First Quarter Phenomenon

paulliadis

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
1,715
Reaction score
65
Location
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Time and time again, my best Donkey Kong game of the night seems to be the one played on my first quarter.

Just last night I broke my personal high score, now at 51,000 (don't laugh, I'm relatively new at it) and I would've had 57,000+ if it wasn't for a stupid mistake on the Spring Level of level 3. I played for another hour after that and only approached that score one more time.

This happens to me most nights. I play a really good first game, and then chase that success the rest of the night. I'm really not sure why. Maybe I just concentrate more that first game. It's weird, though. You would think I'd be better as the night goes on.

Anybody else have this first quarter phenomenon? When do you generally post your best score of the day?
 
I usually score some of my best scores after taking a few days (weeks) break from DK and then coming back to it. I haven't played DK in about a month or so but I played last night (and after numerous restarts) scored in the 500K range. I then lost my last two men back to back......but I'm not bitter........ ;)
 
When I'm going for a high score, I play a fuck up warm up game. Where I get my fuck up out of the way. I also reward myself with Crown 7's or Morgan Private Stock and Coke. If I'm not half drunk, I get nervous over 200,000 and screw up.
 
I was having a crap first game of DK a week+ ago, lost three guys by 125k. Then I went on a tear with the last guy and blew through my high score of 215k and ended up at 247k. Why couldn't I have played that way with the rest of the guys too?
 
Heh, I thought this thread was going to be about the book "The First Quarter." I was going to say that I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't consider it a "phenomenon"...

Yes, tend to play 3 games of Battlezone when I turn it on, and I usually do seem to do the best on the 1st one. Wacky.
 
Last edited:
This happens to me too. It also happens right after I've finished working on a game and play a test game to try it out. I love when it happens right after I install a high score save kit.
 
This isn't really true for me, but I do occasionally get the last man phenomenon where I lose my first three lives (after getting the extra man) early on and my longest run is on my last guy. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's your theory where you just concentrate more at certain times.
 
I did best on other peoples money. Either some one that left a credit on a game or some one that ponied up for a two player game.

Or if I have to leave to go some where. That game seems to go on and on and on...
 
I did best on other peoples money. Either some one that left a credit on a game or some one that ponied up for a two player game.

Or if I have to leave to go some where. That game seems to go on and on and on...

Oh yeah, when I have to go somewhere or am being summoned to help with something. Just let me finish this game! This is why I usually only play when the family is asleep.
 
Man, I did it again. I made it to Level 4 for the first time ever tonight on the first game I played and destroyed my personal high score! 68,400 is my new high. I now realize you really start racking up some points when you start clearing these screens.
 
Second time is always the charm for me. First quarter is a warm up round where I do horribly, I go on for seemingly forever on quarter two, third quarter and on I'm destined to do even worse than the first time.
 
first is the worst, i'd say. especially in games that are just crazy challenging like robotron and tempest. usually, the more games i play, the better i get. even if it's from one day to the next. it takes a few warm up games for me to get in the groove.
 
I usually do best on my first game too. For me, I think it has to do with the fact that I pay the most attention to it on the first try, especially on games I can play for a while.
 
This happened yesterday:

Spy Hunter: 140,000 2nd all time best on the machine
Hang-One 5:0.3 for the entire course (finished the game). 3 seconds to spare.

All other games = suckfest.
 
I have the same issue with Tron. I play one or two games max and then walk away for a few days. I'm extremely good at focusing, but there's something about playing these games that just screws with me.
 
My experience (especially with a coctail table) is that the first few credits go well, and thanks to the glass table, I'm able to amass quite a collection of empty beer cans. After that, I typically forget my high score, unless I'm 'in the zone' - and that depends on the brew. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom