Ut saepe summa ingenia in occulto latent
- Plautus
What does it mean for a video game to be obscure? While it may still be in its adolescence, this fifty year commercial video game industry has given birth to an absolutely gargantuan number of titles that have delighted audiences the world over. But what of those games that fell through the cracks, overshadowed by the powerhouse phenomena of games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Call of Duty and The Super Mario Brothers? While they may not get the credit they deserve for being bold pioneers amongst their peers, obscure and lesser known games must be recognized, appreciated and understood in order to get a broader context of the evolution of the industry. This is why I am writing this blog. This is why I feel the necessary compulsion to discuss the importance of obscure games, because they will one day be forgotten and it is an absolute crime. Before we begin this deep dive exploration, it is important to really discuss the definition of obscurity and how it applies to the interactive medium of games.
An obscure massively multiplayer game, Castle Infinity, developed by Russell Ginns, Gregg Foster and Scott Wallin in 1996
Obscurity at its most fundamental level is the concept of being unimportant, or difficult to understand. It is to be covered in shadow and hard to discern. This is why it is incredibly difficult to truly nail down a definitive answer as to what video games are truly deserving of the label, “obscure.” There will always be a person out there in the vast seas of the internet clucking their tongue to say that this arbitrary bulletin board system door game from the 1980s was considered iconic, but the reality is, obscurity is subjective. We all come from different walks of life and have different exposures to games. Obscurity is truly in the eye of the beholder. My goal in writing this blog is to dedicate my time highlighting games that are rarely discussed and dissect the elements of these games that make them magical, engaging or even frustrating. The purpose is not to point at an unusual game and laugh at it deridingly, but instead to hoist it up to the spotlight and say, “Look how interesting this thing is!” There will come a time when you will see a game that you know and love, or a game you are very aware of, but I have found a lot of times that some of the most prevalent games of certain eras are rarely played in the modern day and little is said about them. Expect a broad range of topics from every genre, platform and generation with no prejudice and preconceived notion about what the game should be. Expect discussions on the role of video game criticism and a full evaluation of how I perceive a game including the contextual perception of the game at that time of its release.
I hope that you will come to this website with an open mind and an open heart to the strange and unknown world of obscure video games. It is a luscious and vibrant landscape overflowing with bold design philosophies and iconoclastic expressions that shake the very concept of what a video can and should be. I greatly appreciate your time and I do hope that you enjoy perusing the slowly growing catalog of entries as we dive into the video game obscura.
Thank you,
Jonathan Myer