I was born in 1984. My first game was Super Mario on the NES. My first real “I LOVE this game” moment came with a golden cartridge: The Legend of Zelda. More than three decades later, I sit in front of Cthulhu, my Arch Linux machine, and sometimes I would still rather play Monkey Island than the newest blockbuster.
I thought this would be a list of favourite games. Then the memories came back: Dad’s pipe during a submarine patrol in the Atlantic, enormous component catalogues, Sven carrying his PC over for the weekend, a Nintendo 64 travelling to Paraguay, a foot that could disconnect DSL, and Mum’s immortal warning: “Don’t turn it into a chip shop!” Her actual German line was “Mach keine Pommfritzbude draus!”
I first met Sven at my parents’ silver wedding anniversary celebration. He is the son of a former work colleague of my father. That was where our friendship began, long before the crossover cables, Pringles and entire LAN weekends.
NES and Game Boy: Super Mario, golden Zelda and my first handheld
My first videogame machine was the NES, and Mario was the first game. But the one that truly hooked me was The Legend of Zelda. That gold cartridge! It was not just a game, it was a world I wanted to return to. I also loved Castlevania’s extraordinary music, DuckTales and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. My affection for game soundtracks started early.
Then came the original grey Game Boy: first Tetris and Super Mario Land. Later I owned a clip-on light and magnifier, the Game Boy Camera and the Game Boy Printer. I was less interested in creating fine photography than in the technology actually working. Eventually I traded the collection away to afford something newer. Perfectly sensible at the time; a small regret today.
Amiga 500: Monkey Island, Turrican and more adventures than disks could hold
The Amiga 500 made me fall properly in love with adventure games and soundtracks. The Secret of Monkey Island has stayed with me forever. The two Fettuccini brothers at the circus, Guybrush, and that rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle: I still laugh thinking about them. I played or owned every entry in the series. The original runs on my retro PC again, while the Special Edition lives on Cthulhu. I keep pressing F10: classic graphics, upgraded graphics, classic again. I probably know every scene in both forms.
Of course I played Monkey Island 2 as well. Alongside it were Turrican II (what music!), Cinemaware’s Wings, Lotus Turbo Challenge, both Eye of the Beholder games, Ambermoon, Beneath a Steel Sky, Maniac Mansion, Simon the Sorcerer and F/A-18 Interceptor. Another World fascinated me – and killed me so often I doubt I got beyond two or three stages.
I recognised the original Leisure Suit Larry immediately: that tiny chap in his white suit! After comparing old screenshots and gameplay videos, I finally recognised my long-forgotten billiards game: Archer Maclean’s Pool, not Arcade Pool. As for Wings, I have returned to it on Steam as Wings! Remastered Edition.
Someone asked on Facebook which game character I would want beside me if the world ended. I was apparently the only person who answered Guybrush Threepwood. The laughs and likes were worth it.
Super Nintendo, a black PlayStation and an N64 for José
On the Super Nintendo, Mario was my starting point again, but The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was the real love. Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Kart were favourites when friends visited. I played Street Fighter, though I was always more of a Mortal Kombat person. Super Castlevania IV and Super Turrican delivered another pair of unforgettable soundtracks; the wonderfully absurd humour of The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! was exactly my thing.
The PlayStation 1 was the only PlayStation I ever owned, and it worked as a music-CD player more often than you might expect. I mostly played a Need for Speed, though I am not sure which entry. What I do remember is dismantling the entire console, spraying the shell black and putting it together again. It worked! I later fitted a modchip myself. Our little rental shop in Fintel also belongs to this period. The family chip-shop warning was becoming entirely justified.
Super Mario 64 stunned me with 3D and its analogue controls. I first played GoldenEye 007 during a stopover in Iceland on a flight to or from the United States. But my favourite N64 memory is about a person, not a game. Through school, an exchange student called José from Paraguay stayed with our family. He was completely fascinated by my Nintendo 64. On his last day I simply gave it to him.
Schneider Euro PC, Prince of Persia and DOS without Windows
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image credit
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image credit
My first PC was a Schneider Euro PC. First game: Prince of Persia. I recognised its graphics immediately. Those infuriating jumps? I still hate them. My first truly beloved PC game was once again The Secret of Monkey Island. Then came LOOM, Zak McKracken, SimCity and its stupid natural disasters, Pirates!, Centurion, Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0, Test Drive, IK+, Rick Dangerous, Wings of Fury, LHX Attack Chopper and the original 2D Duke Nukem. I played Duke Nukem II later too.
Wings of Fury was especially tied to friendship. After school, a friend and I were allowed two hours on the PC – one hour each. Then it was time to take our bicycles outside. I probably put hundreds of hours into that game, but I remember the afternoons even more.
My next machine was a 486, running DOS only. I never used Windows 3.1 or 3.11; Windows 95 would be my first Windows. Across that 486 and other early PCs I played Wolfenstein 3D (I still remember ILM), Rise of the Triad, Hexen, Raptor, Primal Rage, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Larry 6, Broken Sword, Mad TV and SimCity 2000.
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn swallowed what felt like a thousand hours, mostly playing alone before our LAN era. I tried GDI, but favoured Nod. Red Alert followed. I also loved Quake, even though it ran miserably on the 486. Somehow impulse 9 is still committed to memory.
And submarines! Aces of the Deep and later Silent Hunter. As a teenager I sat in front of the PC with my father’s pipe, patrolling the Atlantic. Sometimes an hour passed without contact. No explosions or reward animations – just the patrol. That emptiness was part of the appeal.
3dfx Voodoo, LAN parties and “Don’t turn it into a chip shop!”
A local PC shop owner from a couple of villages away delivered my first Windows 95 PC, set it up, and demonstrated smooth video playback to my parents. The video was Weezer – Buddy Holly. I remember it clearly. I still know that video today, and whenever I watch it, the song immediately gets stuck in my head. It belonged perfectly to the CD-ROM era: the Windows 95 CD included multimedia extras, including that video, to demonstrate the system’s audio and video capabilities. [1] I also remember people parachuting from a plane in a clip, though I cannot reliably identify that one.
The PC had an S3 ViRGE and a huge black Slot 1 processor, most likely a Pentium II. When I first opened the case, I expected a familiar CPU socket. Instead there was a processor cartridge. What on earth?
Pentium II package reference; my precise model remains uncertain.
Image credit
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image creditA PC magazine later showed a before-and-after comparison with and without a 3D accelerator. I wanted one immediately. Although the machine was less than six months old, I eventually got an original 3dfx Voodoo Graphics (Voodoo 1). I fitted it myself, external VGA pass-through cable and all. My mother used a warning that she still repeats: “Mach keine Pommfritzbude draus!” In other words: do not turn this into a chip shop!
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image creditFirst test: Duke Nukem 3D. It looked exactly the same as before. Disappointment! The normal Duke renderer was not using the card. Then came Turok: Dinosaur Hunter: WOW. And finally, thanks to a magazine, GLQuake. Hardware-accelerated graphics and filtered textures! I kept switching between software Quake and GLQuake just to stare at the difference – exactly as I still do with Monkey Island and F10.
By Quake II, the PC was starting to feel old again. I did not exactly rush to tell my parents. On a trip to America I received an English copy of Windows 98 as a gift. Back home I saved up for a Celeron 300A at 450 MHz on a 100 MHz front-side bus, a new board and an NVIDIA RIVA TNT. My self-built Athlon came later; I will return to its pencil trick below.
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image credit
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image creditSven, crossover cables and entire weekends
Sven introduced me to Unreal Tournament. Soon he would arrive on Friday afternoon with his entire PC and stay until Sunday. We never used a hub – just a crossover cable directly between our machines. First we exchanged files. Then came Counter-Strike, nearly always de_dust, Quake III Arena and whatever else we liked. Team selection? Rock, paper, scissors.
The crossover cable was not a special kind of internet connection. On those 10/100 Mbps Ethernet links it crossed the transmit and receive pairs, connecting one PC’s outputs to the other PC’s inputs. Two suitable network cards could communicate directly without a hub; IP addresses and games still needed configuring. Modern ports often detect the wiring automatically. [8]
Those were not entirely indoor weekends. Using my father’s old video camera, Sven and I filmed our own Jackass-style nonsense outside: ASSHOLE – don’t try this at home, complete with a Windows Movie Maker title sequence. The recording still exists on VHS-C. I still own the adapter and a USB capture device too. I intend to digitise it; perhaps a short extract will join this article later.
DSL with a foot switch
Dial-up once occupied the phone line: “Deeeeeennis, I need to make a call!” Then we skipped ISDN entirely and moved straight to DSL. When a Telekom employee advised my parents, I confidently announced that we could install the cable ourselves. Dad's reply: “Can we?” He drilled through the ceiling from the utility room, and I connected the wires upstairs. I did not even have a proper socket. It worked until my foot knocked the cables during a game – and I went offline. Today I would call it improvised cabling; back then it was an adventure.
With an analogue modem, calls and data occupied the same voice line: while I was online, nobody could make a normal phone call. DSL carried data in other frequency bands on the copper line; a splitter separated telephone and DSL on those older installations. Together with a flat-rate tariff, the carefully timed dial-up visit became a connection I could leave running. Faster internet and the local crossover LAN were still two separate things.
I also had to explain flat-rate internet to Mum. No, the PC would not cost a hundred thousand marks just because it stayed connected all week.
On family holidays to Borkum, Florida, Menorca or Lake Garda, I occasionally left Kazaa downloading. After returning I might find one usable film, one in Korean, one with sound only, heaps of MP3s and suspicious names such as NEWMETALLICAALBUM.mp3.exe. And yes: I did execute one of those disguised files once. Just once. For roughly a second I saw the command prompt racing through something, then the window disappeared. Then: oh shit. I backed up the other data and reinstalled Windows as a precaution. Who knew what had just installed itself – Sub7, some worm or another tool? I do not know what it actually was.
LAN snacks included Pringles flavours we knew from Florida: Fat Free, Sour Cream & Onion and Cream Cheese & Chive, ordered online, plus crates of malt beer. I even tested whether a Fat-Free crisp left a grease mark: put it into a book, close book, reopen, shake crumbs out. Almost no mark. Rigorous science, obviously.
WoW Classic Era: Nebukatneza and the world that does not run away
Sven introduced me to World of Warcraft too. I had never been as excited about Diablo as he was, but I thought I would just have a look at WoW. My first character was Nebukatneza, an undead warlock on the German PvP server Destromath. I still see him hopping through Silverpine Forest, with in-game music or Subway to Sally and Schandmaul MP3s playing. Eventually he reached level 60, wore the T2 Nemesis set and carried Azuresong Mageblade. Succubus seduce, a Soul Fire cast that felt two hours long, Immolate, Fear – PvP chaos. And of course the epic Tarren Mill battles!
I experimented with hunters, mages, rogues and all sorts of tricks, including Blink through doors and solo Scarlet Monastery attempts. Once I received a three-day ban after kiting a giant mob from somewhere around Feralas or Azshara all the way to Orgrimmar. Another time I experimented with a file change I had read about online and reached GM Island. Suddenly I was immobilised outside Orgrimmar and got a serious lecture in GM chat. I was genuinely terrified of losing my character and stopped messing with that kind of thing. On a separate occasion my account was hacked; a GM appeared in-game, advised me to change my passwords and restored my equipment.
I loved Wrath of the Lich King, took a break after Cataclysm, came back partway into Mists of Pandaria (I love pandas!), and returned now and then. Dragonflight was the last expansion I bought. I missed The Burning Crusade and especially the original game. Sadly, I can no longer find that first old Nebukatneza character. But the name lives on.
Classic Era: eight level-60 characters and an auction-house orc
Today, on Noggenfogger (PvP), I have Nebukatneza (warlock), Bearforceone (druid tank), Onenightstab (rogue), Desponia (priest), Crocodile (hunter), Arganosh (warrior), Kurtcowbain (shaman) and Katharina (mage) – all level 60. Plus Onlyzugzug, my level-one auction-house orc, naturally wearing smart clothes and carrying an axe enchanted with Fiery Weapon.
Nebukatneza
Undead warlock · Level 60
The name of my first character lives on in Classic Era.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Bearforceone
Druid tank · Level 60
My druid for tanking duties.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Onenightstab
Rogue · Level 60
Dungeon Set 2: what felt like a million Stratholme visits for that set bonus.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Desponia
Priest · Level 60
I healed Onyxia on her: the first half of the arrangement for Arganosh’s Quel’Serrar.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Crocodile
Hunter · Level 60
Supposed to be a farming alt. Then came full Tier 1 from Molten Core and Rhok’delar/Lok’delar from the demanding solo class quest. Now she farms brilliantly.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Arganosh
Warrior · Level 60
My undergeared “miss, miss, crit, miss” warrior joined the Quel’Serrar quest run a week after I healed Onyxia on Desponia.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Kurtcowbain
Shaman · Level 60
Normally a healer; for fun, two-handed Nightfall and Windfury.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Katharina
Mage · Level 60
Named after my wife. She played the mage herself for roughly an hour.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard Entertainment
Onlyzugzug
Level-1 auction-house orc · Level 1
Smart clothes and Fiery Weapon. This orc is explicitly not level 60.
Screenshot: Dennis Hilk · © Blizzard EntertainmentMy own Classic Era screenshots from 2026, not captures of my original character from 2004. Select an image to see the complete character selection screen. World of Warcraft © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Image credits.
One story means even more to me: The hunter quest demon in Silithus was unbelievably annoying. About four days after beating it, somebody asked me at the campfire in Orgrimmar around 7 a.m. if I could help. So I took the flight to Silithus – it felt an hour long – and showed them what worked for me. I could not interfere in the solo fight. By their third or fourth attempt, they got it. That is the kind of Classic WoW I love.
The mage Katharina is named after my wife. It is the only one of my characters she has ever played. I was about to take a shower; she spotted the character and said something like, “Oh, cute, Katharina!” I explained keys 1–5, the Intellect buff and that she could try fighting anything that was not dark red. When I came back, the mage was still alive, eating and drinking to recover. Her verdict: “Levelling takes a long time.” Mine: “All the others are already 60 – ask me!”
My wife played Katharina for roughly an hour. The mage still carries her name.
More recent favourites, less chasing trends
I have loved plenty of newer games. Battlefield 3 was my favourite Battlefield, followed by 4; I particularly loved Battlefield 1's campaign. South Park: The Stick of Truth had me laughing constantly. Kerbal Space Program, GTA V (and yes, I knew the first top-down GTA), Far Cry 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, Kingdom Come, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield and Alan Wake 2 all left their marks. Alan Wake made the GPU sweat again.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, on the other hand, upset me with lag and disconnections after buying early. My rule now is simple: Never preorder again. I am currently enjoying War Thunder for its beautifully modelled vehicles and ships. And Monkey Island, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D and Half-Life? I never stopped enjoying them.
A pencil, a box of components and finally Arch Linux
A 1.1 GHz Thunderbird reference, not my documented 850 MHz CPU.
Image credit
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image creditI used to pore over enormous Conrad catalogues, perhaps Alternate too, planning component combinations. Ready-made PCs in newspapers or Aldi adverts did not interest me: “For that money I could almost build two myself!” After the Voodoo and Celeron came my 850 MHz Athlon (roughly 910 MHz stable), a used GeForce2 Pro, 256 MB RAM, a 30 GB Maxtor drive, Plextor PlexWriter and Toshiba SD-M1402 DVD drive. I still own a PlexWriter in my retro machine today.
Later came an Athlon 64 X2 3800+, GeForce 7800 GTX, 2 GB RAM and my first SATA drive: such tiny cables compared to IDE! Half-Life 2 impressed me, and Crysis was a visual bomb until fast movement brought the frame rate down. So I turned settings down and closed background apps. Even today I close ICQ and Winamp before some Windows 98 retro gaming sessions.
IDE, also called parallel ATA, connected drives using wide ribbon cables. Two devices could share a channel, with the appropriate master/slave settings. SATA replaced that arrangement with slim data cables and a separate connection for each drive. Less cable clutter and more room for airflow and hands: I could appreciate that difference before even switching the machine on.
The path continued through an early Nehalem Core i7 and GeForce 9800 GT, then an i7-4790K and red MSI GTX 970, later an i7-9700K, a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and ultimately an AMD Radeon. Recurring NVIDIA headaches on Gentoo and other Linux distributions helped persuade me to change. Cthulhu now runs a Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Radeon RX 9060 XT.
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
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i7-920 reference; my own original i7 model is unknown.
Image credit
Historical reference photograph, not my own hardware.
Image creditOperating systems were a hobby in themselves. Windows ME drove me mad; for reasons even I cannot explain I used Windows 2000 Advanced Server for a while and still have the original disc. Vista, by contrast, worked well for me in its classic theme. I had tried Debian, Slackware, OS/2 Warp 4 and KNOPPIX from a magazine CD early on. Around 2013 Linux Mint with Cinnamon became a serious daily system. Windows for gaming with Sven was available on a physical removable hard-drive caddy. Later I tried Fedora, SUSE, NixOS, Gentoo, Arch, countless desktops and window managers, including Ratpoison. For one month, just for fun, I lived entirely in a shell.
The caddy was a pull-out holder for a real hard drive: power down, exchange the drive, and a different system started on the next boot. That let me switch between Linux and Windows for gaming with Sven. It was a very physical operating-system switch.
Especially in earlier NVIDIA Linux setups, the kernel module, kernel version and graphics driver had to fit together. Changing kernels or missing matching headers could prevent a module building or loading, leaving the graphical session in trouble too. [9] That describes one possible failure class, rather than retrospectively diagnosing every old crash I experienced. My own frustrations were one reason I later changed hardware.
Today I run Arch Linux with dwm on X11, with a 3440 × 1440, 144 Hz main monitor. No clock widget, blinking panels or assistants popping up uninvited.
Arch Linux lets me assemble the system from the components I want. dwm is a small X11 window manager: it arranges windows in tiled, maximised or floating layouts and groups them with tags. A full desktop environment bundles many more applications, settings interfaces and services. With dwm I choose the extras myself; its basic configuration lives in C source that I edit and recompile. [10] The uncluttered screen is a deliberate choice, rather than a consequence of weak hardware.
The hardware has become incredibly fast. I have become a more selective gamer. I do not buy every trend, and I play less than I once did. Some of my favourites are more than thirty years old. They still work and still make me happy. And when I launch Monkey Island, I will probably press F10 again.
My PC hardware through the years
This is the sequence I remember; not every purchase year is documented, and intermediate hardware may be missing.
After the Voodoo: my used GeForce2 Pro.
GeForce2 GTS family reference, not my old GeForce2 Pro. Image credit
Dual-core CPU, GeForce 7800 GTX and my first SATA drive.
Athlon 64 X2 3800+ reference, not a photograph of my own processor. Image credit
The CPU stage after my i7-4790K.
Coffee Lake package reference: this is an i7-8700K, not my i7-9700K. Image credit
My later NVIDIA card, before returning to AMD.
RTX 3060-family reference: Zotac 3060 12 GB, not my 3060 Ti. Image credit
The processor in my present-day Cthulhu.
Ryzen 7 5800X3D reference, not a photograph of my own processor. Image credit
Cthulhu today: AMD graphics with 16 GB.
PowerColor Radeon RX 9060 XT reference, not a photograph of my own card. Image credit| Computer / CPU | My recollections / GPU |
|---|---|
| Schneider Euro PC | MS-DOS; first PC |
| 486 | DOS only; Quake pushed the limits |
| Slot 1 · probably Pentium II | S3 ViRGE → original 3dfx Voodoo Graphics |
| Celeron 300A @ 450 MHz | NVIDIA RIVA TNT · Windows 98 |
| AMD Athlon 850 @ ~910 MHz | Used GeForce2 Pro · 256 MB · 30 GB Maxtor |
| Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | GeForce 7800 GTX · 2 GB RAM · first SATA drive |
| Intel Core i7 · Nehalem (model unknown) | GeForce 9800 GT |
| Intel Core i7-4790K | Red MSI GeForce GTX 970 |
| Intel Core i7-9700K | GTX 970, later RTX 3060 Ti |
| AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D | Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB · Arch Linux · dwm |
Browse 99 games by title and platform
This archive collects the titles I talked about. Some games span several generations; release dates are not the same as the dates I owned or played them.
30 gameplay images, 1 cover, 1 official game illustration, 39 logos and 8 reference images. Further links for the other 20 titles are in the image credits. Image credit
99
NES
NESSuper Mario Bros.My very first gameOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
NESThe Legend of ZeldaThe gold cartridge: my first game obsessionOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
NESCastlevaniaThat soundtrack!Classic Castlevania logo, retraced as SVG. Image credit
NESDuckTalesA childhood favouriteLettering from the NES game cover, retraced as SVG; not gameplay. Image credit
NESTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesThe Turtles were part of itArcade circuit board photograph as a reference for the NES version. Image credit
Game Boy
Game BoyTetrisMy first Game Boy hoursCurrent Tetris brand logo (since 2019) as a title reference; not a Game Boy screenshot. Image credit
Game BoySuper Mario LandTiny Mario on the original Game BoyOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
Amiga 500
Amiga 500The Secret of Monkey IslandGuybrush, the rubber chicken and the Fettuccini brothers1990 game logo, retraced as SVG. Image credit
Amiga 500Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's RevengeOf course the sequel; I stayed with the seriesGame logo; not a gameplay screenshot. Image credit
Amiga 500Turrican IIMusic I still rememberBox-logo lettering, retraced as SVG. Image credit
Amiga 500Another WorldMore dying than advancing1991 game wordmark, retraced as SVG; not gameplay. Image credit
- Amiga 500Lotus Turbo ChallengeRacing nostalgia
Amiga 500Eye of the Beholder I & IISpent ages with bothWordmark from the first game. Image credit
Amiga 500Beneath a Steel SkyAn adventure that stayed with meArchival photograph of Tony Warriner, one of the game designers. Image credit
Amiga 500Maniac MansionA Lucasfilm classicOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
Amiga 500Simon the SorcererAnother beloved adventureOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
Amiga 500F/A-18 InterceptorAlready fascinated by aircraftGameplay image from the MobyGames archive. Image credit
- Amiga 500Wings (Cinemaware)Back on Steam today as the Remastered Edition
Amiga 500AmbermoonA substantial Amiga RPGOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
Amiga 500Leisure Suit Larry (Original)Little Larry in his white suit!Original 1987 box artwork; copyright-holder release verified by Wikimedia VRT. Image credit
- Amiga 500Archer Maclean's PoolConfirmed by screenshots and video
Super Nintendo
Super NintendoSuper Mario (SNES)My SNES starting point; exact title uncertainSuper Mario World as an SNES reference; the exact Mario title in my memory remains uncertain. Official Nintendo screenshot. Image credit
Super NintendoThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the PastMy next great Zelda loveOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
Super NintendoDonkey Kong CountryPlayed with friends visitingOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
Super NintendoStreet FighterPlayed it, though I leaned toward Mortal KombatRecreation of the classic series wordmark using the Shoryuken font; not gameplay. Image credit
Super NintendoMortal KombatAlways more my kind of fighting gameSeries wordmark derived from the Deception design; not an image of the SNES version. Image credit
Super NintendoSuper Mario KartWith friends in front of the TVOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
Super NintendoSuper Castlevania IVMore amazing musicSuper Castlevania IV logo; not gameplay. Image credit
- Super NintendoSuper TurricanThe Turrican connection continues
- Super NintendoThe Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots!Exactly my kind of humour
PlayStation 1 & Nintendo 64
PlayStation 1 & Nintendo 64Need for Speed (PlayStation)My most played PS1 game; exact entry uncertainGameplay image from the MobyGames archive. Image credit
PlayStation 1 & Nintendo 64Super Mario 643D and analogue control were extraordinaryOfficial Nintendo screenshot of the Virtual Console re-release; not my own capture. Image credit
PlayStation 1 & Nintendo 64GoldenEye 007First played during an Iceland stopoverOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
DOS & early PCs
DOS & early PCsPrince of PersiaFirst Schneider PC game; I still hate those jumps!DOS gameplay in level 6; not my personal capture. Copyright-holder release verified by Wikimedia VRT. Image credit
DOS & early PCsLOOMAn adventure close to my heartOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
DOS & early PCsZak McKracken and the Alien MindbendersLucasfilm adventure loveOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
DOS & early PCsSimCityThose ridiculous disasters!Reference image: multiplayer SimCity X11/Tcl/Tk port on SGI Indigo, not my original DOS version. Image credit
DOS & early PCsSid Meier's Pirates!Pirates, of courseOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
DOS & early PCsCenturion: Defender of RomeHours of Roman strategyGameplay image from the MobyGames archive. Image credit
- DOS & early PCsMicrosoft Flight Simulator 3.0The start of a long flight-sim obsession
- DOS & early PCsTest DriveA favourite racing game
- DOS & early PCsInternational Karate+ (IK+)Surprisingly many hours
- DOS & early PCsRick DangerousMore dying than progressing, again
- DOS & early PCsWings of FuryTaking turns with a friend after school
DOS & early PCsDuke Nukem (1991)The original blond 2D DukeOriginal 1991 game wordmark; not gameplay. Image credit
- DOS & early PCsDuke Nukem IIPlayed the sequel too
DOS & early PCsLHX Attack ChopperEarly helicopter fascinationGameplay image from the MobyGames archive. Image credit
DOS & early PCsPaperboyPlayed it; original platform uncertainPeriod reference photo of the Amstrad CPC version. Image credit
- DOS & early PCsWolfenstein 3DILM – the cheat is still in my head
DOS & early PCsRise of the TriadWonderfully chaoticOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
- DOS & early PCsHexen: Beyond HereticDark and great
- DOS & early PCsRaptor: Call of the ShadowsFantastic
- DOS & early PCsPrimal RageRidiculous fun
DOS & early PCsDay of the TentacleA major favouriteSimplified SVG version of the Remastered press-kit logo, styled after the original. Image credit
DOS & early PCsSam & Max Hit the RoadHilariousOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
DOS & early PCsLeisure Suit Larry 6Larry did not become wiser in VGAHistoric photograph of the Sierra On-Line development team. Image credit
DOS & early PCsBaphomets Fluch / Broken SwordThe DOS versionSeries logo used from 2012; brand reference, not an image of the DOS version. Image credit
DOS & early PCsCommand & Conquer: Tiberian DawnFelt like 1,000 hours; mostly NodOfficial EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Image credit
DOS & early PCsSimCity 2000My last SimCityOfficial EA screenshot of SimCity 2000; not my personal capture. Image credit
- DOS & early PCsMad TVStill makes me laugh
DOS & early PCsQuakeA slide show on my 486; impulse 9Quake logo. GLQuake is the OpenGL version of the same game. Image credit
DOS & early PCsCommand & Conquer: Red AlertOf course I played Red AlertOfficial EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Image credit
DOS & early PCsQuake IIMade my hardware feel old againOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LAN
3dfx, Windows & LANDuke Nukem 3DInitially unchanged on my new 3dfx cardOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
- 3dfx, Windows & LANTurok: Dinosaur HunterMy first real Voodoo wow moment
- 3dfx, Windows & LANGLQuakeCompared with software Quake again and again
Quake logo. GLQuake is the OpenGL version of the same game. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANUnreal Tournament (1999)Sven introduced it; weekend LAN parties beganOfficial screenshot used as a game reference; not my personal capture. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANCounter-StrikeWith Sven; almost always de_dustOfficial screenshot used as a game reference; not my personal capture. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANQuake III ArenaFast, loud, gloriousArchival photograph of the Quake III Arena final at QuakeCon 2003. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANMax PayneThat bullet time!Game logo. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANCommand & Conquer: Red Alert 2Even more C&COfficial EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANHalf-Life 2Physics and visuals made an impressionOfficial screenshot used as a game reference; not my personal capture. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANCrysisA visual bomb, until things moved too quicklyOfficial Crysis Fan Site Kit screenshot, archival copy at MobyGames; not my own capture. Image credit
3dfx, Windows & LANJane's AH-64D LongbowMy great childhood simulator loveMy own original game box photographed in 2026; not a historical gameplay capture. Image credit
- 3dfx, Windows & LANAces of the DeepAtlantic patrols with Dad's pipe
- 3dfx, Windows & LANSilent Hunter / Silent Hunter IIIMemories of long submarine patrols
2000s to today
2000s to todayBattlefield 3 / 4BF3 first, then BF4Official EA game image; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayBattlefield 1Especially the excellent campaignOfficial EA game image; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayDiablo IIISven was the early Diablo fanOfficial Blizzard crafting image with a game scene and portraits; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todaySouth Park: The Stick of TruthLaughed constantlyGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayGrand Theft Auto VI remember top-down GTA 1 tooSeries wordmark. Image credit
2000s to todayFar Cry 3A favourite of that periodGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayFarming Simulator 15No farming knowledge, but I wanted to trySeries logo; not a screenshot. Wikimedia Commons. Image credit
2000s to todayKerbal Space ProgramTinkering, now with rocketsOriginal game wordmark. Image credit
2000s to todayThe Vanishing of Ethan CarterAtmospheric and beautifulOfficial in-game press screenshot from 2013; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayRed Dead Redemption 2A highlightGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayThe Witcher 3: Blood and WineA highlightOfficial CD PROJEKT RED game image; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayKingdom Come: DeliveranceA highlightOfficial PC press image from 2018; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayDOOM EternalOf course, DOOMSeries wordmark. Image credit
- 2000s to todayAssetto Corsa CompetizioneA few serious months with a wheel
2000s to todayGenshin ImpactPlayed this one tooGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayBaldur's Gate 3Many hours and a lot of affectionOfficial 2023 Larian press screenshot; not my personal capture. Image credit
2000s to todayKingdom Come: Deliverance IIBack to medieval lifeOfficial press image from the February 2025 collection; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayStarfieldAmong my recent gamesGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayAlan Wake 2Impressive – GPU struggling againOfficial Remedy game image; not my own capture. Image credit
2000s to todayMicrosoft Flight Simulator 2024Lag and disconnects: no more preordersGame logo. Image credit
2000s to todayWar Thunder2026: loving the detailed vehiclesOfficial press image: Bayern; not my own Ostfriesland capture. Image credit
2000s to todayThe Secret of Monkey Island: Special EditionF10, original, remaster, original ...Original game wordmark. Image credit
2000s to todayWorld of Warcraft / Classic EraFrom Nebukatneza to eight level-60 charactersMy own Classic Era screenshot from 2026, not from 2004. Image credit
More from my retro PCs and Linux setup
The old Longbow box has a story of its own. For the modern end of this journey, see my Cthulhu desktop and my guide to running games on Linux.
Sources and image credits
Historical and technical sources
My memories remain subjective. Release dates, purchase dates and the years I played something are not necessarily the same. These sources support the historical and technical explanations, not my personal experiences.
- 1 · Windows 95 / Buddy Holly — Raymond Chen, Microsoft (2026). Windows 95 CD multimedia extras.
- 2 · Dateiendungen / File extensions — Microsoft: showing extensions for known file types.
- 3 · Quake 1.01: CheatCommand / ImpulseCommands — Original id Software game code; function and single-player restriction checked directly.
- 4 · Diamond Monster 3D / Voodoo Graphics — Contemporary manufacturer page on a mirror: PCI, VGA pass-through and texture filtering.
- 5 · GLQuake / OpenGL source — Original id Software OpenGL video code, including the 3dfx driver path.
- 6 · Intel Celeron 300A (1998) — Intel: 128 KB integrated L2 cache. Also: Tom’s Hardware: 100 × 4.5 = 450 MHz.
- 7 · Athlon: L1-Kontakte / L1 contacts — Contemporary hands-on experiment by Tom’s Hardware. Applies to specific models. Also: WeetHet: Socket A Athlon / Duron.
- 8 · Ethernet 10BaseT / 100BaseTX — Cisco: crossed transmit and receive pairs.
- 9 · NVIDIA Linux: Common Problems — Original driver README: kernel sources, headers and module problems.
- 10 · dwm / suckless — Project documentation: layouts, tags and source-code configuration.
- 11 · Microsoft: Office-Geschichte / Office history — Microsoft’s own retrospective on the Office assistant.
- S3 ViRGE / Intel AP440FX manual — Manufacturer manual on a mirror; ViRGE 2D/3D functions. Does not identify my motherboard.
Image credits and reuse conditions
My hardware photos and existing desktop captures come from the article archive. Reference photographs are explicitly labelled. The new WoW captures show my current Classic Era characters. The underlying artwork remains Blizzard’s property; my screenshots are not offered as freely licensed game art.
World of Warcraft © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Blizzard Legal FAQ / fansite permission. This is an independent personal retrospective, not sponsored or endorsed by Blizzard.
This website is not endorsed by or affiliated with EA or its licensors. EA Content Policy.
The BG3 image contribution is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. © Wizards of the Coast LLC. No endorsement from Larian. BG3 terms · Wizards policy.
Hardware, personal captures and early game images
- Schneider Euro PC: Buchinger Manó. Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- 486 generation: Oligopolism. Original source · CC0 1.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Slot 1 cartridge: Darklanlan. Original source · CC BY 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- S3 ViRGE: Gona.eu. Original source · CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Original Voodoo Graphics: Bloodshedder; later edits by Jacek Halicki and Pittigrilli. Original source · CC BY-SA 2.5. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Celeron 300A: Qurren. Original source · CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- RIVA TNT: A758. Original source · CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Athlon / L1 bridges: Krdan. Original source · CC BY 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Plextor / IDE storage: Raimond Spekking. Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- GeForce 7800 GTX: Stefan Ledwina; Commons crop by Aeschylus, rotation by SteinsplitterBot. Original source · CC BY-SA 2.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Nehalem Core i7: Alan Lorenzo. Original source · CC BY-SA 3.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- MSI GeForce GTX 970: MHansschmidt. Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0. Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no additional crop. Existing source edits are recorded in the manifest.
- Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn: Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts. Image source · Reuse conditions. Official EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts. Image source · Reuse conditions. Official EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2: Westwood Pacific / Westwood Studios / Electronic Arts. Image source · Reuse conditions. Official EA promotional screenshot of the original PC game; not my personal capture. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
- SimCity 2000: Maxis / Electronic Arts. Image source · Reuse conditions. Official EA screenshot of SimCity 2000; not my personal capture. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
- Baldur's Gate 3: Larian Studios / Wizards of the Coast. Image source · Reuse conditions. Official 2023 Larian press screenshot; not my personal capture. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
- World of Warcraft / Classic Era: Dennis Hilk (capture); Blizzard Entertainment (game artwork). My own capture · Reuse conditions. My own Classic Era screenshot from 2026, not from 2004. Resized and converted to WebP, without cropping.
All new technical diagrams, platform symbols and the generic paperclip tribute are original SVG illustrations for this article (© Dennis Hilk). The paperclip is not an original Microsoft animation. The machine-readable image manifest records file paths, sources, creators, changes and rights information. External reference links only open another website when selected.
More from my computing life
More game and hardware images
These images extend the archive. Logos and reference editions are identified on each card. Personal screenshots remain separate from publisher material and freely licensed reference photographs.
- Super Mario Bros. — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- The Legend of Zelda — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Super Mario Land — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Donkey Kong Country — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Super Mario Kart — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Super Mario 64 — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Super Mario (SNES) — Super Mario World shown only as a clearly labelled reference; exact remembered title unknown — Game image © Nintendo. Unofficial personal retrospective; not affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Nintendo Game Content Guidelines: limited permission for individual consumers sharing game screenshots with creative/editorial commentary. Officially published promotional screenshot used alongside a personal, noncommercial retrospective. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. No crop or retouching. Full frame converted to lossless WebP; proportionally resized thumbnail. Original Virtual Console borders retained.
- Tetris — explicitly labelled current brand logo (2019), not original Game Boy artwork — Tetris brand logo: The Tetris Company / PD-textlogo via Wikimedia Commons. Tetris is a trademark of Tetris Holding; no endorsement. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo): simple text/geometric brand logo below the copyright threshold of originality, as documented on this exact Wikimedia Commons file. Trademark rights remain; identification in an unofficial personal retrospective only. No crop, retouching or recoloring. Original PNG converted to lossless WebP; thumbnail proportionally resized.
- Counter-Strike — Game image © Valve. Unofficial personal retrospective; no endorsement. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Steam Subscriber Agreement §2.D: limited permission to reproduce Valve game content in noncommercial fan art; underlying game artwork remains copyrighted. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion; no crop or retouching.
- Half-Life 2 — Game image © Valve. Unofficial personal retrospective; no endorsement. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Steam Subscriber Agreement §2.D: limited permission to reproduce Valve game content in noncommercial fan art; underlying game artwork remains copyrighted. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion; no crop or retouching.
- Unreal Tournament (1999) — Portions of the materials used are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved by Epic. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Epic. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Epic Games Fan Content Policy: limited revocable permission for personal, noncommercial fan content and freely accessible websites; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion; no crop or retouching.
Portions of the materials used are trademarks and/or copyrighted works of Epic Games, Inc. All rights reserved by Epic. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Epic.
- Jane's AH-64D Longbow — my actual game box photographed in 2026 — Photo © Dennis Hilk; Jane’s Longbow artwork © Electronic Arts. This website is not endorsed by or affiliated with EA or its licensors. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Author-authorized existing personal archive photograph. Underlying EA packaging artwork remains copyrighted and is used in this personal, noncommercial fan retrospective under the EA Content Policy; not Creative Commons. Existing full photograph unchanged. Thumbnail proportionally reduced and re-encoded to WebP; no crop.
- The Secret of Monkey Island — Lucas Arts / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge — Lucas Arts / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Turrican II — Rainbow Arts / Factor 5 / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Day of the Tentacle — Lucas Arts / Double Fine / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Leisure Suit Larry (Original) — Sierra On-Line / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 4.0; copyright-holder release confirmed by Wikimedia VRT ticket 2024032510008734. Proportional rasterization/resizing and WebP re-encoding; no content crop. Share-alike image derivatives remain CC BY-SA 4.0 where applicable.
- Baphomets Fluch / Broken Sword — Revolution Software / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Castlevania — Konami / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Street Fighter — Capcom / PD-textlogo (via Wikimedia Commons); respective trademarks retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization/resizing and lossless WebP conversion; no content crop. Upstream tracing/recreation described in caption and source file.
- Prince of Persia — Jordan Mechner; screenshot by Wikimedia contributor ΛΦΠ / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 4.0; copyright-holder release verified by Wikimedia VRT ticket 2018072510007418. Proportional rasterization/resizing and WebP re-encoding; no content crop. Share-alike image derivatives remain CC BY-SA 4.0 where applicable.
- SimCity — Don Hopkins (X11/Tcl/Tk port); Xardox (screenshot); Maxis / Electronic Arts (original game) / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Game software: GNU GPL v2 or later per source file; interface and screenshot released to public domain by Xardox. First GIF frame re-encoded as static WebP.
- Duke Nukem (1991) — Apogee Software / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- DuckTales — The Walt Disney Company; vectorization by TilmannR / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Super Castlevania IV — Konami / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Mortal Kombat — Midway Games / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Another World — Delphine Software; vectorization by Shaddim / file-level licence via Wikimedia Commons Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain — PD-textlogo (Commons file-level determination); trademark rights remain. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Battlefield 3 / 4 — Game image © Electronic Arts. This website is not endorsed by or affiliated with EA or its licensors. Original source · Licence / usage terms. EA Content Policy: limited permission for personal noncommercial fan projects; all game-art rights reserved. Not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Battlefield 1 — Game image © Electronic Arts. This website is not endorsed by or affiliated with EA or its licensors. Original source · Licence / usage terms. EA Content Policy: limited permission for personal noncommercial fan projects; all game-art rights reserved. Not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine — The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine © CD PROJEKT RED. This is an unofficial fan work and is not approved/endorsed by CD PROJEKT RED. Original source · Licence / usage terms. CD PROJEKT RED Fan Content Guidelines: personal noncommercial screenshots and fan websites; all game-art rights reserved. Not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter — The Vanishing of Ethan Carter © The Astronauts. Official press image. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Official developer press image explicitly supplied for download in the press area, for editorial coverage. All rights reserved; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance — Kingdom Come: Deliverance © Warhorse Studios / PLAION. Official press screenshot. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Official 2018 press screenshot supplied for download by PLAION for editorial coverage. All rights reserved; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Diablo III — Diablo III © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Blizzard Legal FAQ personal noncommercial fansite permission; all game-art rights reserved. Not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Crysis — Crysis © Crytek. Screenshot “Hunter jungle” from the official Crysis Fan Site Kit; archival copy via MobyGames. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Official Crysis Fan Site Kit v1.0 screenshot distributed for creation of noncommercial Crysis fan sites. Publisher permission is documented by Crytek; this surviving copy is hosted by MobyGames. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II — Kingdom Come: Deliverance II © Warhorse Studios / PLAION. Official press screenshot. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Official February 2025 press screenshot supplied for download by PLAION for editorial coverage. All rights reserved; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- War Thunder — War Thunder © Gaijin Entertainment. Official press kit image “bayern.jpg”. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Gaijin. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Gaijin Press Kit Guidelines: editorial/personal use, technical resizing only, attribution and supplied Gaijin logo required. All game-art rights reserved; not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Alan Wake 2 — Alan Wake 2 © Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games Publishing. Official promotional image. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Official promotional screenshot supplied in Remedy’s game media gallery; Remedy makes game screenshots and logos available in its press packs for media coverage. Editorial use only; all rights reserved, not Creative Commons. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- Farming Simulator 15 — GIANTS Software — Public domain (PD-textlogo); trademark rights retained. Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo); trademark rights retained. Proportional resizing and WebP re-encoding only; no crop or retouching.
- DOOM Eternal — id Software / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Far Cry 3 — Ubisoft / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Genshin Impact — HoYoverse / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Grand Theft Auto V — Rockstar Games / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Max Payne — Remedy Entertainment / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 — Microsoft / Xbox Game Studios / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Red Dead Redemption 2 — Rockstar Games / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- South Park: The Stick of Truth — Ubisoft / South Park Digital Studios / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- Starfield — Bethesda Game Studios / Wikimedia Commons (PD-textlogo) Original source · Licence / usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo per Wikimedia Commons); trademark rights retained. Proportional rasterization or resizing and WebP re-encoding.
- GeForce2 Pro hardware timeline reference — 3d-erlebnis / CC BY 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY 3.0 Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- Athlon 64 X2 3800+ hardware timeline reference — Alwin “echoray” Meschede / CC BY-SA 3.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 3.0 Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- Intel Core i7-9700K hardware timeline reference — ElooKoN / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 4.0 Proportionally resized and converted to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- GeForce RTX 3060 Ti hardware timeline reference — Qurren / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons 960px preview proportionally resized and re-encoded to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- Ryzen 7 5800X3D hardware timeline reference — Phiarc / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons 960px preview proportionally resized and re-encoded to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- Radeon RX 9060 XT hardware timeline reference — Padgriffin / CC BY 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) Original source · Licence / usage terms. CC BY 4.0 Wikimedia Commons 960px preview proportionally resized and re-encoded to WebP; no crop. Derivative images remain under the selected source licence.
- F/A-18 Interceptor — Electronic Arts — F/A-18 Interceptor. Original source · Licence or usage terms. EA Content Policy for personal, noncommercial fan projects. Game artwork rights reserved. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- LHX Attack Chopper — Electronic Arts — LHX Attack Chopper. Original source · Licence or usage terms. EA Content Policy for personal, noncommercial fan projects. Game artwork rights reserved. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Centurion: Defender of Rome — Electronic Arts — Centurion: Defender of Rome. Original source · Licence or usage terms. EA Content Policy for personal, noncommercial fan projects. Game artwork rights reserved. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Need for Speed (PlayStation) — Electronic Arts — Need for Speed (PlayStation). Original source · Licence or usage terms. EA Content Policy for personal, noncommercial fan projects. Game artwork rights reserved. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Quake / GLQuake — id Software — Quake / GLQuake. Original source · Licence or usage terms. Public domain (PD-textlogo as documented by Wikimedia Commons). Trademark rights remain. Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Quake III Arena — QuakeCon — Quake III Arena. Original source · Licence or usage terms. CC BY 2.0 Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Paperboy — Adrian Pingstone — Paperboy. Original source · Licence or usage terms. Public domain release by photographer Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Eye of the Beholder I & II — Westwood Associates / Strategic Simulations. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Maniac Mansion — Lucasfilm Games. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Simon the Sorcerer — Adventure Soft. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Ambermoon — Thalion Software. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- GoldenEye 007 — Rare / Nintendo. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- LOOM — Lucasfilm Games. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders — Lucasfilm Games. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Sid Meier's Pirates! — MicroProse. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Rise of the Triad — Apogee Software. Original source · Reuse information. Public domain (simple logo, as documented on Wikimedia Commons). Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Sam & Max Hit the Road — LucasArts. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Quake II — id Software. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Duke Nukem 3D — 3D Realms. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Kerbal Space Program — Squad. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition — LucasArts. Original source · Reuse information. Simple wordmark classified below the threshold of originality on the German Wikipedia file page. Trademark rights remain. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. SVG sources rasterised. No crop.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Robivy64. Original source · Reuse information. Public domain release by photographer Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Leisure Suit Larry 6 — Sierra On-Line. Original source · Reuse information. CC BY-SA 4.0, VRT ticket 2024030710009366 Proportional resizing and WebP conversion. Entire frame preserved.
- Beneath a Steel Sky — Charcecil. Original source · Reuse information. Public domain release by photographer. Proportional scaling and WebP conversion. No crop.
Further image references and game profiles for 20 titles
- Lotus Turbo Challenge · Game profile
- Wings (Cinemaware) · Game profile
- Archer Maclean's Pool · Game profile
- Super Turrican · Game profile
- The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! · Game profile
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 · Game profile
- Test Drive · Game profile
- International Karate+ (IK+) · Game profile
- Rick Dangerous · Game profile
- Wings of Fury · Game profile
- Duke Nukem II · Game profile
- Wolfenstein 3D · Game profile
- Hexen: Beyond Heretic · Game profile
- Raptor: Call of the Shadows · Game profile
- Primal Rage · Game profile
- Mad TV · Game profile
- Turok: Dinosaur Hunter · Game profile
- Aces of the Deep · Game profile
- Silent Hunter / Silent Hunter III · Game profile
- Assetto Corsa Competizione · Game profile
No ranking. No preorder hype. Just a few games I have loved for decades and a computer that does what I ask. I think that suits me just fine.