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Loyalists Preserve Past Through Text-Only Games

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the graphics-are-just-bloat dept.

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "'You are at the edge of a clearing with an impressive view of the mountains. A trail splits off toward some standing stones to the southwest, while the main road emerges from the forest to the east and continues westward down the hill, via a series of switchbacks.' So begins 'A New Life' (downloadable from here), part of a group of game hobbyists going back to text-only basics. They try to keep the genre alive by posting their titles online for free and meeting in chat rooms dedicated to the craft, the Wall Street Journal Online reports. 'Console games are demanding,' says Mike Snyder, a 33-year-old computer programmer in Wichita, Kan. 'With text games, you can sit there at the prompt, go make a sandwich, then come back and play more.'"

2 of 399 comments (clear)

  1. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, "TEXTMODE QUAKE"? by rbochan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    clicky clicky

    --
    ...Rob
    The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
  2. Re:What fun by OakDragon · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The games that I really hated involved you having to perform some off-the-wall action to get a result that made no sense what so ever. An example: there was one game (it was graphical - you moved your little guy around, but the principal was the same) where you needed to boil some water for something. The water was available, but no bucket to fetch and boil it in. Well, there was this slug, and at another place there was a shaker of salt. Dump the salt on the slug, and voila - a bucket! Makes sense, huh?

    Well at least I knew the game wanted me to put the salt on the slug. There are worse examples.

    --
    Dark Reflection