Archives

Mission: Mainframe RPG category

Title screen from Mission: Mainframe

If the pen is mightier than the sword, why not use it in armed conflict? The 1983 role-playing game Mission: Mainframe certainly tried to.

Mission: Mainframe substitutes BICs for battleaxes, bringing the venerated dungeon crawler structure out of the catacombs and into an office park. Beneath the enjoyably atypical setting, this is a standard if slipshod RPG, and its surface-level changes to the genre formula are its most jarring. Those accustomed to swords and sorcery will pick it up quickly, but they might have trouble adapting to its confusing new lexicon. » Read more about Mission: Mainframe

Welcome to The Obscuritory 3.0! Blog category

You might notice that things look a little different around here. Say hi to the newly redesigned Obscuritory!

This is the third theme the blog has used since 2008. I’ve been tinkering on this for a while now, and I’m especially happy with the results. Everything looks roughly similar – mostly because I love the Windows 3.1 setup motif – but the blog is now cleaner, easier to navigate, mobile-friendly, and compliant with HTML 5 standards. In comparison, the previous layout was heavily modified from a broken template that briefly had adware and couldn’t run Javascript. Whoops!

There are other little tweaks throughout too, like the improved menu which links to articles tagged as “recommended.”

The theme isn’t 100% finished yet (a few of the header images are broken, and assorted bits and bobs need tweaking), but I wanted to get this version out anyway. It looks really pretty, and I’m glad to give the look a refresh!

(For the record, the theme is named Orbital Library, after an area from one of my favorite games…)

Music Highlight: Electronic Arts 3D Atlas Music Highlights category

Music Highlight

The one-two punch of multimedia-capable computers and the CD-ROM medium allowed for content of unprecedented size and richness. Reference work publishers benefited from this in particular: when you can fit an encyclopedia on a single disc with room to spare, enhancing that content with interactive media is the next logical step. This led to the pre-Internet, decade-long reference CD-ROM boom, responsible in collective memory mostly for Microsoft Encarta 95‘s MindMaze game.

At their best, these enhancements brought out the greater educational mission of reference CD-ROMs. More than collections of facts, they were about applying information in service of ideas. Look to Electronic Arts 3D Atlas to see how that could work – and how music anchored the experience.

EA 3D Atlas is, on its surface, an interactive globe. But much of the content within the program (especially its video tours) deals the political and environmental instability that threatens the planet’s future. Those are heady themes, and the program’s ambient soundtrack plays to that seriousness.

These two pieces composed by Martin Seager accompany the Environmental World and Physical World screens. Neither section is especially charged, but the music elevates them from simple maps to Pale Blue Dot-esque reflections on the Earth’s fragility. Even though you’re not looking at maps that show great consequence – those are elsewhere – Seager’s ethereal flutes and sloshing ambiance evoke the planet’s delicateness and the scarcity of its resources. When those are your auditory cues, it’s difficult to look at a nature-covered globe with anything but knowing dread.

Other multimedia additions to EA 3D Atlas address these concerns more directly, as with its micro-documentaries about climate change and human conflict, but Seager’s music draws on that message in places that otherwise lack it. This program unmistakably has more on its plate than showing you where to find capital cities, even when just displaying a map.

“Who allowed you to do this?” Joe Sparks talks Spaceship Warlock, CD-ROMs, $8000 computers, and the growth of interactive media Essay category

Screenshot from Spaceship Warlock

Though now largely written out of gaming histories, Spaceship Warlock was a harbinger of the future of interactive multimedia. Released for Macintosh in 1991, it was among the first ever CD-ROM games, likely the earliest to use the multimedia authoring platform Macromedia Director that would become common throughout the era. Its combination of interactivity with high-quality visuals and digital audio were unprecedented at the time. Warlock made waves on release for its interactive and open-ended world, though the game’s buzz was eclipsed by the enormous success of Myst shortly after.

No one had ever attempted a game on the scale of Spaceship Warlock, either from a technological standpoint or in the overall scope of its interactive world. I wanted to figure out what it was like developing a pioneering CD-ROM for which no model really existed.

Spaceship Warlock co-creator Joe Sparks was kind enough to sit down with me via videochat for an hour to talk about the development of Warlock, working on games at the dawn of the CD-ROM era, the technical constraints faced, and visions of the future of interactive mediums. Sparks now works on animations for Google’s sales department, but he is still extremely energized about memories and lessons from this older, experimental era of game development. He shared a lot of great anecdotes and insights about how he and co-creator Mike Saenz embarked on a game project that, based on what he described, probably should have been impossible. » Read more about “Who allowed you to do this?” Joe Sparks talks Spaceship Warlock, CD-ROMs, $8000 computers, and the growth of interactive media

Crime City Adventure category

Title screen from Crime City

Taking a break from his criminal investigation, Steven White visits his girlfriend.

“What’s on your mind?” she asks.

“Do you want to go out for a drink tomorrow night?”

“Ok. I will meet you in the pub tomorrow night at 7 o’clock and don’t be late.”

Steven ends his investigation early the next day to meet her at the bar. 7PM comes and goes; she never shows up. She’s still waiting at home, totally oblivious to the date. This isn’t part of the mystery. The game just forgot.

The dissonance of that moment represents the great dilemma of Crime City, a murder procedural unstuck in time. Time’s urgency and irreversibility are central to the game’s narrative and structure, but it fails to understand the significance of those notions in the places where they matter. Deaf to its thematic strengths and mediocre as a result, it disappoints more deeply than a less potent game might. » Read more about Crime City

Lemmings Paintball Action categoryStrategy category

Title screen from Lemmings Paintball

Yes, it’s a Lemmings paintball game. Yes, that’s ridiculous.

Despite a premise seemingly at odds with its property, Lemmings Paintball shares the series’s strategic charm. If you can overcome the initial shock of commanding Lemmings to shoot each other, you’ll find action inspired by the thoughtful franticness of their other games. The Lemmings keep their lovable herd mentality, even while armed to the teeth, but the iffy game mechanics draw too much negative attention to the thematic disconnect. These fellas are supposed to build bridges, literally and metaphorically! » Read more about Lemmings Paintball

The Obscuritory at Awesome Con! Blog category

Awesome Con logo, courtesy of Awesome Con

Time for some big crazy news: I’m hosting a panel at this year’s Awesome Con in Washington, DC!

Awesome Con is a comic and pop culture convention that has absolutely exploded since it started just two years ago. I’ve gone to both Awesome Cons held so far, and it has been exciting to watch a small artist exhibition grow into a juggernaut with over 50,000 attendees expected this year. As a longtime fan, I’m proud to be one of the panelists contributing to the growing gaming presence at this… well, awesome event.

Much like at MAGFest, I’ll be speaking about great obscure games and why they’re important to gaming culture and the pop culture landscape in general – especially in how they can breed positivity and inclusiveness. Expect to hear about some old favorites as well as other titles tailored to Awesome Con’s sensibilities. I strongly believe that obscure games can invigorate the future of gaming if we play and share them, and I’m ecstatic to spread the obscurity gospel at such a big venue.

(This isn’t a gaming-specific event, so I want this panel to be approachable by anyone interested in games. I’ll consciously avoid jargon and cultural inside jokes when possible.)

The panel, “Obscure Video Game Gems (and Why They Matter),” will be held on Saturday, May 30th, at 5:30pm in Room 102A.

Awesome Con is held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in downtown DC, easily accessible through public transit. Get tickets before they run out! (If you need upselling, the Ponds from Doctor Who, George Takei, and William Shatner will also be there!)

I’ll be at Awesome Con all weekend, and I’ll probably show up in costume and enter a tournament at some point. Greatly looking forward to seeing all the shining, wonderful faces there. This is a fantastic event with a huge variety of content and a strong commitment to being a safe space for geekdom of all walks.

“The future – we’re there!” Rhizome talks Theresa Duncan and the new age of CD-ROM preservation Essay categoryMultimedia category

Panel discussion of Theresa Duncan's CD-ROMs with a scene from "Smarty" on-screen. (from left to right) Rhizome archivist Dragan Espenchied, Participant Inc. founder Lia Gangitano, game critic Jenn Frank, FEMICOM Museum founder Rachel Simone Weil.

(from left to right) Rhizome archivist Dragan Espenchied, Participant Inc. founder Lia Gangitano, game critic Jenn Frank, FEMICOM Museum founder Rachel Simone Weil

Theresa Duncan’s game Zero Zero ends with a fireworks show as the calendar rolls over to the year 1900. “The future,” the protagonist Pinkée cheers, “we’re there!”

FEMICOM Museum founder Rachel Simone Weil mentioned this quote when discussing Zero Zero‘s thematic pining for the future, but it also captures the revelatory feeling of Rhizome’s showcase event for the newly preserved Theresa Duncan CD-ROM games on April 16th in New York City. Their restoration is a watershed moment for gaming – for the revitalization of Duncan’s games, for the importance of diversity in gaming culture, and above all for the relevance and accessibility of the CD-ROM medium. After listening to the discussions and speaking one-on-one with archivist Dragan Espenschied, I left with impossible optimism for the future of these games and other forgotten digital works. » Read more about “The future – we’re there!” Rhizome talks Theresa Duncan and the new age of CD-ROM preservation

NYC dwellers: come to the Theresa Duncan re-launch party! Blog category

Screenshot from Smarty

Hey sports fans! Back in November, I posted about a crowdfunded preservation program for three CD-ROM games for young girls by artist Theresa Duncan. The Kickstarter was a success, and the games will be playable for free via browsers this Friday! I’ll be sure to share the link once they’re available. These are great and still highly important games that absolutely deserve their place in the gaming canon.

As part of the Kickstarter, I’m attending “The Theresa Duncan CD-ROMs,” the games’ premiere celebration at New York’s New Museum this Thursday. The evening will feature a panel discussion from Rhizome’s Dragan Espenschied, Lia Gangitano of Participant Inc., FEMICOM founder Rachel Simone Weil, and game critic Jenn Frank. I’m crazy stoked about this event, and I can’t wait to hear more about these games, the preservation process, and their place in feminist gaming history and broader culture. Expect a write-up afterwards…

If you’re in the NYC area and reading this blog, this is definitely an event you’d be interested in. Buy a ticket and come by! It’s a rare chance to learn about a very special slice from CD-ROM history.

Introducing the Resources page Blog category

The Journeyman Historical Log disc from The Journeyman Project

Playing obscure games can be difficult and exhausting. First you have to find a game, then buy or download a copy if it’s available, then figure out how to run it on a modern computer. That’s no small task. I’ve always taken for granted that I’m good with this, and part of it is certainly my background. I’m from a white middle-class family, and I’ve been immersed in the world of gaming for close to my entire life. I have always had the time, money, equipment, skills, and knowledge to dive into this stuff. Not everyone does.

People who can get into obscure games should be making it easier for everyone who can’t. We should all be pooling our resources to ensure that anyone can find, play, enjoy, and learn from obscurities.

In that spirit, I’ve put together a new Resources guide available at the top of the page. It contains tons of high-quality resources for finding and playing obscure games (with a strong focus on classic computer titles). I use these same materials for this blog and my research. I’ve divided the guide into three sections:

  • Discovering – learning about obscure games from lists, collections, reviews, and enthusiasts
  • Obtaining – getting ahold a copy, physical or digital
  • Playing – making the games run on your system

All three areas can be difficult for some people, and I hope that at least one person finds the resources I’ve put together useful. It was a lot of work, and I think it’s one of the most complete guides to obscure games out there.

I plan to continue updating this guide, so if there’s anything you think would be worthwhile to add, please drop me a line!

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