Gaming History Must Plays

[Traianvs]

I remember reading an article on a Sensible Soccer sequel a while back. It was a low budget title, completely in line with its original status including poor graphics but addictive and intuitive gameplay. Most likely the project was discarded in the trash bin, although I did see screenshots...

I played Sensible Soccer like there was no tomorrow.. great game!

[DarkCloud]

Unimatrix- but didn't Space Quest have character development? I also recall that Return to Zork, a quintessential ADV, had char dev?

Diablo's focus is on character dev? Or do you mean char dev as in "leveling up" and designing the character. I suppose that would be one interesting way to differentiate between RPG and ADV.

...Bioshock appears to be an Action/Adventure- perhaps it's the real future of the Adventure genre; an interactive environment without "character development..." but then again the Plasmids are a type of levelup.

Ali-

Thanks for the nicewriteup.
Hmm... Your comments on Ultima IV make me wonder if it's one of the first 'morality in gameplay' games... the spiritual progenitor of Populous, Black and White, and Peter Molyneux.

[Quillan]

The original Space Quest did not have character development. I never played past the second one though, so I don't know about the later installments of the series.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Traianvs
I remember reading an article on a Sensible Soccer sequel a while back. It was a low budget title, completely in line with its original status including poor graphics but addictive and intuitive gameplay. Most likely the project was discarded in the trash bin, although I did see screenshots...

I played Sensible Soccer like there was no tomorrow.. great game!

There was a remake for XBox live arcade:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensible_soccer#Xbox_Live_Arcade

Never played it though.

Sensi is still the best arcade footy game in existence, and Pro Evo (5/6 that is) the best simulation.

[Unimatrix11]

I think i played a new version of sensible soccer. I think it was 2006. All new players and stuff. Gigantic player heads was the most memorable feature.

With char dev i do mean leveling up. It´s actually the classical difference between RPG and anything else and since it´s the sole unique quality of a RPG, it makes this genre penetrate a lot of other genres like action (deus ex), strategy (Jagged Alliance) and adventure games (hero quest, Sierra).

And again: BioShock is not an adventure. It doesnt even feature puzzles (not real ones at least, come on !), and an adventure focuses on them. The only time in BioShock i got stuck playing on easy, was when i didnt find a button at once. There was no ´use item X with item Y to make a key for room Z´. And if there was, the player was explicitely notified of X,Y and Z. In an adventure game, the player would have to figure it all out on his own. ´Atlas´ makes sure it´s no adventure in a game-genre-sense.

Yeah, Ultima... Actually i adopted that whacky pseudo-religious thing about it . You know, that Garriot (aka Lord British - i could dig up the most rediculous pics of him, wearing a crown and everything from some 80s game convention) just went to space, right ? And, i think, his dad was there also. That were some news... finally a celeb on the main news, that i knew and everyone else didnt (as opposed to the usual case).

[DrSpike]

Indeed there was a new Sensi game a couple of years back, but I think it only got a European release and it tanked pretty bad.

[Unimatrix11]

Well, you need a joystick to play sensible soccer - and most people just to have one these days. With the keyboard, i think i wasnt able to score once in my 2-3 hour test session in 2006 - and i was pretty good with it back in my Amiga-days.

[DrSpike]

Analog sticks on a gamepad work ok, but yes a joystick is best. Fortunately I have a Hori arcade stick that works on both my 360 and my PC.

[Grandpa Troll]

I will say for me, there has never been a football (Thats NFL Type) to compete with Tecmo Bowl first and the Tecmo Super Bowl.

The thing I liked most about Tecmo SuperBowl was it kept Stats for several seacons in a row so you could have a sort of dynasty going.

Graphics were ok, nothing spectacular but game play immersion for me was awesome.

I still remember me and my son hours on end wth the original Tecmo Bowl.




Jay Shroeder to Tim Brown for a 90 yard completion...TOUCHDOWN.....

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by DarkCloud
And indeed, in what way is a RPG player really playing any more of a "role" than someone who is playing starcraft? The category of RPG really appears to be something of a misnomer and RPGs bear many similarities to adventure games- you go places, complete quests and get rewards.

RPG more accurately defines a character-based story/game, as compared to a plot-based story/game (an adventure game). This is not dissimilar from novels, where you have 'character-based' novels (think Mercedes Lackey) and 'plot-based' novels (think George RR Martin). Character-based novels are those where the story is primarily about the development of the character(s), usually only one or a few key characters, and the plot is somewhat secondary; plot-based novels are driven primarily by the plot itself (the action) and develop characters adequately to make the plot understandable, but not necessarily much further. Of course, great authors manage to do enough of both to satisfy most people (and both of the above-named authors do), but it's clear that Martin is interested in his overall plot primarily, and Lackey is interested in her characters primarily.

In the same way, an RPG focuses on the actions of your character(s), and has plot as a way of allowing those characters to develop; it allows you choices in how you develop that character (as that's the focus of the game), and provides plot as a way to both set those choices and to make the choices have interesting consequences. An action/adventure game has a compelling plot first and foremost, and often allows you little control over the characters' development, as that gives them more ability to ensure the story is balanced. A strategy game does neither (like Starcraft); it does not focus on 'development' of a character (as you have no character) and it does not focus on a plot (if it has any, it's minimal - how many people really remember Starcraft's plot?), but rather focuses on multiple strategic choices (usually far more than either RPG or action).