
The History of the Pinball Construction Set: Launching Millions of Creative Possibilities - makimaki
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3923/the_history_of_the_pinball_.php?print=1
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_phred
This reminds me of a beloved tool from my youth, Maxis' (of SimCity fame) Klik
n' Play.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klik_&_Play](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klik_&_Play)

There was something very empowering about being handed a tool for instructing
the computer to do what I was most interested in it doing: creating new games.
My friends and I created dozens of half-baked ideas, and I even went so far as
prototyping a real time strategy game.

There's something about the immediate reward for completing a task -- "hey, I
made this character move!" -- that kept me coming back, and led eventually to
programming games in C, C++, and the continuation of my lifelong infatuation
with computer programming.

Now that I have children of my own, I seriously consider setting up an
emulator so they can learn from the systems that I used, like the C64, DOS,
and others -- back when computers were hard, but not insurmountable, and we
cut our eyeteeth on the command line. In the modern world of immersive 3D
simulations and slick GUIs, I wonder what children are learning about
computers, and what will draw aspiring programmers to further explore.

~~~
dasil003
View source my friend. View source.

Seriously, the old stuff will not interest kids today. For us it's just
nostalgia. I guarantee you, if I was a kid today A) I would still be a huge
computer geek, and B) I would still figure out how it works (maybe not at as
low a level).

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zandorg
Also, the Marble Madness construction set.

And most ridiculously, Boulderdash IV had a constructor. Me and a friend made
levels so complex, we forgot how to complete them. It was all to do with
timing (!).

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joshwa
That diagonal pointing hand from Pinball Construction Set is permanently
burned into my memory (as is its aggravating inconsistent clicking behavior).

