{"id":699,"date":"2021-08-01T17:11:10","date_gmt":"2021-08-01T15:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?p=699"},"modified":"2021-11-29T08:13:34","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T07:13:34","slug":"in-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/2021\/08\/in-august\/","title":{"rendered":"In August"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">July has passed, and we enter the last hot month of the year: As we have come to expect, many things in the realm of retrogaming happened in August in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A host of people were born in August, beginning in the 18<sup>th<\/sup> century with Mary Shelley, the author of <em>Frankenstein<\/em>, on  30 August 1797. While she was obviously not directly involved in electronic games, her debut novel was hugely influential and started a sub-genre of Science Fiction still widely evident today in all media including video games: that of the mad scientist. It also inspired several games, both adaptations and homages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">150 years later, cover artist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerdean.com\/\">Roger Dean<\/a> was born on 31 August 1944. He is primarily known for his album artwork, but in our context, he famously designed the covers of many Psygnosis games, starting in 1986 with <em>Brataccas<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"879\" height=\"876\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"705\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=705\" class=\"wp-image-705\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas.jpg 879w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Brataccas-768x765.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 879px) 100vw, 879px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"258\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Frankenstein.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"706\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Frankenstein.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=706\" class=\"wp-image-706\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Silas Warner, the creator of the original <em>Castle Wolfenstein<\/em> (1981), was born on 18 August 1949, and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/2021\/04\/in-april\/\">mentioned<\/a> in these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/2021\/06\/in-june\/\">retrospectives<\/a> before, on 11 August 1950. On 6 August 1960, Fukio Mitsuji, the creator of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/16czY9jrrLs\">Bubble Bobble<\/a><\/em>, was born, and on the same day six years later, 6 August 1966, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.robynmiller.net\/\">Robyn C. Miller<\/a>, who would go on to revolutionise adventure game mechanics by co-creating <em>Myst<\/em> with his brother, Rand. My friend <a href=\"https:\/\/der-ernaehrungstrainer.de\/\">Ramiro Vaca<\/a>, who was reponsible for the graphics and music of several games in the late 80s and early 90s at Rainbow Arts, was born on 3 August 1969. And on the same day the next year, 3 August 1970, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L2-MpPrue7U&amp;list=PLmVD10jo1vMA6uyg6_zdc-3uAhymFmbgn&amp;index=14\">Kirby<\/a><\/em> and <em>Super Smash Bros.<\/em> creator Masahiro Sakurai was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"851\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Castle-Wolfenstein.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"707\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Castle-Wolfenstein.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=707\" class=\"wp-image-707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Castle-Wolfenstein.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Castle-Wolfenstein-219x300.jpg 219w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"256\" height=\"307\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Myst.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"708\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Myst.png\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=708\" class=\"wp-image-708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Myst.png 256w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Myst-250x300.png 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, universal genius John Carmack \u2013 who pioneered 3D gaming with crucial contributions to the <em>Wolfenstein 3D<\/em>, <em>Doom<\/em>, and <em>Quake<\/em> engines, and then first became an important proponent of open-source software, releasing the source codes of all his major games, and later founded a company to build a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/topics\/moonmars\/features\/centennial_armadillo_1.html\">lunar lander<\/a> \u2013 was born on 20 August 1970.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two companies who published games mentioned above were also founded in August: Taito (<em>Bubble Bobble<\/em>) on 24 August 1953 as an import business and Muse Software (<em>Castle Wolfenstein<\/em>) on 1 August 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And with this, we get to the games. (As usual, remember that you can get more information about all the mentioned games on databases such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobygames.com\/\">MobyGames<\/a>.) August was a month of game series:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ultima II<\/em> came out on 24 August 1982, and <em>Ultima III<\/em> on 23 August 1983. The <em>Metroid<\/em> series started on 6 August 1986 with <em>Metroid I<\/em>. <em>Nemesis 2<\/em> came out on 22 August 1987, and <em>Castlevania II<\/em> on 28 August 1987. The <em>Street Fighter<\/em> series took off with the first part on 30 August 1987. On 29 August 1988, <em>Last Ninja II<\/em> came out, and on 31 August 1991, <em>Populous II<\/em>. <em>The Need for Speed<\/em> came out on 31 August 1994, and <em>Phantasmagoria<\/em> (which spawned one sequel) on 24 August 1995<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"273\" height=\"365\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Ultima-II.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"711\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Ultima-II.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=711\" class=\"wp-image-711\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Ultima-II.jpg 273w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Ultima-II-224x300.jpg 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 273px) 100vw, 273px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"279\" height=\"357\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Last-Ninja-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"709\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Last-Ninja-2.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=709\" class=\"wp-image-709\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Last-Ninja-2.jpg 279w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Last-Ninja-2-234x300.jpg 234w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 279px) 100vw, 279px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"278\" height=\"359\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Populous-II.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"710\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Populous-II.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/?attachment_id=710\" class=\"wp-image-710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Populous-II.jpg 278w, https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Populous-II-232x300.jpg 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 278px) 100vw, 278px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The only two games in this list not part of a series are <em>Xexyz<\/em>, which came out on 26 August 1988, and <em>Legend of Kyrandia<\/em>, which was released on 1 August 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lastly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/2021\/02\/infocom-das-ende-eines-genres\/\">Infocom<\/a> has to be mentioned at least once in every instalment of this article series, and so it must be said that Stu Galley, the author of <em>The Witness<\/em>, <em>Seastalker<\/em> (with Jim Lawrence) and <em>Moonmist<\/em> (again with Jim Lawrence) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourarlington.com\/arlington-archives\/residents\/people\/current\/14721-galley-081318.html\">died<\/a> on 2 August 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This ends our retrospective for this month. Be sure to be back in September and find out if the beginning of autumn had any influence on the nature of the published games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">The featured image for this article uses a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/garden-plant-leaf-flower-5337623\/\">photo<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/@nietjuh?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels\">Ylanite Koppens<\/a>. All other images are assumed to be featured here under \u201cfair use\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July has passed, and we enter the last hot month of the year: As we have come to expect, many things in the realm of retrogaming happened in August in the past. A host of people were born in August, beginning in the 18th century with Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, on 30 August [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":716,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions\/716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vintrospektiv.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}