In this era of 60-hour video games and Cell processors, it’s easy to forget a small band of dedicated geeks who kept us from touching ourselves too much in high school. People like Richard Garriott created computerized worlds that not only paved the way for games like World of Warcraft and Custer’s Revenge but singlehandedly built the computer gaming industry into the cultural and economic behemoth it is today. Say all you want about Doom and Quake, friends. Akalabeth was the real grandaddy of gaming.

The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part I: The Early Years (1980-1983) [ArmchairArcade]