Suivez-nous sur X
|
|
|
0,
A,
B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G,
H,
I,
J,
K,
L,
M,
N,
O,
P,
Q,
R,
S,
T,
U,
V,
W,
X,
Y,
Z,
ALL
|
|
0,
A,
B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G,
H,
I,
J,
K,
L,
M,
N,
O,
P,
Q,
R,
S,
T,
U,
V,
W,
X,
Y,
Z
|
|
0,
A,
B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G,
H,
I,
J,
K,
L,
M,
N,
O,
P,
Q,
R,
S,
T,
U,
V,
W,
X,
Y,
Z
|
|
A propos d'Obligement
|
|
David Brunet
|
|
|
|
Interview with Damiano Gerli
(Interview conducted by David Brunet - February 2023)
|
|
Damiano Gerli is an Italian journalist, fan of retro computers. A few years ago,
he set up a site dedicated to this passion, called The Genesis Temple,
which is full of information and good stories. The readers of Obligement have been able to read the french
versions of some of his great files on the history of (Amiga) game companies like
Dynabyte,
Light Shock Software or
Trecision. But let's stop talking
and start with his interview...
Damiano Gerli
 Hello Damiano.
Can you introduce yourself?
Hey, I'm Damiano Gerli, freelance journalist and gaming historian from Italy, even though I currently live
in Sweden. I'm almost 40 and my main hobby, when I'm not writing all day, is baking and trying to recreate
Italian dishes with the few ingredients I can find over here. I also do Twitch streams every now and then,
focusing on games from Europe (Italy, France, Spain), you can catch me on
www.twitch.tv/thegenesistemple.
Damiano's workspace
For which
magazines and companies have you written so far? In the future, would you like to remain a freelance journalist
or join a professional team?
Too many to list frankly, from Ars Technica, Rock Paper Shotgun, Fanbyte (RIP) Switch Magazine, Kotaku,
VICE, Retro Gamer Magazine, Wireframe... At the moment, I'm actually doing both as I'm a staff writer
at Gfinity. But writing about gaming history is still my greatest passion and where I'm (trying to)
creating a career.
What was
the first video game you played? (on which computer/console?). Did you get hooked on the world of video
games right away, or did your passion come later?
Good question, as I have really no idea. It might be any of the games that were on the "pirate" Commodore 64
cassettes that my parents bought before I was even born. Perhaps it was Mancopter, or Burger Time, or
maybe a Space Invaders clone? Who knows! But I got hooked pretty much right away. While the game that would
seal the deal for me was Hopeless (on which I have written a
full article also interviewing the developer,
which was a real emotional moment for me).
Have you
owned or do you still own an Amiga? What does this machine mean to you?
No, unfortunately, never owned an Amiga, my only home computer was the Commodore 64 up until the late 1990s.
But it is a machine I used to play at a friend's house, so it reminds me of those distant afternoons where
we used to play Fate Of Atlantis and I marveled that a game could have so much plot and interesting things
to do (it never really clicked with me that it was an adventure game I think, I was like 9...).
You are the
author of The Genesis Temple, a site dedicated to video games and especially its preservation. Can you
present us your site? When and why did you launch it?
The Genesis Temple is and will always be my dearest creature. In its original form it was created all
the way back in 1997, a simple website made with Frontpage on Geocities where I used to feature Sega
games (then also C64 ones) and interview emulation developers and other people who were working in the
scene. Clearly, these were very simple interviews, as I was like 14. Now, The Genesis Temple has progressed
and for me it was a great new start, an entirely new career after years of doing another job entirely.
That's the main reason why I launched it: a fresh start.
Which
articles/interviews are you most proud of?
I already quoted the one on Hopeless, the other one would be the article on
Simulmondo.
That was when my
historical research went from being a hobby to a full-on serious work, since no one had attempted that
kind of research on the company before, not even in Italy. At several points, I was about to give up, since
I did not have much experience and was getting fed up with miscommunications and people taking forever to
reply. Luckily, I decided to persevere and I also have to thank some of the people in my life, like Viola,
who never gave up on me and told me to continue fighting for "the truth". It was worth it.
Do you plan
to make any changes to the site?
Well, one big change has already happened, I'm not going to feature anymore reviews of current games, as
that was a thing I used to do. Now, they have shifted on my other project,
Voxel Smash. The Temple will mainly remain as my way of writing
about history, ancient games and strange stuff I just want to write about. There is also another big
historical project in the works, I'll talk more about it when I can.
Can you tell
us some anecdotes or lesser known stories about the history of video games?
One of my favorite bits of trivia is how the original idea for Nippon Safes Inc, which was one of the first
important adventure games developed in Italy, actually came from Christian Cantamessa who later also designed
The Watchmaker. The developer then went on to not only came up with the idea for Manhunt (and there is an
interesting story that I'll write about that soon) but he was also the main designer of Red Dead Redemption.
Thinking about how one of Rockstar's most famous hits is actually connected with Nippon Safes Inc will never
cease to make me smile.
What are your
favorite games on Amiga?
I'd say probably Fate Of Atlantis, for reasons which I explained above and also - well - for being one of
the best adventure games ever developed by Lucasarts. I'd also say Defender Of The Crown, also another game
I played a lot as a child, along with It Came From The Desert (which probably held up better). Finally,
Mad TV is one of my favorite strategy games from the early 1990s, that's one game I so want to write a
little history of!
As we can see
on your site, Italy has had many good video game studios. What are your favorite Italian studio? And your
favorite Italian games?
Tough question... quality wise, I'd say the best were probably Graffiti/Milestone, in their early days
before they became a full-on factory of only racing games. They were also around at the time when I had my
PC so that is the main studio which games I played "at the right time", so to speak. Along with Screamer 2
and Rally, my favorite Italian game is probably Tony Tough And The Night Of Roasted Moths, which I'm writing
the history of and will be published soon(ish).
What do you
think of the retro video game phenomenon? What would you say to a young person, who only knows about recent
games, to make him know/love retro video games?
What I always say is that history is the greatest teacher of all, and that works for every facet of human
nature. So, if a young person would like to better understand where today's games came from and also witness
some of the most original ideas ever put to "bits", then they really can do themselves a favor and check out
some of the retro stuff. They surely won't be disappointed, especially since - as opposed to like 10/15 years
ago - today "simple" graphics are way more easier to digest, I think.
You grew up
with a C64. Which C64 game would you like to see adapted to modern consoles/computers?
Well, I partially got my wish with CHANGE being an update of sorts for Rags To Riches, so that's one down,
I would love to see a full-on remake of the Detective Game, perhaps even done in a simple engine like AGS.
A simple point and click like that would work wonderfully. But I believe I'll have to make it myself...
You wrote an
article about Mario, the Nintendo character. For you, has this character misrepresented the Italians?
While I don't have anything against Mario, I like the character, I believe he is part of an overall process of
trying to encompass all Italians under one single stereotype which, while not harmful, is indeed a bit tired.
Also, that usual stereotype actually comes from Italo-americans which really have little to do with Italy at
this point. Mario is a combination of Japanese and American stereotypes about Italians in a single package,
like the worst of both worlds. There have been companies forced to change mascots and slogans, recently, while
curiously Nintendo is still going strong with a character which originates from an old Japanese stereotype of
Italians. That sometimes weirds me out.
How do you
see the future of video games?
Fair question, I believe we are heading towards a future which is going to be more and more towards "cloud gaming",
which is a huge issue for preservation since there don't seem to be any significant attempts at changing that
aspect of the culture. People will be probably drawn more to these "quick" full-on online experiences, but
I do hope that the smaller indie (true indie) segment will still be able to thrive and find a way to make it
profitable for the developers.
Do you know
the Vampire/Apollo cards on Amiga? Do you think this kind of products could revive the Amiga in terms of video
games?
I think the Amiga at this point doesn't really have a future in gaming, at least not outside of the hobby/retro
field. It will be interesting to see new games produced on the machine, like some developers are doing on the
Sega Mega Drive for example, but I don't think there is a revival of sorts in the cards.
What do you
think of the new generation Amiga operating systems?
From what I've seen they look like interesting OS, I'm not sure how much they inherited from the original
Workbench but Amiga owners should be happy with them.
Do you follow
the Amiga actuality and have you played any recent Amiga games?
Not really, honestly. I have too much to do in trying to keep up with the old games I missed out on...
Is there a
question I didn't ask you, and that you want to answer to?
Yes, there is a usual question I get, so let's get it out of the way: "why doesn't Italy have a sizeable
gaming industry today?".
And the answer is: "Italy is culturally on a downward spiral. Since games are, still, a product of a nation's
own culture, no one is remotely interested in serious investments in the format. The few games we got from
the late 1980s and early 1990s were just born out of someone wanting to make money or a mere egotistical project,
rather than the will to produce games".
Do you have a
message for our readers?
Keep on gaming and remember that nostalgia is just a feeling, not a guide. :)
Editor's note: if you wish to help keep The Genesis Temple alive and running, be sure to check out
Damiano's Patreon.
|
