Ever see a game that takes a tired old genre and breathes new life into it by turning it on its head? IMHO, Wolfenstein 3D did this by combining the old turn-based 3D adventure game with the frenetic action of Berzerk and starting a whole new genre.
Check out Rocket Elite if you want to see someone who did that with the old "Lunar Lander" games. He took the old slow Lunar Lander motif, added nicely intuitive control and fast graphics and breathed new life into it. It's currently just a little game for handheld PC's (although there's a Win95 version), but I wouldn't be at all surprised if you start seeing a similar motif on other machines. We'll see.
I'm planning to attend the up-coming Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas next month. Would anyone be interested in seeing me do some coverage for gamedev.net? I could probably post pictures, interviews with classic game luminaries, etc.
Email me here with your thoughts on the matter.
Finally, I'm sad to report that my grandmother, Mae Hattan, died last week. It's related to this forum because she was the first woman who gave me a real love of games. She was a cantankerous, obstinate old woman for the entire time I knew her, but she loved to play games, and she'd put up with grandkids as long as they'd play 'em with her.
Most importantly, she didn't make things easy for us. We didn't play that luck-only stuff like Candyland. She taught me both Gin Rummy and Scrabble, and routinely beat me at both. She really challenged me to figure out strategies and gave me a lifelong love of games in the process. Every birthday she renewed my subscription to Games Magazine, despite having about 40 grandkids for whom to buy presents.
When she couldn't get around too well and moved to an assisted-living home in Hot Springs, AR, her biggest complaint was that she couldn't find a worthy Scrabble opponent there. She took up the slack by beating everyone at Bingo and complaining about the folks who tried to mark six cards at a time but couldn't keep up.
The funeral's this weekend. I'm bringing my Scrabble board and a deck of cards, and I intend to start a tournament with the cousins. I figure that's the best way I can celebrate what she gave me.
