It’s no secret that technological advancements have altered the face of the gaming industry. Although modern-day creations offer smoother controls and clearer visuals, they lack the nostalgic thrill associated with disk operating system games. Despite the fact that the industry has grown considerably over the past few decades, it’s impossible to overlook the significance of DOS titles.
Even though retro titles aren’t the go-to option among the mainstream gaming community, it's fair to say that many popular present-day games wouldn’t exist without pre-existing DOS creations. In fact, the concepts for several leading titles from the 21st century date back to the 1980s and 1990s, when DOS gaming was all the rage. So, let’s consider how much modern-day gaming owes its success to disk operating systems.
Laying the Foundations for Contemporary Concepts
Developed by Microsoft in 1981, the disk operating system took the gaming world by storm during the early 1980s. During the DOS era, numerous iconic titles hit the market, including Doom, Prince of Persia, and Wolfenstein 3D. While each of these games proved popular at the time of their release, their importance gets overlooked. In 1989, Broderbund’s platformer, Prince of Persia, became available on the Apple II. The title was the first release in the series, and numerous games have since followed. It speaks volumes about the foundations laid by the 1989 title that Ubisoft are planning to release a Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake.
Prince of Persia isn’t the only DOS game to retain its popularity within the 21st century. In 1994, Bethesda Softworks released The Elder Scrolls: Arena before bringing out The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall three years later. Further Elder Scrolls games came to fruition during the 2000s, but the franchise’s best-selling title, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, hit the market in 2011. According to 24/7 Wall St., the ten-year-old creation is the 19th best-selling game of all time, selling around 30 million copies worldwide. Not only that, but some regard the open-world role-playing title as the best video game of all time.
Although not a sequel, numerous components in Skyrim first came to the surface in older releases, and that’s what’s made the series so successful. Even though Elder Scrolls V attracted gamers' interest like no other game in the franchise, it still owes a lot to Arena and Daggerfall.
How Have Present-Day Releases Retained Their Popularity?
In the mainstream, few can argue that modern-day titles aren’t more popular than their counterparts from the DOS era. However, it’s worth noting that in-game strategies to retain gamers' interest also date back to the 1980s and 1990s, and Skyrim is a prime example of that. In Arena, The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages state that bonus modifiers increase when players invest five points in the attribute in question, such as endurance or speed. In Skyrim, meanwhile, gamers receive in-game bonus perks for completing associated quests. Moreover, users also get variable Rested bonuses depending on where they sleep.
Away from single-player games, this is also true of Elder Scrolls Online, which is a massively multiplayer online title. Bethesda Softworks occasionally hosts bonus XP periods during in-game events, such as the New Life Festival. Not only does this incentivise participation, but it also encourages new players to create an account and begin their journey from citizen to grand overlord.
Along with retaining numerous bonus-offering elements from the DOS gaming era, titles like Elder Scrolls Online have also taken inspiration from other entertainment streams. In becoming one of the fastest-growing markets, online casinos have long embraced an incentivised approach to expanding their audience base. Nowadays, the best online casino bonuses for 2021 are on offer at numerous trusted operators. Along with welcome bonuses, modern-day platforms also offer reload and cashback bonuses, which are available to existing bettors. Within the sector, players can benefit from playing their way, and that’s also true of Elders Scrolls Online and Skyrim.
What Could Have Been Without DOS?
While there are no guarantees that a Skyrim-like game wouldn’t have risen to prominence as a standalone title, few can argue that Arena and Daggerfall didn’t create the foundations for success. Even though DOS games are getting lost among the plethora of advanced modern-day titles, it's impossible to overlook that the industry owes many of its triumphs to late-20th century concepts.
