80s handheld game design

The evolution of gaming in the 80s is particularly fascinating, not only for the brisk pace at which new technology was developed but the fact that it all seemed to happen simultaneously. Dozens of enterprises and studios rose and fell over the years, and certain platforms and types of games came along only to quickly [...]

Bringing the games home: the console revolution

The migration of gaming from the arcade to the lounge-room caused a huge sensation during the early 80s, although it wasn’t until the middle of the decade that the movement stabilised and began to grow into the billion dollar industry we know it as today.

Out Run (Sega, 1986)

Looking back at the racing games of the mid 1980s it is hard to understand what the fuss about games like Out Run was really about. Compared to the arcade racers that came in the 90s and those more recently, the graphics seem so unrealistic, primitive, and the motion controls so limited. But at the [...]