This is the vault for gaming design, titles released in the past that are still relevant today for design or plot choices.
Combining elements from different genres is – arguably – the basis for many modern indie gaming titles, especially ones with a message that consistently accompanies the gameplay. In the early eighties, there was no strict definition of genre, except for broad strokes like “arcade” or “adventure”. Innovation heavily relied on the game designer’s tastes and…
As a kid I hated Japanese RPGs with a passion. I remember saying to myself over and over how much I couldn’t stand the genre and reinforcing my intention of never playing a Final Fantasy title or anything remotely close to it. This was mainly because of my prejudice and of my upbringing with Western…
How many Pac-man inspired titles exist in the world? Well, one possible answer would be: as many Space Invaders and Arkanoid ones. These arcade classics were among the basic steps for anyone wanting to program an arcade-like title: (deceptively) easy to program and a surefire hit with gamers who, back then, didn’t really have a…
The Bitmap Brothers were one of the more (in)famous British developers of the early 90s. Their games instantly recognizable by the in-your-face “cyberpunk” style punctuated by aggressive techno beats. Unfortunately, with that style being outdated by 1994, they never managed to escape the “cyberniche” they dug for themselves with titles like The Chaos Engine. Nevertheless,…
Remember those miserable times when, as a small child, one had to suffer long school hours without nary a videogame in sight to pass the time? What better friend in misery than the thought of a computer/console waiting at home, ready to be fired up with that awesome looking game you bought yesterday and barely…
While playing and remembering various movie tie-ins products, there was one question I had no answer to: how did a publisher decide which movie to license to a game developer? Despite still not having a clear answer, for the sake of this article, though, my guess would be: box office success with teen and pre-teen…
Trolls and Tribulations is one of the earliest games I remember being fascinated by. In my early days as a “gaming journalist”, in elementary school, the teacher gave us a free essay theme so I decided to do a full write-up about the game, my (pirated) copy was called “Mario e i mostri” (Mario and…
Compact disc? HA! That will never catch on! In the early nineties, CD-Rom started to emerge as the medium of the future, thus the gaming industry had to adapt too. Albeit very slowly. The first time the general public cared enough to buy CDs was with the SEGA CD add-on for the Genesis/Megadrive console, even…
In 20 years of gaming journalism I’ve written four articles about Rings of Power, even though this is my first in English. On one hand it will be a load off my shoulders if this is the last time I’m publishing something about this game. Maybe, finally, this time I will say everything I want…
Released in 1985 and designed by Ian Gray (“don’t you forget it” he reminds us in a secret message in the code), Fiona Rides Out is the first horror game I remember being literally scared by. I was a kid always more afraid of sounds rather than images, so, when the two combined, my poor…