paper is definitely going to be quite interesting.