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 social message or a complex narrative that consistently accompanies the gameplay. Going back to the early eighties, there was no overall definitions of genres, except for broad strokes such as “arcade” or “adventure”. Somehow,…
During all my childhood years I could never get into Japanese RPGs, no matter how hard I tried. I remember saying to myself and others how I couldn’t stand the genre. The more people talked about it, the more that reinforced my intentions of never playing a Final Fantasy title or anything similar. Yes, I…
How many Pac-man inspired titles (or clones) have existed since 1982? Well, one possible answer would be probably as many Space Invaders and Arkanoid ones. Still, among this huge list of clones, Rootin’ Tootin’ feels quite different. But it made sense for developers to try and imitate those arcade classics, since they were considered the…
Z by the Bitmap Brothers is probably not one of their most well known title. The team was 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 Unfortunately, with that style being outdated by 1994, they never managed to…
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 found myself unable to answer: how did a publisher decide which movie to license to a game developer (or viceversa)? Despite still not having a clear answer, for the sake of this article, though, my guess would be: box office success with…
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, a new medium started to emerge, one that would revolutionize the industry: the compact disc. Indeed, CD-Rom with its incredible 650 MB of space seemed like too much space for the mid 90s, there had to be ways to fill that space. Thus…
Rings of Power, in 25 years of gaming journalism I’ve written four articles about the game, 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…
Released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, designed by Ian Gray (“don’t you forget it” he reminds us, in a half threatning way, in a secret message in the code), Fiona Rides Out is the first horror game I remember being literally scared by. As a young kid, I was always more afraid of sounds…