Eric-Jon Rössel Waugh of Next Generation has another excellent feature out, this time about five legendary game companies that bit the dust--or, as Waugh puts it, a tribute to "five fallen icons of the videogame industry." In case you're wondering, the icons in question are Atari, Origin, Sierra On-Line, Black Isle Studios, and Looking Glass Studios. All of these companies made outstanding games, and I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about their rise and fall--and contemplating how things would look now if these companies were still with us. He ends the piece on a powerful and insightful note:

It's the Western industry that concerns me. We've lost all our old guard. Over here it's like you can't do anything right, you can't innovate, you can't change the world without someone steering you over a cliff or absorbing you into the great corporate sponge. Where are our Capcoms, our Nintendos, our Namcos, our Konamis? Where are our Enixes, our Segas? We don't got none. They're all dead. No leaders here.

Go read the piece! I'll warn you, though, it'll probably get you mad about the current state of things...Too much money in the game industry for true creativity to emerge--the "suits" run things now, not the wacky eccentrics of the early days.