Summary
Game preservation is both vital and difficult. Digital Eclipse is fighting the good fight with their Gold Master series. So far, they have covered the story of the influentialKaratekegame and the underground developer Jeff Minter, whose games often have a psychedelic bent to them. Hopefully, this series will go on for years to come.
These documentaries/video game compilations do a wonderful job highlighting names and games everyone should know. Many of the games from these makers might be old and even outdated, but the brilliance of the Gold Master series is how they give context to each title and help players appreciate their historical importance.
1Richard Garriot
Notable Games: Ultima, Alkabeth, World Of Doom
Richard Garriot arguably made the first computer RPG withAkalabeth: World of Doom. After that, he went on the make theUltimaseries.Ultima Onlinewas an innovative MMORPG that set a lot of precedents for the genre. He also went into space, so that makes him a pretty fascinating individual.
It would be a challenge to make thesegiant RPGs palpable in a collection, but it would be interesting for the collection to point out how each game evolved the genre and how other series drew influence from them. It would help highlight the close connection between video game RPGs and the pen-and-paper variant and how the latter inspired the former.
2Intellivision
Notable Games: Shark Shark, Snafu
Caleco’s Intellivision is not as fondly remembered as the Atari 2600, but it deserves recognition all the same. The console has dozens of memorable, innovative games and it was accompanied by one of the strangest controllers ever dreamt of. Instead of anything conventional, it was a turnable knob accompanied by a number pad.
It looked more like a TV remote than a gamepad. Still, with this strange interface, there were tons of great games likeShark Shark,Snafu, andStadium Mud Buggies. Covering the system would help highlight the best games and the people who made them.
3John Romero/Jon Carmack
Notable Games Before Doom: Commander Keen, Catacomb 3-D
It is easy to find and playDoomthese days. The running cultural joke is seeing how many primitive electronics can run the seminal FPS. All the games from the two designers and Id Software afterDoomare also easy to get a hold of. The same cannot be said about the earlier titles. Both designers have tons of games under their belt from before 1993, both together and separately.
It would be fascinating to see the creative path of these two legends of the industry that led them to makeDoom. What lessons did they learn while making games? And what about the pitch they made toNintendo to bringSuper Mario Bros. to PC?
4Sid Meier
Notable Games: Pirates, NATO Commander, Civilization
There aren’t a lot of people who have been in the industry as long as Sid Meier. He also has the distinction of having his name literally on numerous titles. His catalog stretches back to the early 1980s and most of it is inaccessible today, especially on consoles.
Even a collection that just goes up to the founding of Firaxis in 1996 would be huge and insightful.Simulation games are not for everyone, but putting them into the context of a video game museum like the Gold Master series would help those unfamiliar with the genre appreciate their significance and maybe even make them fans.
5Danielle Bunton Berry
Notable Games: M.U.L.E., The Seven Cities Of Gold
One of the great things about the Gold Master series is how it highlights names that modern gamers might not be familiar with like Danielle Bunton Berry, whopioneered multiplayer gamingwithM.U.L.E.
Besides that, she also has the influentialSeven Cities of Gold, which tasks players with developing a colony in the New World. The dynamic nature of both games had a big impact on the simulation genre. Danielle Bunton Berry also developed several other games, but she sadly passed away in 1998 from lung cancer.
6MECC – The Oregon Trail
A Collection Of All The Different Versions
The story ofThe Oregon Trailis as long and twisty as the actual Oregon Trail. The game is also highly influential in the edutainment genre for how it balances a historical event with gaming mechanics. It isn’t a step-by-step description of the literal people who traveled and settled in the Western parts of the US, but it is meant to simulate the experience to make kids understand the depths of what they went through.
The Oregon Trailfamously has countless versions on numerous platforms, and its first incarnation didn’t even have graphics and was played on a printing computer. Collecting all these versions and getting the scoop on the game’s origins and how it developed would help people understand how important the game was for the medium.
Trailheadsis a great free documentary short by Minnmax that chronicles the game’s beginnings. Until a proper compilation comes out, this is the next best thing.
