I'd just like to point out that “Reagan-Era” is very American coded. It's not going to mean much to people outside the US. If someone said “Thatcher-era” how many Americans would know what that meant?
It's certainly true that Americans tend to have a USA-centric tunnel vision view of the game industry, and many who are passionate about the medium still have huge blind spots about developments elsewhere. Tristan Donovan's book Replay: The History of Video Games was eye opening for me, and I recommend it to everyone who wants a broader perspective on the history of the medium in other parts of the world. [link to an excerpt below] But in this particular case, I think "Reagan-era" is accurate because the game in question is very much a critique of that particular US president and his policies. I think it'd be appropriate for someone writing a retrospective on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image or the Elvis Costello album Spike or the game Wanted: Monty Mole to situate it in the Thatcher-era, because those works were all commenting on her and her policies. This feels like a similar situation to me.
I'm always happy to see Steve Meretzky getting some extra attention - and A Mind Forever Voyaging is such an interesting game to discuss!
One other aside worth mentioning (this is what comments are for, right!) is Meretzky can be seen in MC Frontalot's video "It is Pitch Dark" around the 3:30 mark, which is just incredible.
Still have it on my shelf.
I'd just like to point out that “Reagan-Era” is very American coded. It's not going to mean much to people outside the US. If someone said “Thatcher-era” how many Americans would know what that meant?
Gaming spread much further than America.
It's certainly true that Americans tend to have a USA-centric tunnel vision view of the game industry, and many who are passionate about the medium still have huge blind spots about developments elsewhere. Tristan Donovan's book Replay: The History of Video Games was eye opening for me, and I recommend it to everyone who wants a broader perspective on the history of the medium in other parts of the world. [link to an excerpt below] But in this particular case, I think "Reagan-era" is accurate because the game in question is very much a critique of that particular US president and his policies. I think it'd be appropriate for someone writing a retrospective on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image or the Elvis Costello album Spike or the game Wanted: Monty Mole to situate it in the Thatcher-era, because those works were all commenting on her and her policies. This feels like a similar situation to me.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160310110413/https://www.wired.com/2010/06/sinclair-zx80/
I'm always happy to see Steve Meretzky getting some extra attention - and A Mind Forever Voyaging is such an interesting game to discuss!
One other aside worth mentioning (this is what comments are for, right!) is Meretzky can be seen in MC Frontalot's video "It is Pitch Dark" around the 3:30 mark, which is just incredible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nigRT2KmCE
AH good point, and I should probably link to Get Lamp documentary as well…THANKS!