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Games.com
Hasbro Interactive
Going back to simpler times.Since
it is the "classics" that started it all, that gave me and most of my
compatriots the bug, the reason we so adamantly care about this industry
in the first place, it is nice to see retro gaming claim a space in the
ranks of digital entertainment. A lot of moldy oldie games weren't very
good in the first place, mind you, but seeing an upgrade of something
that tickled our fancy or just occupied the space next to something that
tickled our fancy "back in the olden days" offers, at the very least,
what EP's Steve Tilley so perfectly described as "a huge, satisfying hit
off the nostalgia bong." [Actually, Steve was only referring to the X-COM
Collector's Edition, but it's an essential summation of classics as
a category, if not specific games].
Games.com. Not a singular classic re-release or modernization but a whole
gaggle of retro games available for free at Hasbro's soon-to-be-launched
games.com (how'd they score that perfect domain name?). More importantly,
all these games will be java based so there's no download. Perhaps no
big whoopee to the hardcore gamer, nor even those gamers prone to going
ga-ga over blasts-from-the-past or anything overtly gamely; some just
like that quick trip down memory lane for distraction purposes, or perhaps
never had a real handle on intense gaming but always enjoyed a good game
of Risk or Scrabble and can now enjoy the global player
pool afforded by a world wide web site.
Free Asteroids Deluxe is all it took to sell yours truly on the
idea, but a $20 million advertising budget should ensure a great many
players playing around with this huge library of classics. Awesome.
And much of games.com is an offering of "classics" in the broader sense
of the word. Scrabble and Risk, as mentioned, aren't exactly
video games as we generally thing of them, but they are granddaddy multi
player games now playable in the digital realm, the video realm. Likewise,
something so seemingly non video-gamely as Monopoly, which as a
video game, you might be surprised to learn, has sold more than 2 million
copies and accounted for more than $60 million of Hasbro's sales.
Hasbro has the lock on those surprisingly fun and friendship forming/solidifying
email games, the X-COM dreamscape-inspiring strategy games, Boggle,
Snakes and Ladders, Trivial Pursuit and a Jack variant called
"you're full of it," a competitive online game of believable bluffing.
Hasbro also, on the other hand, made a Nerf game out of the pinnacle of
violence with the Unreal engine. These guys are not slouches slopping
up discarded old games; they cover just about every niche outside of the
"hardcore" gamer demographic.
And even us hardcores need a break from the hardness once in a while,
as I've constantly mentioned every time something even remotely alludes
to the grandeur of the best simple and pure video game ever made, Asteroids
Deluxe (It's important to note, while we're on the subject, that Hasbro's
impressively-large family snuggle blanket also includes Atari and Microprose,
making them one of the finest and most diverse purveyors of interactive
fun, online or on the coffee table in the family room.). Likewise, watch
for the original Battlezone, the sci-fi tank game that started
the sci-fi tank game genre, Centipede, Galaga, Dungeons
& Dragons a gaggle of casino games and a google of sports games.
An "interactive gaming portal" is a no brainer concept. "A hub of activity
for the millions of casual game-players." I'll be there every time I feel
casual. Usually Friday.
What took them so long?
-Shaun Conlin
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Dragon's
Lair 3D.
Blue Byte/ PC/ Mac
Cartoon gaming, no real giblets and gore, and no multi
weapon inventory. Pretty simple, very charming. Good ol' Dirk. Played
as both the original snap-decision interactive movie or as a roaming
3rd person action/adventure. Pretty neat.
Shenmue
Sega/ Sega/ DC
Actually an amazingly huge third-person action/adventure
game for the Dreamcast that just so happens to include some Yu Suzuki
classics such as Hang-On and Space Harrier.
Frogger
2
Atari/ Hasbro Interactive/ PC/ PSX
The whole frog crossing the road concept is just one
big chuckle fest. More ways to cross the road and more ways to die make
this classic update pretty petty all said and done, but it's still a
charming chuckle festival.
Alone
In the Dark again (sic)
Infogrames/ PC/ DC/ PSX/ GBC
An update of the classic horror adventure that started
it all before getting trounced by Capcom's monster killer horror franchise,
Resident Evil.
Return
to Castle Wolfenstein
id/ Activision/ PC
I remember playing Wolfenstein on my Apple II+ in High
School. That makes it "classic" age, doesn't it? It's since been hugely
3D-ified, and Return, a forthcoming follow up, promises even more glorious
hugeness.
Galaga:
Destination Earth
Hasbro Interactive/ PC
With games like Sinstar already gone 3D, you just knew
that the consummate scrolling space shooter couldn't be far behind.
Hasbro is going for a simple, classic look, not glitzy 3D like THQ did
with Sinstar.
Speedball
2100
Empire Interactive/ PSX
We're genuinely glad to see this game dragged out of
the closet, dusted off and brought to the realm of the PlayStation.
Ms.
Pac-Man: Maze Madness
Namco/ PSX
You didn't think that the first liberated woman of videogaming
was going to let Mr. Pac-Man get away with a 3D world and not come into
one of her own did you?
Street
Fighter III: Third Strike/Street Fighter EX3/Mega Man 64
Capcom/ PSX/ DC
Talk about getting old, these two venerable franchises
can barely lift a leg to kick the can anymore, but Capcom's still sending
them out there to try, and the true believers continue to run out to
retailers to buy them, so Capcom keeps making them. It's a vicious cycle
really. Give the old guys a rest. Really, Mega Man's game franchise
is probably older than he is now.
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> Classics Kicking at the Can