J.A. Laraque – Page 29 – Obsolete Gamer

Company Representatives

Ralf Knoesel: Vector Unit Inc

A 3D physics-based driving simulation with force-feedback in 1989… WOW!

Company Representatives

Sean Vanaman: Telltale Games

It’s a murder mystery about rival biker gangs with themes of loss and the ending of eras, set against the backdrop of the American southwest — albeit a bizarre version of it with flying cars. Also, you get to hit guys in the face with a 2×4 while riding a chopper. This type of fantasy is why we play games, and why I got into making adventure gamers.

Repost Rewind: The Art of the AFK

You know what’s great about World of Warcraft? Well one is the fact that at any time of the day you can log on and find a ton of others to play with or against. You can immerse yourself in it, for better or worse. The not so great thing about World of Warcraft is that you cannot pause it. Even the most pimp ridden, sunlight deprived, basement dwelling teenager needs to step away from the keyboard. A.F.K., Away From Keyboard, most of the time someone typing that causes no alarm, this article is not about those times.

Company Representatives

Seppo Helava: Self Aware Games

It was one of the first instances where I felt like I’d done something in a game that I didn’t think the designers had specifically intended, and it showed the flexibility & diversity of what you could do in a videogame.

Company Representatives

Josiah Pisciotta: Chronic Logic LLC

Dynamic environments, Random levels, incredible depth and variety, I still play X-COM once in a while and it is amazing.

Tera Online Q&A

Brain Knox: When characters die in the game, they lose what we call “stamina.” Stamina can be regained quickly by spending gold, or you can heal your character’s stamina by resting near a campfire. Additionally, there is a chance that any enhancement crystals you placed into your character’s weapon or armor might break when you die. Upon death, your character respawns at the nearest campsite in full gear; there is no corpse retrieval or costly experience loss.

Company Representatives

Thomas Riegsecker: Basilisk Games

Ultima 4 is truly an exceptional example of a near-perfect RPG. It is huge and open, with a “go anywhere, do anything” feeling, and it manages to avoid many of the clichés of the genre. It is certainly one of the top five CRPGs ever made.

Obsolete Intros: Chrono Trigger

The role-playing aspect drew fans in and the detailed story which included side quests, character development and multiple endings kept players not only interested from start to finish, but coming back for more.

Celebrity gamers

Gamer Profile: Chris Tremmel

It’s the first game I ever made, back in the day at Interplay Productions. It was one of the most exciting rewarding times of my life as I was just starting out in the biz!

Super Mario Bros. Wall

Sometimes something comes alone that is just way to cool and this is one of those things. Check out the video showing Super Mario Bros displayed on a wall, it is totally awesome.

Ninja Gaiden

Pretty much you are always running and moving forward which means you are constantly slashing at enemies and using your special weapons. Ryu can also climb ladders and can flip of walls to get to higher ledges. This may all sound easy, but trust me it is not. The first problem is like many games on the NES if you scroll from one panel to the next and back the enemy returns. What makes this horrible is when jumping from ledge to ledge and some damn bird knocks you to your death.

Company Representatives

David Warhol: Realtime Associates

Due to the nature of the genre, these games are almost 100% design, as opposed to games nowadays, where based on budgets seem to be say 20% design and 80% graphics, technology, and such. Plus, they are like playing a novel; the games use the players’ imaginations in a different way than current video & computer games.

Company Representatives

David McCaman: FunClick

Playing Chivalry on my Apple II in middle-school was one of my fondest multiplayer gaming memories. A 1983 action “roll-playing” game of rescue for up to 4 players, Chivalry consists of numerous mini-games and rolls of chance to make it to the end to save the kingdom. Simple, fun, and addictive, Chivalry allowed for quick games, competitive action with friends, and led the way for the more robust, in-depth Bard’s Tale (also a classic favorite) in 1985.

World of Warcraft: Ask a CDev

As shown in the World of Warcraft Special #1 comic, Algalon is currently monitoring the activities of the mortal races of Azeroth. His outlook on life and the titans’ plans has been called into question, so he seeks to understand what makes Azeroth so different from the countless worlds he has observed before.

Gamer Parents – Bargaining

The old tried and true, this method trades more work for whatever you are bargaining for, but it has its issues. First, most kids don’t know what their labor is worth. Is raking leaves for six months worth that Double Dragon game? Second, if you end up disappointing your parents by not doing said work it can kill any change for successful future bargaining. Now if you can agree to something really simple then so be it, but we are talking children here. I recommend not using this one unless you know for certain this is the only strategy that will work.

Obsolete Intros: Test Drive 2: The Duel

I first plated TD2 on my cousins Amiga which he had connected to his stereo system so it sounded even better. What was funny was a few months later I heard the intro on a 386 system and almost fell over laughing.

Heroes of Newerth: Free to Play Weekend

Heroes of Newerth will be FREE TO PLAY this weekend for anyone who had a beta account. Starting Friday at noon EST and ending Sunday at 11:59 PM EST, all beta accounts will be reactivated and players can login with their old accounts and enjoy HoN once again.