Remember those good old days when the next new game for your home computer would come from typing in a listing published in the latest magazine? Well I thought it would be nice to re-introduce those golden days by starting a topic focusing on (mini) listings especially for the Commodore 64 computer.

While not exactly as monumental or groundbreaking as my tongue-in-cheek title would imply, in my small world it's something fun that I wanted to share--original pixel art (much like AA staffer Mark Vergeer's wonderful icons that we often use on blog posting headers, like the C-64 icon to the upper left) not seen since the mid-1980's. Without further ado, here's the public unveiling of original artwork done by myself and late friend, Ed Beck, done back in our youth on the Commodore 64, armed only with lots of time, a joystick and crude, but effective art programs.

Just an FYI, Gamasutra will be running the ongoing A History of Gaming Platforms from myself and Matt Barton, which will be a series of excerpts from my book that has been over two years in the making. They are committed to an initial run of six excerpts (six systems of the 40+ covered in the same detail as this modified C-64 entry). Today it's on the front page of Gamasutra as their cover feature, but the direct link to the article is here. In regards to the book, there have been some issues with the publisher I had (even though it's still listed for pre-order at Amazon and elsewhere), so we are in search of a new one at this time, but there are plenty of prospects out there and I'm certainly curious what the reaction will be to some of these modified excerpts. I can't say the C-64 entry is my favorite entry, but some of the future entries certainly are. I'll be curious to see how my own perceptions gel with public reaction as this will be the first time some of this material will be widely available.

As a heads-up, the next entry will be on the Vectrex and will run sometime next month. I also believe I have finally found a photographic technique I'll be happy with, so you should also see greatly improved images to go along with that. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

(See the prior entries in this ongoing feature)

NOTE: The format of these for now are going to be the REVIEW (semi-walkthrough) portion first, followed by the STORY (fictionalization) portion. Each portion is stand alone and I'll separate them with headers.

REVIEW

(See The premise at the end of this posting for details on this ongoing feature)
OK, I'm sure you're getting tired of "setup" at this point, but this is finally it. Frankly, it was bothering me that I'd have to type on the same system I was using as a display that I was also capturing direct images and videos on, so I decided to be a bit technically poor and split the composite video/mono audio signals coming from the C-128D into two outputs. There appears to be little-to-no noticeable degradation, so there you go. This will now allow me to be as "authentic" as I prefer to be, meaning I'll be playing "Wizard's Crown" on a real Commodore 8-bit system with a vintage monitor, while still having full capture capability on my laptop.

So, once and for all, here are the specs for the review and chronicle:

(See The premise at the end of this posting for details on this ongoing feature)
With most of the setup behind us, with the two prior features, (00) and the unnumbered preparation, it's time to provide the last of the build-up before the actual feature starts to unfold. I have scanned the complete box and complete manual. Go to the set, here. First the box is presented (all sides), then the rather long manual, then the rest of the photos as the chronicles continue. You can view this as a slideshow or click on the individual photos to get high resolution imaging options. Enjoy!

Wizard's Crown: Apple II version (emulation)(See The premise at the end of this posting for details on this ongoing feature)

Having literally dozens of boxed classic CRPGs (Computer Role Playing Games) and related software to choose from in my collection for the first Armchair Arcade Chronicle, I finally decided to go for what was generally known as one of the hardest of hardcore full Computer Role Playing Games (CRPGs), Wizard's Crown, published by SSI in 1987. Even though the Atari ST is probably the best from a visual standpoint (and adds a debatable mouse-driven interface), the C-64 version is the version I happen to have complete in the box. I've never played Wizard's Crown, but it's always been on my list.

In order to set the scene for what is to come, first some background on Wizard's Crown...