What's most impressive about this bow is the agency it provided players within such a constrained control-scheme. The NES gamepad wasn't exactly known for its button variety. When you think of simulations, you definitely don't think of 8-Bit classics either, but Track and Field managed to give us a varied roster of gameplay mechanics that focused on gradients of well-timed button-press duration. In the archery mini-game, as the targets scrolled down the screen, we were simply tasked with pressing the "B" button at the right time to shoot an arrow... or so it seemed. The longer we held the "B" button, the higher our arrows went. The targets in-motion provided an effective y-axis, while we fired our bow on the x-axis, with the z-axis accounting for our arrow's height, combining to form a fully 3D shooting dynamic with completely 2D art. In a very direct way, Track and Field for the NES set a precedent in its genre, foreshadowing the accessibility and mainstream success of games like Mario Party and Wii Sports, but it is the depth it achieves with such limited input from players that continuously boggles our minds.
Real Science Magazine called James' addiction to video games "sexually attractive." He also worked really hard and got really lucky in college and earned some awards for acting, improv and stand-up, but nobody cares about that out here in LA. So... He's starting over fresh, performing when He can. His profile picture features James as Serbian, vampire comic Dorde Mehailo with His anonymous Brother and Uncle at the Nerdmelt Showroom in West Hollywood. In James' spare time, he engages in acting, writing, athletics, hydration, hours of great pondering and generally wishing you'd like him.
