Sunday, December 25, 2022
Lookback at 2022
I update this blog once every two weeks, and this year the second update of December falls right on Christmas Day itself. I didn't want to break the two week cycle but the idea of doing a standard post didn't feel quite right. After trying and failing to come up with a suitably seasonal idea I've decided to take inspiration from CRASH's annual Lookbacks and simply take stock of the blog itself.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
Design Design / Crystal
125 Smedley Road, Manchester, M8
"I look upon Design-Design as a viable commune," S. Brattel.
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There was always something different about Design Design (née Crystal). The games were great but the twiddly bits round the edges seemed more important; obscure references on high score tables, the password to SPECTACLE, was/is Big Simon taller than Kevin Toms, and so on. Design Design built a loyal fanbase on these details and through a good relationship with CRASH magazine cultivated a reputation as a subversive company who were seriously irreverent about games. I'm tap dancing around the word cult here, because that's a term normally associated with niche interests and Design Design were never niche.
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