The Short, Happy Life of Infocom

Infocom, king of the text adventure and the first behemoth of American computer game development, began not with a bang, but with an internet meme. —Lara Crigger —The Short, Happy Life of Infocom (The Escapist)

There are some details about Infocom culture that are nicely placed.

I like what Jeremy Douglass wrote about the genre of the interactive fiction magazine article.

To be fair, there is a fairly constrained set of talking points about IF that most features feel they need to include:

1. Remember IF? I loved them. IF…

2. …started the computer game industry

3. …were killed by graphics cards

4. …are still being made!

5. …are still fun!

6. …are being sold by 1-2 individuals/companies

7. …are being created by a vibrant indie community

8. …are available on any computer imaginable

9. …might have some future in the cell/ipod/pda convergence

10. …can be downloaded like this

I haven.t yet written an IF Article Generator, but the code is, I feel, strongly implied by copious example outputs to be found in periodicals. I personally enjoy the 2-4-7-8 articles, and the 4-7-8-10s. I am indifferent to the 1-3-4-5s, and thoughtful about the 4-5-6-9s.