Patrik Spacek has submitted a stalwart pitch to The Walt Disney Corporation to have his fabulous looking “special edition” of Hal Barwood’s and Noah Falstein’s legendary point-and-click adventure Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis officially sanctioned and supported. On the eve of what is certain be an important event, a review of the common practice and history of “special editions” is in order. What does a product make “special” beyond the difference in pricing and packaging? Is it justifiable to attach such a powerful attribute to a word as mundane as “edition”?
Of Movie Tie-Ins and Joystick Storytellers: The Video and Computer Game Revolution that devoured Hollywood
Why did the computer and video game industry “tie in” with motion pictures? How come the once ubiquitous game adaptations disappeared whilst gaming is more popular and lucrative than ever?
This is an analysis of how gaming industry’s original envy turned into unsurpassed pride, of how the relationship between the motion picture and the computer and video game industries has undergone a significant change over the last four decades, of how players cast off the double-duties as brand ambassadors name-dropping a film’s title in conversations to tell their very own, very personal story of their adventures inside the bits and bytes of computer and video gaming. This is the journey of the joystick marketeer that lived to be a virtual storyteller…
C64 – Visual Commpendium for iBooks
Sam Dyer never ceases to fascinate retromaniacs. Whilst in the midst of preparing the essential Commodore Amiga book with Commodore Amiga: A Visual Commpendium, Sam managed to release a stellar, immersive version of his first book, the C64 Visual Commpendium for Apple’s iPad on iBooks. Get it today!
https://itun.es/at/b9JP3.l
Thimbleweed Park: A New Classic Point & Click Adventure! by Ron Gilbert & Gary Winnick
Writes the great Maniac Mansion duo: “It’s like opening a dusty old desk drawer and finding an undiscovered LucasArts adventure game you’ve never played before.” The pledge descriptions alone make you want to pay Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick a dollar for every second you’re laughing: pledge at their Kickstarter Thimbleweed Park project page to help the legendary adventure game designers become even more legendary than the legendary treasure of Big Whoop!
Commodore Amiga: a visual Commpendium by Sam Dyer
Sam Dyer’s latest book celebrates the beauty of the Commodore Amiga. Full of pixel art, iconic box art and contributions from industry legends. Congratulations are in order for Sam Dyer, whose Commodore Amiga: A Visual Commpendium received 5 times the amount needed to launch the project!
Why C64: A Visual Commpendium by Sam Dyer Matters
It must have been one of these singular Eureka! moments in the history of the world when Sam Dyer, a graphics designer from Bath, conceived of his book Commodore 64: A Visual Commpendium, now available from www.funstock.co.uk. Here is a brief reflection on why this elegant publication matters so much.
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8bit terror on the Commodore 64: Terrorpods – A reconsideration
Retro Asylum, the UK’s No. 1 retro gaming podcast show, featured an outstanding episode dedicated to one of gaming industry’s most divisive developers, Psygnosis (click here to listen to RetroAsylum’s Psygnosis special). I contributed a segment on one of Psygnosis’s earliest releases, the trading-resource management shoot ’em up crossover Terrorpods.
In the weeks leading up to the Psygnosis-podcast’s release, RetroAsylum regular Sam Dyer kindly pointed out to me an exciting ebay offer, a sealed copy of Terrorpods for the Commodore 64. Quickly did I jump at this opportunity to come full circle and procured said 8bit conversion. Box in hand, how did the C64 incarnation fare in comparison to the 16bit classic?
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The Official Retro Asylum YouTube Channel
Although the Retro Asylum team often post videos via YouTube, they have never actually had a dedicated channel that the entire team could upload to. Thankfully this has now been put right! The channel currently features videos by the great retromaniac Dean Swain, yet all members of Retro Asylum are set post videos in the very near future, so I highly recommend to get watching and subscribe instantly!
The Official Retro Asylum YouTube Channel
Lure of the Classic: Knights of the Old Republic
The other day I dropped by IGN to learn that Aspyr had released a stunning iPad conversion of the LucasArts/BioWare classic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) on Apple’s iTunes Store. Although I beamed with exhilaration at the news, I still resisted the lure of one of the great roleplaying games of all time, but gave in a day later: why the reticence when there is so much joy to be had?
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Dark Times 11 – 1996 – Part 5
John Williams summoned the heroes at the Centennial Olympic Games, but a nerf-herder, her worshipfulness and a kid almost finding himself floating home equally prepared for victory: Star Wars continues its return to pop culture in 1996.
Star Wars was an intricate anomaly. Despite its close ties to 70ies zeitgeist it had superseded the regular status of a classic. Every generation that chanced upon George Lucas’ space opera felt instantly attracted to this peculiar property that grew independently of time and the concomitant limited fads.