Page 90 - Pure Life 11

Playing the Gospel of Video Games /89

Though Wolfenstein 3D is regarded as the first sucessful
example of this genre, it wasn't until the release of Doom
that people began to recognize the true potential of this type
of gaming. Doom enabled multiple game players to share in
the same game simultaneously via modem and LAN.
This would become the standard of this genre, opening
the game format up to multi-player deathmatches that
would become so important to the format that some put
little effort into story and the single-player experience in
general (i.e., Unreal Tournament and Quake III).
Though this is a relatively new genre (since the early
1990s), it has grown in popularity. Examples of first-
person-shooter franchises include Wolfenstein 3D, Doom,
Duke Nukem 3D, Descent, Marathon, GoldenEye, Halo,
Quake, and Time Splitters.
Adventure: Another of the first video game genres,
especially from the computer platforms, was the adventure
game. These were initially text-based games like Will
Crowther's Collossal Cave and the original Zork games.
However, as the power of the gaming systems grew,
developers tried to tap into the visual capabilities of each
consecutive platform.
The Atari VCS offered a game entitled Adventure.
Roberta Williams began develping the King's Quest series
for Sierra Online in an attempt to add interactive graphics
and point-and-click funtionality to the more puzzle-
oriented traditional text-based adventure.
There has always been a strong following for this
genre because of the challenge of puzzle-solving and the
general lack of violence. This has also made it popular for
many non-traditional gaming demographics. In recent
years, LucasArts and Cyan have been known for their
contributions to the adventure genre.