Battlezone – Ready Player One Video Game Replay

The title screen for Battlezone, depicting a line-drawn tank and the game's title.

Battlezone is a first-person tank game released by Atari in 1980. Like Star Wars Arcade, it uses vector graphics to create a three-dimensional representation of its gaming world. It helps inform the visuals of Ready Player One. Quote On the surface, Archaide looked exactly like the environment of the 1981 game Battlezone, another vector-graphic classic from Atari. In … Read more

Off the Bookshelf – June 2023

Covert art for Children of Memory, part of the Off the Bookshelf - June 2023 book list.

I made steady progress through Nuketown’s Summer Reading List in June 2023, completing three books and starting two new ones. At this point, I’ve read six of the 13 books on my reading list. Given that we’re headed into high summer, that’s a pretty good pace. You can my reading list on Goodreads and The Story Graph. Children of Memory (Children … Read more

Star Wars Arcade – Ready Player One Video Game Replay

A vector graphic version of the Death Star from Star Wars Arcade.

Star Wars Aracade is a vector graphics-based video game released by Atari in 1983. Additional versions were released for home consoles (albeit with inferior graphics). The game plays a minor role in Ready Player One, serving as the inspiration for the arcade museum planet of Archaide. Quote The planet’s only surface feature was a web … Read more

Entering the Matrix of Cyberpunk RED Campaigns

Cover art for the Tales of the Red source book, one of the tools for my Cyberpunk RED campagins

As we move into summer, I’m gearing up for two Cyberpunk RED campaigns – one a Lair of Secrets actual play campaign and the other a supplemental campaign for the Blackrazor Guild. The Lair Cyberpunk RED Campaign The Lair of Secrets campaign is a long-0time coming – my co-host David and I started talking about it after GenCon 2022 … Read more

Madness and the Minotaur – Ready Player One Video Game Replay

Title text for Madness and the Minotaur

Madness and the Minotaur is a text adventure game for the TRS-80 in 1981 by Spectral Associates. It plays a minor role in the book Ready Player One. Quote I knew from my research that the cassette recorder functoned as the TRS-80’s “tape drive”. It stored data as analog sound on magneetic audiotapes. When Halliday had first … Read more

Radio Active #103: The Sandwich Generation

A sandwich cut into two halves.

At 51, with a kid in college and another in high school, I’m firmly in the Sandwich Generation (and have been for years). These are the folks who find themselves caring for kids and providing support for their older parents. In this episode, I talk about my experiences and offer advice for others in a … Read more

Meet Ben Bouchard, Spooky Hunter for Monster of the Week

Andy McGee from Firestarter holds his hands to the sides of his head, while blood drips from his nose. The inspiration for my Monster of the Week character

After three years of  Dungeons & Dragons and Fast and Furious GURPS, my lunchtime gaming group is changing gears and playing Monster of the Week. Monster of the Week is a Powered by the Apocalypse game inspired by series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, and The X-Files … all of which are very much in my wheelhouse. Players take on … Read more

Pyramid – Ready Player One Video Game Replay

Descriptive text from the game Pyramid

Pyramid – aka Pyramid 2000 – is a clone of Colossal Cave Adventure that trades the original game’s fantasy tropes for an Egyptian-themed pyramid crawler. Radio Shack published the game in 1979 for the TRS-80. Quote I knew from my research that the cassette recorder functoned as the TRS-80’s “tape drive”. It stored data as analog sound on … Read more

Off the Bookshelf: Early Summer 2023

A dragon, dwarf, human, and kender appear on the cover of the Dragons of Deceit novel

Nuketown’s Summer Reading List for 2023 is off to a strong start. I started a week earlier than normal – my traditional kickoff is Memorial Day Weekend, but hey, I make the traditions. I finished three books on my reading list and kicked off two more. You can track my progress on Goodreads and The Story Graph. … Read more

Bedlam – Ready Player One Video Game Replay

A text prompt from Bedlam, a text adventure game.

Bedlam is a text adventure game released by Radio Shack for the TRS-80. Written by Robert Arnstein (Raaka-Tu, Pyramid 2000) and released in 1982, the game sets you up as a patient trying to escape an asylum. Quote I knew from my research that the cassette recorder functoned as the TRS-80’s “tape drive”. It stored … Read more