Frontline

with Philippa Irving

Philippa Irving

THE NEW BROOM

Having temporarily forsaken the spires of Oxford for the winding alleyways of Ludlow, it’s time for me to introduce myself as the new frontline columnist. Although adventure games are now well-understood as a genre and catered for in most magazines in a specialised way, strategy software doesn’t usually meet with the same depth of treatment.

In a recent edition of another Spectrum magazine, a wargame review opened with an apology for the fact that it was one, and an assurance that despite everything it was quite a good game. It’s difficult to imagine an adventure being treated like this, and yet what might be called pure strategy games are just as different from the ‘arcade sector’.

I believe that all kinds of games, ‘minority’ or not, should have specialised treatment, and so I’m happy to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Sean Masterton. As everyone knows, the life of an Oxford student is hectically divided between punting on the Isis, going to college balls, being thrown into Christ Church fountain and smashing up restaurants. Despite these demands on my time I’m sure I’ll manage to fit in editing FRONTLINE. Next month I’ll be talking about the relationship between strategy and adventure software and the non-computer gaming hobby, so let’s have your views on that.