Bethesda marks the 20th Anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D -- the pioneer 3D first person shooter -- by releasing a free-to-play browser version of the game. Blow some Nazis away with the director's commentary from John Carmack running in the background, or go old-school and drench the walls in blood and gore. (Unless you live in Germany where the game is illegal.) Via. [more inside]
posted by zarq on May 10, 2012 - 55 comments

How many of these classic video game characters do you remember? A list of the 50 Greatest Video Game Characters of All Time. Obviously, it's a difficult task to create a definitive list of all our beloved favorites, but this seems to cover all the really significant characters. A little surprised (in a good way!) that Gestalt actually came in at number 10, TBH. [more inside]
posted by Greg Nog on Sep 21, 2011 - 225 comments

You are in a warm, dark, comfortable place. This has been your place since you became aware that you are alive. It's almost time to enter a different world now. In 1986, Activision published a roleplaying computer game called Alter Ego. Unlike the action and fantasy titles that ruled the day, this game simulated the course of a single ordinary life. Beginning at birth, players navigated a series of vignettes: learning to crawl, reacting to strangers, getting a first haircut. The outcome of each scenario subtly influenced one's path, and with every choice players slowly progressed through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Graphically minimalist -- one's lifestream is represented by simple icons, and the scenarios are all text -- the game was nevertheless engaging, describing the world in a playful, good-natured tone tinged by darkness and melancholy. And it had quite a pedigree; developer and psychology PhD Peter Favaro interviewed hundreds of people on their most memorable life experiences to generate the game's 1,200 pages of material. Unfortunately for Dr. Favaro, the game didn't sell very well. But it lives on through the web -- PlayAlterEgo.com offers a full copy of the game free to play in your browser, and the same port is available as a $5 app for iPhone and Android. More: Port discussion group - Wishlist - Vintage review - Original game manual (text or scans)
posted by Rhaomi on Dec 31, 2010 - 46 comments

ROM CHECK FAIL is a goofy little PC game, in the classic 1980's arcade/home console genre of ... err ... Use the space bar to fire your blaster. Or sword. (Or jump.) Use the arrow keys to control your ... guy as if you were playing ... that ... classic game. Eliminate all the enemy, well, things in the expected way, and go on to the next maze/planet/cave/highway. Look, just play it, OK? It's fun!
posted by CrunchyFrog on Mar 25, 2008 - 16 comments

Have you played Robotron today?
posted by 6am on Sep 12, 2006 - 41 comments

Norbert's Online NES emulator and the Online Arcade game emulators.
posted by Espoo2 on Dec 11, 2003 - 7 comments

Those of you with crazy multi-tasking skills might want to check out Arcadia, where you play four different super simple games at the same time. Extra points for the stylishly retro chunky pixels look, which brings me right back to happy afternoons spent with my 2600!
posted by lia on Aug 5, 2003 - 18 comments