Game Addiction

I’m sure I’m not the only one to find that certain games take over your life and don’t let it go until you (a) completed it on ever possible difficulty setting (b) completed every little side quest and unlocked everything (c) remove it from your computer/console to prevent you ever going near it again (or for a reasonable level of time).

I think I’m somewhat fortunate in that MMORPG’s aren’t really my thing otherwise things might get rather ugly. Although that might be broken by ‘Star Trek Online’, before then though I need to move into a bigger flat so I can build myself an awesome desktop computer that will run it.

The first game this happened to for me was ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ when I was about 9/10yrs old, it was also a time when my dad was home on leave (he’s a systems engineer in the Navy… incidentally, Lt. Barclay is a systems engineer on the Enterprise) and trying to take an active interest in what his kids were doing – it failed as he soon got very bored.

A little while later I’d completed the game and moved on to a game that my uncle recommended called ‘Civilisation II’ (he even bought the ‘Ultimate’ edition for Christmas, it included the massive strategy guide, scenario’s & guide as well as a giant wall poster of the achievements tree) this one my mum (she’s a programmer) took an interest in and we spent hours together playing it. I own ‘Civilisation III’ but I don’t think I love it as much as the second one, I also have ‘Alpha Centuri’ which is fun but not as good. My mum had to do something about this game as part of her Computer Sciences degree she did whilst I was in my last few years of secondary school, not quite sure what the project was about but playing computer games with your mum is fun.

I have vivid memories of playing ‘Theme Hospital’ so much that every time I closed my eyes I saw doctors with little dollar signs above their heads! When I got my first laptop (in ‘04, a rather shit refurbsed thing) I bought the game as part of one of those 3 for £10 deals… many nights staying up trying to get to that last level!

Other games that took over my life were ‘Star Trek 25th Anniversary’ (actually this still has control of my life, it’s a permanent fixture on my hard drive!), ‘Fallout 1 & 2′, ‘Starfleet Academy’ (there’s still a level I was never able to get past and sadly I no longer have the game), ‘Ripper’ (it was one of those real-actor games, starting Christopher Walken… I thought it was ace) and ‘The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo’.

Currently, ‘Black’ (a FPS for the PS2… ooh, abbreviation fun) has control, each level takes between 50 – 90 minutes to complete and it’s driving me up the wall! I will defeat the game! It’s made more frustrating by the fact I’ve had to lower the difficulty setting – I like to play a lot of my games on ‘Hard’, it gives you a nice challenge and I find it’s more fun and you definitely learn strategy (ammo’ conservation and the use of cover are lessons everyone should learn in FPS’s) but this game I’m really struggling with… so it’s down to ‘Normal’ and I don’t think I’m going to be able to complete this one on ‘Hard’.

I’ve played the game so much in the last few hours that my left arm is killing me, I’m a little worried I’ve pulled the ligaments (they’re weak from a previous non-gaming related injury). That wouldn’t look good when I go back to work on Monday, “sorry guys, I can’t lift the battery for the Genie. I pulled the ligaments in my arm playing a video game.”

I’m a shark, hear me roar!

I’m Steph and
I’m a Hammerhead Shark.

WWF: Wave Forward Fish Game . I’m quite pleased that I’m a shark, I would have loved to be a Great White but my inner fish is probably not that hardcore enough.

All Hail Abandonware!

Legally this is a grey area, technically it is still owned by a copyright holder but as the game is no longer being sold or supported by the copyright holder the law tends to ignore the abandonware sites that are up on the Internet.

I’m a gamer, I love nothing better than settling back and getting absorbed into a wonderful game – usually an excellent FPS, RPG, strategy or simulation. I’ve never really done online gaming as WoW or any of the other major online games really appeal to me and I’ve heard a lot of them don’t really have a n00b friendly atmosphere going on. I imagine it’s like anything else – anominity + the Internet = arseholes.

As I’m not really in a position to get stuck into some of the current greats I’ve been revisiting my back catalogue, starting of course with my all time favourite games ‘Theme Hospital’, ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ and ‘Fallout’ – some of these run a little funny on Vista and I had a right time getting ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ to install! But overall, I was happy and got to play. There are two other of my all time favourite games that I’ve not been able to play for a long time though, ‘Ripper’ (one of those interactive live action games, believe it rocks) and ‘The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo’, it’s a little sad when I want to play these favourites but can’t but I’ve found a way to fill the void they have left in my life.

For my 13th birthday (I think it was that one) I got given a box-set of Star Trek games (‘Star Trek: 25th Annivsary’, ‘Star Trek: TNG’, ‘Star Trek: Generations’, ‘Starfleet Academy’) most of these I enjoyed (‘Generations’ sucked) and I was particularly taken with the ‘25th Anniversay’ game and ‘Starfleet Academy’ – I can’t find ‘Starfleet Academy’ to play but I did find ‘25th Anniversay’ (possibly the greatest Star Trek game ever) on Abandonia, along with it’s sequel ‘Judgement Rites’ (which I’d never heard of).

Not only was I able to return to my Trek gaming routes, but I found the first ‘Lost Files…’ game, along with ‘Constructor’ (I was slightly addicted to this), ‘Castles’, ‘Dune’, ‘Dune II’ and several other games I had played when young (or already knew about). I plan to dedicate some more time to explore some past masters that I missed growing up or didn’t really get too much of chance to play – who needs the fancy graphics of today when you’ve got the great storylines and gameplay of yesteryear?

Incidentally – Oddword has been re-released! My brother had ‘Oddysee’ and ‘Exodus’ on his PS2 and I was a massive fan of Abe and his adventures, I had no idea they’d ever been released on the PC though! (Nor that there were more games). I had a bit of an issue with Steam (nothing compared to the hassle I had with the EA Games Downloader, least said about that the better) but I think I need to try again, particularly if little gems like Abe are going to be released on there.

One day when I finally have a place of my own I want to build myself a brilliant gaming computer, create myself a little cubbly hole where I can just go get lost in other words. Since I’d own the flat I could decorate it like I want… maybe a nice Star Trek theme (but I’d definitly not do what that bloke did by turning his entire flat into the bridge of Voyager) in the furnishings… possibly Star Trek cross with Sherlock Holmes – does that count as a ‘cyberpunk’?