Investigating the history of videogames, an in-depth look into their obscure, untold and often troubled development story, trivia and everything else interesting.
Since I’ve recently written at length about Will Wright’s crazy helicopter sim that managed to save Maxis from bankruptcy (at least for a while), I’d say it makes sense to take a look at Raid on Bungeling Bay, not only his first game but another one of the designer’s helicopter titles. Why all these games…
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…
Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths is a 1999 2D adventure game, one of the few non-racing games developed in Italy that managed to find an audience even outside of its original homemarket. A point’n’click wearing its influences on its sleeves: Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island and the classic Lucasarts titles. Set…
We’ve seen how adventure gaming struggled to survive after 2000, bouncing back after some lackluster years. The message was clear: the adventure gaming market was dedicated only to titles developed in 3D and console-friendly. Apparently old school point’n’click 2D had irremediably lost its marketability. The Walking Dead series from TellTale and the success of Quantic…
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 Unfortunately, with that style being outdated by 1994, they never managed to…
The first time I laid my eyes on an obscure Commodore 64 game called Rags to Riches, something in me clicked. One time, many many years ago, I remember asking my mom for some change to give to a homeless man that we had just passed on the street. He was so happy and thanked…
WELCOME BACK, MY PRETTIES Welcome to part 2 of the death and rebirth of adventure games. We’ve already celebrated the funeral so, now, we’re going to see how adventure gaming slowly comes back to life, shambling et al. We will focus on 2001-2009, the period when things will start to be set in stone for…
Apparently, much has been said about the death of adventure games, so much so that it’s become a stereotype. In my teenage years, adventure games were my favourite genre. While I did play many other games, every time I knew about the release of an adventure game, I would make sure to track it down…
No one was paying attention to the end of the decade that fateful 31st of December 1999. Hey, we had more important things on our hands. It was the end of the millennium! Perhaps, people were busy sending heaps of sms to their friends and family and trying to remember to turn off your pc…
Realms of the Haunting. Forged in the Gremlin Interactive studio, protected by a clunky interface, at the center of chaos lies a potentially interesting adventure game. The focus for all realms of existence is the balancing force between good and evil, Dosbox and Windows. A focal point for all energies, and the one element that…