I was visiting my parents' place this past weekend (Mother's Day, naturally), and I was perusing some of my old video game magazines. I read one issue of PC Gamer from 1992, and I find it amusing and interesting to see where technology was compared to now. Some of the highlights of the magazine included:
The inclusion of CD ROM drives in many computers can be a big boon to gaming. CD ROMs can hold a lot more data than your average hard drive (up to 700 MB!) so games can be bigger. There's no reason to go fumbling around looking for lost disks - just pop your solitary CD into the drive and you're good to go! Not only that, when you're done gaming, you can listen to music on the CD drive while you write up your reports. Multimedia is the way of the future!
More and more people are using the new Graphic User Interface interface for MS-DOS called "Windows." Now that Microsoft has worked out the bugs and released Windows 3.1, more computer users are trying it out and finding they like it. Similar to the GUI that Apple has been using in their Macintosh computers, more game developers are designing ways to launch their games from within the Windows interface as well. This allows gamers to play some games - such as solitaire, minesweeper or mah jongg - in a separate window alongside other programs.
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss is heralded as a breakthrough in gaming technology, with many reviewers describing it as "virtual reality."
Wing Commander is described as a "behemoth" of a game, taking up nearly 20 MB on a hard drive!
Most games have a suggested retail price of $69.95 to $89.95. So not too much of a difference there compared to nowadays... but games that cost $15 are described as a "steal" in the magazine. (The aforementioned Ultima game cost $80.)
It's fascinating to see how much things have changed in 21 years. Especially since I did play some of these games when they first came out - like Ultima Underworld or King's Quest VI.
It is funny looking back, calling it a behemoth. I remembered marveling how small it was on a recent install. Still, I remember the 4 floppies for Master of Orion 1.
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do - Robert A Heinlein
ArchAngel wrote:
It is funny looking back, calling it a behemoth. I remembered marveling how small it was on a recent install. Still, I remember the 4 floppies for Master of Orion 1.
I remember multiple floppies in a game, too. I think Ultima 6 or 7 shipped with around 8 of the things.
Agreed. Not to mention the whole copy-protection thing. Why do I need to have the disk in while I'm playing my game? Just let me type in a code, save my results, and we'll call it good!
Some things about old games are great. But in other aspects, technology is great. A while ago I tried using Exult to play Ultima VII, and I had trouble with it. Not the program itself, but playing without an automap or a quest journal. I could bring up what I wanted with a Web page and a word editor (it was being played in a window, so it really wouldn't have been a problem), but I missed actually having these tools in the game itself.
Then again, I remember spending hours mapping out every square on graph paper while playing the first Bard's Tale game. I think modern games have spoiled me....
Sstavix wrote:Then again, I remember spending hours mapping out every square on graph paper while playing the first Bard's Tale game. I think modern games have spoiled me....
oh oh oh - remember those games that had circular dials that came with them? Like the D&D ones. Where the game would ask for a certain code from that dial. So you had to rotate it around to find the symbol that matched. The game would not let you continue without the right code.
The best were the ones where they had the symbol printed in the corner of the manual and you had to get some other bit of info from that page.
1. Want to plaaaay!
2. Wheee!
3. Hunt through manual for specific page of unknown number.
4. Missed it! Hunt again.
5. Give up in disgust and go run laps around the block instead.
Especially since I did play some of these games when they first came out - like Ultima Underworld or King's Quest VI.
