20 years ago. I was too old to play video games, but I did. I liked everything about the PC. It was my job, my hobby and my entertainment. I had already been building, using and playing with computers for 10 years. Yet, there was something special that happened in 1992. It had a significant effect on hardware, software, business models and gamers. Wolfenstein 3D was unleashed on the world and the first person shooter was born.
You moved around a map going forward
, backward, right and left! You saw the world from a 1st person perspective in real time. This 3D graphic approach will drive hardware advancements to this day. Up until this point, almost all of your software was acquired on floppy disk (or game cartridge) or typed in yourself from the back of a magazine, but that’s another story. You downloaded this software from a BBS (bulletin board system) – think "message forum" before the internet. And here’s the craziest part, it was something called "shareware" – it was free. You were encouraged to make a copy and give it to your friends. And it was FUN, crazy fun.
A couple of kids in Dallas Texas really started something. They had actually released a game before W3D, it was a little side scroller called Duke Nukem. The follow up to W3D was a game called DOOM. After that they released QUAKE. If these titles mean nothing to you go turn on the Disney Channel i think there is a special coming on "Justin Bieber – the early years"
To celebrate this milestone the company who owns the rights to Wolfenstein 3D is releasing it as a free browser game. You too can take on the persona of William "B.J." Blazkowicz American spy and try to escape the Nazi stronghold of Castle Wolfenstein right there in one of your browser tabs. The company is also lowering the price of the game for the Apple products.
So go ahead, play some history but I warn you, you may not get out alive and you may be surprised how such a simple pixelated game can be so addictive. Try it HERE