Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

Electronic Games Arcade Awards - 1982

Electronic Games was the first magazine in the United States dedicated to the video game industry. It was published from October 15, 1981, until 1997 under various titles, including Computer Entertainment and Intelligent Gamer.The magazine is notable for hosting the first Game of the Year Award ceremony, known as the Arcade Awards. ...

Electronic Games Arcade Awards - 1981

Electronic Games was a magazine published in the United States between the 1980s and the 1990s. It was one of the first computer magazines entirely dedicated to video games, and it wasn't that common in the early 80s.The Arcade Awards was perhaps the first "game of the year" type ...

Interactive Achievement Awards - 1997

The Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs), now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards, are an annual awards ceremony honoring outstanding achievements in the video game industry. The IAAs were established by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) in 1998 to recognize excellence in various categories within the gaming ...

The best DOS and Windows game designers of the past

During the formative years of the gaming industry, games were typically crafted by a compact team of programmers, with a central figure known as the "designer" spearheading the creative vision. Charged with conceptualizing the initial idea and mapping out the gameplay mechanics and content framework, the designer played a pivotal ...

1001 Video games you must play... abandonware version

1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die is a book that compiles a list of notable video games from various platforms, genres, and time periods that are considered significant in the history and development of the medium. The book is part of the "1001 Before You Die" series, which ...

CODiE Awards 1995: Doom 2, Nascar, Under a Killing Moon

In 1995 America Online granted access to the internet. The Oklahoma City bombing and the nervine gas attack in Japan happened. In 1995 Microsoft presented its own operating system Windows 1995 to the world.Some CODiE Awards winners made the history of video gaming. Doom 2 was an excellent sequel to one of the ...

GameSpy's 25 Favorite PC Games of the '90s

"The 1990s were landmark years for PC gaming, giving rise to three of the most deeply ingrained genres on the platform, and delivering memorable classics in the role-playing and adventure genres that the PC had long been known for. To celebrate this monumental decade we've put together some reflections ...

GameSpy Greatest PC Games of All Time: The '80s

This is a special feature of the popular (and old!) video games site GameSpy. These games were handpicked by the GameSpy staff to be part of the best PC games published in the 80s. GameSpy Online, often referred to as GameSpy, was a division of IGN Entertainment that provided a ...

GDC Spotlight Awards - 1997

In 1997 Princess Diana died in a car crash, Hong Kong returned under China rule and the stock markets crashed (again). The first Harry Potter book is published in United Kingdom, scientists cloned the first sheep (Dolly) and Microsoft released Interet Explorer 4 (yes, four).Cinemas were full of people watching Titanic, ...

CODiE Awards 1999: Starcraft, Unreal, Lego Loco

In 1999 we surpassed 6 billion inhabitants in the whole world. In Europe, the new currency - called EURO - replaces national currencies. In the USA, Napster is released, and if you don't remember it, go looking for it on Wikipedia! Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 5 (five!).Movies released in 1999: Star Wars: The ...

CODiE Awards 1998: Diablo, Red Alert, Riven

In 1998 happened something that would later change the whole world and the way we use the Internet: Google was founded. In the U.S.A. Bill Clinton is having trouble with Monica Lewinsky. In Russia the Rouble devaluates quickly. Microsoft releases Windows 98 (now abandonware...?). Some of the most popular ...

GDC Spotlight Awards - 1999

The Spotlight Awards (GDC) was hosted annually by the Game Developers Conference from 1997 to 1999. Its focus was on the video and computer game industry. The Spotlight awards took a lot of gaming platforms into consideration, but 1999 awarded many PC games.The best video games for 1999 according to the Spotlight ...

Game Critics Awards (E3): 1999

The Game Critics Awards is a annual award event that happens just after the very popular E3 video game conference. The Game Critics Awards take place since 1998.In 1999, Freelancer was the game to play and won four prizes. A few of these winners still have a cult following: Outcast, Homeworld, ...

Wolfenstein 3D: the grandfather of FPS

Wolfenstein 3D is the first-person shooter that popularized the whole genre in the early 90s and is considered one of the greatest games ever made. Wolfenstein 3D was designed by John Romero and Tom Hall (id Software) and released as shareware by Apogee Software in 1992 for DOS. Wolfenstein 3D is ...

CODiE Awards 1994: Myst, SimCity 2000, IndyCar Racing

1994 was the year of Myst. To me, the huge success of Myst was a mystery. Myst was an ok game, different from many other titles, but I didn't see it as a groundbreaking innovative product. I know that many of you will frown reading this, but it really didn't ...

StarCraft: RTS by Blizzard

StarCraft is a classic RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 1998 for Windows and Macintosh. StarCraft takes the Warcraft experience to a sci-fi setting with an interesting story, three very different races (the militaristic Humans, the alien Zerg and the religious Protoss) and one of the ...

Electronic Games Arcade Awards: 1983

Electronic Games was the first magazine dedicated to the video game world, published in the United States. Electronic Games ran from October 15 1981 to 1997 under different titles (Computer Entertainment, Intelligent Gamer, etc). The magazine is notable for holding the first Game of the Year Award ceremony, called (obviously) the Arcade Awards. ...

CODiE Awards 1993: A-Train, Links 386, Wolfenstein 3-D

In 1993 the games awarded by the CODiE Awards aren't the most remembered of that decade. Looking at this meager list, the only game that stands out after all these years is Wolfenstein 3-D, which is simply the father of Doom and all the first-person shooters that came after that.1993A-Train ...

CODiE Awards 1997: Tomb Raider, Monty Python, Links

In 1997 quite a few interesting things happened around the world. Scientists cloned Dolly the sheep, Hong Kong was handed over to China by the UK, the Mars Pathfinder probe landed on... Mars. In fiction, the first book of Harry Potter was published in the UK, Titanic literally hit cinemas all ...

CODiE Awards 1991: SimEarth, Carmen Sandiego and fairy tales

1991 was the year of a few peculiar games.SimEarth was an unusual new addition to the Sim brand (thank you Maxis). I loved SimCity and SimAnts but I could never get into SimEarth.King's Quest V was the last chapter of the popular King's Quest series. I have to ...