GamingLives reminisces over the times when having a decent-sized manual, impressive box, and even a few art cards or double-sided poster/map was merely how a game was released. Now, however, anything beyond a standard Amaray box with a pamphlet is considered a special edition.
"Firm, smooth, and with a sexy sheen in your sweaty grip, the old adage that bigger is better may well be true… at least in terms of games. Or, rather, boxes. For some of us, gaming doesn’t just begin with the intro, tutorial, or pummelling the start button… it begins as soon as we catch our first glimpse of a game across the shop floor. You know how the story goes: a piece of gaming tottie catches your eye; you sidle closer and work up the courage to make your move before someone else gets to it first. Hesitant touches turn to caressing, which turn to… hair sniffing (in this case, the manual – yes, I Am Freak) and the hefty weight of its packaged goods promises nights of satisfying fun, regardless of it...
In this retrospective, we'll cover the revival of the Real-Time Tactics genre and the story of the developers who did it, Mimimi Games.
Original Monkey Island creators Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman talk with us about the series' humor and bringing it forward 30 years in an interview from PAX West.
Gary Sheppard of GameGrin writes: "30 years on, we still don’t know what the titular secret that Monkey Island holds actually is. Original co-creator Ron Gilbert suggested in a Reddit AMA back in 2017 that it is “Guybrush is a banana”, but some have suggested that he might not have been being serious. It’s unclear why they think this. Either way, with the game stuck in copyright limbo since Disney’s purchase of everything that wasn’t nailed down, it might be some time before we learn. But after all this time, why do we still care so much?"
