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8-Bit Obituaries
The age of the NES was transformative for video gaming. The console, and its Japanese predecessor, the Famicom, were extraordinarily popular in that time. When a console is that popular, it attracts a lot of people to make games for it. Many of these games are good. Many of them, to put it bluntly, are not.
But it isn't always easy to decide which are which. Some games present many of the warning signs of a bad game, but there's something there, waiting, some might say lurking, for a persistent player to come along, to make them say, if just for a moment, "maybe this isn't so bad after all." And a few games were popular at the time but their stature has fallen, in recent times, as they get proclaimed the "black sheep" of their series.
Come with us on a journey through the Other Half of the NES library. The games that could have been, if they had a better developer, if they had put in just a bit more effort, if someone had cared about their license a little more, if there had been more marketing money to spare, or even if they had been released a little earlier. To find the grime-covered treasures, ignored or even derided by others. And once we've found them, we'll give you a few tips, just enough to get you started seeing the fun hidden beneath all the mud and gunk.
It's not that they're all great games. Some of them aren't even good. But they all have something there, some thing that can be enjoyed, even celebrated. At least you aren't stuck with only one to play until your next birthday.
But it isn't always easy to decide which are which. Some games present many of the warning signs of a bad game, but there's something there, waiting, some might say lurking, for a persistent player to come along, to make them say, if just for a moment, "maybe this isn't so bad after all." And a few games were popular at the time but their stature has fallen, in recent times, as they get proclaimed the "black sheep" of their series.
Come with us on a journey through the Other Half of the NES library. The games that could have been, if they had a better developer, if they had put in just a bit more effort, if someone had cared about their license a little more, if there had been more marketing money to spare, or even if they had been released a little earlier. To find the grime-covered treasures, ignored or even derided by others. And once we've found them, we'll give you a few tips, just enough to get you started seeing the fun hidden beneath all the mud and gunk.
It's not that they're all great games. Some of them aren't even good. But they all have something there, some thing that can be enjoyed, even celebrated. At least you aren't stuck with only one to play until your next birthday.
- GenresVideo Games
677 pages, ebook
Published January 23, 2020
11 people want to read
About the author
John Harris
979 books40 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John[2 spaces]Harris : Historical Fiction
John[3 spaces]Harris : Non Fiction
John[4 spaces]Harris : Treehouse
John[5 spaces]Harris : Music
John[6 spaces]Harris : Management
John[7 spaces]Harris : Child Psychology
John[8 spaces]Harris : Children's
John[9 spaces]Harris : Drama
John[10 spaces]Harris : John Harris of Bolenowe, poet and preacher
John[11 spaces]Harris : -
John[12 spaces]Harris : History, Architecture
John[13 spaces]Harris : born 1942
John[14 spaces]Harris : Reverend John Harris (1802 - 1856)
John[15 spaces]Harris : -
John[16 spaces]Harris : History
John[17 spaces]Harris : born 1937
John[18 spaces]Harris : -
John[19 spaces]Harris : Backpacker
John[20 spaces]Harris : Erotic, LGBT
John[21 spaces]Harris : born 1667
John[22 spaces]Harris : GR Author
John[25 spaces]Harris : GR Author
John[2 spaces]Harris : Historical Fiction
John[3 spaces]Harris : Non Fiction
John[4 spaces]Harris : Treehouse
John[5 spaces]Harris : Music
John[6 spaces]Harris : Management
John[7 spaces]Harris : Child Psychology
John[8 spaces]Harris : Children's
John[9 spaces]Harris : Drama
John[10 spaces]Harris : John Harris of Bolenowe, poet and preacher
John[11 spaces]Harris : -
John[12 spaces]Harris : History, Architecture
John[13 spaces]Harris : born 1942
John[14 spaces]Harris : Reverend John Harris (1802 - 1856)
John[15 spaces]Harris : -
John[16 spaces]Harris : History
John[17 spaces]Harris : born 1937
John[18 spaces]Harris : -
John[19 spaces]Harris : Backpacker
John[20 spaces]Harris : Erotic, LGBT
John[21 spaces]Harris : born 1667
John[22 spaces]Harris : GR Author
John[25 spaces]Harris : GR Author
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 29, 2021
A bit of a specialist read, presented in a chatty and informal way that seems like it could have been a blog before it was collected into a book. Maybe it should have been a blog as well, since other online resources are cited as references. Still, this was an interesting look at some arguably terrible video games from the 8-bit era, and it took the time to explain what was good and interesting about them.
Displaying 1 of 1 review