Following in the footsteps of Pole Position, Sega’s racing game Hang-On gave the player a high-speed over-the-shoulder (or more accurately, behind-the-car) racing game with sharp turns and endless AI opponents. Hang-On added something new to the mix, though. The player sat on a motorcycle-shaped seat that they had to tilt to the left or right in order to steer in-game.
“Only white people can be racist.” This is the conclusion drawn by many activists of the modern day, who exert their various energies toward the goal of attaining justice for society. The reasoning goes that racism is prejudice plus institutionalized power, so only white persons can be racist. Let’s look at whether this is true and what it really means.
And Elohim said “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: livestock, and creeping things, and beast of the earth according to their kind,” and it was so.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים תֹּוצֵ֨א הָאָ֜רֶץ נֶ֤פֶשׁ חַיָּה֙ לְמִינָ֔הּ בְּהֵמָ֥ה וָרֶ֛מֶשׂ וְחַֽיְתֹו־אֶ֖רֶץ לְמִינָ֑הּ וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
way-yō-mer ‘ĕ-lō-hîm, tō-w-ṣê hā-’ā-reṣ ne-p̄eš ḥay-yāh lə-mî-nāh, bə-hê-māh wā-re-meś wə-ḥay-ṯōw-‘e-reṣ lə-mî-nāh; way-hî-ḵên.
And God said, “Let the waters teem with [swarms of] creatures that have life, and [let the waters bring forth abundantly] birds that fly above the earth in the open firmament of the heaven.”
Literally: And God said, “Let the waters swarm a swarm of living creatures and birds that [may] fly above the earth in the open firmament of the heaven.”
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יִשְׁרְצ֣וּ הַמַּ֔יִם שֶׁ֖רֶץ נֶ֣פֶשׁ חַיָּ֑ה וְעֹוף֙ יְעֹופֵ֣ף עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ עַל־פְּנֵ֖י רְקִ֥יעַ הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
way-yō-mer ’ĕ-lō-hîm, yiš-rə-ṣū ham-ma-yim, še-reṣ ne-p̄eš ḥay-yāh;
wə-‘ō-wp̄ yə-‘ō-w-p̄êp̄ ‘al-hā-’ā-reṣ, ‘al-pə-nê rə-qî-a‘haš-šā-mā-yim.
And God said, “Let there be light sources in the firmament of the heaven to divide a space between the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.”
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יְהִ֤י מְאֹרֹת֙ בִּרְקִ֣יעַ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַיֹּ֖ום וּבֵ֣ין הַלָּ֑יְלָה וְהָי֤וּ לְאֹתֹת֙ וּלְמֹ֣ועֲדִ֔ים וּלְיָמִ֖ים וְשָׁנִֽים׃
way-yō-mer ’ĕ-lō-hîm, yə-hî mə-’ō-rōṯ bir-qî-a‘ haš-šā-ma-yim, lə-haḇ-dîl bên hay-yō-wm ū-ḇên hal-lā-yə-lāh; wə-hā-yū lə-’ō-ṯōṯ ū-lə-mō-w-‘ă-ḏîm, ū-lə-yā-mîm wə-šā-nîm.
Here are the reference notes I made for the games released in 1984.
Even in the middle of the video game crash, there were still some pretty cool games that came out. These are their stories.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים יִקָּו֨וּ הַמַּ֜יִם מִתַּ֤חַת הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ אֶל־מָקֹ֣ום אֶחָ֔ד וְתֵרָאֶ֖ה הַיַּבָּשָׁ֑ה וַֽיְהִי־כֵֽן׃
way-yō-mer ’ĕ-lō-hîm, yiq-qā-wū ham-ma-yim mit-ta-ḥaṯ haš-šā-ma-yim ’el-mā-qō-wm ’e-ḥāḏ,
wə-ṯê-rā-’eh hay-yab-bā-šāh; way-hî- ḵên.
On day one the Earth was just water, on the second day it was water and air, and on the third day there was land. Step by step the Earth was coming closer to habitability. Rather than have the earth burst forth from the sea, God commanded the waters to asswage and the let the Earth appear from under it. This act was repeated during the flood (see Genesis 8:1). The waters had to be gathered together so that the land could appear. But where did this water go? Well, some of it went into the seas, of course. The rest was brought below the crust.
And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters; let it divide asunder (or “a space between”) the waters from the waters.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים יְהִ֥י רָקִ֖יעַ בְּתֹ֣וךְ הַמָּ֑יִם וִיהִ֣י מַבְדִּ֔יל בֵּ֥ין מַ֖יִם לָמָֽיִם׃
way-yō-mer ’ĕ-lō-hîm, yə-hî rā-qî-a‘bə-ṯō-wḵ ham-mā-yim;
So there haven’t been many appreciation articles for 1984, and the reason for this is simple: it was the middle of the video game crash. Americans made a few notable games for arcade and home computer, but the console was basically dead. Across the pacific, however, things were just beginning to heat up. In 1983 Nintendo released their first console, named the Famicom (ファミコム) (short for Family Computer) and immediately started putting out a decent variety of games. Let’s take a look at one of the games from their Sports series.
