It has been a while since I’ve read a book from Boss Fight Books. I picked up EverQuest by Matthew Smith because I was interested in learning more about the game. This wasn’t a game that I played as a kid; I first played it in the early 2010s. I was aware of the gameContinue reading “EverQuest by Matthew Smith | A Wonderful Book”
Tag Archives: video game history
Avalon Hill’s Time on the Atari 2600
I’ve covered the history of several video game publishers over the years. Most of them published games for the Atari 2600, and they were forced to close down due to the North American Video Game Crash. Avalon Hill is a little different. They were a tabletop wargame and role-playing game designer, as well as aContinue reading “Avalon Hill’s Time on the Atari 2600”
Beginners Guide to Books about Video Games
Thousands of books about video games have been published in the last forty years. It’s not just history books. Social Commentary, Psychology, novelizations, strategy guides, and autobiographies have flooded the market, especially in the last ten years. So many books have been released that it might be hard to know where to start. Things canContinue reading “Beginners Guide to Books about Video Games”
Play Nice, A Spectacular Book by Jason Schreier
This is a fantastic book! In Play Nice, Jason explains Blizzard’s history and how it became part of Activision. The success of Blizzard is explained, along with how the company lost its identity and was largely absorbed by Activision. I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write this review, as many of the things inContinue reading “Play Nice, A Spectacular Book by Jason Schreier”
The Best Book I’ve Read this Year, Red Dead’s History by Tore Olsson
Red Dead Redemption 2 became the center of a lawsuit between Rockstar and the Pinkerton Detective Agency. It sounds a little wild, but the Pinkertons didn’t like the idea that they were accurately being portrayed as the villains in the game. Rockstar said the game was historically accurate in countering this claim, and the lawsuitContinue reading “The Best Book I’ve Read this Year, Red Dead’s History by Tore Olsson”
Deception, Tecmo’s Forgotten Survival RPG Series
The Deception series is an odd collection of games from Tecmo. In some ways, they are an entry in the survival horror genre, but they can considered into the Tactical RPG genre. It’s a little confusing as the games are hard to classify. There are five games and one expansion pact in this series. ForContinue reading “Deception, Tecmo’s Forgotten Survival RPG Series”
A Strange and Mysterious Video Game Company, Froggo Games
When I start these projects, I ask myself a few questions. Usually, they are “What is this?” and “Who made it?” Those normally get me started and lead to other questions or let me know that what I’m looking at isn’t interesting. This time, I fell down a rabbit hole where I kept finding mysteriousContinue reading “A Strange and Mysterious Video Game Company, Froggo Games”
Casting a Stone | The Sega v. Accolade Lawsuit
When you’re collecting retro games, you notice some odd things. For example, how the cartridges look. The NES and SNES have a uniform look to them. While there are some odd-looking NES games, mostly from unlicensed developers, the SNES only has one that I’m aware of. The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive is entirely different. Sega andContinue reading “Casting a Stone | The Sega v. Accolade Lawsuit”
Lost to Time: A Story about Tax Avoiders on the Atari 2600
Someone made a game about taxes. Well, it was three people. Darrell Wagner, a former Internal Revenue Service employee; Todd Clark Holm, an investment advisor; and John Simonds. These three men came up with the idea and the design for Tax Avoiders on the Atari 2600. Dunhill Electronics programmed the game, and the extremely short-livedContinue reading “Lost to Time: A Story about Tax Avoiders on the Atari 2600”
Digital Blood: A Story about Wizard Video Games
Making a video game based on a movie is a good idea. You get instant name recognition and might get fans of the film to buy the game. The game doesn’t have to be good, but it does have to be playable. As long as the movie has fans, you can exploit the source materialContinue reading “Digital Blood: A Story about Wizard Video Games”