Labyrinth of Martagon: the first game released by Brian Fargo of Bard's Tale and Fallout fame, and co-created by Michael Cranford. Only a handful of copies were sold while Brian was still in high school, and it was only after he dug out and shared a photo on Twitter that we saw one still existed.

I especially love this track 💜

Always put your best foot forward, especially when it's all you have left

"Oops, sooorryyyy..." Bob the Big Skeleton was never again entrusted with a scythe on a chain after the mishap. Though perhaps it's on Boney Steve for not watching where he was going.

Move Over Guys, Here Come the Gals… Women blazing a trail in the arcades (and the competitive arcade scene) in 1982 was enough of a phenomenon to make the front page of early video game mags. And not just in the arcades, but at home too, with 58% of those surveyed owning Atari VCS.

There's a trend building for 'functional completion' releases as they're now being termed to just be thrown out there as a rough draft with the usual calls for human translators to refine it. But those functional completionists still want their names on the games - a race for first. (2/3

Be not tempted, young prince... Or should you?

And now I have the power of sword

The OG leaps of faith. Sega Master System Prince of Persia (Domark, 1992) is such a gorgeous version, with additional brickwork and torch detail compared to other versions. Took me quite a few attempts and hitting the SMS pause button at just the right time to grab this ;w:

“Japanese prefer to play Pachinko.” A glimpse into a pachinko parlour of the early 80s, and curiosity over its popularity even as Pac-Man and Space Invaders tear across Japanese arcades. 📖: Video Game Player Issue 1, Autumn 1982.

Booting up for a new week with greets; good morning/afternoon, peeps. Hope the week ahead treats you kindly. 💜

Some more papery screenies. The lack of pronounced scanlines compared to some microcomputer monitors and TVs always stands out with PC screens in mags. Not all pixel art was made with them in mind.

For when you need a little more pizazz as your playing pieces go to war: Battle Chess! 📖: PC Format #1, October 1991

Light and darkness in a fantasy dream... 💾: Evil Stone, PC-88, 1989

Sometimes all you wanna do is do a little dance 🎶 Puppetry and CGI combine into an eccentric French sci-fi adventure. 📺: Commander Blood, Cryo, 1994 (DOS PC)

Voyaging through cassette futurism ambience. 📺: Alien:Isolation, Creative Assembly, 2014.

“The planet Arrakis, known as Dune. Land of sand; home of the Spice Melange.” The loveliest VGA sand dunes. 💜 📺: Dune II, Westwood Associates/Studios, 1992.

I almost forgot to do a #RandomGameSatutday today. And for this one, I closed my eyes and ran my fingers across our Mega Drive shelves and stopped at... Mutant League! As a fan of Blood Bowl, this was a fave for a long while.

Sony and PlayStation is the number one enemy for Nintendo fans by this time, with Sega barely getting a single mention.

Crunch. 📖: Official Nintendo Magazine, November 1997

If you're a sixth console generation disc, and you've had the $#!@ kicked out of you, then call the GameDr. 📖: Electronic Gaming Monthly, October 2004

Bilbo's bright purple carpet and radioactive green door was the talk of Hobbiton.

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” I've always loved the title screen graphic for Beam Software and Melbourne House's 1982 ZX Spectrum adaptation of The Hobbit, drawn by Kent Rees. Evokes the feel of the first edition cover of the novel.

*dialup modem sounds* Logging on… good morning/afternoon, y'all. 💜

I did! My heart still aches for them both ;w; <3 And as someone in this kind of dynamic, it, yeah, hit some real feels and hot spots. 💜

“It all adds up into a powerful blow for any console not considering broadband as the best way for delivering entertainment.” The vision for the PS2 in 2000-2001: Evolving into a broadband-connected entertainment and computer hub that'd handle all that you'd need for both. 📖: PSM2 (UK), July 2001

Amid the sands of Ancient Egypt, all that glitters is not gold but JEWELS. A classic Windows 3.1 shareware game to while away a few minutes with. Was available separately and bundled in with a few compilations, including Afterdark. 📺: Jewel Thief, Paul Ligeski/ServantWare, 1992.

A journey through abstract cyberspace and stimulating vibes. Synaesthesia. 📺: Rez, Sega, 2001 (PS2 version)

Who ya gonna call? If you have a haunted CRT then call the Ghostbusters on 555-2020. They're ready to believe you.