Kieron Gillen's workblog

 
             

   
 
 

11/12/2004

 
Picked up by the World of Stuart chaps, picked up from the Guardian Game blog, picked up from Ludology, picked up by me because I was chatting to Ross about it, and he wanted the link.

"Ready or not, computers are coming to the people.

That's good news, maybe the best since psychedelics. It's way off the track of the "Computers - Threat or menace? school of liberal criticism but surprisingly in line with the romantic fantasies of the forefathers of the science such as Norbert Wiener, Warren McCulloch, J.C.R. Licklider, John von Neumann and Vannevar Bush.

The trend owes its health to an odd array of influences: The youthful fervor and firm dis-Establishmentarianism of the freaks who design computer science; an astonishingly enlightened research program from the very top of the Defense Department; an unexpected market-Banking movement by the manufacturers of small calculating machines, and an irrepressible midnight phenomenon known as Spacewar."


From December 1972's issue of Rolling Stone, it's arguable that this feature on Space War is the first videogame review. Worryingly, it also seems to be better than 98% of what's printed in the gaming press, which goes to prove something, but what I just don't know.

Actually, I do. We're rubbish.


 

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