Réflexions sur les jeux avec sucre en poudre, poivre en grain… et un peu de vitriol.
This chapter makes a short history of the main genres and sub-genres of “action” games. It argues the categorization relies on a mode of action rather than being a genre. A model of actional modalities is presented to distinguish action from strategy and resolution.
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This chapter uses DuckTales: Remastered (WayForward 2013) as an exemplary case to understand the differing conceptions of authenticity and nostalgia that are mobilized when discussing the “retro” phenomenon. Retrospection involves looking backward towards the historical past from our contemporary present, while retrocursion involves walking backward and displacing ourselves into a
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This volume examines fifty of the most important video games that have contributed significantly to the history, development, or culture of the medium, providing an overview of video games from their beginning to the present day. It covers a variety of historical periods and platforms, genres, commercial impact, artistic choices,
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Shipped out at the very end of 1996, Diablo became a hit PC game in 1997, selling more than two million copies and eventually becoming a flagship franchise for Blizzard Entertainment. More importantly, it proved hugely influential in three key domains. Diablo opened a new line in the RPG (role-playing
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Few home video game consoles have had such an impact on the video game industry as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Released in the United States in 1985, it revived the market after the video game industry crash of 1983. This encyclopedia entry details its history, covering its design process,
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Nintendo released the Super Famicom in 1990 in Japan and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991 in North America and 1992 in Europe. Its release allowed Nintendo to successfully counter the PC-Engine in Japan and to mitigate the success of the SEGA Genesis in North America during a
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Historians often conduct their work in two phases: studying the documents to retrace the facts, and then organizing these facts and events into a narrative. Since many of us have a direct, lived experience with video games, sometimes our lived experiences do not accord with the grand historical narrative. We
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Most other accounts declare the Super NES the undisputed victor of the “16-bit console wars” of 1989–1995. In this book, Dominic Arsenault reminds us that although the SNES was a strong platform filled with high-quality games, it was also the product of a short-sighted corporate vision focused on maintaining Nintendo’s
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