Computing History of Mazes
From Maze
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(New page: This chapter argues that the use of the word "maze" to describe what by many definitions is not a maze is rooted in the cultural history of the word in the 1970s and early 1980s, when "maz...) | |||
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| − | In addition to ''Pac-Man'', ''Adventure'', and ''Zork'', other mazes abound in the early eighties, but these are the most prominent examples. It would simply be impossible to use the word "maze" within the semiotic domain of computers and not create some association with these games. Therefore, there's some cultural capital at work whenever 10 Print's design was called a maze in the early eighties. It is reasonable to conclude that the various sources from the early eighties that called the 10 Print design a "maze" were explicitly (though perhaps not consciously) tapping into a cultural history of mazes that home programmers and game players would be aware of. | + | In addition to ''Pac-Man'', ''Adventure'', and ''Zork'', other mazes abound ([[http://weizenbaum.mit.edu/mediawiki/index.php/Talk:Maze_walking%2C_solvability%2C_generate-and-test]]) in the early days of video arcades and home computers, but these are the most prominent examples. It would simply be impossible to use the word "maze" within the semiotic domain of computers and not create some association with these games. Therefore, there's some cultural capital at work whenever 10 Print's design was called a maze in the early eighties. It is reasonable to conclude that the various sources from the early eighties that called the 10 Print design a "maze" were explicitly (though perhaps not consciously) tapping into a cultural history of mazes that home programmers and game players would be aware of. |
Finally, though there’s no evidence to prove this, one wonders whether the program would have the program have had the same viral-like persistence if its description had made no mention of mazes? | Finally, though there’s no evidence to prove this, one wonders whether the program would have the program have had the same viral-like persistence if its description had made no mention of mazes? | ||
| − | == Works Cited == | + | == Bibliography == |
| − | Coming shortly! | + | ''Commodore 64 User's Guide''. Wayne PA; Indianapolis, IN: Commodore Business Machines; Distributed by Howard W. Sams & Co., 1982. <http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/c64_users_guide/c64-users_guide.htm>. |
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| + | Jerz, Dennis. "Somewhere Nearby is Colossal Cave: Examining Will Crowther's Original 'Adventure' in Code and in Kentucky." ''DHQ: Digital Humanities Quarterly'' 1.2 (2007). <http://digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/001/2/000009/000009.html>. | ||
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| + | Krueger, Dan A., and Louis F. Sander. "Magic #93." ''Run'' Jul 1984. 13-14. <http://www.old-computer-mags.com/magazine/magazine_viewer_eng.php?idx=Run.htm&base=Run&num=007&page=13>. | ||
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| + | Langway, Lynn. "Invasion of the Video Creatures." ''Newsweek'' 16 Nov 1981: 90+. | ||
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| + | Latham, Aaron. "Video Games Star War." ''The New York Times'' 25 Oct 1981: 100+. | ||
