Gaming has its own Nikola Teslas
July 11, 2014 4:30 PM Subscribe
Five Genre-Defining Video Games Forgotten by History (SLYT, 53min.)
Some interesting pronunciations.
There are a lot more than 5 games discussed. The first one seems to be Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss, but it talks about a lot of other early FPS games.
Still working through it.
posted by curious nu at 4:57 PM on July 11, 2014
There are a lot more than 5 games discussed. The first one seems to be Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss, but it talks about a lot of other early FPS games.
Still working through it.
posted by curious nu at 4:57 PM on July 11, 2014
Hydrox, meet Oreo.
posted by four panels at 4:57 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by four panels at 4:57 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Game #2 is Bubsy 3D... maybe? I dunno, this video is pretty disjointed.
This might be a supertroll.
posted by curious nu at 4:58 PM on July 11, 2014
This might be a supertroll.
posted by curious nu at 4:58 PM on July 11, 2014
Okay, do not be convinced that he's an idiot when he starts talking about Wolfenstein 3D, a game clearly not forgotten by history. He starts there and works backwards through a series of first-person-shooters including Ultima Underworld, Hover Tank 3d, and Midi Maze before deciding Maze War was the earliest FPS he can find.
His 3D platformer discussion continues past Bubsy 3D back to Alpha Waves and I-Robot.
posted by RobotHero at 4:59 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
His 3D platformer discussion continues past Bubsy 3D back to Alpha Waves and I-Robot.
posted by RobotHero at 4:59 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, it's somewhat misnamed although that seems intentional. It's really five genres, and he starts at the one you probably think of and then shows you the one before that… and then the one before that… and then...
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:02 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:02 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Bubsy 3D is forgotten because Bubsy 3D is fuckawful.
That's how bad it is. It doesn't even rate a gerund.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:04 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
That's how bad it is. It doesn't even rate a gerund.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:04 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
You use a hyperbole!
It's super effective!
Wolfenstein. So forgotten that MachineGames haven't just released a new game called Wolfenstein: New Order that's getting some pretty positive reviews.
Ultima. So removed from all living memory that GOG.com didn't just have a sale on with all of the Ultima's from 1 to 9 for $10 (or thereabouts). And you can buy any Ultima you'd like from GOG, whenever you'd like.
There's Atari's Adventure and Resident Evil #1 and Alone in the Dark there too, so it looks fairly ok from a genre-defining standpoint. Silly title though.
posted by Zack_Replica at 5:08 PM on July 11, 2014
It's super effective!
Wolfenstein. So forgotten that MachineGames haven't just released a new game called Wolfenstein: New Order that's getting some pretty positive reviews.
Ultima. So removed from all living memory that GOG.com didn't just have a sale on with all of the Ultima's from 1 to 9 for $10 (or thereabouts). And you can buy any Ultima you'd like from GOG, whenever you'd like.
There's Atari's Adventure and Resident Evil #1 and Alone in the Dark there too, so it looks fairly ok from a genre-defining standpoint. Silly title though.
posted by Zack_Replica at 5:08 PM on July 11, 2014
I haven't watched the video. On preview, though: the Ultima Underworld series can never possibly get enough love, and I don't hear it mentioned much, so I'm cool with that.
posted by naju at 5:13 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by naju at 5:13 PM on July 11, 2014
Nothing reliably makes me feel older than discussions of old computer games.
The five games alluded to by the title are:
First FPS: Maze War
First 3D Platformer: Alpha Waves
First Survival Horror: 3D Monster Maze
First RPG: Adventure
First Video Game: It's hard to say, really.
posted by Kattullus at 5:17 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
The five games alluded to by the title are:
First FPS: Maze War
First 3D Platformer: Alpha Waves
First Survival Horror: 3D Monster Maze
First RPG: Adventure
First Video Game: It's hard to say, really.
posted by Kattullus at 5:17 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
Zack_Replica: "Wolfenstein. So forgotten that MachineGames haven't just released a new game called Wolfenstein: New Order that's getting some pretty positive reviews.
Ultima. So removed from all living memory that GOG.com didn't just have a sale on with all of the Ultima's from 1 to 9 for $10 (or thereabouts)."
Uhh... those aren't the games that the video is claiming were forgotten by history. As Kattullus says, the FPS forgotten by history was Maze War, which I think is pretty fair. I have much more issue with the notion that Adventure is forgotten by history, although that might just be me. I'm pretty sure I still have the map for Adventure embedded in my sub-conscious.
Also, the video doesn't get into it because it wouldn't really fit, but Ultima Underworld 2 was even more mind-blowing than Ultima Underworld 1. You could fly around in the dungeon. Three whole dimensions of movement, three years before Quake.
posted by mhum at 5:49 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ultima. So removed from all living memory that GOG.com didn't just have a sale on with all of the Ultima's from 1 to 9 for $10 (or thereabouts)."
Uhh... those aren't the games that the video is claiming were forgotten by history. As Kattullus says, the FPS forgotten by history was Maze War, which I think is pretty fair. I have much more issue with the notion that Adventure is forgotten by history, although that might just be me. I'm pretty sure I still have the map for Adventure embedded in my sub-conscious.
Also, the video doesn't get into it because it wouldn't really fit, but Ultima Underworld 2 was even more mind-blowing than Ultima Underworld 1. You could fly around in the dungeon. Three whole dimensions of movement, three years before Quake.
posted by mhum at 5:49 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hydrox, meet Oreo.
Well, the other way around, but that's a great IRL analogy.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:50 PM on July 11, 2014
Well, the other way around, but that's a great IRL analogy.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 5:50 PM on July 11, 2014
This video is PTSD for a lawyer - it's everything that is disjointed and wrong when a person that has no advocacy skills tries to explain a point of view. I appreciate the depth of knowledge, the desire to carefully and painstakingly draw out a theory and conclusion, showing proof along the way - BUT OH MY GOD IS IT A FAIL. I tried so hard because I thought this would be an interesting video, but was ultimately too distracted by wanting to punch the narrator that I gave up.
Look, get to the point. State your hypothesis, give us the punchline, support your hypothesis. This isn't a murder mystery novel.
posted by Muddler at 6:24 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Look, get to the point. State your hypothesis, give us the punchline, support your hypothesis. This isn't a murder mystery novel.
posted by Muddler at 6:24 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
The best part about the four games listed by Kattullus are that title for three of them simply state what they are - Alpha Waves is the only vague title. But when you're the first of your kind, there's no need for a fancy name. Even the early Spasim is an abbreviation for "Space simulator." Even with the late-comer, 3D Monster Maze, it was novel enough that the didn't need to be catchy.
posted by filthy light thief at 6:26 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by filthy light thief at 6:26 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
This video is PTSD for a lawyer
Good. We need more of those.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Good. We need more of those.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
It's reverse chronological. It's not that hard, people.
posted by RobotHero at 6:43 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotHero at 6:43 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Didn't expect Ulillillia.
posted by todayandtomorrow at 6:44 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by todayandtomorrow at 6:44 PM on July 11, 2014 [4 favorites]
Yeah, holy shit, he used an Ullillillia video. Of course, who in this world knows Bubsy 3D better than him?
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:00 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:00 PM on July 11, 2014
Bubsy 3D is forgotten because Bubsy 3D is fuckawful.
Bubsy 3D isn't forgotten! Just last year they released a VERY well-received sequel wherein Bubsy visits the James Turrell Retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art!
posted by brookedel at 7:06 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
Bubsy 3D isn't forgotten! Just last year they released a VERY well-received sequel wherein Bubsy visits the James Turrell Retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art!
posted by brookedel at 7:06 PM on July 11, 2014 [6 favorites]
I'm not sure how you could discuss Bubsy 3D without bringing up Ulillillia. That would be like - I don't know - eating a pizza without absorbing the fat with paper towels and napkins.
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:09 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:09 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
This is pretty good. And it makes me nostalgic for the days when games (and computers, really) were wilder and weirder—when people were still coming to grips with the technical and artistic problems, before genres were clearly established, when many commercial games were created by one or two people, when strange freeware circulated via floppy disk. I guess the closest thing we have today is stuff like Dwarf Fortress. Maybe early Minecraft. The world needs more games like that—weird shit hacked together by people who only half-know what they're doing.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:16 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:16 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised his survival horror section doesn't mention Sweet Home, a film adaptation that basically squeezes a lot of modern horror game ideas into a JRPG format. The game is hard as fuck but worthwhile if you're into horror and retrogaming, and there's a line in it referring to the mansion as "A house of residing evil" which is said to have provided the American name for Capcom's Biohazard series.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:18 PM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:18 PM on July 11, 2014 [3 favorites]
I still don't see how Wing Commander died. I mean, it crested a shade before online play came about but a joystick online space fighter game seems like a license to print Gen-X's money.
posted by Cyrano at 7:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Cyrano at 7:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Cyrano, see Elite: Dangerous or Star Citizen.
It's a shame Rogue Squadron suffered the same fate.
I have much more issue with the notion that Adventure is forgotten by history
It comes up in a lot of retrospectives, so I'm with you there.
posted by ersatz at 7:54 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's a shame Rogue Squadron suffered the same fate.
I have much more issue with the notion that Adventure is forgotten by history
It comes up in a lot of retrospectives, so I'm with you there.
posted by ersatz at 7:54 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
I still don't see how Wing Commander died. I mean, it crested a shade before online play came about but a joystick online space fighter game seems like a license to print Gen-X's money.
They already had Wing Commander: Armada, too: the multiplayer hybrid turn-based strategy/space flight simulator. That's a game that should come back.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:23 PM on July 11, 2014
They already had Wing Commander: Armada, too: the multiplayer hybrid turn-based strategy/space flight simulator. That's a game that should come back.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:23 PM on July 11, 2014
Bubsy 3D isn't forgotten! Just last year they released a VERY well-received sequel wherein Bubsy visits the James Turrell Retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art!
Thank you.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thank you.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:40 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ok, Star Citizen looks about right. I just want the freneticness of a great TF2 map in space.
posted by Cyrano at 9:01 PM on July 11, 2014
posted by Cyrano at 9:01 PM on July 11, 2014
Game that should come back, eh? That means Stunt Island.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:10 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:10 AM on July 12, 2014
Descent was epic. Multiplayer blew everything else out of the water.
posted by Max Power at 6:18 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by Max Power at 6:18 AM on July 12, 2014
Bubsy visits the James Turrell Retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Best game since Frog Fractions.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:53 AM on July 12, 2014
Best game since Frog Fractions.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 7:53 AM on July 12, 2014
The makers of the Bubsy James Turrell Retrospective also make this: Room of 1000 Snakes, which is perhaps the precursor to a new genre of games about rooms with 1000 snakes.
posted by Skwirl at 9:26 AM on July 12, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Skwirl at 9:26 AM on July 12, 2014 [2 favorites]
One thing I really like is when it's really obvious who sat through the linked content and and who just gave it a quick once-over before coming back to reply with something smart-alecky.
I saw it in that "why I'm leaving New York City" thread and I see it here and it never stops being hilarious.
posted by KChasm at 1:47 PM on July 13, 2014
I saw it in that "why I'm leaving New York City" thread and I see it here and it never stops being hilarious.
posted by KChasm at 1:47 PM on July 13, 2014
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What are the five games discussed?
posted by rifflesby at 4:54 PM on July 11, 2014 [8 favorites]