![]() It was a vicious cycle that probably led to a few divorces as the committed gamer took to pimping his computer like a petrol-head would a classic car. It was also a time where games drove hardware upgrades, and upgrades drove game sales. Dune launched the top down real time strategy which was later dominated by the Command and Conquer series and Civilisation opened up a line of god games. Wolfenstein 3D blazed the trail of 3D shooters, blasting pixelated Nazis (always fun) was so popular it led to the all time classic DOOM, and numerous other titles such as QUAKE, Duke Nukem and Rise of the Triad. W ing Commander created and defined the Space flight Simulator, paving the way for classics such as X-wing and Tie Fighter. The PC was also where new game genre’s were being created seemingly overnight. It was also riding the ever increasing wave of interest in the internet. The PC was a more cerebral affair, it lent itself to simulators and resource managers, top down combat and role playing games. The consoles owned the side scrolling platform games, the button bashing beat-em-ups and racing games. The 90’s was the decade of PC gaming’s coming of age. (Trivia: The game wa s originally called Squadron, then Wing-leader, however due to the EMM386 memory manager throwing an error upon exiting the game, as a short term fix they hex edited the message to “Thank you for playing Wing Commander” and the name stuck.) A little game came out for PC, that took these new levels of graphics and sound, added a cinematic style interactive story, threw in a lot of highly imaginative detail and came up with a game that fulfilled all the requirements of an immediate classic. Many a hot, humid Australian summer night was spent with my friends, playing tennis or golf on the NES, glued by sweat to the other stalwart of the late 80’s lounge room, the vinyl couch. Not only did these systems have the endorphin popping graphics and sound, they were social creatures, bringing players together rather than isolating them. The NES quickly overtook the former staple system, the ATARI 2600, as the biggest selling home gaming system. These 8 Bit systems were de riguer household entertainment items and not just for the kids. The late 80’s saw the invasion of the Nintendo and Sega Genesis, or as it was called here in Australia, the Sega Mega Drive. Timeless classics that use world-building and seamless immersion, to drag the player away from the humdrum of life and into a wholly realised hyper-reality. ![]() ![]() Because of gaming’s inherent interactivity, the history of gaming is replete with titles that captured the heart, imagination and money of generations. ![]() A storm that produces entertainment so unique, that it doesn’t just raise the bar, but creates and defines it’s own place in history. Every once in a blue moon, creativity, innovation and technology, coalesce into a perfect storm. ![]()
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