Alan Wild: Focus Multimedia Limited

Name: Alan Wild

Company: Focus Multimedia Limited

Profession: PR, Marketing & Licensing Manager

Favorite Classic Game: Ultima Underworld

Quote: If I had to pick a favorite I would have to choose Ultima Underworld, mainly for the incredible, rewarding experience and the awesome development values for the time. However, I feel wrong choosing an absolute favorite classic game, as it’s really an impossible choice. There are so many defining games in gaming history.

I really need to pick a few games from some of the older hardware systems I’ve owned… Elite on the BBC Micro Computer was an absolutely stunning game. A true work of genius. Sure, replaying it now doesn’t do the game justice. In those days we only needed some polygons onscreen to play with and our minds would add the imagination, creativity and colour.

Ring of Darkness on the Dragon was my first RPG video game experience and it literally devoured months of my time. So simple in concept, yet so addictive in nature. The sequel, Return of the Ring, sadly didn’t deliver the same promise. The Bard’s Tale on the Amiga was fantastic, and sat alongside Anco’s greats of Kick Off 2 and Player Manager as my three most-played games of that era. Then came the PC.

My first PC was a custom gaming rig (386sx33 with maths coprocessor!) and I bought it for one reason: Ultima Underworld. What. A. Game. An RPG and a work of art that was way ahead of its time in terms of graphics, engine, combat and character interaction. I installed the crazy number of floppy disks it arrived on, one after the other, and three days later I remember the intense satisfaction as I finished the final quest and completed the game. Coupled with other incredible PC releases, such as Wolfenstein, Wing Commander, Privateer, DOOM and, of course, Ultima Underworld II, these were wondrous, fondly remembered years.

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