Friday, October 09, 2009

Gamer DNA

Following a friend's example, here is the evidence of my gamer DNA as it has developed over the years, from the humble origins of Atari 2600 to the latest, greatest offering for XBOX 360:

Adventure was where it all started for me, a deceptively simple D&D quest complete with roaring dragons!

Anybody worth their spit at school had already beaten Pitfall within days of its release, the first offering from still-dominant game publisher Activision. Honorable Mentions: Yar's Revenge, Breakout

All my paper route money was regularly blown at the arcade, and who can say how many quarters I fed into Defender? Honorables: GORF, Major Havoc, Mr Do, TRON, Robotron, Rush'n Attack, Double Dragon

Early bonding occurred with Karateka with someone who remains near and dear -that's the magic of videogames, they are the ties that bind. Honorables: Wolfenstein, ZORK (You have been eaten by a grue)

Same friend, next gen: Treasure of Monkey Island was my obsession forever. The challenge of winning insult duels proved more than I could resist.

The First Person Shooter revolution, begun by immortal Doom. This also served as my intro to LAN parties, which meant a lot of sleepless weekends! Honorables: Marathon, Metal Gear Solid, Dark Forces

It's hard to estimate how influential Grand Theft Auto has been on videogames, and though Vice City was not their first 3D offering, it was like no game seen before. An 80's soundtrack married to shooting and driving? Pure gold, baby. Honorables: Prince of Persia, Jedi Outcast, Rez

Personal favorite: Painkiller. You are a soul blasting his way through Purgatory to be reunited with your lost love, with a dizzy array of amazing weapons and featuring some of the most beautful levels (snatched right out of history) to ever grace a desktop. The final level remains untopped for excellence.
Honorables: FarCry, Katamari Damacy

For storytelling, character development, and overall satisfaction, Half Life 2 simply has no equal. Honorables: Knights of the Old Republic, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Black

Still humming right along at an XBOX near you, Fallout 3 has set new standards for RPGs and sandbox gaming. It continues to thrill and amaze with action, humor and pathos, all in equal doses. Honorables: Bioshock, Dead Rising, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty 4

2 comments:

SnowWolf said...

Well.. I played all of those except for Monkey Island... couldn't really get into it for some reason. I understand it's available on Xbox live now, so I might yet play it.
I agree with you on Painkiller... the final level was so trippy and cool.... I found ways to take pictures of that and make them my desktops for a long time afterward.

David @ Robot Armageddon said...

Fallout 3 almost made me fail out of college. One of my favorites of all time.