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LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 4: The Publishing Business

by Beat Suter

LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher:
Part 1 – A comprehensive list of LINEL’S games
Part 2 – Collaborations and unreleased games
Part 3 – People and Work at LINEL
Part 4 – The Publishing Business

The following text originally appeared here.

LINEL was a software developer and publisher based in Switzerland. The label was active from 1987 to 1995. Part 1 of this essay established a complete list of all games that were published and distributed by the Swiss company LINEL. Part 2 pieces together LINEL’s international collaborations with other publishers and developers and uncovers the games that were never released. Part 3 takes a closer look at founder Markus Grimmer and the developers, studios, and distributors Grimmer’s LINEL worked with in those years.

Part 4 will focus on the publishing business with the physical production of the commercial games, distribution and marketing strategies and communication efforts by LINEL.

Continue reading LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 4: The Publishing Business

LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 3: From Eureka! to the Neverending Story – People and Work at LINEL

by Beat Suter

LINEL – Swiss Game Publisher:
Part 1 – A comprehensive list of LINEL’S games
Part 2 – Collaborations and unreleased games
Part 3 – People and Work at LINEL
Part 4 – Publishing and Marketing (expected)

The following text originally appeared here. 

LINEL was a software developer and game publisher based in Switzerland. The label was active from 1987 to 1995. Part 1 of this essay established a complete list of all games that were published and distributed by the Swiss company LINEL. Part 2 pieces together LINEL’s international collaborations with other publishers and developers and uncovers the games that were never released. Part 3 takes a closer look at founder Markus Grimmer and the developers, studios, and distributors Grimmer’s LINEL worked with in those years.

Continue reading LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 3: From Eureka! to the Neverending Story – People and Work at LINEL

Fallstudie: Ball Raider (Golden Gate Crew/Diamond Software/Robtek, 1987, Amiga)

von Aurelia Brandenburg, Adrian Demleitner, Arno Görgen, Addrich Mauch und Eugen Pfister

Einleitung

Die Fallstudie von Necronom (Lunatic Software/Linel, 1991, Amiga) erschien zwar diesen März als erste Fallstudie auf unserem Blog1, aber sie war nicht die erste, an der wir gemeinsam in unserem Projekt gearbeitet haben. Bereits ein Jahr zuvor, im März 2023 und kurz nach Beginn unseres Forschungsprojektes, haben wir uns gemeinsam ans Spielen und Analysieren von Ball Raider (Golden Gate Crew/Diamond Software/Robtek, 1987, Amiga) gesetzt. Das Spiel ist eine Breakout-Variante für den Amiga aus dem Jahr 1987. Es war in vielerlei Hinsicht ein erstes Kennenlernen für uns. Es war das erste Mal, dass wir gemeinsam an einem Text arbeiteten. Es war das erste Mal, dass wir gemeinsam spielten. Es war das erste Mal, dass wir vor der Herausforderung standen, wie wir uns am besten ein Amigaspiel aus den 1980er Jahren erfahrbar machen könnten. (Zu dem Zeitpunkt hatten wir noch keinen Amiga in unserem Gamelab). Nun, aller Anfang ist schwer und wir lernten aus unseren Fehlern. Unsere ersten Spielerfahrungen mit Ball Raider sammelten wir auf unseren modernen Windows PCs und MacBooks mittels des sehr zugänglichen FS-UAE Amiga Emulators. Es war eine harte Schule. Nur kurz darauf beschafften wir uns unsere Joysticks. Das Spiel erschien uns unnachgiebig schwer. Nun, das ist es auch bis zu einem gewissen Grad. Allerdings lernten wir auch, was für einen Unterschied es machte, Ball Raider über den Emulator zu spielen oder auf einem Amiga.

Continue reading Fallstudie: Ball Raider (Golden Gate Crew/Diamond Software/Robtek, 1987, Amiga)

  1. Brandenburg, Aurelia / Demleitner, Adrian / Görgen, Arno  / Mauch, Addrich / Pfister, Eugen. “Case Study: Necronom (Lunatic Software/Linel, 1991, Amiga)”. Confoederatio Ludens. 28.03.2024. https://doi.org/10.58079/w4dm. []

LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 2: Collaborations and Unreleased Games

by Beat Suter

LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher:
Part 1 – A comprehensive list of LINEL’S games
Part 2 – Collaborations and unreleased games
Part 3 – Working for LINEL – is in progress

The following text originally appeared here. (First published on CH Ludens on 19.10.2023, now in a new, significally extended version from 10.06.2024.)

LINEL was a software developer and publisher based in Switzerland. The label was active from 1987 to 1995. Part 1 of this essay tried to establish a complete list of all games that were published and distributed by the Swiss company LINEL. Part 2 pieces together LINEL’s international collaborations with other publishers and developers and uncovers the games that were never released.

Continue reading LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 2: Collaborations and Unreleased Games

LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 1: A complete list of LINEL’s games

by Beat Suter

LINEL – Swiss Game Publisher:
Part 1 – A comprehensive list of LINEL’S games
Part 2 – Collaborations and unreleased games
Part 3 – Working for LINEL – is in progress

The following text originally appeared here. (First published on CH Ludens on 11.10.2023, now in a new, significally extended version from 29.05.2024.)

LINEL was a software developer and publisher based in Switzerland. The label was active from 1987 to 1995. Part 1 of this essay tries to establish a complete list of all games that were published and distributed by the Swiss company LINEL.

Continue reading LINEL – a Swiss Game Publisher 1: A complete list of LINEL’s games

“The Feel of Sweaty Fingers” – The CH LUDENS Team’s First Memories of Digital Games

by the CH Ludens Team

How did we as scientists become what we are today? Where does our interest in digital games come from? Join us on a short autobiographical journey to the ludic beginnings of the CH LUDENS team.

Continue reading “The Feel of Sweaty Fingers” – The CH LUDENS Team’s First Memories of Digital Games

Le salon “Computer” de Lausanne. Partie 5 : Quand le jeu vidéo ne fait pas évènement

par Pierre-Yves Hurel


Contexte : Cet article fait partie du dossier à propos du salon lausannois “Computer”

  • Dans le premier (lien), j’ai présenté mes choix méthodologiques, le corpus étudié et les principales périodes du salon.
  • Dans le second article (lien), je relate comment cette foire était intégrée dans un contexte de rivalité régionale.
  • Dans le troisième article (lien), j’étudie les entreprises présentes sur le salon.
  • De le quatrième article (lien), je relate les ambiguités de Computer dans son adresse au grand public, ainsi que l’ouverture relative au domaine culturel.
  • Dans ce cinquième article, j’étudie la place tenue que le jeu vidéo semble avoir occupé au sein du salon.

Nous l’avons vu lors des articles précédents, le jeu vidéo n’est pas au centre de l’attention du salon lausannois de l’informatique « Computer ». Une première lecture superficielle du corpus pourrait même pousser à croire en son absence totale. Et pourtant, à y regarder de plus près du côté des illustrations, des termes génériques et des CD-ROM interactifs, le salon semble bien avoir été, un peu malgré lui, un vecteur de diffusion de jeux vidéo en Suisse romande. Continue reading Le salon “Computer” de Lausanne. Partie 5 : Quand le jeu vidéo ne fait pas évènement

The “Computer” exhibition of Lausanne. Part 5: When video games are no event.

par Pierre-Yves Hurel


Context : This paper is part of a dossier about the “Computer” exhibition, taking place in Lausanne 1978-2004.  

  • In the first part (link), I presented my methodological choices, the media corpus, and the main periods of  the “Computer” exhibition.
  • In the second part (link), I have shown to what extent the show became part of a regional rivalry.
  • In the third part (link), I listed the companies attending the “Computer” fair and showed its clientele.
  • In the fourth part (link), I showed the deep ambivalence of the targeted audience and the slow intrusion of cultural aspects in the exhibition.
  • In this fifth part, I will be studying the place that video games occupied at the fair.

As we’ve seen in my previous articles, video games were not exactly in the focus of attention of the “Computer” exhibition in Lausanne. At a first cursory glance, you might even think they were missing completely. And yet, on closer inspection the show does seem to have been, somewhat despite itself, a moment of dissemination for video games in French-speaking Switzerland. Continue reading The “Computer” exhibition of Lausanne. Part 5: When video games are no event.

Le salon “Computer” de Lausanne. Partie 4 : Aux marges : le grand public et la culture

by Pierre-Yves Hurel


Contexte : Cet article fait partie du dossier à propos du salon lausannois “Computer”

  • Dans le premier article de cette serie (lien), j’ai présenté mes choix méthodologiques, le corpus étudié et les principales périodes du salon d’exhibition.
  • Dans le second article (lien), je relate comment cette foire était intégrée dans un contexte de rivalité régionale.
  • Dans le troisième article (lien), j’étudie les entreprises présentes sur le salon.
  • De ce quatrième article, je relate les ambiguités de Computer dans son adresse au grand public, ainsi que l’ouverture relative au domaine culturel.
  • De nouveaux articles seront publiés dans les prochaines semaines.
  •  

A qui s’adresse le salon lausannois de l’informatique « Computer » ? A première vue, pour qui a lu les articles précédents, la réponse semble entendue : aux professionnels. Plus surprenants sont alors la récurrence et la vigueur avec laquelle les organisateurs doivent le répéter. C’est que, pendant des années, la foule, le tout-venant, les amateurs, le public familial doivent être explicitement rejetés… avant un revirement tardif.

Continue reading Le salon “Computer” de Lausanne. Partie 4 : Aux marges : le grand public et la culture

CH Ludens Starts Collecting Historical Gaming Magazines

by Aurelia Brandenburg

Researching the history of digital games means, among other things, researching the discourses about games in gaming magazines. For that, the Bern Team of CH Ludens is starting a collection of physical copies of gaming magazines in German (primarily) published in the 1980s and 1990s. This post serves as a living document for this collection, and we will update the list below as we start acquiring individual magazine issues.

There also is a German version of this post which can be found here. Continue reading CH Ludens Starts Collecting Historical Gaming Magazines