Huh, that is really interesting. I owned an Atari 800 before upgrading (?) to a C64 but it never clicked with me in quite the same way. In terms of their respective range of available games they were miles apart, especially as the decade progressed, with C64 getting every multiplatform title plus countless…

That Game Over guitar solo.

What? No Wizball???

In general there were, but this particular kind of a branching narrative, where outcomes rested not just on a static set of responses to your actions, but where they also depended on an overarching narrative unfolding independently in real-time was, way too complex for developers and largely avoided. In fact, it still…

Absolutely, that's the other half of that wonderful equation. I know everyone gets warm and fuzzy about things they've experienced as kids but there's something special about the youth of a medium that goes beyond the mere fact of today's thirtysomethings feeling nostalgic about their first gaming experiences.

Yeah, the title is perhaps a bit misleading. It's actually -arguably- the first survival horror title, but horror games in general had been around long before that.

Especially because it was an era of unprecedented creativity at the top level of the industry the likes of which we will never experience again. I mean, sure, there are definitely more indie developers now than in the early '80s which is wonderful and all, but skyrocketing costs and constant technological shifts, mean…

Absolutely. I'm not sure if Dead Space has actively drawn from Project Firestart but, if you tried to do a modern third-person version of it, it would basically be Dead Space. Even their endings (well, the ending of Dead Space and one of Project Firstart's multiple endings - that thing was just insanely ambitious) are…

I think it's a regional thing as well. My general impression is that in the US people rarely bothered with the home computers of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, heavily favouring consoles. In Europe, computers in the '80s were at least as popular, if not more so. Nobody I knew in school owned a console: the feud that…

Not sure that pixel graphics cannot conjure up such emotions: if you're a horror (and, more specifically, a Silent Hill) fan I'd suggest trying out Lone Survivor. I genuinely think it's one of the creepiest games in existence if played as it should be (ie lights off + headphones).

Have I mentioned that Trajan is the new Gahndi?

Arguably the best Silent Hill game since Silent Hill 2.

I suppose if we talk about horror stemming purely from mechanics Dark Souls makes for a decent candidate: the possibility of losing all those precious souls as you wandered onwards made each step into unknown territory an unbearably daunting prospect - much more so than its difficulty or its presentation.

Well, the review should be out early next week, don't want to spoil it!

You heard it here first: Trajan of the Romans is the new Ghandi.

Can confirm that there's no specific Earth option a la Civilization V, but that's definitely Africa where I'm fighting the Romans right now and it's either the second or third playthrough I'm getting this familiar topology. Perhaps the Continents map-type with all the available sub-options set to default automatically…

Been having the exact same problem with Rocket League. Casualties so far: Mad Max, Resident Evil HD, Gabriel Knight, and, indeed, Transformers: Devastation.

Currently playing China for the first time (wasn't available in the preview build) and I'm ecstatic with their special ability: using builders to speed up the construction of ancient and classical wonders. Not sure if it's as powerful as it initially seems in the long run, but I don't really care because wonders!

Early turns - no problem, but the late game will unfold slower than a PBM chess game.

I've played in a couple of those already under the default Continents option. Not entirely sure if all of them come out as Earth-type maps but they're definitely in there somewhere.