Jason Lamb
Jason is a PC Gaming aficionado from the Great White North. You can follow him on Twitter @jasonlamb.
In 1998, a little company by the name of Bioware released a game called Baldur’s Gate. Based in the world of Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons and Dragon’s campaign, the game was met with both critical and financial success, and is often credited for reviving the RPG genre on the PC.
Now, the game is set for a re-release on November 28th, 2012. Developed by Overhaul Games, the enhanced edition brings the original Baldur’s Gate, and it’s expansions, to PC, OS X, iPad, and Android. To give you more information on this release, I managed to catch up with creative director Trent Oster. Read on to see the interview below!
Read More
If you attended a Canadian public school in the 1990’s, there’s a good chance you were exposed to the masterpiece that was Cross Country Canada. If you lived elsewhere, well, you’ll probably think that I’m stark raving mad.
Either way, read on and re-live the nostalgia/become educated about the greatest edutainment game of them all.
Read More
Magic. Ah yes, magic. Society as a whole has always had an obsession with magic. From tales by the Brothers Grimm, to Tolkien’s Middle Earth stories, and even Rowling’s Harry Potter, society continues to foster a penchant for magic. It manages to evoke humanity’s creativity, and need for the unknown.
As such, this obsession has found it’s way into various video games. One such example was released in 1995, when Apogee published Moonlite Software’s Hocus Pocus. Read on to discover if there was magic contained within.
Read More
As most of you may know, it was announced earlier this week that Disney bought Lucasfilms Ltd. With this purchase comes the ownership of the both Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. It also means that Disney now owns Lucasarts, maker of dozens of games over the last few decades.
So, with that, let us discuss one of their greatest games: Rebel Assault!
Read More
By the time this article is posted, I’ll be somewhere on the coast of Cuba. This, of course, means I should probably thematically link my post to my vacation. Thus, we must discuss the fantastic RTS game, Red Alert 2!
Read on after the break for more information regarding this fantastic, Communist filled game!
Read More
Red Alert is a great example of what I would deem as the golden age of the real time strategy genre (RTS). There is no need for “action per minutes” or a need to utilize a “rock paper scissors” approach to combat. No, you need to know your army, and you need to know what it does well.
Read on to find out what Red Alert did well, and how it surpasses a lot of games that came after it.
Read More
When one looks back at Team Fortress Classic, the most noticeable element is that the game is more in line with a traditional military-based shooter, as opposed to the colourful, hat-simulating sequel we play today. However, while it may not be as charming as today’s releases, it more than holds it own based on mechanics alone.
So let’s take a moment and trace the history of this game, which serves as one of the most persistently successful Half Life and Quake mods of all time.
Read More
The 90’s were a glorious era for PC gaming. The rapid adoption of the internet by consumers led to online multiplayer becoming a norm for games. Increased processing power let game developers further realize their ideas, from both an artistic and narrative standpoint. But most of all, it was also a time of breakfast cereal tie-ins.
Chex Quest not only managed to revive a fading brand, but also captured the hearts and minds of millions of budding gamers.
Raptor: Call of the Shadows. A vertical, raster-based shooter, the game arrived in a decade that saw the “shoot-em-up” genre begin to wane in popularity.
So how was Cyngus Studio’s Raptor? How has it aged since it’s initial release in 1994? Read on, for the answers lie below!
Grand Theft Auto 2. You know, the games were good before Grand Theft Auto III pushed the series to pop culture status. It was a simpler time, where one committed crimes from an overhead view, before lawyers and 3D graphics took hold of the series.
So…how was the game? Did it provide the same amount of fun as the games that followed after it? Read on, as the answers lie below.
Originally released for the 3DO and ported over to PC, Road Rash was a continuation of Electronic Arts popular Road Rash series, which began its life on the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive back in 1991.
So what is Road Rash, and what warranted six games in the series between 1991 and 1999? Read on, as the answers lie below!
Read More
The third installment of the popular “X-Wing” series, X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter was released in 1997 to meet the needs of fans who wanted to face off against each other in a multiplayer environment. While the game succeeded in doing what it set out to do, it managed to forget one thing along the way; a single player campaign.
So how enjoyable is this game? Where does it stand in the legacy of Star Wars PC games? Read on, the answers lie below!
Read More
Claiming to be the “Mother of All Games” upon it’s release (in reference to the then topical declaration of a forthcoming “Mother of all Battles” by Saddam Hussein after his invasion of Kuwait), Scorched Earth is a simple artillery game originally released in 1991.
So how does this game live up to it’s claim of being the “Mother of all Games?” How does it hold up today? Read on, and learn more about the shareware classic, Scorched Earth!
Corncob 3D, where do I start? In an alternate dimension, Hitler died in childhood and thus World War II never happened. Instead, aliens invaded the Earth. Linger on that now, will you?
As one of the earliest shareware flight simulators available, it’s time we look back at a game that is both ambitious and somewhat perplexing. Read on after the break for the history, and my thoughts on a game that drove me mad as a child.
Welcome to part three of the budget PC series! So far we’ve covered building a cheap gaming computer, and have discussed the types of software needed to make your gaming easier both at the desk and on the couch.
In this part of the series we’ll discuss the various control schemes you can use, and various other odds and ends to make your experience the best it can be. Read on after the break for a list of more PC gaming suggestions!
Read More
In the last article of this series, we covered the hardware need to make a nice, budget gaming computer. But now that we’ve selected all the parts we need, where do we go from here?
In this article, we’ll go over all the software you’ll need to get that gaming PC up and running. More specifically, we’ll cover DOS emulation, and organizing your retro game collection into a TV-friendly experience.
Read More
So you’re interested in building a gaming PC, eh? Over the next few weeks, we’ll be delving into the big wide world of PC gaming with you, and will be detailing exactly what you need to start. We’ll cover hardware choices, how to get those retro PC games up and running, how to connect it to your TV, etc.
Before we start considering any of the gaming aspects of the machine, let’s discuss the hardware you’ll need. Trying to keep it within a reasonable budget, we’ll set a price of around $400 (comparable to consoles) for your first machine. Read on as we go through a list of hardware choices that are right for your budget PC gaming needs.
Read More
A challenge many PC gamers face with retro gaming, is how to get their games running properly on modern systems. Sure, one may have the executable for Commander Keen backed up on their hard drive, but it was hardly designed with Windows 7 in mind. And, unlike some console gamers, PC gamers don’t really keep old hardware around. PC hardware is on a constant march forward, where one trades in the old for the latest and greatest. So what is a modern PC gamer to do when they are a retro gamer at heart?
The answer to these problems is the ever versatile DOSBox. What’s DOSBox you ask? Read on, and I’ll show you how to get your classic games up and running again like it’s 1991.
In 1993, Apogee released John Passfield’s Halloween Harry, and a classic was born. Later retitled Alien Carnage, the game saw you guiding agent Halloween Harry through a world full of people who have been zombified by Aliens. Using a flamethrower to dispatch your enemies, you used a jetpack to navigate around each stage as you rescued various hostages from the various monsters throughout the game.
So what Happened to Halloween Harry, and where is the creator now? As luck would have it, I was able to get an interview with creator John Passfield. So read on dear readers, all your answers lie below!
A long time ago, a famous Japanese company by the name of Nintendo created a character named Mario. Since then, Mario has been best known for his 2D platforming adventures on the various Nintendo consoles. In case you’re not familiar with this relatively obscure character, Mario generally travels from castle to castle, collecting coins, and continues fighting the evil King Koopa and his minions.
But, what’s that? You say Mario was on the personal computer? Mario also starred in games that were nothing like his 2D platforming adventures? You’re absolutely right! Read on, as we go over the many Mario games that have graced the PC platform.
Read More