I’m curious to see how you all got started with the vidya, so feel free to copy this post’s format if you want.

Childhood
When I was three years old, my father bought me a NES. My mother objected, but Dad insisted that it would be good for my hand/eye coordination. That tiny event, which took place almost twenty years ago, was the most influential event in my early life. If I hadn’t become interested in video games, I would have never become interested in all things electronic, which would convince me to start tinkering with computers, which would lead to me getting my A+ certification at a fairly young age, which would inspire me to pursue a degree in Computer Technology at Purdue. Also, I would have never become a young basement-dweller, which would lead my parents to forcing me into middle school band, which would introduce me to a vast majority of my pre-college friends, which would lead me to doing marching band, which would force me to get in shape, and on and on and on.

But I’m rambling. Let’s talk about the vidya. (continue reading…)

Quest for Glory, the brainchild series of a couple who I assume were wiccan or something, was published by Sierra as part of their Sierra Adventures line. They’re essentially adventure games with RPG elements.  Or maybe RPGs with adventure game elements, it’s hard to say.

The story begins with the main character, the avatar, the Ego as it were, referred to as Devon Aidendale in the official strategy guide, having just graduated from the famous Adventurer’s Correspondence School for (Fighters/Wizards/Thieves).  He sees a bulletin posted that the town of Spielburg needs a hero ASAP, no experience required.  Looking to become a hero, he sets off on a quest which will eventually send him on a journey all over the world, righting wrongs, slaying beasts, and possibly robbing the houses of some innocent folk.

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I came into Halo Wars with high hopes and dreams of a masterly crafted RTS, and I expected it to be a bit dumbed down because hey it’s a console real time strategy game. There was a lot of stigma attached to Halo Wars for that reason, and for the reason that a lot of people expected it to fail because they believed the Halo audience didn’t have the patience for Halo Wars. Halo Wars didn’t make it out as well as Halo 3 did, of course anyone could predict that. However the question remains.. is it good?

Some people will dismiss it without playing it and those people suck, if you’re going to bash a game, at least try it first. That being said, Halo Wars, believe it or not, is a good game. The missions are interesting, and even challenging, and everything just seems right. Let’s run through some of the strong points.
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While Goldanas has already posted a thread about the onset of age and how it affects the vidya, I would like to throw in a little parallel to his personal feelings.

One thing I am beginning to get bent out of shape over is the kind of legacy I will leave. My entire childhood and most of what I would now call my adulthood has been spent with the vidya. For better or worse, my past is tied to the vidya. One of the big apprehensions I have about one day not playing video games is the fact that I will, in essence, be killing off what has been a large part of both my history and identity.

At the same time however, because our childhoods were electronic, they can be effectively captured in our various forms of modern media storage. With the advent of emulators, all of the games of your childhood, regardless of when you were born, become available. While this is very comforting, it is also very frightening. It seems scary to me that the exact experience can be immediately transferred to someone else. Perhaps this is why I have been putting more emphasis on the tactile aspect of my childhood.

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I often remember the N64 being the best console I ever owned, that isn’t to say that this generation is complete shit, but it lacks that certain pizzaz that we had back in the days of the Playstation 1, the N64, and the Sega Dreamcast (rest in peace). I often also find myself remembering back to some of the great games that I really enjoyed when I had owned an N64. This is one of those rememberances.

Racing games nowadays seem to be more about who can be more realistic in terms of car dynamics and have the best graphics. What ever happened to games like Carmaggedon, Twisted Metal, Star Wars Episode 1: Pod Racer, and Extreme G. Shoot, what ever happened to games like Road Rash? Road Rash was probably one of the best experiences I had with a racing game because it wasn’t afriad to push the boundaries what’s acceptable.

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Way, way, back when I used to play Counter-Strike and Day of Defeat frequently on Steam, I found out about a Half-Life mod that my friends were talking about. The mod was called Natural Selection. What is Natural Selection you ask? Well my friend, it’s like Alien vs. Predator, only it’s not a movie, and it doesn’t suck.

Natural Selection is a mix of strategy and first person shooter, as often you find that unless you plan how you attack, and you play how you play with your teammates, you’ll die almost every time. Going back to the AvP comment, it essentially is the same thing, you can play as a human or an alien. Your abilities develop as you level up from successful kills. As a human you use technology to better yourself, as an alien you use natual ablilties that grow as you play. Once you reach the commander possition for the human side, you command 5 soliders together, and this alone offers a real unique experience as far as first person shooters go. Aliens evolve to include ablilites like cloaking and additional tracking methods, and along with those ablilites come a change in shape. You start off as a kind of headcrab, then evolve to run on walls, fly, and become big enough to eat human soliders whole (1 HIT KILL!).

The graphics are a bit outdated, but as far as gameplay goes, Natural Selection is very original, and completely free. They’re also working on a Source version of the game which I hope turns out to be better than the original. This game really represents the whole theme of “learn to adapt and evolve, or die out”.

Tired of killing creatures such as goblins, elves, druids, etc.? Then do I have a game for you. Fallout 2 is a game that’s totally revolutionary; with a post apocalyptic world, violence, and a lot of side quests.There’s an infinite amount of things to do in this game, which will make you want to play through it several times.
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CPL, CAL, MLG, WGS, TWL, ED, i38.. stop me if you’re getting bored already. Here, I will attempt to provide you all a little insight into what ‘Pro’ gaming actually is, the people– the money (or lack thereof), the fame and the failures.

2009 is the year, and we’ve got teams all over the bloody shop. MeetYourMakers, Fnatic, Complexity 20ID, Salvo, Dignitas, 4K, Reason and the list trails off into the ether with some successful.. and some less successful pro gaming teams. What does this mean? Does this mean professional gaming is now viable as a career? Can you earn money for headshots in todays world? Will I ever stop name dropping? How many commas can I write before you close this tab? Hit the jump to find out. (continue reading…)

Alundra 2 is a great action/adventure game with some RPG elements. Alundra 2 can and will disappoint fans of the first game because it doesn’t follow the first game. It’s just another sequel that uses the name of a famous franchise to sell more.

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With the recent release of Street Fighter IV, and with The King of Fighters XII and BlazBlue on the horizon, the next year is looking bright for gaming’s purest form of one on one competition.  The 2D fighting genre doesn’t garner the same respect as it’s 3D counterpart, but with the resurgence in popularity it’s sure to receive from the release of a new Street Fighter game, now’s as good a time as any to familiarize yourself with the high points in the genre’s history.  And they are, in no particular order:

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

Street Fighter II is the classic that truly kicked off the entire genre.  HD Remix is a gorgeous update to the best version of said game.  As most gamers are aware, this game captured the arcade scene of the early nineties, devoured millions upon millions of quarters, and nearly made “shoryuken” a household term.  While the gameplay feels understandably dated (relying too heavily on a game of meaty attacks and reversals), it’s still the best fighter of its era and remains surprisingly playable to this day.  Whether you’re a SFII virgin or a seasoned vet, it’s certainly worth revisiting to see where it all began (in glorious HD, no less).

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