Computer gaming software

Adventures in Computer Gaming

1981

• IBM PC released.

• First issue of Computer Gaming World hits newsstands.

• Ultima Wizardry

• Roberta Williams, Online Systems release Mystery House, the first graphic adventure.

1982

• Infocom releases Zork and Deadline, text-based adventures for DOS, the Apple II, and the Commodore 64/Amiga.

• Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress

DReleased in 1981, Sir-Tech Software’s Wizardry and Richard “Lord British” Garriott’s Ultima I have had a long-lasting effect on the RPG genre. B

DThe tried-and-true format of adventure games such as Mystery House and King’s Quest could still be found years later in more modern adventures like Bad Mojo, in which you played a cockroach. B

1980

• Richard Garriott releases Akalabeth: World of Doom.

1983

• Ultima III: Exodus

• M.U.L.E.

0FLASHBACK

1984

• Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One

• King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown

1985

• Kampfgruppe

• F-15 Strike Eagle

• Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar blows gamers away with ethical choices and a reputation system.

1986

• Defender of the Crown

• Conflict in Vietnam

• Earl Weaver Baseball

FEATURE

DNontraditional games such as Pirates! and Seven Cities of Gold experimented with forms of gameplay that remain popular to this day in games like Grand Theft Auto III.

1987

• The Seven Cities of Gold

• Sid Meier’s Pirates!

1988

• Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny

• Tetris

1990

• Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon

• Wing Commander

• Red Baron

• Ultima VI: The False Prophet

1989

• Will Wright

unleashes SimCity.

• Harpoon

1991

• Sid Meier’s Civilization

• Leisure Suit Larry

• Falcon 3.0

1992

• Dune II kick-starts the RTS genre.

• Ultima VII: The Black Gate

• Wolfenstein 3D

1993

• Doom scares the living crap out of gamers everywhere.

1994

• WarCraft

• X-Com

• Panzer General

• Ultima VIII disappoints gamers with action-oriented play.

• Myst released. CGW dismisses it as not being cover worthy. Myst ends up being the biggest PC seller to date, moving more than five million copies.

• Sierra’s Front Page Sports Football embraces season-after-season franchise mode well before Madden does.

1995

• WarCraft II

• Command & Conquer

1998

• Half-Life changes the face of 3D shooter genre.

1996

• Bad Mojo

• Duke Nukem 3D

• Quake

• Computer Gaming World names Civilization the best game of all time.

1997

• Age of Empires

Ultima Online debuts; in beta testing, Richard Garriott’s character Lord British is assassinated.