Tag Archives: Andy Hollis

This is a weird setting. You see I got sucked into a video (on YouTube) regarding the September 11th event and every year I see the same things passing by and usually I ignore them, not because I don’t care, but because it tends to be mass creators. And I am not really into that. This being said, this time I let it happen because it was 25 years ago. I remember that day 25 years ago decently. I was sitting in a bar (at lunchtime) in Stockholm consuming my wrap with Bamse and Potatismos. When Fox (or CNN) came up with the news, ignoring what I was doing and I saw the impact of the first plane. I ran upstairs and got the girls (fellow workers) Eva and Anneli and we were seeing the impact the first plane made and I immediately called the New York office to ask what they saw (we had an office in the Empire State Building) but I actually didn’t know to which side of the city they were looking and even as we were talking the second plane hit. We saw it live on TV. This was the moment I knew that the United States were under attack. There is no way this happens twice within the span of an hour (I actually didn’t know how much time had passed) but the terrorist setting was clear to me. It would be hours before I learned the the Pentagon was hit too. But I also saw that this was a failed attempt. I reckon that bin Laden had intended to let the two towers burn like matches so through the night that terror would get the people of the United States by the heart. But then the failure struck. The towers collapsed and the terror turned into anger and hate in an instance and that was when bin Laden decided into finding a place wherever he could hide, because only the Japanese know what an angry United States feels like and they did find out (the hard way) and if you want to see that impact watch Zero Dark Thirty, an excellent movie by Kathryn Bigelow. But this is not about that. You see, I always feel the urge of a game I bought in 1988 by Andy Hollis (a founding member of Microprose) the game was Kennedy Approach, I had the CBM64 edition.

And I never stop being amazed how he got this game working in only 64KB of memory and that it still tingles my mind is basically unheard of, that is the impact of a great game. And I wonder why this wasn’t set into the new systems (you know PS5, Nintendo Switch) and that is the real worry and also the path to amazement. Because whenever I hear that I hear people say “that game made me interested in being an Air Traffic Controller”. It is not a leap because even as the graphics were low standard (by even the definitions of 1988), but the issue is that this game tingles the imagination and nowadays, whilst some players are trying to get to ‘rejuvenate’ their old games and some still wake up the jolt of the old achievements (like Oblivion remastered) and the only game that really woke up the feelings of the old game was David Braben who turned Elite into Elite Dangerous giving us 600% more of a game that was a stretch from the start. I reckon that And Hollis could do the same, even if it only improves the ‘smooth’ graphics. Optionally he could add Amsterdam International, Arlanda (Stockholm), Heathrow (London) and optionally Dubai International Airport, Sydney International, and a few more. It might aid the new player if it was a little more educational as well, an option that could be ‘unlocked’ by finishing the first airport which I believe was Dallas/Fort Worth, some say it was Atlanta, but I do not remember that level. 

But the setting is clear in a sea of wannabe innovators who want to innovate gaming (by giving us Galaga on a tablet) games like Kennedy Approach should be on the forefront of their mind and I reckon that taking an educational sidestep might also encourage people to take that path. There is something of a disheartening side to the conversation “You did great at math, you have inside, you have what it takes to be a traffic controller ” I don’t know about you, but that comes across as a little anti climactic but that might be merely me. And the international setting could entice a lot more people and the educational side of it might give more people that vibe of “This seems rather wow (not World of Warcraft)” and the idea that a game still has appeal after 38 years and not just with me, should get the investors running for their purse to get this started. Well actually I reckon that Andy could afford all this with his own pennies, but there is the setting that he might get a game developer like Saudi Arabia involved. And they would love to get their hands on an original developer and even as it is ‘set’ as it is considered a highly respected classic. It got 85% to 90% rating and that is what I think is needed to revamp an original game onto a new classic and as I see it, it would hit well with the Nintendo Switch crowd which is presently around 156.59 million units worldwide as of June 30, 2026 only 4 million below the PS2 which is currently the global number one and I reckon that this record is broken when we consider switch lite as well. But the Switch is still being sold, so I have no doubt that they will break the PS2 global record this year. As such it should bow clear that the Nintendo Switch is the preferred system and the original fitted on a 360KB floppy, as such it could easily be sold in the Nintendo store and on physical media. As such, why did no one else think of that?

As I see it (and as we see failing design settings on nearly all consoles) the idea of revamping these old games could be the ticket for any developer of video games. It is just my way of keeping the old ideas alive and if one developer (David Braben) can do it, so can several others. You just need to keep it out of the fingers of these wannabe developers who think that the latest graphics are the ticket to quick profit. That is unlikely to happen. But the setting of great graphic games can be the ticket if the rest was awesome too. A example is Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021), which I picked up again as I never got it finished 100% and Wolverine is coming up today, as such I thought it would be a great idea to get another game finished 100% and I am making splendid waves at present. I finished the game at least 4 times and I had a blame blast every time I played it. That makes for an awesome game. And Insomniac does know how to make great games, as such there is plenty to game in 2026. Wouldn’t it be great that some of the great CBM64 games would make a reentry? Especially as we are focussed on the less than half a dozen titles at present? Just food for thought, have a great day today.