Scratch n' Sniff

[murf]

I don’t think it’s entirely fair to say that these guys love developers and hate “suits”. After all, they aimed a lot of their bile at Mr. Romero. However, I can’t say that I’m terribly excited about another “corporations are evil” rant. They may well be, but they’re also responsible for building western civilization as we know it. The development of the modern corporation during the Italian Renaissance was a major advancement in the way resources are organized towards achieving goals, as well as the shepherding of wealth over many generations. But hey, I’m preaching to the choir here, so I’ll stop.

Because on the other hand, I am now the proud owner of a screaming machine. It’s got 128 MB of RAM, it’s got a gig chip, and the latest in graphics cards. It is, frankly, the sort of machine I couldn’t even dream of when I happily set up the family’s first computer (an Apple IIe with, wait for it, a whopping 64k of RAM!!!). And what do I play on it? Why, Astrosmash (http://www.makingit.com/bluesky/games/credits/space.html#astrosmash), of course.

Maybe it’s a nostalgia thing. Maybe it’s a time thing, as in, I don’t gots enough time to master a 128 page manual just to squeeze 30 minutes of fun between the evening news and dinner. But it could just be a fun thing. The game is fun. It doesn’t crash, it doesn’t need patches, and it doesn’t take up a lot of time. It also doesn’t require me to be ambidextrous or memorize a large sequence of point-n-click commands or keyboard shortcuts. So I have to say there is a place in this world for “scratchware” games. I’d enjoy a little old-fashioned gaming goodness like we had for the Commodore 64, like Elite, Mail-order Monsters, MULE, and Bard’s Tale. Just a bit of good ol’ brainless gaming fun.

Hmmm… “Brainless?” Maybe it’s a senility thing. ;)

Brian

[Zifnab]

For all it's worth I'm getting kinda tired of the whole "Corporations are all evil blood-sucking monsters designed solely for the purpose of draining the life out of good decent individuals" pitch.

However, you can't just overlook the brighter parts of the Manefesto on the grounds that he doesn't like Corporate America(tm). The idea of scratchware is noble. Sure, two guys in a basement can't just pull the next "Game of the Year" out of their heads like when game companies were still starting up. But getting people moblized, getting them out there and thinking and brainstorming and programming is nothing to scoff at. After all, where did companies like Blizzard and Id come from? The first person shotter wasn't spawned off a corporate empire. The arguably greatest RTSs ever made didn't come down as a memo from The Man. Look hard enough and you can see this blooming initative all around you. EQ was designed by a bunch of old MUD addicts who wanted to see their game in 3D. A group of guys got together not long off and desided to remake the original Ultima using the Tribes2 engine and distrubuting it as freeware to get their feet in the waters of game design. The fact is that Scratchware will never be a mainstream reality (at least not in this day and age where image alone sells). The idea of Scratchware, that people can still get together and make a kick ass game out of love rather than greed is what really, really, really, makes me stand up and cheer. Bottom line, Scratchware is an initative by the gamers to cut the crap. It sends the message every other rant site I've ever read (including this one) touts time and time again. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you can't stand it, get off your fat ass and show the competition you can do better.