Currently at home with a newborn and, finding videogames impractical as a hobby right now, I have decided to learn the solo mode for 'Wingspan'.
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics
@millennialpcaest.bsky.social
Celebrating the visuals of the games I grew up on. Not your mum's librarian (but actually possibly your mum's librarian). Ōtautahi.
Only just now realising how formative a moment it was to watch my dad turn the TV's saturation all the way down in order to de-colourise 'Casablanca'...
'Deus Ex: Human Revolution' - 2011
'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier' - 2012
'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter' - 2006
Although credit where credit's due, 'Wildlands' comes the closest to recapturing the magic. It's deeply, deeply flawed, but it sort of almost understands what 'Ghost Recon' was all about. Plus, I love alpine tundra and this is hands down the best depiction in a videogame.
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt's a shame the series never really matched this highpoint again. There's flashes of brilliance here and there in the rest of the games, but nothing is quite the total package that this one was. They quite literally do not make 'em like this anymore...
'Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon' - 2001
Okay, I promise this is the last one. Here they clearly took some textures they already had and mirrored them to create a cobra head motif. The remaster repeats its trick of using a high res version of the original source, so instead of a cobra we get a jumble of arms and torso from a carved relief.
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 8mo agoSpecifically there's some dodgy upscaled textures that fail to understand what the original graphics were going for, and then there's some odd instances of them unthinkingly using the same source images for the OG textures without asking whether that works. For example:
I realise that I'm risking being a bit "Old Man Yells at Cloud" here, but this is another example. The original graphics here have such great lighting, really evocative of vibe and place, and the mix of colours and brightness helping to pull your attention around the scene. It looks great.
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 8mo agoI have been enjoying the remaster of these games, although simply for the convenient packaging because I'm playing with OG graphics and controls. The remastered visuals seem to generally make smart choices, but there are some really rough patches that speak to a rushed job...
I have been enjoying the remaster of these games, although simply for the convenient packaging because I'm playing with OG graphics and controls. The remastered visuals seem to generally make smart choices, but there are some really rough patches that speak to a rushed job...
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 8mo ago'Tomb Raider II' - 1997 (captured via Remaster)
'Tomb Raider II' - 1997 (captured via Remaster)
Because I'm a specific kind of nerd, here's some things you should consider reading:
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 9mo agoUpon seeing this news I rather ungenerously thought: "I'm surprised it took this long", which is unfair of me. This really sucks for the workers, but also highlights what a hollowed out shell these stores had become thanks to digital distribution. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
Upon seeing this news I rather ungenerously thought: "I'm surprised it took this long", which is unfair of me. This really sucks for the workers, but also highlights what a hollowed out shell these stores had become thanks to digital distribution. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...
All EB Games stores in NZ to close at end of month
It is uncertain how many jobs would be lost, and the letter to NZ employees did not mention anything about the future of the Australian stores.
rnz.co.nz
I've been doing my holiday thing of trying to keep off screens and the Internet as much as possible, but now I'm back and feeling inspired! So today I took on a little project of installing Windows 3.1 through DOSBox (and then naturally installing a bunch of Maxis games on it... )
'Star Trek: The Next Generation – A Final Unity' - 1995
'Thief II: The Metal Age' - 2000
This 'Mirror's Edge' posting was caused by me deciding to finally play 'Catalyst' and discovering it kinda slaps? Waaay better that its reputation.
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 11mo ago'Mirror's Edge' - 2008
Sucks to see 'Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock' getting delisted in a week. It's a genuinely great "we go" space strategy game, and we'll worth your time.
My pet theory is that if you're a 90s kid you either grew up on 'SimCity 2000', 'Theme Hospital', or 'Rollercoaster Tycoon', and today you can almost always tell who had what...
Millennial PC Gaming Aesthetics@millennialpcaest.bsky.social · 11mo ago'SimCity 2000: Special Edition' - 1995