Loading ...Emulation opener
I would like to start an emulation section on the site as i have a soft spot for old games and seem to end up playing them more than the latest and greatest.
My foray into the world of emulation began with a download of an emulator for the Atari 800XL, my very first experience with computers was with one of these legends of gaming history. In fact my earliest interest in computer programming (my current means of contributing to the rat race) sprung from typing line upon line out of a book full of “write it yourself games” for the Atari 800.
Since downloading this emulator i have delved deep to find games i used to love playing. I found some very enjoyable and others left me wondering how i ever enjoyed playing them!
After this i downloaded WinUAE an Amiga emulator, it was like going from driving a wheelie bin to sliding into an Aston Martin DBR9. Happy days were here again. I have again become addicted to Civilization, Utopia, Turrican 2, Moonstone and many other classic titles from the amiga range. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a place in their heart for the good old games . . .
I too, have become an avid user of emulators. Ever since i discovered the existance of WinUAE(Amiga) I have been delving in the delights of the older generation games. Some games I still yearn to play , Moonstone and Walker to name a couple.
Anywho…The other day I stumbled across this website www.abandonia.com
I have seen ALOT of Emulator websites and so far, this one wipes the floor with all the others. It is up to date (most recent post 1.7.05!!), any games I have tried are available to download. Also, the website points you in the direction of which emulator to use, which I thought was excellent.
When you select a game it gives you a little write up about it, and also gives you the option of the emulator to select from. So on to the emulators…Scumm and Dosbox are the two I have been using so far, and they are quite satisfactory.
Dosbox, creates…well Dos in a box, no crashes so far. I’ve been playing Utopia and Campaign on this one.
Scumm is like a preloader that lets you simply select the old game on your harddrive and then load it. A-one Sharon!
They have hundreds of games to choose from neatly arranged per genre.
Check it out!!
www.abandonia.com
Comment by Martin — July 2, 2005 @ 11:25 am
The fact emulators even exist says a lot about the quality of games being served to the masses. If all you want to do is play the role of a cartoon like 3-D generated half wolf have pig that eats purple elephants all day…..than buy a console and be done with it!
But like me it was games like Utopia that cut the mustard. Even today the game mechanics are excellent. It is as in-depth as any game today, and more enjoyable than most! AND IT CAME ON 2 stinking floppy discs!
I think the games industry needs to focus on what made them games great (the game play), forget about pixel shaders and direct X 1,000,000……and make the games of old! Utopia would cut the eye off you by today’s standards…..but it is still better than 9 out of 10 games on the shelves today!
Comment by Justin — July 4, 2005 @ 1:33 pm
Martin a good site for amiga games and information is www.back2roots.org, i will take a look at the site you mentioned above also.
In my opinion what made games of old so good was that game developers had limited resources and were forced to get the best out of what was available and use their imagination.
Todays game development tools give designers too much choice and too much freedom and do not really challenge them to create something unique.
The best ideas are borne out of necessity and it was necessary to fit the likes of Utopia on a couple of floppy disks and make it interesting enough to keep gamers happy.
I think it would be interesting to challenge a games company to make a game that sticks to strict limitations such as physical size, depth of gameplay and originality.
Comment by Phil — July 7, 2005 @ 11:15 pm
Wow i feel so young, what the hecks an Amiga :P. Well retro for me is Snes and Megadrive the two greatest consoles from the greatest consoling age.
You can find Emu’s for both here http://www.romnation.net/ along with roms , and dont bother voting when you reach the download window just enter the security code and click download.
This site has the best selection of Emu’s and beta stuff for current gen consoles. http://www.ngemu.com/
Comment by Gutts — August 21, 2005 @ 4:08 am