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For games unplayed and unknown. Screenshots and other media primarily from forgotten DOS, Windows, and Mac games and software from the 80s and 90s. Read more at obscuritory.com.
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Tracking the Yeti, the expeditions. From The Great Myths and Legends: Monsters and Mythical Creatures
“True Weird Stories from Video Game History” at Super MAGFest 2019. (in the bottom photo, from left to right: me, Frank Cifaldi, Rachel Simone Weil, Kelsey Lewin) Photo credit: AtariSpot
It’s been a few days since Super MAGFest 2019. While I’d usually wait to talk about the event until panel videos are available, I want to recap the weekend while it’s still fresh.
This year was incredible. The video game history panel track was a huge success. We put on 11 unique, insightful panels on a wide range of topics, and they brought in big audiences. (Three panels, including our midnight panel on weird game history, were standing room only!) Our panelists represented a variety of perspectives, experiences, and interests, and I’m proud of the voices we showcased.
I was amazed by the synchronicity between the panels. They were in dialogue with each other – referencing shared ideas like “evocative objects,” preservation through play, and, surprisingly, the Nancy Drew games. They made a strong case for the importance of archives. They challenged the social and cultural assumptions behind how we tell the story of video games and questioned the value of nostalgia. One of our panelists literally challenged the audience to a fight. And the history topics fit neatly into the rest of the educational panel section; they felt right at home alongside psych research, musicology, and art history.
One goal with the panel track was to foster a gaming history community, where historians, archivists, and fans could interact and learn from each other. I think we started that. This was just one panel track over three days, but it felt special. The response from both the panelists and audiences has been outstanding.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and thanks to all our panelists – Carly Kocurek, Kelsey Lewin, Anne Ladyem McDivitt, Kevin Bunch, Florencia Pierri, Michael Hughes, Rachel Simone Weil, Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Chris Sims, Andrew Borman, Beth Lathrop, Campbell Parker, and Frank Cifaldi. It was a pleasure and an honor to meet and to work with all of you. Just typing out everyone’s names like that is ridiculous. This was an amazing event.
Videos of every panel should be available in the next few months as MAGFest gradually uploads everything.
A bunch of video game historians having a random encounter at Super MAGFest 2019. (Left to right: Kelsey Lewin, me, Justin Aquadro as Scyther, Frank Cifaldi)
Photo credit to SCf3_
From Black Sect
Misty on TwitterMisty De Meo has been on a roll tracking down rare/unknown Japanese and Korean games, and she posted a Twitter thread about everything she was able to share last year!
(One other game not included in this rundown is Monster, a Windows XP fighting game with “a diverse cast of human and anthropomorphic animal characters with a variety of unique fighting styles.”)
It’s Day 3 of Super MAGFest 2019! The game history panels today:
Stairway to Rhythm Heaven, with Retronauts (Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, Chris Sims). 1:00pm
From Alphie to Zelda: Preserving the History of Video Games at The Strong, with Beth Lathrop and Andrew Borman. 2:30pm
The Sims, its History, and its Communities, with StrangetownFunk. 4:00pm
The Strange Death of the Nintendo Entertainment System, with Frank Cifaldi. 5:30pm
Meet Chuck for Horse Lovers : Ed's Educational Games : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive@spindleyq found this previously unknown game, a horse trivia game called Meet Chuck. It looks like it was made by a guy named Ed Corris with help from his family for “research and photography.”
Meet Chuck is non-stop fun for the whole family! Race your friends and family around the race track by answering challenging horsemanship questions. Lower level questions deal with basic terminology and care of horses which is perfect for those involved in the Pony Club. The more advanced questions are for serious horse lovers which test your knowledge on questions ranging from medical problems to lease and ownership of horses. Are you ready for an exciting head to head race to the finish?
Day 2 of Super MAGFest 2019! The game history panels today:
From “Get Tough” to “Get Cute”: Pac-Man and Women in Early Video Games, with Anne Ladyem McDivitt. 1:00pm
The Rediscovered History of RCA’s Video Games and Computers, with Kevin Bunch and Florencia Pierri. 2:30pm
Paper, Please: Lessons From Three Decades of Video Game Fanzines, with Michael Hughes. 4:00pm
Homebrew, Hacking, and History, with Rachel Simone Weil. 5:30pm
Then at midnight, I’ll be on the panel:
True Weird Stories from Video Game History, with Phil Salvador, Kelsey Lewin, Frank Cifaldi, and Rachel Simone Weil. 12:00am
Day 1 of Super MAGFest 2019 begins now! Today’s game history panels:
From the Vault: A History of Video Games in 10 Objects, with Carly Kocurek. 5:30pm
Boy Wonder(swan): The Lasting Impact of Gunpei Yokoi, with Kelsey Lewin. 7:00pm
@major-artery replied to your post: I’m out at Super MAGFest 2019 this weekend, so...
What is your panel? :)
As part of the game history panel track, I’m presenting on the panel True Weird Stories from Video Game History! I’ll be talking about Secret Writer’s Society, an educational game with a terrible bug that had a bizarre aftermath.
I saw you posted your badge and you’re also paneling! What panel are you doing?
Shrax Machine. From Secret Writer’s Society
@angelcroc replied to your post:I’m out at Super MAGFest 2019 this weekend, so…
MAGFEST IS *THIS* WEEKEND!?!
I know right?!
I’m out at Super MAGFest 2019 this weekend, so light posting for the next few days!
I’m going to attempt to stream my panel at midnight EST on Saturday, but the wifi/cell reception is pretty bad. At the least, there’ll be a recording afterwards.
Not sure who here goes to MAGFest, but if you do, say hello!