Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game where the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies. It was one of the first games to use true stereo sound—previous games used either monaural sound or simulated stereo—and it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware and to be programmed in the C programming language. In designing the game, Cerny drew inspiration from miniature golf, racing games, and artwork by M. C. Escher. He aimed to create a game that offered a distinct experience with a unique control system. Cerny applied a minimalist approach in designing the appearance of the game's courses and enemies. Throughout development, he was frequently impeded by limitations in technology and had to forgo several design ideas. Upon its release, Marble Madness was commercially successful, becoming a profitable arcade game. Praise among critics focused on the game's difficulty, unique visual design, and stereo soundtrack. The game was ported to numerous platforms and inspired the development of other games. A sequel was planned for release in 1991, but location testing showed the game could not succeed in competition with other titles. Plans for the sequel were canceled.
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_________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1787:
German-born British astronomer and composer William Herschel discovered the Uranian moons Oberon and Titania. They were later named by his son John after the King and the Queen of the Faeries from William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, respectively. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_(moon)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberon_%28moon%29and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titania_(moon)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titania_%28moon%29 )
1922:
Insulin was first administered to a human patient with diabetes at the Toronto General Hospital in Toronto, Canada. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulin)
1923:
Troops from France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr Area to force the German Weimar Republic to pay its reparation payments in the aftermath of World War I. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_the_Ruhr)
1964:
In a landmark report, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Leonidas Terry issued the warning that smoking may be hazardous for one's health, concluding that it has a causative role in lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other illnesses. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luther_Leonidas_Terry)
1986:
The Gateway Bridge in Brisbane, Australia, at the time the longest prestressed concrete free cantilever bridge in the world, opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_Bridge,_Brisbane)
_______________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
actuate (v) 1. To activate, or to put into motion; to animate. 2. To incite to action; to motivate. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/actuate)
______________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do indeed disbelieve that we or any other mortal men can attain on a given day to absolutely incorrigible and unimprovable truth about such matters of fact as those with which religions deal. But I reject this dogmatic ideal not out of a perverse delight in intellectual instability. I am no lover of disorder and doubt as such. Rather do I fear to lose truth by this pretension to possess it already wholly. --William James (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_James)