User talk:Indrian
Master System sales
Just wanted to say nice work on clearing out that myth about how many Master System units were sold. Once misinformation like that starts propagating, it's really hard to put a stop to it, and I for one had been swallowing the 13 million figure for years. Interesting to learn that the Master System probably sold less than the Saturn.--Martin IIIa (talk) 14:09, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
- Too bad the people pushing 40 million plus for the Mega Drive aren't as easy to deal with. You assume the highest numbers possible to prove 13 million can't be reached. They assume the highest numbers possible and insist it's correct and that it must be included. 98.26.149.24 (talk) 16:52, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
Halo 3 Sales
When it said 14.5 Million, It meant Halo 3. Not the Halo Series, the Halo Series has sold over 40 Million Copies, not 14 Million. Halo CE, received Billions of hours. I myself contributed a couple Hundred hours into the Series.
=)
Regarding Pokemon
I may have missed this discussion here...where is it said that they used VGChartz as a source? Because I see no mention on the page linked to.--Kung Fu Man (talk) 15:11, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
Crash
Just wanted to give a heads up that my latest article in RetroGamer is coming out now (100th issue special). It's about the crash, hopefully clears up a lot of the more common missconceptions (which seem to be throughout the crash article here). At least as much as I could in the limited space I usuall have. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 23:48, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
Gran Trak 10
Hi, i've noticed that you deleted a sentence about Gran Trak 10 being the first arcade game that used Read-only memory (ROM). Although there are a lot of sources (like Roberto Dillons The Golden Age of Video Games) stating that GT-10 was the first one, it's probably not. But why are you referring to Clean Sweep (Ramtek) and Computer Space (Nutting Associates)? Clean Sweep was released in 1974 but apparently came after GT-10. GT-10 was released during March 1974 and CS in June 1974 (cf. Link1, Link 2). And why do you think Computer Space (1971) had ROM too? Even the Wikipedia article's stating that "Computer Space uses no microprocessor, RAM or ROM". --KaterBegemot (talk) 22:46, 29 March 2012 (UTC)
- Computer Space (per Ted Dabney) uses a diode matrix to establish the proper timings to draw the dots that make up the ships and such. I.E. the matrix is not storing any sort of memory and the ships are not resident in any sort of memory. The diodes simply produce the right timings that are needed to produce each of the individual dots (not specific pixels) that make up the ships. Most of these early coin designs used pure timing tricks to generate the display objects, PONG included. I.E. timing with counters to account for each object and motion. They didn't go by any sort of pixel mapping (sprites), and likewise no actual sprite collision detection. Everything was done purely through discrete timing circuitry. So PONG detects the collision of the ball and bat by checking for conflicting timers for instance. I think the confusion with Computer Space is because a) diode matrixs were also often used as ROM microcode stores in early mainframes and minis. b) Nolan came up with the idea to literally lay out the diodes used in the matrix in the shapes of the ships the dots would map out. Each diode corresponding to a specific dot. This was simply done for easy troubleshooting by operators in the field should a diode go bad and need to be repaired. But IMHO, a matrix being done to trigger specific timings for dots is a bit different than literally storing pre-rendered pixel and object info as one would expect with ROM based storage. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 05:33, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
- Fair enough, I myself am not a technical person. How does Gran Trak 10 relate to this? My understanding is that it also used diodes rather than mask ROM, so are the graphics resident in memory in that game, or is the screen being manipulated in a manner similar to Computer Space? Indrian (talk) 05:47, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
- AFAIK, the diode matrix is actually used more like a traditional ROM and the various pre-mapped raster based sprites are actually stored in there. That's what allows the detail of the car and smooth motion, which would have been too complicated to do via simple timers. It was done over at Cyan, who was doing most of Atari's wirewrap staged coin-ops during this period. The proof of concept wire wrap of each new game would be developed at Cyan and then the actual pcb laid out and produced at Atari (or Kee as well though they shared manufacturing). I'm actually heading out with Curt to San Fran and the valley area on the 13th to do a ton of interviews with ex-Atari people from this period including the people invovled with Cyan. So I should be getting much more detailed information regarding the game's development. To me, this early period of pre-microprocessor discrete electronics based "state machine" games is really really interesting because of all the tricks they had to do to create these games via pure hardware. It's really a lost art. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 06:33, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
- Fair enough, I myself am not a technical person. How does Gran Trak 10 relate to this? My understanding is that it also used diodes rather than mask ROM, so are the graphics resident in memory in that game, or is the screen being manipulated in a manner similar to Computer Space? Indrian (talk) 05:47, 30 March 2012 (UTC)
Jack Tramiel
We'd actually been trying to reach him by phone since Friday to finalize the interview date/time for next week but keep getting voicemail. Just assumed it was because of Passover. I've got a note in to Leonard to see if it's true. I would think the press would have picked up on it already if it was, and I haven't seen a thing. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 07:55, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
- Just got confirmation from his son Leonard. He did pass away Sunday. We still can't change it without a source, but at least we know it's not a rumor anymore. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 16:54, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
- Contacted a freelancer I know from Forbes and an obit is up now - http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/04/09/computer-legend-and-gaming-pioneer-jack-tramiel-dies-at-age-83/ --Marty Goldberg (talk) 18:44, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
- Wow, condolences first and foremost to the family of course, but I am sorry about the timing for your efforts as well. Indrian (talk) 19:59, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
- Contacted a freelancer I know from Forbes and an obit is up now - http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/04/09/computer-legend-and-gaming-pioneer-jack-tramiel-dies-at-age-83/ --Marty Goldberg (talk) 18:44, 9 April 2012 (UTC)
Got back last Sunday, the trip was insane. 7:30am - 11pm every day with non-stop interviews. Got a lot of great material and a ton of items for the archive. Most surreal was walking though the old building where the 2600/5200 programmers were - with some of the programmers. It's vacant now, so the maintenance guy let us all in. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 03:27, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
- Sounds great! I am certainly jealous. Really looking forward to the books. Indrian (talk) 05:36, 27 April 2012 (UTC)
Eisner and Hitler
If you look at other biographies such as Julius Caesar, there is a section on what happened after the assassination, if you look at John F. Kennedy there is a section on the funeral too. What about if we do something like that? IPWAI (talk) 01:05, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
Eisner funeral was a fairly big event at the time, what I propose is that I put something in the Hitler article, then put a reference to Einser in and then you put some words about his funeral with a link to Hitler in the Eisner article. Would you would be prepared to accept that. IPWAI (talk) 04:10, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
As I stated in the English speaking world, I think you will find that the main interest in Eisner today is because of this event. The scholars were quoted in the section you removed. IPWAI (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:50, 7 May 2012 (UTC).
Polygon Man
Hello, could you tell me which book you were referring to when you said "Steve Race describes it in Kent's book" please. As I'm planning an article on the marketing/advertising campaigns used to promote the PlayStation brand, and that book sounds like it may be a useful. - X201 (talk) 08:39, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks. - X201 (talk) 10:42, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
Endgadget Anniversary Article
This is what happens when you don't have fact checking, vetting, or take everything Nolan states at face value. Endgadget just released their 40th anniversary piece and it's absolutely horrible. Curt's really upset his name is associated with it as well, as they didn't really use much of the facts he presented and just used a few comments, making his involvement seem more than it was.
Starts on page 58:
http://stadium.weblogsinc.com/engadget/distro/050412_DISTRO_book.pdf
Once again Ted was completely cut out of the early picture. Likewise their journalistic mistakes like Nolan working at the amusement park in the early 70's - a time when Syzygy and Atari were already well in in play (his idea of video coin-ops came in the mid 60's when he was working at Lagoon amusement park), or statements like "Asteroids was the first Atari microprocessor game" are just plain silly to have in there, no excuse for that. They even made the usual mistake of claiming Woz was an employee.
Then Nolan's Al Gore like Internet section really just had me going wow as well. The Arpanet and packet switching were around long before said claim, even the later TCP/IP specification was already completed by early '74. Combined with his earlier statements about microprocessors, I was like "seriously?" The Intel 4004 came out in 1971, which hardly places Atari "pre-microprocessor", and then stating they weren't powerful enough until '77 when you have the 6800 and 8080 in 1974 and the 6502 in 1975, and Atari's own usage of the 6502 and 6800 starting in '75? Putting such content front and center and taking it seriously really makes them look bad. I cringed through the entire piece. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 21:45, 4 May 2012 (UTC)
- In my opinion when he can bring up specifics like T2 lines, packet switching, IP protocols and the like, I don't chalk the other statements up to faulty memory. It's creative memory. It doesn't matter when it hit the market either, it's contradictory to state they weren't powerful enough until '77 when your own company was already working with and releasing products (in coin) with them over the two years prior. Including the very console being discussed in the article, which wasn't suddenly designed out of nowhere in '77. As for the magazine articles, you should pick up the March 10th, 1975 People Magazine article. In there he's claiming output was 1,000 pongs a month world wide at one point. Yes, I read the gamers at work article, he's been giving several interviews like that as of late including Benj's Computer Space article at the end of last year. I just don't understand any of it, he has so much he can be proud of without resorting to this constant missinformation campaign. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 02:28, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
Psygnosis/SCE Studio Liverpool
Truce called
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Kid Icarus Remake
Hey, I saw you removed the fan game from the Kid Icarus page. I was just curious why you didn't feel it was appropriate. I was able to establish notability thought numerous 3rd party sources and felt the legacy section of Kid Icarus was the best place for it because there is likely not enough for a full article. What do you think? PeterAmbrosia (talk) 18:59, 23 May 2012 (UTC)
Dispute Resolution
Hello. This message is being sent to inform you that there is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Dispute resolution noticeboard regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The thread is "Kid Icarus". Thank you. --PeterAmbrosia (talk) 16:44, 27 May 2012 (UTC)
Was wondering if you could get involved in the discussion over at the Breakout talk page. There's a newer editor with a history of edit warring and ignoring policies that wants to rewrite history regarding Jobs' involvement. I'm really really busy working on the book, so I don't have the time to start throwing in resources to counter like I usually do. He's basically trying to paint it as Jobs was an actual engineer rather than just a service technician, and that he designed the game and just brought Wozniak in to reduce the chip count. Really silly. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 05:38, 30 May 2012 (UTC)
- Not a problem, and thanks. I did one more response because him playing word games with "designed" was just silly. You can apply that word to any stage of the process. Someone designed the specs, someone designed the circuitry, both of those have to do with designing the game. BTW, we had it confirmed from two different independant sources (as in we ask them the same questions but without telling each what the other stated) - the main reason Woz's design wasn't used was because it used RAM. Woz confirmed that as well. Also, Bristow mentioned there weren't any sounds, score, coin registers, etc. that need to be there for a coin device. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 19:39, 31 May 2012 (UTC)
- Ok, one last time. I'm out, this guy just wants to go in to circles and believes he's interpreting everything correctly and we're all wrong and laying our own contexts on it. He's even starting to self reference Wikipedia now. Up to you, I'm just too busy with the book. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 02:59, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
- Sounds good. Send me an email again by the way, I'll show you a preview of some of the book materials. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 19:11, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
- Got it, just adding some more materials to the chapter I was going to send over. We just got donations of their financials from June '72 to June '73 and overall financials up through '75 for their marketing plan (when they were trying to sell the company), and I'm trying to process through that. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 22:15, 4 June 2012 (UTC)
- Sounds good. Send me an email again by the way, I'll show you a preview of some of the book materials. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 19:11, 2 June 2012 (UTC)
- Ok, one last time. I'm out, this guy just wants to go in to circles and believes he's interpreting everything correctly and we're all wrong and laying our own contexts on it. He's even starting to self reference Wikipedia now. Up to you, I'm just too busy with the book. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 02:59, 1 June 2012 (UTC)
Dale Alexander
14:46, 21 July 2012 Indrian(talk | contribs) . . (8,118 bytes) (+83) . . (yeah a statement that can be backed up by statistics is not "peacock language" learn the difference between puffery and putting performance in context)
The original statement remains POV-then there's the matter of your tone of address. I'll not have it, though from surveying remarks by you to other editors, it seems to be a favourite mode d'emploi of yours. It is possible to have disagreements with others and remain civil. Hushpuckena (talk) 19:59, 21 July 2012 (UTC)
Hello
Hi Indrian. I didn't notice it until quite recently, but after looking at a few comments you've left at the talk pages of User:Guyinblack25 and User:Bridies, it's become clear to me that you have more or less the same issues about me that Bridies has, but didn't want to get confrontational about it? I just came here to say that I'd rather prefer you (and Bridies) just confront me directly about them (don't worry, I won't be offended) rather than slowly building up resentment. Just like you and Bridies, my main intention is simply to improve the video game articles. Clearly both of you have more experience with video game articles than I do, so it would be helpful if you could help me out a little (and maybe provide some constructive criticism along the way) if you feel I'm doing something wrong. That's all I wanted to say. Regards, Jagged 85 (talk) 02:54, 7 September 2012 (UTC)
- For his Japanese bias, see [1]. 86.121.137.227 (talk) 05:00, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks for this. I added the material to the discussion, as well as my thoughts on the matter. Indrian (talk) 05:23, 17 September 2012 (UTC)
Salviati article
Hi. I was just wondering that since you started the article on Antonio Salviati, are you the one who used the Gable books as a reference? It seems to be the only source of AS's birthdate, but I don't want to spend $60 to buy the book for that one fact. Do you have the book (Murano Magic)? Rskovach (talk) 14:02, 19 September 2012 (UTC)
The sock is back
It would appear that the sock puppet PeterAmbrosia is back, this time under the name ArealFatRabbit. Have you any comment? Deltasim (talk) 15:55, 4 December 2012 (UTC)
I've restored the article to the pre-edit-war version. Please engage the new editor on the talk page to find a resolution to the current issues. Thanks. The Rambling Man (talk) 17:17, 27 January 2013 (UTC)
A barnstar
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The Sega Task Force Barnstar | |
Your work on Sega v. Accolade is fantastic! All of the additional sources and fleshing out are making this article brilliant. Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... 00:26, 2 July 2013 (UTC) | ||
this WikiAward was given to Indrian by Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... on 00:26, 2 July 2013 (UTC) |
NES/Famicom dates
The anonymous IP trying to change the 2003 date on the NES article is also trying to push through 40 million sold on the 2600 page as well. Apparently he's using multiple IPs in this. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 20:40, 15 August 2013 (UTC)
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The Half Million Award
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The Half Million Award | |
For your contributions to bring Sega Genesis (estimated annual readership: 612,000) to Good Article status, I hereby present you the Half Million Award. Congratulations on this accomplishment, and thanks for all you do for Wikipedia's readers. Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 18:25, 11 October 2013 (UTC) |
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Well done! Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 18:25, 11 October 2013 (UTC)
The Video Games Barnstar
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For their effort in helping to promote Sega Genesis to GA status, I hereby present Indrian the Video Games Barnstar. Please accept this sign of appreciation from me. --Sp33dyphil ©hatontributions 05:19, 13 October 2013 (UTC)
Mega Drive sales
You mentioned "The San Jose Mercury News and Contra Costa Times both give the over 20 million figure for U.S. Genesis sales in 1998". Can you give me the article titles and date of publication? « Ryūkotsusei » 16:17, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
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ProtoGalaxy
Hi Indrian,
At the ProtoGalaxy featured article candidacy, you mentioned that you do not believe ProtoGalaxy to meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines. Do you intend to initiate a deletion discussion?
Neelix (talk) 17:30, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
Million Award
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The Half Million Award | |
For your contributions to bring Sega Genesis (estimated annual readership: 653,000) to Featured Article status, I hereby present you the Half Million Award. Congratulations on this rare accomplishment, and thanks for all you do for Wikipedia's readers. – Quadell (talk) 21:23, 14 December 2013 (UTC) |
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Request
Hey, sorry to bother you, but do you think you could give me a hand here? I could really use a hand with some more sourcing to help back up what I've got, and I know you've got access to a wealth of resources that I don't. Thanks again, Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... 01:37, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
- No bother at all. I will take a look in the next couple days and do what I can. I don't really have much additional info on the Sega CD, but I can probably elaborate a little on what is there. Indrian (talk) 17:36, 20 December 2013 (UTC)
- What you've done already is magnificent, Indrian, just as you had done with your FA review for Sega v. Accolade. Though, I must admit, I'm disappointed with the lack of comments and support it's received so far; I fear it may be at risk of being archived. On a side note, while researching more for a Sega 32X FA, I've also found some interesting bits here that further suggests Sony was not the developing partner for the Sega CD, with Tom Kalinske mentioning they didn't even have a hardware division at the time, which I think just lends support to the accuracy of JVC being the partner on top of your sources (curse you Kent for your prose inaccuracies), so I thought I would give you a quick thank you for staying stubborn on that fact. Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... 21:45, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks, I am certainly happy to contribute what I can. I will try to give the article a more thorough look over the next couple of days and give it my support, for what its worth. The article seems like its in pretty good shape and is probably FA-quality, or at least very nearly so. As for the Sony vs. JVC thing, I believe the confusion comes from the relationship Sega and Sony had regarding software for the Sega CD. Tom Kalinske has discussed in interviews how Sega of America worked very closely with Sony Imagesoft to get the company set up in the video game industry and to get the company to put its products on the Sega CD. Kent et al probably heard about this and thought they worked together on the hardware too. Indrian (talk) 22:51, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- Not to mention that Kalinske mentioned the possibility of a Sega/Sony console with both companies working together on the same hardware, but Sega shut it down. It's weird because in a sense Sega was offered both the PlayStation by the Sony partnership and the Nintendo 64 with them not acquiring the MIPS-developed chip set used in it, and took neither in favor of Saturn. I appreciate your support as of late; it seems we have some similar views on article writing and Wikipedia standards given the discussion about Menacer going on. Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... 04:23, 10 January 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks, I am certainly happy to contribute what I can. I will try to give the article a more thorough look over the next couple of days and give it my support, for what its worth. The article seems like its in pretty good shape and is probably FA-quality, or at least very nearly so. As for the Sony vs. JVC thing, I believe the confusion comes from the relationship Sega and Sony had regarding software for the Sega CD. Tom Kalinske has discussed in interviews how Sega of America worked very closely with Sony Imagesoft to get the company set up in the video game industry and to get the company to put its products on the Sega CD. Kent et al probably heard about this and thought they worked together on the hardware too. Indrian (talk) 22:51, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- What you've done already is magnificent, Indrian, just as you had done with your FA review for Sega v. Accolade. Though, I must admit, I'm disappointed with the lack of comments and support it's received so far; I fear it may be at risk of being archived. On a side note, while researching more for a Sega 32X FA, I've also found some interesting bits here that further suggests Sony was not the developing partner for the Sega CD, with Tom Kalinske mentioning they didn't even have a hardware division at the time, which I think just lends support to the accuracy of JVC being the partner on top of your sources (curse you Kent for your prose inaccuracies), so I thought I would give you a quick thank you for staying stubborn on that fact. Red Phoenix build the future...remember the past... 21:45, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
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My comments about GA nomination of Asteroids. (:D)
I'm lucky that Asteroids (video game) started receiving a GA review from you shortly after I nominated it for GA. I did the process of improving this article because I like Atari a lot, and the Asteroids game has a legacy of ports, influences, elc. How do like Asteroids, and why you like it? |>(@"<) (talk) 01:30, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
- I've addressed your concerns, so can the article pass its GA review? |>(@"<) (talk) 20:28, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
- I am currently in the middle of one final look through and copy edit. When that is finished, I believe it will be ready for promotion. Indrian (talk) 20:32, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
- Thanks, I like correcting errors quickly. Of course, now with all the efforts put into this article, it will become a good article. |>(@"<) (talk) 20:35, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
- I am currently in the middle of one final look through and copy edit. When that is finished, I believe it will be ready for promotion. Indrian (talk) 20:32, 11 January 2014 (UTC)
ET and sources
The vast majority of sources on the burial state that it consisted mostly or entirely of copies of ET: it's not just a widely held belief, it's a belief widely held to be a fact. Regardless of the factual status of such stories, to describe these as rumours would require either:
- The sources themselves universally or almost universally describe them as rumours rather than facts, or:
- There is a reasonable consensus among expert sources that the majority view is not true, and / or solid evidence in favour of the minority view.
Most sources over the 30 years since the burial report it as factual (often simply referring to it as the ET burial or similar), so the first doesn't apply. Counterpoints usually lean heavily on statements by Atari executives and Warshaw who admits his 'theory' is pure guesswork; I've never seen one that offered any solid facts as to what actually happened to the 2.5-3.5 million surplus ET cartridges if they didn't end up in the landfill. Herr Gruber (talk) 05:33, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- As far as I can tell there are only four major sources of dissent on the issue, with all other sources referring to them:
- Marty Goldberg's book
- Claims by Atari executives
- Howard Scott Warshaw's silly theory
- PR materials for the recent documentary (which rather obviously isn't going to get any viewers by presenting the excavation as a foregone conclusion)
- Only Goldberg could reasonably claim to be a disinterested third party, and that's a minority of one. There are literally no good sources for painting the view as just a 'rumour' rather than something widely held to be the obvious conclusion of a company having a lot of stuff, dumping a lot of stuff and then mysteriously suddenly not having a lot of stuff. That's not speculation, it's inference. Herr Gruber (talk) 17:22, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- Ok, I've deleted some of the excess citations (kept the paper and ArsTechnica's "commonly cited") and changed it to 'inferred' which is less dismissive than 'speculated.' (Also, to be nitpicky, BRD is a guideline, I don't need to do it at all, it's just polite to). Herr Gruber (talk) 17:47, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- Ok, made the same change to the lead to the ET game page as well ("accepted" -> "inferred"). Herr Gruber (talk) 17:58, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
Nice to not be referred to as "cranks and idiots" at least. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 19:15, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- Well, let's face it, most of these "theories" either offer no explanation whatsoever of what is supposed to have happened to 8 million spare cartridges (or why a plant had 9-20 truckloads of junk lying around they'd never bothered to throw away), or go with Warshaw's bizarre idea that recycling 8 million cartridges would cost less in immediate terms than writing them off and recovering the inventory space for things that might potentially be salable. Herr Gruber (talk) 19:56, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- Without passing judgement either way, just two points on that. First, it was about 3.5 million not 8, for what its worth. Second, they were closing down the El Paso plant and moving manufacturing offshore, so that would explain why they had things to get rid of. Indrian (talk) 20:10, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- By 8 I mean ET + Pac-Man (mid range figure of 3 million ET + 5 million Pac-Man), that was the total inventory surplus Warshaw thinks they recycled. And a factory that's been running in any normal way shouldn't have entire truckloads of junk lying around. Herr Gruber (talk) 20:40, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- First, I'll remind you that as a Wikipeida policy, WP:CIVIL is to be followed at all times. Calling myself and others "cranks and idiots" is not following that and can be reported if continued. Second, regarding your impression they were "truckloads of junk they'd never bothered to throw away." This material wasn't just "lying around" and was disposed of because of specific goings on at the El Passo plant. We directly interviewed the gentleman in charge of world wide manufacturing for the book (along with other executives, manufacturing people, etc.), who also donated his original logs (he kept a meticulous diary/log of all communique and all actions he took as head. For example he also logged things like when the order to stop production of Pac-Man came down the line). El Passo was all part of an announced manufacturing restructuring plan (announced earlier in '83). It moved to become automated (hence major layoffs there the weeks before the dumping), and was changing focus to mainly hardware manufacturing (El Passo and Puerto Rico had been the main game manufacturing plants in North America, which was now mainly moving to the "new" Taiwan factory), as well as becoming the main hub for the Atari Service Centers (where the small Service Centers all over the country would send equipment to either be fixed or replaced). The materials dumped included a wide assortment of manufacturing materials (game, console, computer parts), unneeded recently (over the last several months) manufactured games, and broken consoles/games/computers from their role as the Service Center hub. Most of that was also reported in articles at the time. Regarding the overstock (which was a small part of what was dumped), you're also making an assumption as to whether or not Atari was following "normal manufacturing procedures" (not to mention "normal procedures" is a loaded statement). Atari's over manufacturing and lack of oversight for adjusting production with regards to actual sales was more than well documented. As you stated, El Passo was not a distribution warehouse, which is where those millions of ET games would have gone back to from retailers (i.e. where they initially came from). It was a manufacturing plant, which is where the items are manufactured before being sent to distribution centers/warehouses. And the 9-20 truckloads were only a miniscule amount of what Atari had in it's distribution warehouses around North America. What we did find out however (and also mentioned in the book) is that a bunch of that overstock/returns from the warehouses were shipped back to Sunnyvale to be disposed of in a dump there in the vicinity of headquarters (which we verified the location of). I can't speak for Howard, he wasn't involved in manufacturing or distribution (and we did interview him at length in person). But the notion that was expressed to us by everyone else we interviewed was that it would have been cheaper to dump and not recycle (why would you recycle if your problem is overstock in the first place?) and that Warner and Atari had more than enough money to ship everything back to Sunnyvale or anywhere else they wanted. Just to double check as well, we talked to Leonard Tramiel as well to see what he had heard when they were going through stuff in July '84, and he verified they were told by Atari Inc. (now Atari Games) execs that the bulk of the game overstock (i.e. all the game title overstock) had been buried. A listing of the criteria and vetting process we went through for the book is here. Either way, all this is moot as it looks like you guys came to an agreement on the wording. The only thing I kindly ask is to please stop the personal attacks and hostilities in your edit summaries and conversations per WP:Civil. I hold no animosity and am always grateful for these sorts of discussions as they always help to make info as accurate as possible (which is all I'm interested in). We actually constantly continue to research and re-evaluate all material published in the book and related websites, such as seen [here]. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 20:51, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- By 8 I mean ET + Pac-Man (mid range figure of 3 million ET + 5 million Pac-Man), that was the total inventory surplus Warshaw thinks they recycled. And a factory that's been running in any normal way shouldn't have entire truckloads of junk lying around. Herr Gruber (talk) 20:40, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- Without passing judgement either way, just two points on that. First, it was about 3.5 million not 8, for what its worth. Second, they were closing down the El Paso plant and moving manufacturing offshore, so that would explain why they had things to get rid of. Indrian (talk) 20:10, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
- My issue was with the idea of re-writing what the most widely held account is based entirely on internet incredulity (ie WP:UNDUE); I could perhaps have phrased it better, but I was referring to people who arbitrarily deny what the consensus is (because arguing unpopular viewpoints makes you not one of the sheep), not to everyone who supports alternative explanations. That's why I didn't add some sarcastic comment when I mentioned your book. :)
- Also, I'm a little curious; everything else I've read about the El Passo plant said that they were closing it down to turn it into a (presumably non-Atari) recycling plant. Is that just people getting their wires crossed over Warshaw's ideas about recycling? Herr Gruber (talk) 21:19, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
No worries, it's cool if you were making fun of everyone else except me then. ;) Seriously though, Indrian (Alex) is a good person and researcher. Regarding the El Paso plant closing down at that time to become a recyclables plant, I've never heard that one before (unless they meant when it was finally shut down in July '84?) Here's the announcement of the impending manufacturing moving, the layoffs and changeover at El Paso specifically, the Puerto Rico plant closing showing that El Passo was still in operation in April '84, and the final layoffs and closing of El Paso under Jack's Atari Corp.--Marty Goldberg (talk) 22:31, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
Menacer
Would you happen to have any sources on the Menacer's development or any related internal stuff? Even a point in the direction of good sources would be helpful. czar ♔ 01:54, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
- Sorry, no. I appreciate your efforts to get this article in better shape, but near as I can tell, no one has really paid attention to the Menacer. Indrian (talk) 19:08, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
- All right. Let me know if anything comes to mind
czar ♔ 19:14, 18 January 2014 (UTC)
- All right. Let me know if anything comes to mind
Disruptive editing
At this point I would get others from the video game project involved in the related articles, maybe post an RFC there. From the talk on my page and the other pages, it seems like they want to continue to do WP:Synthesis and ignore the actual context of the sources they're claiming, and it's approaching disruptive editing. At least with others involved to establish the consensus, it'll set the grounds for filing a disruptive editing claim. I don't have the patience (or time) to sit through one of these again. --Marty Goldberg (talk) 17:05, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
User:Jakandsig
I've never been involved in a RFC before so this will be interesting. I do not mind endorsing since the way I've picked apart Jakandsig's 2600 sources should make anyone hesitate before implementing them, yet now they're in the article. Just in this brief experience with Jakandsig makes me concerned about all of his contributions. Of course, it would be best if the RFC involved you and Wgungfu more so than me. « Ryūkotsusei » 00:28, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
Real talk
I not going to jump to assumptions I am going to ask you directly. Why are you seemingly, to me, in my view of what you are doing, and you can easily jump in and prove me wrong here, invested heavily in reverting most of my sources (without reading them, from what i am seeing), not telling me about certain wikipedia rules as the new guy and instead frequently threatening or calling my edits disruptive with no context to how that is.
Now I could be completely wrong and I might be viewing you the wrong way and this whole thing maybe be just because I personally believe you have been slightly abusive, especially with reverts of whole edits instead of areas that you personally had an issue with. But then with the lack of you actually communicating with me you can see how one would think these views of you.
Now I want to edit with accurate sources as much as anyone else, and being a new guy and getting random claims of disruption in no context while then having very limited and vague communication in the "describe your edit" box followed by reverting the WHOLE PAGE everytime, well that would annoy every new users you see.