Middle-aged reporters were also young a few decades ago.

In the 1980s when I was young, the Japanese game industry was vibrant.

In the meantime, I spent a lot of time playing arcade and console games.

The arcade game was attractive for its low cost per play.

As for console games, it was attractive that you could play the game indefinitely if you bought a reasonable price and compatible software.

However, PC games were hindered by the high initial investment amount for me, who had a poor family home. The only time I played PC games was when I went to a friend's house that owns a PC. At that time, if I had been working hard to raise money to get a PC, and as a result I was awakened to the fun of making money, my life after that would have been quite different. (*1)

Am I far from PC games? Actually not so. Because, at that time, I bought a monthly game magazine "Monthly Microcomputer BASIC Magazine" every month (*2).  Because the magazine also introduced in detail PC games that I don't have.

I was particularly inspired by the "Challenge Adventure Game". It is a serial article written by legendary game writer Akira Yamashita. The outline of the adventure game for PC and the hint of the solution were introduced with the graphic there. 

Below, I reproduced a part of the article using the screenshot of the game "Retro Game Aliens" that we are making.

The drawing-based graphics, which take up most of the screen area, were "rich and somehow adult."
It may be too simple and unsatisfactory with modern standards. But to the young gamer, who was used to seeing minimalistic dot paintings in arcades and consoles, the endless expanse of the world could be seen across the graphic.

I didn't have the chance to actually play the game, and I used the pieces of information to expand my imagination that this must be something like this. More specifically, the game had already been played in my mind.

Later, I had the opportunity to play the original or reprinted version of the game that was introduced in "Challenge Adventure Games". Of course, it's very different from what I imagined to play. Then which one is more interesting? The latter is overwhelmingly.

Such impressions may be a blasphemy to the original game and its creator. But that also means that only I know information about a very interesting game that no one but me has experienced.

And to pay homage to the original game and its creator, and to pass on their footsteps and achievements that have disappeared in history to future generations, it is also a duty of the middle-aged reporter.

Because the past games, the current games, and the games that are only in my mind are just as important to me.

There are good reasons for a middle-aged man to suddenly insist that he is making a game. Normally, the players doesn't need to know it. But the trouble is that middle-aged reporter want to insist on it!

*1 The "PC" that appears in this context is an 8-bit CPU-equipped personal computer originally developed by a major electrical manufacturer in Japan that requires a dedicated monitor when it starts up, with a main unit price of 100 US$ or more. Specifically, it is a model with a complete lineup of compatible game software such as NEC's PC-8801mkIISR series, Sharp's X1 series, and Fujitsu's FM-7 series. By the way, when I was in high school, I purchased an MSX2 standard PC for about US$30. It was possible for me at that time to earn that amount of money as a part-time job :)

*2 Most of the information in the magazine was information on the latest PCs and program lists for posted games, but information on arcade games and consumer games was also substantial. The details of this process are described in detail in an article by Game Culture Preservation Research Institute.