Posts tagged aol 
The Game Archaeologist: Dark Sun Online
Computer RPG players in the late '80s and early '90s were surely familiar with Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) and its now-infamous Gold Box series. The series, so named because of their distinctive gold packaging, ran on a solid engine that helped the company churn out over a dozen titles ...
The Game Archaeologist and the Kesmai legacy
Most studios would be overjoyed to have pioneered one significant advancement in video game history, but then again, most studios aren't Kesmai. While it's not a household name today, it's reasonable to say that without the heavy lifting and backbreaking coding that this company shouldered in the ...
The Game Archaeologist crosses Meridian 59: A chat with Brian Green (part 2)
Welcome to the second part of our interview with former Meridian 59 developer Brian "Psychochild" Green as he reminisces about running one of the oldest graphical MMOs in history. If you missed the first part, I heartily recommend you catch up on it before continuing further. And now, for the ...
The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius
Really, I blame my parents for not being filthy rich. If they were, we could've afforded the $130/month unlimited subscription fee to the ImagiNation Network (INN) back in the early '90s. Just think! All of the gaming, the socializing, and the roleplaying that you could handle -- for such a low ...
The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2
This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that MOOs, the end. No safety or aggro radius, the end. Man, listening to The Doors early in the morning does not put you in a happy state of writing, let me tell you! In any case, we've extended our ...
The Game Archaeologist and the year that was 2010
Earlier in the year when I started this column, I realized two things. First, I'd be giving myself as much as any of you a crash-course education in older MMOs, particularly with some of the more fringe titles that I'd never really explored up to this point. And second, it would be a challenge to ...
The Game Archaeologist and the Nights of Old Winter
Here's a question for you: How much do you really, really have to love a game to pay $8.00 an hour to play it? Considering how much we tend to whine about a flat $15/month fee, I'm guessing the answer is, "Only if it loved me long time." And yet, in 1991 this wasn't considered crazy ...
The Game Archaeologist and the Quest for Camelot: Interview with Mythic
After last week's expedition into the dark Dark Age of Camelot, the Game Archaeologist uncovered the mightiest weapon of them all: the Hammer of Nostalgia. The hammer may be battle-worn, but it has never seen better days. Everywhere it strikes, fond memories of epic keep battles surface, and former ...
Did LucasArts invent the avatar-based virtual world in 1985?
The computer gaming industry of the 1980s was akin to the automotive industry in the 1950s: experimental and courageous. LucasArts (through a branch known then as Lucasfilm Games) had the money to throw around in game development at the time. As we can read in a new book, one of their experiments ...
No more winter nights for Stormfront Studios
Bay Area game developer Stormfront Studios is closing its doors after 20 years of operation. This is an unfortunate turn of events in the video game industry -- especially the MMO sector -- because in 1991 Stormfront produced the very first graphical online RPG, Neverwinter Nights. The company ...
