This is the vault for gaming design, titles released in the past that are still relevant today for design or plot choices.
During the 80s and most of the 90s, console games were designed to appeal to a young audience, while home/personal computer titles were – usually – 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…
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…
In the second part of my Buck Rogers retrospective, we will take a look at the much less lauded continuation of the first game, Matrix Cubed, and then, finally, explain why I feel both games are still relevant all these years later. Prepare for launch. Matrix Cubed, planned as a direct sequel to the first…
Everyone happens to get a great idea every once in a while. Those brilliant concept that almost approach pure genius, at least until some time has passed and everyone realizes exactly just how stupid and/or insane the concept actually was and… phew! Aren’t we all glad that no one bothered to take the project to…
Are violent videogames to blame for society’s inherent evil? The burning question which has plagued the industry ever since the release and subsequent popularity of Doom and Mortal Kombat. If one thinks about it a whole two seconds, the answer should be obvious: society has been evil since the days before Christ. Videogames are, like…
What do Zeus and Zombies have in common? Well, other than the letter Z obviously, not very much one would say, but Lucasarts would beg to differ, especially Mike Ebert and Dean Sharpe. The two designers worked on two Lucasarts console releases, Zombies Ate my Neighbors and Herc’s Adventures. The two titles are among the…
Created by Stan Sakai as an homage to japanese culture and cinema, Usagi Yojimbo sits among the cult comic books of the 80s. Still being published today, the episodic comics revolve around the adventures of an antromoporphic samurai rabbit, with a mature and serious approach to japanese folk legends and classic Kurosawa movies. Because of…
How does on go about making a sequel to one of the most famous arcade maze games, fourteen years later? Wait but… weren’t there already sequels to the original game? Not really. Ms. Pac-man was a spin-off, Pac-mania was a “reimagining”, Pac-land another spin-off, even though it definitely did look and play like what the…
Since I’ve recently talked about Will Wright’s crazy helicopter sim that managed to save Maxis from bankruptcy, I’d say it makes sense to take a look at another of his helicopter titles. Apparently, Will took a trip on an helicopter when he was a kid and had been totally fascinated with them since. Raid on…
While the overall narrative on the importance of the release of SimCity 2000 might be a bit less impactful nowadays, it was a gamechanger, perhaps even more so than the original title. After its resounding success, Maxis seemed to be struggling to find a market for the remainder of their software library. Their line of…