Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lost Online Games From the Pre-Web Era

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-are-no-match-for-my-imperial-starship dept.

harrymcc writes "Long before the Web came along, people were playing online games — on BBSes, on services such as Prodigy and CompuServe, and elsewhere. Gaming historian Benj Edwards has rounded up a dozen RPGs, MUDs, and other fascinating curiosities from the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s — and the cool part is: they're all playable on the Web today." What old games were good enough for you to watch them scroll by on your 300 baud modem?

3 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Wow.. i feel old. by CrAlt · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Even though the web of today offers so much more I still sometimes miss the times of BBSes.. My old Laser Turbo XT was great "online" with its CGA color screen,st-225 HD, and 2400bps Hayes modem. Beautiful 80x24 ANSI art..

    I used to play Falcons Eye, Planets TEOS, and BRE.. I never really got in to LoRD.

    I forget which game it was but one of them used to reset your turns at 12am so it was a rush at midnight to be the 1st one in on the single line BBS to get a jump on everyone else. One of them (I think BRE?) used to pit BBS vs BBS. The game would dial the other systems at night to sync up all the moves and data.

     

    --
    I have to return some videotapes...
  2. A few... by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The Island of Kesmai (shut down by EA in 1999)
    Megawars III (CompuServe)/Stellar Emperor (GEnie)
    Air Warrior, Air Warrior II, Air Warrior III...

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    1. Re:A few... by dornbos · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Island of Kesmai - Grim..tag

      Air Warrior - Damned Rocket

      Was hoping to see those appear on the list somewhere. Lotta great times with both those games (and waaayy too much money!)

      These days I purposely avoid getting sucked into on going games 'cause I know I'm a sucker for spending hours and hours more than I should playing. But it sure was fun back then. I lived in Richmond, VA - John and Kelton (Kesmai Corp) lived over near Charlottesville - several of us paid them a visit one everning - which was cool to see some of the secret powers they kept reserved for themselves. We had several live get-togethers, including one in Columbus, OH (CompuServe's HQ), seems like we hit Annapolis, MD for a couple years and occasional weekends some of us East-coasters would meet up at a player's home up in Maryland for marathon game sessions.