Computer and Video Games
Many unique digital games had been released and sold under the D&D license. A significant number of these games were published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). Most, but not all, are role-playing video games that use rules derived from some version of the D&D rules. Many of the games were released on multiple platforms, including personal computers, consoles, and handheld devices (including mobile phones). Notable titles include:
| Title | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dungeons & Dragons Computer Labyrinth Game | 1980 | The first D&D game marketed for public consumption that contained digital electronics. This is a board game/video game hybrid, with a D&D table-top look-and-feel. Dungeon walls, monsters, and traps manifest themselves as series of beeps from the internal computer. |
| Dungeons & Dragons Computer Fantasy Game | 1981 | A small (2" x 3" x .5") electronic game using the mechanics of "Hunt the Wumpus." It used an LCD screen and various sound effects to inform the player of different in-game circumstances, such as proximity to pits, bats, the magic arrow or the dragon. |
| Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Cartridge | 1982 | Designed for the Intellivision, the first video game based licensed under the D&D license. |
| Pool of Radiance | 1988 | The first D&D video game. Designed by SSI, the same game engine would be used to develop ten more D&D games, the Gold Box series. It was "remade" by UbiSoft in 2001 under the name Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. |
| Eye of the Beholder | 1990 | The first in a trilogy of popular games designed by Westwood Studios and published by SSI in the early 1990s. |
| Neverwinter Nights | 1991 to 1997 |
Developed by Stormfront Studios and was one of the first graphical MMORPG, paving the way for other games including Ultima Online and EverQuest. The game was a major hit, and the name and settings formed the basis for the Neverwinter Nights video game (see below). |
| Tower of Doom | 1993 | Two beat 'em up/action RPG hybrid series by Capcom. |
| Shadow over Mystara | 1996 | |
| Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance | 1996 | Developed by Synergistic Software, a subsidiary of Sierra Entertainment and was an innovative mix of strategy and role-playing gaming, and featured realistic (for the time) 3D graphics. Unfortunately, the game was not a major success due to the decreased popularity of Dungeons & Dragons inspired games at that time. |
| Baldur's Gate | 1998 | From Interplay Entertainment, was developed by Bioware and was the first D&D video game to use Bioware's Infinity Engine. It met with critical success and was followed by several more D&D games from Bioware, including an expansion pack, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, and one sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and its expansion, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. |
| Planescape: Torment. Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale II | 1999 to 2002 |
Developed by Interplay's Black Isle Studios and also used the Bioware Infinity Engine. |
| Neverwinter Nights | 2002 | This game from Bioware included the Aurora toolset that allows users to create custom modules. Several expansion modules were sold by the distributor. |
| Neverwinter Nights 2 | 2006 | |
| Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale | 2011 | Developed by Bedlam Games and published by Atari, set to release as a downloadable game for PSN/XBLA |
Read more about this topic: Dungeons & Dragons Related Products
Famous quotes containing the words video games, computer and, computer, video and/or games:
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“What, then, is the basic difference between today’s computer and an intelligent being? It is that the computer can be made to see but not to perceive. What matters here is not that the computer is without consciousness but that thus far it is incapable of the spontaneous grasp of pattern—a capacity essential to perception and intelligence.”
—Rudolf Arnheim (b. 1904)
“The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain or in the petals of a flower.”
—Robert M. Pirsig (b. 1928)
“It is among the ranks of school-age children, those six- to twelve-year-olds who once avidly filled their free moments with childhood play, that the greatest change is evident. In the place of traditional, sometimes ancient childhood games that were still popular a generation ago, in the place of fantasy and make- believe play . . . today’s children have substituted television viewing and, most recently, video games.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)
“The rules of drinking games are taken more serious than the rules of war.”
—Chinese proverb.