In the 80s, before complex D&D based RPGs reached a bigger audience, teenagers who didn’t have friends to play with, found companionship in gamebooks. The very first book in the Fighting Fantasy series was The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, originally written by RPG veterans Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. It is the gamebook most people…
Arcade conversions on Commodore 64 were definitely one major source of revenues for many publishers. But, naturally, most coin-ops from the mid 80s were way beyond the beloved breadbin’s limited hardware. Plenty of times, the public was horribly letdown by subpar or unplayable conversions, like Super Hang On or E-SWAT. Buggy Boy is, luckily, a…
H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most beloved horror authors of the last century, cited as an inspiration again and again by movie directors, writers and, naturally, videogame designers. While reviewing Daughter of Serpents, I’ve mentioned how I feel that games somewhat inspired by Lovecraft seem to actually fare better than those directly taken from…
I had the opportunity to interview artist Craig Stitt: he worked with software houses like Sega Technical Institute and Insomniac games. We went over the titles he worked on, from Sonic 2 to Ratchet & Clank and various infamous cancelled projects, along with some of his personal stories and insights. I thank him for this…
If one should want more proof that games do not need fancy graphics, multiplayer components or breakneck action to actually tug at your heartstrings, well Speed Dating for Ghosts will definitely do the trick. A short visual novel experience that is perfect for both newcomers and veterans of the genre alike. In Speed Dating for…
Nintendo versus Sega. A battle for the ages that made many kids’ blood boil during the 90s, no holds barred bout fought via scathing slogans and – who could forget – the war of the bits. Eight bit, sixteen bits, Genesis does, Nintendon’t and so on. Even though Sega gave up the fight many years…
Trapped in a sprawling egyptian tomb, oxygen running out, monster and creepy crawlers after me all the time… Is such a game appropriate for a child? Well, it sure was for four year old me! I loved that feeling of being endlessly stuck in a dusty suffocating sphinx full of sarcophagi and snakes, desperately searching…
I’ve mentioned visual novels a few times on my blog: a genre interesting first and foremost because it caters more to readers than to actual “gamers” as they are often defined by the press and industry itself. Visual novels are not very often developed by main industry developers, even though there are several exception to…
During the 80s and most of the 90s, console games were designed to appeal to a young audience, while home/personal computer titles were meant for an older public. Still, as most gamers know, this doesn’t imply in the slightest that console titles were simpler or, god forbid, kid friendly; Ninja Gaiden or Contra are still…
Why can’t bicycles work like helicopters? Well, there’s actually plenty of good reasons, but the question still stands, wouldn’t it be nice to fly around in a comfy helibike controlled by the magical power of quadriceps? Also, wouldn’t it be even nicer to fly around in your bikecopter while landing on other bikers’ heads, avoiding…
