Hobbies And Interests
"Zork I" - 1980
Infocom's text adventure game put players in the role of an adventurer exploring the remains of an underground empire in search of plunder, while fending off several menaces. "Zork I" had no graphics. Players were given a description of the area they were in, a list of any items that could be collected and a list of exits. Players had to solve "Zork's" logic puzzles to successfully conclude the adventure. "Zork" was originally released for the PDP-11 and later ported to the TRS-80 and Apple. It eventually sold more than 1 million copies.
"Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress" - 1982
"Ultima II" was an early role-playing game. Players had to allocate 90 points among six character attributes and choose an adventuring class, such as fighter, wizard or thief. Players ventured across the world of Britannia and into outer space to complete quests that rewarded them with new weapons, abilities and armor.
"Impossible Mission" - 1984
The arcade game "Impossible Mission" found the player controlling a secret agent trapped in the secret lair of villainous Professor Elvin Atombender. The Professor's warning of "Stay awhile. Stay forever!" was one of the earliest uses of digitized speech in a computer game. It set the tone for the player's trek through the base's 32 rooms in search of puzzle pieces. Rooms were guarded by hazards including stationary traps and roving robots that fired electrical bursts. If the player succeeded in finding and assembling the puzzle pieces, they'd win their freedom. "Impossible Mission's" layout changed with each new play, which gave the game a high replay value.
"Uridium" - 1988
"Uridium" was a scrolling platform arcade game in which players piloted a starfighter along the decks of 15 different invasion craft, each named after a metal. Players had to dodge obstacles and fight off defenders as they bombed targets sitting helplessly on the target's deck. The gameplay of "Uridium" was similar to coin operated games such as "Defender" and "Xevious."
"Space Rogue" - 1989
Origin Games' "Space Rogue" put players in the role of a freelance pilot trying to make business connections and earn a living in a dangerous galaxy. The game's "sandbox" style of play was novel for its time, freeing players to roam the galaxy as they pleased instead of being forced through a linear progression of levels.