Dodo Blog » History

Know your classics

Ninja Dodo — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 11:39:02 +0000

Two great interviews with four gaming legends: Mechner, Chahi, Raynal and Cuisset, creators of such games as Prince of Persia, Little Big Adventure, Flashback and Another World. (en français)

The first is also available in English.

Prince, LBA and Flashback are still among my fondest gaming memories and it’s a treat to read about their creators’ thoughtful and eclectic approach to design.

“Don’t dissipate the energy and passion of the original idea by becoming your own critic too early in the process. (…) start taking the necessary steps to turn your idea into reality, while you still feel the clarity and strong desire of that first inspiration” Jordan Mechner

“Story prolongs the enjoyment of the player, but it does not create it.”
Frédérick Raynal

Giant Bomb

Ninja Dodo — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:25:30 +0000

A new gaming website was launched recently by the former members of my old favourite podcast, The Hotspot. Along with a new podcast they’ve done something really interesting with the site. Beyond simple reviews and features they’ve created a sort of wiki where all things gaming are connected in uncountable ways. If you want to know how many games feature say a silent protagonist, or bicycles, this is the place to find out. It’s early days yet – the site in its current form is but a month old – so not everything is filled out, but all the more reason to go over there and add what you know…

Tidings

Ninja Dodo — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:21:03 +0000

I finally had a chance to play Assassin’s Creed (on PC) which was a largely compelling experience. It’s a pity about the semi-futuristic framework… ‘genetic memory’ and all that, but if you ever wanted to know what it would be like to stroll through the streets of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the Third Crusade (and discreetly dispatch lots of Templars) this is the game for you.

In other news, I sent my film “Teddy” in for a critique at Animation Mentor and got some solid feedback, so I’ll be getting back to work on that.

More history

Ninja Dodo — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 13:20:58 +0000

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the IGDA’s efforts, notably the Digital Game Cannon, a list of ten landmark games forming the initial focus of gathering development history. Gamasutra meanwhile is providing a retrospective of these very games. Some are not my cup of tea – I have tried, really tried to enjoy DOOM – and others were a little before my time (Spacewar!), but I can certainly appreciate their significance historically. Within RTS I think I would’ve chosen Starcraft over Warcraft as the former was the more powerful game both in gameplay and narrative, but for overall impact as a series it’s a reasonable pick. I can only nod in agreement at the inclusion of Super Mario Bros 3 and Tetris.

Gaming history

Ninja Dodo — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:44:35 +0000

Nostalgia is a funny thing. It sometimes gives the past a little more shine than it perhaps deserves, but there are times when there is real value in looking to the classics, not just in cinema or literature, but in games.

Many are just as much fun now as they were then: Super Mario Bros 3 remains one of the greatest platform games ever, the original Worms is still hilarious, Little Big Adventure still a beautiful distopian epic… Yet much of this history is in danger of being lost. Who knows if we’ll still be able to play Tetris twenty years from now? You certainly won’t find it in a store.

While some degree of preservation is provided by roms and abandonware (and tools like ScummVM and DOSBox), the industry itself seems to finally be waking up to the idea that old games are worth preserving with services like Live Arcade and Nintendo’s Virtual Console.

It’s not just the games though being slowly forgotten, but all the work that led to their creation… Art books and collector’s editions are a fairly recent invention. There is a wealth of material from concept art to design docs that no one outside of their respective developers has ever seen, or will again if nothing is done to preserve it.

Warren Spector (of Deus Ex fame) is heading up an interesting initiative to create a center for videogame history in Austin, for the time being seemingly focused on the American side of the story, but there’s no reason why others could not follow suit and contribute…

I for one am not throwing away another note or drawing.