I used to be a lurker on Twitch but now I have actually made an account and started watching some content on there. I have to say that the site impresses me. Unlike YouTube, it is better run and is easier on the eyes.
Dune Awakening is one of the most played games on Twitch in June 2025.
What makes Twitch different from YouTube is the community. While there are bots on the platform, it is clear that this site cares about user engagement and experiences over just raking in the ad revenue. Unlike on YouTube, the site has a reasonable number of ads and then do not take up hours. They are also not as obnoxious as they are on YouTube.
Another thing that I like about Twitch is that even after many years, the site is still for gamers and creative people. They have not sold out completely as YouTube had early on in the site’s history.
This is still a place where imagination still feels fresh and interesting. That is what makes Twitch have something that many other sites do not have; a sense of community and organic growth.
Another great thing is that there are not tons of irrelevant videos popping up in the recommendations.
This is truly a site for the creative and I hope to build a home here.
When I look at all these streams on Twitch, I see an outpouring of creativity which has been sorely lacking on the internet for quite some time.
In 2003, a spiritual successor to Empire Earth was released. It was known as Empires: Dawn of the Modern World and it is an intriguing game. Made by the same people who made Empire Earth, Stainless Steel Studios, it is game that refines Empire Earth by giving it a new coat of paint. That paint is quite effective and transforms Empire Earth into a lush if somewhat more shallow game.
Unlike Empire Earth 2, which sought to push the franchise into the direction of being more like Rise of Nations vs its original game, Empires takes what made Empire Earth successful and refines it.
In Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, every civilization has their own unique architecture and some even have unique structures.
Empires plays very similarly to Empire Earth. Much like many other RTS in that era, it is mainly about the military rather than the economics. Empire Earth 2 would have a much greater emphasis on economics. Empires in fact simplifies the resource mix in the game. Iron has been taken out of the game. Population is not dependent on technology anymore and is simply built through houses. This simplifying makes the game easier to play though it lacks some of the depth of Empire Earth and especially the sequel, Empire Earth 2.
The game has beautiful reflections and water effects, especially when you consider that the game came out in 2003 and just two years after Empire Earth.
The game plays quite well and does not require reading a manual in order to learn is mechanics.
Some civilizations are easier than others. England for example, allows you to build any building without need the citizen to participate in the process of building. England also can build mining camps on stone and gold mines in order to mine them automatically without needing citizens at those camps to been getting the resources with their pickaxes.
Empires has a neat gameplay mechanic where roads are automatically built whenever you build a building close to another one, making the game seem more stylistically interesting than Empire Earth.
The civilizations are all unique but I think they sometimes make the game too easy, especially on some maps and difficulty settings.
The game has some really beautiful skyboxes.
What is remarkable about this game is its skyboxes. They are truly beautiful to look at in this game. While the game has some of those angular landscapes, I remember that it is a early 2000s game and not Oblivion Remastered with Unreal Engine powering it. This is the charm of these games that were made in that era. This same sentiment is why Oblivion Remastered managed to sell so many copies within its release.
The small details in Empires is what makes it special to me. Look at the clock on the England Town Center. It is not simply static, it actually moves
What the game is probably best at it is graphics, most importantly the presentation of those graphics.
Graphics are much more effective when you have good presentation of how the graphics work in a game. Instead of just plastering good graphics everywhere, using them effectively is what makes a good game a great game.
Empires is that great game and while it may more simplistic, the character and charm of this great game can be found in those graphics.
In the screenshot above, you can see English Town center towards the left of the screen. The hands of the clock in the tower actually move in the game. Other nice touches are that when a house or fortress is garrisoned with citizens or soldiers, you will see a flag appear next to that building. Such visual presentations were also seen in Empire Earth 2.
The game has many map types and it looks better than the original Empire Earth, especially with the interaction of the water coming onto the beaches.
Empires is a very nice early 2000s game in its landscapes. The greenery of the forest one is better than the desert one in my opinion, but they are both one of the game’s strengths.
In the screenshot above which takes place on the Peloponnese map, which is a unique map type one does not see often in video games. It is a map type which simulates Greece’s most famous area which is filled with highlands and seas on both sides. Here you can see two vicars and three longbowmen on the top of a mountain near a sea. This is the game’s graphics at its best. Unlike Empire Earth’s graphics palette, the greenery in this game looks more appealing. This is quite impressive considering that the game came out only roughly two years after the original Empire Earth.
The graphics close up in this game are truly beautiful and have like wine. Unlike Empire Earth, they are not too rough.
Another nice touch in this game is that the roads are automatically built between buildings. Such little additions are what gave Empires its character back when it was released. Unlike Empire Earth, I feel like its 3D graphics are nice and cleaner to look at and that is why I think that some players prefer playing it.
The coastline in this game is probably one of the strongest in aesthetical presentation I have seen in this era of RTS games.
Empires: Dawn of the Modern World is a magnificent game that is well worth playing in 2025, especially with the dearth of RTS games on the market now. It is a fun game with just the right amount of complexity to keep casual players interested in the gameplay and coming back for more experiences.
The video game market in other countries has always been interesting to me. With the usage of machine translators, the ecommerce cultures of other countries become more available to outsiders.
The world of Norway, one of the world’s most intriguing countries. I am interested in how the small country manages to create its own cyber culture.
Norway: A Country missing the Cyberspace?
Norway is a wealthy country in a sense but it is not wealthy in a Qatar sense. Qatar may not have as many EVs but it is a country that is focused on the future not maintaining the past. Norway’s social welfare and culture is seen in high regard by some but it clear that is starting to run into stagnation and the internet seems to be passing by the Nordic country. Yes, they have fast internet speeds, but the internet is more than having quick speeds, it needs to be integrated into the way that the country interacts with the world. In many ways, these European countries tend to treat the internet like it is an extension of the television establishment rather than its own thing that is separate from those older forms here.
Enter Retrospillkongen
Retrospillkongen.no is a Norwegian retro gaming website. In a country of 5 million people, this website helps to bridge the gap for a country that is wealthy yet paradoxically is not exactly in the right place for commerce.
Retrospillkongen.no is a Norwegian company serving Norwegian needs and it reminds of the many retro gaming stores dotted across America.
Retrospill Kongen is very appealing site to read. Unlike other sites, it is not full of ads and auto-playing videos. The color scheme is easy on the eyes and it seems to reference Japanese aesthetics which makes sense, considering how important Nintendo was with revitalizing the industry after the crash in the early 1980s.
Retro Gaming is popular in Norway?
As the video game industry continues to stagnate and people are not as confident in it as it once was. In my opinion, the video game industry has become a lethargic place lacking any sense of direction. Only a couple games show any vision. Grand Theft Auto VI, while risky in its production cost, actually seems to have competence behind its making. It is like an interactive movie, the likes of what Hollywood used to make.
Norway having an interest in retro gaming is no surprise. The country unfortunately never really had any major companies in the video game landscape except for a few companies such as Funcom, which just recently released the Dune Awakening game.
Retrospillkongen is another example of the power of the internet.
People have a tendency in this age to be cynical about the internet now. There ads like there are gas stations on every corner; however, this site shows that people have to be willing to make the effort to commit to changing the digital nature of the internet. Big companies only have such power on the internet because we allow it. The Internet is ultimately about collaboration and healthy conflict, not stale stagnation. Retrospillkongen should be inspiration for other small nations put their own mark on the Internet we all enjoy in this epoch.
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