Friday, December 17, 2004

Lost, Now Found

Thanks to Pete Johnsen for sending me information on two very interesting gaming projects.

The first is The Lost Admiral Returns. Thurston Searfoss, who has one of the greatest freaking names I've EVER heard in my life, designed the original Lost Admiral ( a strategy classic, originally released in 1992) with Bruce Williams. He has created a new game titled The Lost Admiral Returns. Here's a description from the website (http://www.lostadmiralreturns.com/):
Defeat your enemies in battles by outmaneuvering them for control of coastal cities with battleships, submarines, destroyers, and other types of ships. Build your own warships and then face surprises as the enemy fleet disposition gradually reveals itself. Tease the vicious enemy artificial intelligence with feints, blockades, pinch-points, and sacrifice maneuvers on strategic and tactical levels with moves that are chess-like at times.

The second is a company called Killer Bee Software (http://killerbeesoftware.com/), which was started by a fellow named Mark Kinkead. He purchased the rights to both Empire Deluxe and The Perfect General and is in the process of releasing new versions of each. I can't remember another occasion where a gamer bought the rights to an out-of-print title and then set about resurrecting it. He also has an interesting perspective on why these games should survive, likening them to classics like Chess or Monopoly, and I think many people feel that way about these games in particular.

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