https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbXwDsasgs (2 hrs.)

He talked about Dune 2, Command and Conquer, Blade Runner, The Lion
King, Aladdin, W95's Monopoly, CA Games, EA (boo), etc. It's really good
and interesting like how they did the video compressions games, ran out
of CDs for C&C (I bought it right away from a local Egghead store with
two of my college friends at full retail price!), etc.
--
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." --1 Corinthians 12:27. Slammy Thursday!
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:19:10 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbXwDsasgs (2 hrs.)
>
>He talked about Dune 2, Command and Conquer, Blade Runner, The Lion
>King, Aladdin, W95's Monopoly, CA Games, EA (boo), etc. It's really good
>and interesting like how they did the video compressions games, ran out
>of CDs for C&C (I bought it right away from a local Egghead store with
>two of my college friends at full retail price!), etc.

Egghead software. Now there is a store I haven't thought of in some
time. I bought Sierra's Hero's Quest at that store. I don't know why I
have that one specific memory of them but I do. Maybe it was the
artwork on the box. I found it very striking at the time.

On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:19:10 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXbXwDsasgs (2 hrs.)
>
>He talked about Dune 2, Command and Conquer, Blade Runner, The Lion
>King, Aladdin, W95's Monopoly, CA Games, EA (boo), etc. It's really good
>and interesting like how they did the video compressions games, ran out
>of CDs for C&C (I bought it right away from a local Egghead store with
>two of my college friends at full retail price!), etc.

<Ramble mode=fondly reminiscent>

The first I became aware of Westwood as a studio was probably the
"Kyrandia" games. It's not that I hadn't played any of their games
prior to that ("Eye of the Beholder" and "Battletech: Crescent Hawks
Inception" were in my playlist long before Kyrandia was released;
others maybe too). But a lot of those earlier projects were done under
the auspices of a larger publisher ("Battletech" was an Infocom game;
"Eye of the Beholder" was published by SSI). It was "Kyrandia" that
was -at least in my eyes- the game that set Westwood up as its own
shop, with its own unique look.

And what a look! Compared to its contemporaries, the Kyrandia games
were GORGEOUS. The pixel-art was bright and over-saturated, and the
detailing was incredible (they did flame, water and glistening eyes
better than anyone!). Their animations weren't particularly special,
the gameplay was fairly humdrum, and their stories were mediocre, but
-boy oh boy- the visuals were amazing. Westwood also stood apart with
its incredible musical scores, and they were early adopters of
full-speech 'talkie' games. Westwood didn't skimp on the voice-acting
either; yes, it was always a bit over-the-top, but always in a very
enjoyable way.

Of course, Westwood's big break was really "Dune II: A Building of a
Dynasty", and that's the brand that truly made the company. They
created the modern incarnation of real-time strategy games. I was
never fond of "Dune II" in regards to its gameplay, but once again I
was floored by its production values. That intro still resonates, 32
years later; it's that good.

The Command & Conquer games propelled Westwood to stardom, but also
sealed their fate. Once again, it was the production values that made
the game so memorable; oh, it had good gameplay too, but the sound!
The music! Even the installer was a tour de force! But these creations
were expensive to produce, and it forced the company into the hands of
Electronic Arts... where good developers go to die. It took almost a
decade, but by signing that deal, Westwood sealed their fate.

Their last hurrah was, of course, "Blade Runner"; a return to form,
one last ambitious adventure game. It had all the hallmarks of a
Westwood title; amazing production values, some innovative gameplay
elements... and just a bit annoying to play (I in particular didn't
like the randomized and time-sensitive elements of the game). But it
was amazing to look at, and captured the feel of the Bladerunner
franchise incredibly well.

After that... well, technically Westwood survived for a while, as a
renamed studio in the EA clubhouse (rebranded 'EA Los Angeles',
because why give them an interesting name?), but the soul of the game
had been leeched out. They cranked out sequels and spin-offs to the
Command & Conquer games, each one less exciting than the next. Even
their occasional non-C&C projects --like NOX-- seemed makeshift and
follow-the-leader attempts, rather than blazing the trail with
innovative gameplay and stunning visuals. They had some successes
despite themselves (we'll always remember Tim Curry giggling
performance as he announced his escape to "Spaaace" in Red Alert 3)
but these all seemed despite Westwood's efforts, and not because of
them.

When EA finally announced the closure of the studio, it was almost a
relief. The tired old horse was no longer being flogged; gog have
mercy.

But I still look back fondly at Kyrandia, and how it amazed me with
how good video games could look and sound. Thank you for those
memories, Westwood.

</ramble>

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
....
> Egghead software. Now there is a store I haven't thought of in some
> time. I bought Sierra's Hero's Quest at that store. I don't know why I
> have that one specific memory of them but I do. Maybe it was the
> artwork on the box. I found it very striking at the time.

I remember some softwares: Fire Hawk (Thexder 2) for DOS, Champion
Loderunner, Stacker without its hardware addon for my IBM PS/2 model 30
286 PC's 30 MB HDD, Windows 3.1 upgrade (had to rip out a page from the
Windows 3.0 manual as a proof), etc. I think I bought a Kraft KC 3
joystick from there too. I remember playing on their demo computers too!
And then, I discovered its bigger competitor: CompUSA (did I ever tell
you my PC's 7th Guest game demo story? ;)). And then, even a bigger
competitor: Fry's Electronics. Also, Computer City but that wasn't
popular. RIP 2 all of em. Those old days. :(
--
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." --1 Corinthians 12:27. Slammy Thursday!
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:28:52 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>I remember some softwares: Fire Hawk (Thexder 2) for DOS, Champion
>Loderunner, Stacker without its hardware addon for my IBM PS/2 model 30
>286 PC's 30 MB HDD, Windows 3.1 upgrade (had to rip out a page from the
>Windows 3.0 manual as a proof), etc. I think I bought a Kraft KC 3
>joystick from there too. I remember playing on their demo computers too!
>And then, I discovered its bigger competitor: CompUSA (did I ever tell
>you my PC's 7th Guest game demo story? ;)). And then, even a bigger
>competitor: Fry's Electronics. Also, Computer City but that wasn't
>popular. RIP 2 all of em. Those old days. :(

I remember both CompUSA and Computer City but I don't think there was
ever a Fry's in my area. I purchased a lot of hardware in CompUSA over
the years while they were in business but I think I bought most of my
games from EB Games which back then was known as the Electronics
Boutique. Egghead software was further away so I only went there
occasionally.

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:28:52 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

> >I remember some softwares: Fire Hawk (Thexder 2) for DOS, Champion
> >Loderunner, Stacker without its hardware addon for my IBM PS/2 model 30
> >286 PC's 30 MB HDD, Windows 3.1 upgrade (had to rip out a page from the
> >Windows 3.0 manual as a proof), etc. I think I bought a Kraft KC 3
> >joystick from there too. I remember playing on their demo computers too!
> >And then, I discovered its bigger competitor: CompUSA (did I ever tell
> >you my PC's 7th Guest game demo story? ;)). And then, even a bigger
> >competitor: Fry's Electronics. Also, Computer City but that wasn't
> >popular. RIP 2 all of em. Those old days. :(

> I remember both CompUSA and Computer City but I don't think there was
> ever a Fry's in my area. I purchased a lot of hardware in CompUSA over
> the years while they were in business but I think I bought most of my
> games from EB Games which back then was known as the Electronics
> Boutique. Egghead software was further away so I only went there
> occasionally.

Oooh, EB! I used to buy my computer games from there too like Diablo 2
(sold out on its first day). IIRC, I also bought C&C:TS. I also bought
games (and movie discs) from other stores like Circuit City (Call of
Duty 4), The Good Guys, Best Buy (Red Alert, Orange Box, etc.), etc.
when they had sales and price matches. Ugh, all these old retail stores
gone! :(

--
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." --1 Corinthians 12:27. Slammy Thursday!
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

On Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:28:52 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>In comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com> wrote:
>...
>> Egghead software. Now there is a store I haven't thought of in some
>> time. I bought Sierra's Hero's Quest at that store. I don't know why I
>> have that one specific memory of them but I do. Maybe it was the
>> artwork on the box. I found it very striking at the time.
>
>I remember some softwares: Fire Hawk (Thexder 2) for DOS, Champion
>Loderunner, Stacker without its hardware addon for my IBM PS/2 model 30
>286 PC's 30 MB HDD, Windows 3.1 upgrade (had to rip out a page from the
>Windows 3.0 manual as a proof), etc. I think I bought a Kraft KC 3
>joystick from there too. I remember playing on their demo computers too!
>And then, I discovered its bigger competitor: CompUSA (did I ever tell
>you my PC's 7th Guest game demo story? ;)). And then, even a bigger
>competitor: Fry's Electronics. Also, Computer City but that wasn't
>popular. RIP 2 all of em. Those old days. :(

Egghead remains a sore spot for me, thanks to several bad experiences
I had with the company

[Most notably, when I purchased a game that had quite
obviously been returned, resealed and resold as new... even
though it didn't include all of the original contents. Like
one of the disks and the manual. Also, there was a well-chewed
half-pencil in the box that I'm pretty sure wasn't part of
the original game. Then they had the gall to accuse me of
trying to rip them off when I brought the game back to
complain. Why, yes, I'm still grumpy about that. ;-)]

And even though I know it isn't fair to judge the entire chain based
on my experiences on a handful of stores I visited, still overall, of
all the software retailers, Egghead was always the one with the worst
selection and customer service. It was always the last option I chose
when looking for games.

I've more fondness for Software Etc., largely because there was one
shoppe a block away from an office where I worked, and I made a point
to visit it pretty much every day on my commute back home.I purchased
my first sound-card (a Thunderboard!) from them, and games like "Wing
Commander II" to take advantage of that card. Even after I got a new
job elsewhere, I still went out of my way to visit that particular
store just because of my good memories of it. I still can envision its
well-ordered shelves (with all those big-box games neatly stacked)
when I close my eyes.

I also have fond memories of that unnamed video-game store from the
early 80s where I used to buy games for my 8-bit. I've no idea if it
was part of a chain or individually owned (I suspect the latter). It
was an era before boxed games were common. A lot of the floor space, I
recall, was set up like a comic-book store, with games slotted
vertically into bins, like albums.

Back then, games were expensive and money was tighter, so buying
anything there was almost like getting a new fridge; you took your
time and made your purchases carefully. The owner had a very
stand-offish, almost snobbish attitude too (or, at least so it seemed
to me), judging you by your purchases. It wasn't a fun place to visit
but I loved it because whenever I went there (which wasn't that often;
it was off the beaten track) I ended up getting a new game. That made
the ordeal worth it. ;-)

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> I've more fondness for Software Etc., largely because there was one
> shoppe a block away from an office where I worked, and I made a point
> to visit it pretty much every day on my commute back home.I purchased
> my first sound-card (a Thunderboard!) from them, and games like "Wing
> Commander II" to take advantage of that card. Even after I got a new
> job elsewhere, I still went out of my way to visit that particular
> store just because of my good memories of it. I still can envision its
> well-ordered shelves (with all those big-box games neatly stacked)
> when I close my eyes.

Oh frak. I forgot about Software Etc. They had stores in my local malls!
I went to those too. I can't remember if I bought anything from them
though. Thanks for the flashbacks. ;)
--
"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'" --Hebrews 12:28-29. Crazy humans outside on Fri.
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )