This is the vault for gaming design, titles released in the past that are still relevant today for design or plot choices.
Writing a 2021 lookback definitely confirmed that it was a strange year for gaming. Well, to be fair, it was a strange year overall, but for me doubly so since it was also the first where I managed to be – for the most part – concentrated on the industry. In a way, it felt…
While playing games centered around illegal activities, especially ones that feel definitely very very far out in the underground world, I have found that the approach that works best for me is usually that of having a firm tongue-in-cheek, while also taking the situation at face value. Honestly, I have always found “realistic” approaches, like…
The evolution from Nirvana to Nirvana X-Rom begins… well, quite a few years before the release of the movie. Sweltering summer of ‘92. Italian director Gabriele Salvatores is shooting Puerto Escondido, together with actors Diego Abatantuono and Fabrizio Bentivoglio. Taking a break from the set, the three sit around a table for a quick match…
While I never was a Stranger Things fan, especially cause I tend to not really follow any kind of “modern tendencies”, I sure can relate to most of the inspirations that led to Netflix producing a 80s children pseudohorror series and, well, to Echo Generation as well. I have always had quite the soft spot…
In 1986 the Friday the 13th movie series was already old news, having joined the ranks of classic Summer horror releases (even though some were released in April). Paramount Pictures had gone through the first reboot already: the original arc of classic masked killer Jason Vorhees was supposed to end with the fourth entry into…
The Genesis Temple Podcast – Season 1 I did not really plan to start doing a podcast, the podcast planned to start doing me, apparently, this is what happened with the Genesis Temple Podcast season 1. There have always been so many people in the industry I wanted to have a chat with that, after…
Sega was having a weird 1993. It was a moment in the Japanese company’s history where the shift towards the West had never been stronger, since the smash-hit sequel to their strongest franchise was developed by designer Yuji Naka, working with a team of mixed American and Japanese devs, the Mark Cerny-led Sega Technical Institute.…
Reviewing is an easy task, or at least, so it might seem from an external point of view. Just slap together some nice-sounding adjectives, a couple of hyperbole, some light sprinkling of sarcasm and voilà: done. Personally, since I consider that the end product should be useful for the reader, I find it one of…
The discussions on storytelling and emotions in video games, especially that around its inherent value, seem to be centered around whether interactivity seems to, somehow, lessen the value of such kind of fiction. Still, as early as the mid-60s, interactive fiction emerged as one of the earliest forms of gaming, going on to enjoy great…
Shadowfire is still among the most celebrated home computer titles released in the mid Eighties, produced by then-young newcomer British studio Denton Designs (the Home of Happiness?), it also was (apparently) the first commercially released title where Steven Cain did the design. He developed one of the first turn based strategy/adventure games to feature an…