Retro Games

Dijital oyunlarda gelişen retrofütürizm ve retro oyun akımları teknoloji, toplum ve kültür ilişkisini ele almak için
verimli örnekler sunmaktadır. Oyun endüstrisi sıklıkla daha yüksek teknolojiye sahip yeni donanım ve yazılımlardan
faydalanmakla ve anlatıda popüler konulara yönelmekle birlikte, özellikle bağımsız oyun (indy games) olarak
nitelendirebileceğimiz alanda farklı denemelere rastlamak da mümkündür. Dijital oyunlarda retro fütürist (retrofuturism)
anlatılar ve retro oyuna (retrogaming) ait oynanış (Aarseth, 2003) biçimleri toplum ve teknoloji ilişkisini iki farklı örnekte ele
alma imkânı sunmaktadır.
Retrofütürizm geçmişin gelecek öngörülerinin kullanılmasına dayalı sanatsal bir eğilim veya akademik bir ilgi alanıdır.
Sanat ve iletişimin çeşitli dallarında, özellikle de sinema ve bilgisayar oyunlarında geçmiş zamana ait formlarla birlikte
geçmişin geleceğe ait tasarımlarının buluşturulması ile icra edilmektedir. Günümüzden bakan izleyici veya oyuncu için
geçmişin ve gerçekleşememiş gelecek tasavvurunun bir araya gelişi çelişen veya çatışan görünümleri taşımaktadır. Bu
çelişkiler ise bir yandan nostaljiye (Sharp, 2011), öte yandan da bilim kurgunun çeşitli örneklerinde olduğu gibi teknoloji,
modernite, tüketim toplumu ve kapitalizmin eleştirisine uç vermektedir (Davidson, 2019). İlk oyunu 1997 yılında
yayınlanan Fallout oyun serisi dışında Encased (2019) ve Atom RPG (2017) de retrofütürizme örnektir.
Retro oyun eski bilgisayar oyunlarına ilgi duyan bir arşivleme ve oynama faaliyetidir. Ayrıca eski oynanış ve grafiklere
dönen, tasarımda bunları tercih eden yeni oyunlar için de kullanılmaktadır. Oyuncuların eskiye ilgisi sadece nostaljik bir
içerik taşımamaktadır. Oyunun kültür içindeki yeri çerçevesinde oynanış esas öğelerden biri olarak geleneksel oyunlardan
günümüz oyunlarına kadar taşınan, değişen ve korunan unsurdur. Retro oyun geçmişe ait bu formlara ve bu formların yeni
örneklerdeki hallerine yönelerek teknolojiye eleştirel bir bakış sunmaktadır (Heineman, 2014).
Transhumanizm, Society 5.0, Mars’a yolculuk gibi yeni dönemin hedef, kavram ve örneklerinde ifade bulan fütüristik
yaklaşımlarındaki teknoloji söylemine, retro fütürizm ve retro oyun eleştirel karşıtlıklar olarak konumlandırılabilir.

Die Video- und Computerspiele der späten 1970er- bis 1990er-Jahre ver- arbeiten die Bedrohungsszenarien des Kalten Krieges, die durch Atom- waffen entstehen, auf vielfältige Weise. In ihnen kodieren sich kulturelle und individuelle Ängste, die durch Action-, Strategie- oder Persiflage- artige Spiele kanalisiert werden. Dabei lassen sich verschiedene Annähe- rungen an sowohl waffentechnische wie popkulturelle Artefakte in den Spielen wiederfinden, die dem Spieler eine gewisse Souveränität über das zeitpolitische Geschehen verleihen und seiner Ohnmacht entgegenwirken.

From his earliest published writings to his last, Roman Ingarden displayed an interest in theoretical biology and its efforts to clarify what distinguishes living organisms from other types of entities. However , many of his explorations of such issues are easily overlooked, because they don't appear in works that are primarily ontological, metaphysical, or anthropological in nature but are "hidden" within his works on literary aesthetics, where Ingarden sought to define the nature of living organisms in order to compare literary works to such entities. This article undertakes a historical textual analysis that traces the evolution of Ingarden's thought regarding the nature of the literary work of art as an organism-like entity and uncovers its links with the simultaneous development of his systems theory and its central concept of the "relatively isolated system": for Ingarden, a literary work and an organism are each a systematically transforming, "living, " functional-structural whole that comprises a system of hierarchically arranged and partially isolated (yet interdependent) elements whose harmonious interaction allows the literary work or organism to fulfill its chief function. Having completed that historical analysis, we test Ingarden's assessment of works of art as organism-like entities in a novel context by investigating the organism-like qualities of the contemporary computer game; insofar as their AI-driven behavior displays a form of agency, such games might appear to be even more "alive" than traditional works of art. We show that Ingarden's conceptual framework provides a useful tool for understanding the "organicity" of such games as works of art, despite the fact that they differ qualitatively from those art forms with which Ingarden was directly familiar.

The aim of this paper is to consider the emergence of nostalgia videogames in the context of playable game criticism. Mirroring the development of the nostalgia film in cinema, an increasing number of developers are creating videogames that are evocative of past gaming forms, designs, and styles. The primary focus of this paper is to explore the extent to which these nostalgia videogames could be considered games-on-games: games that offer a critical view on game design and development, framed by the nostalgia and cultural memory of both gamers and game developers. Theories of
pastiche and parody as applied to literature, film, and art are used to form a basis for the examination of recent nostalgia videogames, all of which demonstrate a degree of reflection on the videogame medium.

How did the Commodore 64 conquer the hearts of millions and become a platform people still actively develop for even today? What made it so special?

This book will appeal to both those who like tinkering with old technology as a hobby and nostalgic readers who simply want to enjoy a trip down memory lane. It discusses in a concise but rigorous format the different areas of home gaming and personal computing where the C64 managed to innovate and push forward existing boundaries.

Starting from Jack Tramiel's vision of designing computers "for the masses, not the classes," the book introduces the 6510, VIC-II and SID chips that made the C64 unique. It briefly discusses its Basic programming language and then proceeds to illustrate not only many of the games that are still so fondly remembered but also the first generation of game engines that made game development more approachable − among other topics that are often neglected but are necessary to provide a comprehensive overview of how far reaching the C64 influence was.

Written in a straightforward and accessible style, readers will relive the dawn of modern technology and gain a better understanding of the legacy that was built, bit by bit, in those pioneering days by computers that had only a tiny fraction of the power modern machines have and, yet, were used to create the technological world we are now living in.

With a foreword by Michael Tomczyk.

Dem Ansatz der Game Studies, wie er in diesem Buch zum Tragen kommt, geht es gemäß der differenzierten Analysen nicht um die schlichte Charakterisierung eines einfachen Modetrends oder um die Diagnose einer nostalgischen Rückwärtsgerichtetheit der Game Community, sondern vielmehr um eine historisch perspektivierte und medienontologische Offenlegung der „Retroisierung“ (S.19), als intermediales Systemgefüge von Technologie, Selbstreflexivität, Erinnerungskultur, Performativität und Medialität.

This book focuses on the history of video games, consoles, and home computers from the very beginning until the mid-nineties, which started a new era in digital entertainment. The text features the most innovative games and introduces the pioneers who developed them. It offers brief analyses of the most relevant games from each time period. An epilogue covers the events and systems that followed this golden age while the appendices include a history of handheld games and an overview of the retro-gaming scene.

Throughout the 1980s, thousands of British children were lucky enough to discover a Sinclair ZX Spectrum under their Christmas trees and soon found their eyes opened to a virtual world of wonder. But Santa Claus did more than deliver computers — sometimes he appeared on them, too.
From the author of "The Spectrum of Adventure" and "A Righteously Awesome Eighties Christmas", this book delves into the Spectrum’s extraordinary pantheon of seasonal games: the good, the bad, the surprising, the unabashedly surreal and the occasionally rather tenuous.
From the machine’s formative days in the early eighties right through to the latest independent releases, "A Very Spectrum Christmas" takes a look at what makes a truly memorable festive title for the vintage home microcomputer... as well as unearthing a few games that may have become lost in the mists of Christmas past for good reason.
Fully illustrated with colour screenshots of all the games under discussion, "A Very Spectrum Christmas" is a treasure trove of yuletide software experiences — where eighties nostalgia collides with modern day homebrew innovation with frequently unexpected results.