Today, it just got a lot easier.

Before I get into why I think the PC is the obvious winner in this arena, let me make a few things clear. When I talk about First Person Shooters, I’m not talking about the singleplayer experience. This isn’t my forte; I’ll leave that debate to someone else. What I’m talking about is competitive, multiplayer gaming on a high-end gaming PC, that is, not your Grandmother’s old Gateway or that bargain eMachine you picked up for $299. I’d also like to state that I think for the casual gamer (or casual just in this genre), a console system would be fine, if not preferable. Consoles, such as the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, have a ton of pros and very few cons. That being said, I think one of the limitations of the console is its inability to reach that next level of intensity and precision that one is so familiar with while playing this specific class of game on a PC. In other words, to experience the full potential of this competitive genre, one needs to play First Person Shooters as they were originally intended, on a PC.

From time to time, however, I will encounter that one rebellious console gamer that disagrees with this sentiment and defends the console’s supremacy over the feeble PC in every genre, including the aforementioned First Person Shooter. Though there are some compelling arguments which can be made for this stance, the one I hear most often goes something like this:

Have you ever played Halo? Or GoldenEye? or Halo 2? or Halo 3? Or Halo? Wait, did I say Halo already? Did you know that Halo is the number #1 selling game in the multiverse? And also halo…Halo…..HALO!

I’m not paraphrasing, I’m pretty sure that’s an actual quote. Here’s the thing, I’m not disputing the fact that Halo is a great game, and God knows I’ve logged an obscene amount of hours into GoldenEye back in the day, but these are just two games — now compare that with the hundreds of award winning PC shooters that exist on the market today.

Let’s look at the “Halo 3 is the #1 selling game ever” defense. That statement alone is debatable, but for the sake of argument, let’s assume that it’s true. Since when does the #1 selling anything translate into quality of experience? Does that mean that a Corolla offers a better driving experience than a Ferrari? Or that the Big Mac is the greatest cheeseburger of all time just because it outsells all of the others? What people tend to forget is that in the gaming industry, PC games consist of just a very tiny slice of the whole gaming pie. There is no arguing that console systems have a much higher saturation level in homes than high-end [gaming] PCs. That fact alone means that video game sales for consoles should be much greater than that of the PC, which they are. Now throw in a title like Halo which, realistically, has no other competition on its platform, and you have a recipe for success. Halo on the PC, however, fades into mediocrity when thrown into the mix with mammoth franchises such as Half-Life, Battlefield, Unreal Tournament, Quake, Crysis, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, etc… And let’s not forget the modding community’s ground breaking contributions to competitive gaming with creations like Counter-Strike, Team Fortress, Day of Defeat, Red Orchestra, etc… I could go on and on forever. The point I’m trying to make is this; competition for First Person Shooter dominance on the PC is fierce. A mediocre game just wouldn’t cut it on this platform. Calling Halo a mediocre game may be a bit harsh, but ask yourself this; what does Halo have to offer that the above mentioned PC franchises do not have to offer? Saturation and virtual exclusivity. That’s really it.

Visual Appeal
As it is now, consoles can never look as good [graphically speaking] as a high-end gaming PC. It’s just not possible. A console’s hardware, for all intents and purposes, is static. You buy the console system, it goes through its 3 to 5 year cycle, and then you replace it. Unfortunately, for the console, technology evolves at a blistering rate. There can be, and usually are, significant advancements in technology in a 3 to 5 year span. A PC’s hardware, on the other hand, is dynamic; always taking full advantage of these technological breakthroughs. PCs are constantly being replaced, upgraded, tweaked, modded, optimized, overclocked, water-cooled, etc… Just one of my graphics cards alone cost more than an entire XBox 360.

Let’s talk resolution. Even the best hi-def T.V.s get outperformed by today’s modern LCD monitors with resolutions reaching 2560 x 1600. “What about size,” they ask. “My 52″ TV is better than your 24″ monitor,” they say. In this case, size doesn’t really matter — because it’s all relative to the location of the observer. When gaming on a PC, your face is about 2 feet away from the monitor. Try putting your face 2 feet away from a 52″ television; it’s not that fun. Now move to the couch 10 feet away and you’ve just narrowed your viewing angle to match that of a PC gamer. It’s the same concept as to why people are able to watch movies on their iPods without being bothered by the small size of the screen.

Pricey vs Practical
Price and practicality are two major advantages that consoles have in the gaming market, hence their greater saturation level. It’s very appealing to be able to buy something which is relatively inexpensive, works right out of the box, and requires almost no maintenance or technological know-how. Now try to convince that same person to buy something that is well over 10 times more expensive, needs constant monitoring and maintenance, and requires a black belt in Geek Fu just to get it to work. So why, then, do people still dish out thousands of dollars for Alienware machines, or Falcon Northwest machines, or Dell’s XPS line of gaming machines? It’s the same reason why there are people out there that still buy Ferraris: They thrive on speed, control, and precision… They’re longing for the ultimate experience.

Mouse & Keyboard vs the Analog Controller
And now we reach the crux of the argument. This, my friends, is really the heart of the the debate. The PC’s mouse & keyboard vs the console’s analog controller. The console camp’s argument goes something like this: “Anyone can point and click” or “it takes more skill to use a controller than it does a mouse“. Anything that is unintuitive or uncomfortable is going to require some extra skill to compensate, but it’s the wrong kind of skill. Like when trying to button your shirt while wearing socks on your hands. Simply put, a mouse is faster and far more precise than an analog thumbstick, which in turn makes the gaming experience faster, more intense, and far more challenging. I recently had someone tell me that using a mouse & keyboard was akin to cheating, claiming that it’s too easy to put your cursor (crosshair) onto another player. What this person fails to realize is that it’s just as easy for your opponents to do the same to you. You’ve just added a whole new level of intensity, urgency, and anxiety to the game. You better not miss your target because you can be damn sure they will not miss you. This is where the phrase twitch gaming comes from. It’s all about reaction time.

Now let’s talk precision. The movement of the mouse correlates precisely with the movement of the cursor on the screen. For example, if you move the mouse to the left, the cursor moves to the left. When you stop moving the mouse, the cursor stops. An analog controller, however, always has to return to center to stop (or switch directions). If you press the analog thumbstick to the left, the cursor goes left, but in order to stop the cursor from moving left, or to move it in another direction, you must bring the thumbstick back to center. It’s not much, but these are the subtle differences that make playing a First Person Shooter on a PC a more exhilarating experience than on a console.

Let’s not forget one of the most important facts, First Person Shooters were designed around the keyboard & the mouse and had to be modified to work with an analog controller. When things are modified to work with something they weren’t designed for, problems tend to arise. Take button placement for example. Most console gamers use the right analog thumbstick to control the movement of the cursor. This is fine until they have to take their thumb off that stick to press one of the four buttons on right side of the controller. This means there is a split second when they have to relinquish control over their movement. A competitive PC gamer wouldn’t dream of taking their hand off the mouse. That split second could mean the difference between victory and defeat. But again, as mentioned above, speed, precision, and reaction time are the name of the game while playing on a PC. In language, sometimes things can get lost in translation. In technology, they can get lost in conversion.

John Carmack of id Software is the creator of some of the most critically acclaimed games ever created. He is considered in most circles to be the father of the First Person Shooter. His games have been developed for the PC as well as all the major console systems. Back in November of 2008, Carmack was interviewed by PC Gamer and this is what he had to say:

“The keyboard/mouse interface is definitely still the superior interface for a competitive first-person shooter experience, much better than an analog joypad,”

Old School vs New Kids on the Block
When you think about it, this isn’t just a question of console vs PC, but a full blown discussion of the state of gaming and gaming culture in general. It’s old school vs new kids on the block. First Person Shooters are relatively new to console gamers, whereas most hardcore fans of the genre have been playing on their PCs for years, decades even. In fact, First Person Shooters were considered more of a niche than a mainstream attraction, reserved solely for the geekiest of geeks. But what typically happens when something unknown to the masses suddenly bursts onto the scene head first into popularity (not unlike the geek culture itself)? Its reality gets twisted to conform to the will of the public. All of a sudden, everyone and their mothers are experts. This is especially prevalent in technology. I used to have this exact same argument regarding web design eons ago, except back then it was Frontpage vs Dreamweaver. Now Frontpage is gone, because it sucked, and all those people moved over to Dreamweaver — and us Dreamweaver users have moved on to other things. Try this, ask any computer programmer what the term “hacker” means and they’ll surely give you a more positive definition than that of the mainstream media. And yet every script kiddie with a computer and malicious intent declares themselves a hacker. Meanwhile, the real experts, the veterans, all of whom know the actual truth, are sitting back silently grinning to themselves. When it comes to First Person Shooters, the console vs PC argument is another such example.

I know this is going to make a lot of console gamers upset, but I assure you that this is not my intent. Competitive as it may be, fun is still the overall goal of gaming. All that really matters is the amount of enjoyment you get from playing. If you get the most enjoyment while playing on a console, then by all means, play on a console. But don’t let emotions and preference blur reality.

The last thing I’ll say is this. The purpose of my writing this little exposition is not to disparage console systems, on the contrary, I thoroughly enjoy them. It’s not even to persuade you to go out and drop $3500 on a new gaming rig. In fact, the difference of experience between the two platforms being argued here are so subtle that most people won’t even notice — very similar to how most people wouldn’t notice the tiny nuances that distinguish the Canon XSi from the Canon 50D. The layperson may even prefer the XSi over its superior counterpart, and that’s fine. My point in writing this piece is simply to squash the console elitists false assumptions that consoles, like the XBox 360 and the PlayStation 3, offer a more challenging, engaging, or overall superior gaming experience than that of a gaming PC in this particular genre. That’s just not the case. So I’ll say it agin, — and read this carefully — to experience the full potential of this competitive genre, one needs to play First Person Shooters as they were originally intended, on a PC.

• Server name – [DDB] & [RIOT] Hardcore Mixed GT
• Server I.P. – 208.167.234.131
• 20 slot server – may increase
• Hardcore mode – cuz that’s the way we roll
• Mixed game types – Headquarters, Domination, and Sabotage
• Ranked server

For more information, or to leave feedback, head over to zengeeks.com.

OK, I’ve played for 8.2 hours so far according to my steam page and I’m having a freaking blast. At first I was a little worried that the game was too simplified, but my fears were quickly squashed as I started to learn all the nuances of the game. Tactics, strategy, diversity, and team work are key to fun and victory in TF2. A team of just soldiers, or just HW Guys would get their collective asses handed to them. You really need to utilize every class to win this game.

If you’re not already familiar with Team Fortress Classic, you may be better off waiting for an official review. These are just my personal observations and thoughts. Another thing to remember is that this game, as of right now, is still technically in beta. Things are liable to change when it is officially released.

Big Changes:

No grenades: This sucks, but it’s sort of understandable. TFC was infamous for grenade spam. (I’m going to miss the EMP grenade though )

Graphics: Obviously. After 7+ years one would expect it to have slightly better graphics, and it does. But the player models are what really separate this game from all others. They look absolutely fantastic.

Every class kicks ass equally: This is a pretty big deal. I’ll get into each class in detail below.

Subtle Changes:

No more capture points: Instead they use control points similar to Battlefield. The more teammates attacking a point, the quicker your team controls that point.

No flag in CTF: Instead it is a briefcase (CTB?). The briefcase will stay where ever the enemy drops it for two minutes. Defending team members are not able to simply touch the flag anymore to reset it. If the attacking team touches the briefcase again, moves only three feet, and drops the case, the timer is reset to two minutes again. This minor change adds a whole new element to the game.

Secondary weapons actually matter: A shotgun, in this game, is a shotgun. They will take down any class fast. A pistol, in this game, is a pistol. Not just a thing to hold when you’re sick of holding you primary weapon. They hurt.

Classes:

Pyro – Flamethrower, shotgun, axe. He is devastating up close, but very vulnerable when out in the open. When up close, the Pyro can light enemies on fire. They remain on fire, and continue to lose health over time until they jump into water, get healed, enough time lapses, or they die. A lot of Pyros seem use a fire / shotgun combo and it seems to be quite effective. Pyros are great for uncloaking spies too. (yes, uncloaking. I’ll get to that)

Scout – Scattergun, pistol, club. This guy used to be practically useless. Now, not only is he fun to play, but he is an asset to any team . First of all, he’s extremely fast. He also has the ability to double jump and change directions mid jump (if one so chooses). His scattergun is deadly at close range and can even take down a Heavy (assuming you can get close enough) Another very important roll of the Scout is capturing control points. A Scout captures control points faster that any other class. (1 Scout = 2 of any other class)

Soldier – Rocket launcher, shotgun, shovel. Not much has changed here, but nothing really needed to.

Heavy – Gatling gun, shotgun, fists. Again, no major changes, but one subtle one. When the Heavy wants to shoot his gatling gun, there is a slight delay while the barrel starts to spin. His special ability is to spin the barrel with out actually shooting, thus saving ammo. The downside is he walks brutally slooooow when he does this.

Engineer – Shotgun, wrench, toolbox, detonator (to detonate structures you have already built). The Engy is still as much fun to play now as he was in the original TFC. He can build upgradable turrets, teleports, and dispensers. The dispensers have been greatly improved. They offer infinite health and ammo to you and your teammates, and it regenerates metal over time for you and your fellow Engineers. (metal = material used for building)

Medic – Healing gun, syringe gun, bonesaw. The medic can heal players up to 150% of their base health and can fire the healing gun continuously. While healing, the Medic’s ubercharge is constantly charging up. When fully charged, he can make any player and himself invincible for ten seconds. (usually a Medic / Heavy combo), He is far more valuble a class than he was in the previous TFC. His syringe gun is a blast to use too.

Sniper – Sniper rifle, sub-machine gun, machete. Same old sniper with a few tweaks. When you first zoom in, your gun starts to charge. The more of a charge you have, the more powerful the shot. I believe it takes three seconds for a full charge. The sniper rifle still sports the same colored dot that warns your enemies that you are there. The machine, though not too powerful, is good enough to fend off the close combat intruders.

Demo – Grenade launcher, sticky bomb gun, a bottle of whiskey. This is my new favorite class. His grenade launcher acts a lot like the grenade launcher in the quake series, whereas you can bounce grenades around corners, but if you hit someone directly, the grenade will explode on impact. Delicious! The sticky bomb gun is extremely useful for defense too. You can lay up to 8 sticky bombs (on virtually any surface) and detonate them at a later time. The best thing is you can detonate them regardless of what weapon you currently have out.

Spy – Pistol, butterfly knife, cigarette case (where he keeps his disguises), elctro-sappers. So the role of the spy stays the same. He can disguise himself as any enemy class, and he can do it on the fly. No more standing still and waiting. He can also cloak himself for a short period of time. While cloaked, he cannot attack. He also has a new tool called the elctro-sapper (or something like that) that he puts on structures, i.e. turrets, teleports, and dispensers,… to sabotage them. And of course, the Spy still has the trademark one-shot-back-stab kill that we love so much.

Thoughts:

So far this game is a blast. Sometimes I even forget that it’s actually still in beta. My only real concern is that the game will burn out quickly. If TF2 were realeased as / is, I don’t think the game would have very long legs. Hopefully I’m wrong. And hopefully there will be a lot of support and new additions to keep people coming back for more.

The maps that we’re playing now are great too, but I won’t get into too much detail because hopefully there will be a ton of new maps at the final release.

Gameplay is very fast pace and almost feels Quake-ish at times. What doesn’t feel Quake-ish, however, is the need for strategy and tactics. You can’t rely on twitch alone in this game.

Valve has added stats tracking, as well as a variety of achievement goals that you can shoot for. It’s very similar to the way Battlefield 2 implemented the awards feature. You can keep track of your performance on your very own Steam Community page. Here’s mine. And here are my TF2 stats. Yes, I know, pathetic… But be warned! I’m finally starting to get the hang of it.

Frag you later.

Discuss it here…

On a side note, there is a mod worth mentioning for all you TFC fans. It’s called Fortress Forever and it is a beautiful re-skin of the original game using the source engine. Check it out.

When Steam was first introduced back in 2002, I was flat out against a service like this. One reason for this is because I liked to be able to put my new shiny games in my nice shiny game rack, but also…who in their right mind would want to download a 1+ gigabyte videogame over the Internet? Well as it turns out, I would. It took a few years of persuasion, and a whole new philosophy toward what the Internet can and should be used for, but I finally saw the light. People buy music and movies from places like iTunes, why are games any different? And Steam has a great feature that iTunes doesn’t, infinite downloads. Okay, I’ve never actually read the fine print, but I must have downloaded games like TFC, CS, CS:S, DoD:S, Half-Life 1&2 dozens of times, on half a dozen machines, and I’ve never had so much as a hiccup. Once you buy a game through Steam, help yourself to as many downloads of that game as your heart desires. But enough of why I am a born again Steam user, and on to the news at hand.

id! Before this, Steam’s video game library was comprised mostly of Valve’s own titles and games from a handful of independent developers and modders. With the exception of a few mainstream games, like the Call of Duty series and the Civilization series, the Steam library was devoid of any third party heavy hitters. Well that’s all history now. id software is the heavy hitter of the heavy hitters. According to Shacknews, every id title will be available through Steam… though I didn’t see Quake IV in the line-up. Maybe I just overlooked it. Regardless, if this doesn’t help launch the digital distribution of games to a new level, I can’t imagine what will.

Whose next? I would love to see the Battlefield series on there, but I think it would be a cold day in hell before EA sold a game through Steam. Then again, they may be crazy not to.

Top ten ways to know you’re a PC snob.

From GameSpy

Just when I was about to abandon all hope, two amazing mods grabbed my attention and they are both worth checking out.

Dystopia – This is a Half Life 2 mod that takes place in a cyberpunk environment. One thing is apparent, the developers put a whole lot of time and thought into this mod. You can choose from various weapons, armor types, and implants — each combination with it’s own strengths and weaknesses. What’s really cool is that it takes place in two separate worlds, cyberspace and meatspace. Meatspace is where the real action is, but if you equip yourself with certain types of implants, you can jack into cyberspace and help your team out from within. There is a pretty good preview of Dystopia over at Planet Half-Life explaining the game in more detail. Check it out if you get a chance.

Project Reality – This is a Battlefield 2 mod that focuses more on realistic gameplay and less on traditional run and gun tactics. I’m not usually a fan of this type of game because they tend tooo drrraaaaaag, but Project Reality really broke the mold. There are no cross hairs, no health meters, no little messages that tell you who you killed. In fact, the first hour I played I didn’t see a soul, but the bullets were flying by my head nonetheless. Sounds play an important role in this mod. You can easily tell the difference of an M16 and an AK-47 rattling of rounds in the distance. The developers of Project Reality are really trying to promote teamwork and caution. I spent more time in the prone position than actually walking. Squad members can be rewarded with specialized kits too, such as pilot kits, crewman kits, or sniper kits. Because of this, there are far less lone wolves roaming about. IGN wrote a very flattering write-up for Project Reality called “Why all BF2 players should download this mod“. Another good read if you have the time.

There you have it. I was going to post some screenshots of my fragging adventures, but I didn’t think you guys would want to see pictures of my corpse over and over and over again. Maybe I’ll post some when I can manage to stay alive for more than 30 seconds. Until then, hope to see you on a server.

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade is out and I’ll be purchasing a copy today at lunch. What’s great about this expansion is that it virtually makes all level sixties even again, whether they’re decked out in tier 3′s or still wearing greens. Since I’m only a casual player, this is great news for me.

I loathe 40 man raids…

I’ll keep y’all posted.

Later on in the day, after gazing at Cameron’s shiny new DS, I decided to take my own out and give it a quick polish — yes I was a little jealous. So I grabbed my lens cloth and I proceeded to carefully wipe off about a thousand tiny finger prints, hence the reason Santa is bringing Cameron her very own DS. I was just about done shining it up when I saw the cracks. Two cracks to be exact, one on each hinge. I had never noticed these before, so I assumed they were relatively new. After doing a little research, I found that I wasn’t alone here. It seems there are quite a few incidents of cracking hinges on some models of the DS Lite. According to Nintendo, it accounts for only 0.02% of the units sold. Mm hmm, sure it does. They do, however, recommend that you contact customer service right away if this should happen to your DS. So I did, and what a delightful experience it was. Not only are they going to repair it free of charge, they are going to pay for the shipping too. But it gets better! I should get my DS back within seven days. Not too shabby if you ask me. The customer service rep was a nice guy too. We talked for a bit about all sorts of things, such as the Wii, Nintendo’s competition, the industry in general, Nintendo’s philosophies, etc… It was very interesting. He has worked for Nintendo for 13 years.

My Nintenday gets even better. I got to try the Nintendo Wii for the first time and I was utterly blown away. I had some expectations, sure, but nothing like what I experienced yesterday. I only got to try the system for ten minutes or so before I was snapped back to reality, so I may be jumping the gun here, but for those ten minutes I felt like I was looking into a crystal ball. Those ten minutes gave me a glimpse into the future, and not just of gaming, but of how we will eventually interact with everything. Let’s begin. The game was Zelda; the task was fishing. I pulled pack the Wiimote and then lunged it forward as I watched the virtual fishing pole mimic my every move instantaneously. I followed the bobber as in soared through the pixelated sky until it finally plopped into the water. At the very moment of impact, I felt the Wii remote shutter ever so slightly. It sort of reminded me of…..fishing. I gave the Wiimote a tug every now and then until it was finally time to reel in the line. So I grabbed the left part of the controller and started spinning it as if I was actually reeling in a fish. As I did so, the Wiimote started to vibrate rhythmically, in sync with the motion of my left hand. It sort of reminded me of, well…..fishing. There was even a point when people started to gather around to find out what the hell I was doing. From the outside, I must have looked like a demented mime strung out on crack. Anyways, It was really fun and I can definitely see the potential for this system. I plan on writing a full review of the system once I get Cameron gets it for her birthday. Oh, did I mention she’s getting it for her birthday? Which, mind you, is only three weeks after Christmas.

With this in mind, I proceeded to the counter to talk with the manager who sold me the Nintendo DS. I asked him if he had any Nintendo Wiis in stock. Now, I’ve been to about ten other stores before this one, looking to buy the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii and have had zero luck, so I was pretty sure I knew what the answer was going to be. I was just hoping he wouldn’t burst out laughing. He never did. Instead, he just looked me in the eyes and said in a very robotic, monotone voice, “We are currently sold out of all Nintendo Wiis”. As he was doing this, his head started twitching to the left. So then I asked him if he thought he would see anymore before Christmas, in which he replied in the same robotic, monotone voice, “We are currently sold out of all Nintendo Wiis”. His head was twitching to the left even more and at this point I was starting to get a little freaked out. I figured it was the holiday pressure getting to him. I was about to say thank you and walk out of the store when he said in the same robotic, monotone voice, “Even if we did get a shipment of Nintendo Wiis an hour ago, we are not allowed to sell them until exactly 9:00 A.M. on Monday morning.” His head furiously twitching to the left now. That’s when I got it. Sitting on the floor to his left were two large brown boxes. I looked up at the manager. He was smiling at me. I smiled back. We shared a special moment.

And that concludes my Nintenday. My Nintenight (that just sounds stupid) was spent trying out Final Fantasy III on my cracked DS. We’ll save that for another post though. Oh, and by the way, I’ll be a little late for work Monday morning.

The first thing I want is a huckleberry attachment for my MacBook. It’s a little webcam mirror that will turn the built-in webcam around and allow me to shoot things in front of me. I can’t think of a practical use for this, but I want it nonetheless.

The second thing I’d like to add to my list is this Web 2.0 poster that would look absolutely smashing in my office. You have to order this one from Europe, so I’d get a move on.

While you’re at it, you might as well throw a Zune on that list. The brown one please. It will look nice sitting next to my iPod. They can fight it out for my affection.

I played World of Warcraft for over a year. Night after night I would play with my friends, exploring the vast lands of Azeroth with thousands of other players. It was really fun and I still consider it one of my best gaming experiences of all time. Unfortunately, for me, that fun came to an abrupt end. Once your character hits level 60, the game switches gears drastically. For those of you who are unfamiliar with MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing game), let me bring you up to speed. All new characters start at level one. As you progress through the game, your character gains levels. The higher your level, the more powerful you are. Most games of this type have a level cap. World of Warcraft’s level cap is 60.

So what then? At level 60 you really only have 3 options.

1. Roll a new character and go through the leveling process again. My A.D.D. won’t allow that. It was fun the first time, it would be tedious the second time. Or the third time. Or the fourth time.
2. PvP (Player vs Player) This is where you pit your skills against other live players. At present, there are 3 fighting arenas called Battlegrounds, each with their own objectives. This is fun for a while, but in order for you to increase your standings (rank), you would have to commit an obscene amount of time to the game. The higher your rank, the better gear you get and at level 60, the only thing that matters is gear. That brings us to number 3.
3. Endgame instances. This is where you get together with 40 of your closest friends and try to tackle various dungeons. These dungeons (also called instances) have to be completed in a certain order. In order to attempt AQ40, you need to complete Black Wing Lair. In order to attempt Black Wing Lair, you need to complete Molten Core. And so on, and so on. A guild could spend months on one dungeon, doing the same thing over and over again, night after night. Not just to beat the dungeon, but to equip 40 people with enough gear to be able to beat the next dungeon. And why would you want to beat the next dungeon? To get really cool gear. For me, the tedium out ways the fun. Gaming A.D.D.

This is just my perspective on the game. Seven million people play (or have played) this game, so Blizzard is doing something right. And at $15.00 a month, they are pulling in some good loot too. Pun intended.

There is a serious problem with these types of games though. They take people out of reality and put them into a fantasy world where they can be whoever and whatever they want. That’s really the point of any such game, to allow oneself to temporarily escape reality. But they did such a great job of creating a fantasy world that people sometimes lose site of the fact that’s it’s actually just a game. For those of you who’ve never played such a game, you must have a hard time believing this, but it’s true.

This isn’t a problem exclusive to World of Warcraft. In fact, it’s not even a new problem. Back before WoW was even conceived, there were games like Everquest and Ultima which posed the same problems. Why be a nobody in the real world when you can be a god in a virtual world. For some, the lure is too great.

I actually had no intention of writing this much. What provoked this written commentary was a blog entry that I read yesterday called A View from the Top, which was written by a former World of Warcraft player. It explained how the game almost ruined his life and why he eventually quit the game altogether. I thought it was a fairly intriguing post. What I found more intriguing were the 700+ comments that were left in response to the post. If you have the time, I would highly recommend checking this out. At the very least, you’ll get an interesting cross section of the World of Warcraft community. That’s interesting enough in itself.

I just want to mention a couple of things before I finish. Though there is an obvious problem with the way that some people latch on to these types of games, the majority of people who play MMORPGs are in it just to have a good time. It’s very similar, in my eyes, to ones usage of alcohol. I know a lot of people who drink (myself included), but that doesn’t mean they’re alcoholics. Like everything else, when something is used in excess, it has the potential to be harmful, whether mentally or physically.

And lastly, I actually like the World of Warcraft. I don’t want this post to be interpreted as a WoW bash session. I’ve met dozens of great people while playing this game and have had hours of fun doing it. I truly think it is one of the greatest games ever created. But like I said, I have gaming A.D.D. — and for me, sitting in Molten Core night after night for hours on end is about as stimulating as watching reruns of the Golden Girls.

I remember the good ol’ days in Team Fortress Classic playing my Engy; setting up sentry guns, chucking EMP grenades and wiping out an entire team, falling back in Dustbowl to protect the,.. umm,.. whatever that thing is we had to protect. There really wasn’t a game quite like it.

This was back in the days of the dungeon (my basement), when me and a bunch of my friends would set up a LAN and game all night long. We’d drink beers, smoke butts, talk smack, and kick ass. As time went on, the dungeon was used less and less in favor of gaming in the comfort of our own homes (VoIP was starting to become a little more mainstream). Team Fortress Classic was eventually replaced by games like Counter-Strike and Unreal Tournament. I quit smoking.

We all still game and we all still have a blast, but there’s just something about the older games that you miss from time to time. I’ll say this though, if Team Fortress 2 is even half as good as Team Fortress Classic, I will be one happy camper. We may even have to reopen the dungeon.

To give you an idea of how long Valve has been developing this game, check out the original TF2 trailer that came out in 1999. A little bit of a difference, huh? It was originally developed on the Half-Life Gold engine until they scrapped it and went back to the drawing board. Now seven years later…

That same night she bought a game called Lunar: The Silver Star Story for $80.00 on Amazon. For the average gamer, $80.00 is a bit high for a used Playstation 1 title, but for a collector, it’s a steal. I played this game when it originally debuted on Sega CD back in 1993. It was by far one of the most memorable gaming experiences I’ve ever had. The ambiance and design of the game was so incredible and alluring that one of my best friends watched me beat the entire game from beginning to end. We were geeks back then too.

This got me thinking about all the other great games that I’ve played over the years, and which games I considered to be the best of the best. The problem with creating a list like this is making sure people understand the criteria for such a list. In an effort to jog my memory for games long forgotten, I’ve been reading other “best games ever” lists around the web. Some of the lists I found were absolute crap, while others I found to be very interesting. Again, the problem is criteria. How do you make a list like this? What is the criteria?

1. Are they games with the best graphics at the time of its release?
2. Are they games with the best story lines?
3. Are they games that have sold the most copies?
4. Are they games with the best replay value?
5. Are they games that have had the most significant impact on the gaming industry?
6. Are they games that are just considered to be the most fun?
7. Or does a list like this need to take all of these aspects into consideration?

I’ll tell you right now, based on what I wrote above, I could make 7 very different lists. That’s why I want to make sure everyone knows what I’m basing my list on. A game must meet all of the following criteria to make the cut.

1. I must have played it.
2. I must have really, really, really liked it.

Simple enough, right? Well then, here we go.

A quick side note, this lists consists of games starting with NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Although I loved my older systems like Atari, Colecovision, and Intellivision, I feel that the real gaming revolution began at the original NES, and thus, this is where our journey shall begin. By the way, I’ve ordered the list by platform and then by year released, not by preference.

• Super Mario Bros.
  Nintendo – 1985
• Metroid
  Nintendo – 1986
• Legend of Zelda
  Nintendo – 1987
• Rygar
  Nintendo – 1987
• Lost Vikings
  Super Nintendo – 1992
• Star Fox
  Super Nintendo – 1993
• Mortal Kombat II
  Super Nintendo – 1994
• Street Fighter 2
  Super Nintendo – 1996
• Lunar: Silver Star
  Sega CD – 1993
• Alien vs Predator
  Atari Jaguar – 1994
• Wave Race 64
  Nintendo 64 – 1996
• Golden Eye 007
  Nintendo 64 – 1997
• Mario Kart 64
  Nintendo 64 – 1997
• Twisted Metal 2
  Playstation – 1996
• Resident Evil
  Playstation – 1996
• Tomb Raider
  Playstation -1996
• Resident Evil 2
  Playstation – 1997
• Final Fantasy VII
  Playstation – 1997
• Metal Gear Solid
  Playstation – 1998
• Gran Turismo
  Playstation – 1998
• SSX
  Playstation 2 – 2000
• Doom
  PC – 1993
• Quake II
  PC – 1997
• Half-Life
  PC – 1998
• Starcraft
  PC – 1998
• Team Fortress Classic
  PC – 1999
• Counter-Strike
  PC – 1999
• Unreal Tournament
  PC – 1999
• Diablo II
  PC – 2000
• Deus Ex
  PC – 2000
• Undying
  PC – 2001
• Command & Conquer: Renegade
  PC – 2002
• Soldier of Fortune II
  PC – 2002
• Medal of Honor: Allied Assault
  PC – 2002
• Battlefield 1942
  PC – 2002
• Ghost Recon
  PC – 2003
• Call of Duty
  PC – 2003
• Planetside
  PC – 2003
• World of Warcraft
  PC – 2004
• Unreal Tournament 2004
  PC – 2004
• Half-Life 2
  PC – 2004
• Battlefield 2
  PC – 2005

DONE!! That was a blast. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few games. I’ll add them as they come to me.

You know, while making this list I discovered some interesting facts about my tastes in games. The most obvious is that I’m a huge first person shooter fan. I didn’t need this list to tell you that. However, one interesting fact is that I have no favorite games on Sega Genesis, Nintendo Game Cube, or XBOX. It’s not because I didn’t own those systems, because I did. This kind of surprised me, so I thought about it a bit and here is what I came up with.

1. Sega Genesis -
   Sega competed head to head with Super Nintendo. I think back then you were either a Nintendo guy or a Sega guy. I was a Nintendo guy. There’s not much more to say. I guess Sonic the Hedgehog just didn’t cut it for me.
2. Nintendo Game Cube -
   The truth is, I don’t think I ever gave this system a fair shake. It was always kind of in the shadow of the PS2 and the XBOX. From what I hear, the Zelda series on NGC is incredible, as is their Resident Evil series. But don’t lose hope yet, you Nintendo fans may be happy to know that since my daughter’s interest in video games has surfaced, her platform of choice is the Game Cube. Naturally, being her gaming mentor, I have to pick up the controller every now and then and show her how it’s done.
3. XBOX -
   The first reason I never played the XBOX is simple, the controller. XBOX’s controller has, does, and will forever suck. Don’t try to defend it. It sucks. The other reason I never played the XBOX is because I’m a PC gamer. All the great titles that have ever been released on XBOX have been released on the PC a year earlier and ten times better. I’m sure Halo was a great game, but that’s only because it’s the first real game of it’s kind to hit consoles. Games like Halo are a dime a dozen on the PC.

Am I droning on? This is such a fun topic for me though. While doing my research I read dozens of “top games” lists from different magazines and game sites. None of the lists were even close to identical, but I was able to find some common recurrences. A lot of these games made it on my list. Some, however, did not and that piqued my interest. What have I missed! I’ll list some of these games below and my pathetic excuses for never playing them. And I call myself hardcore, please!

• Chrono Trigger for SNES
  Out of all the games I have never played, this one appears on the most lists. I’m embarrassed to say I really know nothing about this game. I have, however, already downloaded the rom to my hard drive. I shall be a Chrono Trigger master by the end of the week.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for N64
  This game claimed the most #1 spots of any game I saw. It also got a perfect 10 on Gamespot. I have no excuse for not playing this game. It just slipped through the cracks. It isn’t too late I’m happy to say. This just happens to be one of the games Meg bought on her game buying spree.
• Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos for PC
  This game made its fair share of lists. The truth is, it’s just not my genre. True, Starcraft is on my list, but I think that was caused by some kind of wierd cosmic anomaly. I may dig it out and play it someday.
• Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow – for PC
  Again, no excuse. I own it (actually I stole it from Meg), I’ve installed it, I even went as far as setting up the controls. I’ll get around to playing it once I kick my addiction to World of Warcrack.
• Super Mario 64 for N64
  To tell you the truth, I was suprised to see this game show up on list after list after list. It just doesn’t seem appealing to me. But alas, the people have spoken. It just so happens that Meg owns this game too, what luck.
• System Shock II for PC
  Being an avid fps fan I’m ashamed to say I’ve never owned or played this game. There’s no excuse for my obvious disrespect to the genre. This game is also on almost every Top 100 gaming list I read. It looks very Deus Exish, I’ll be buying it.
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for PC
  Own it, haven’t played it, I suck.
• Beyond Good and Evil for PC
  I remember when this game came out. There was little to no hype about it, but every now and then you would here someone say what a terrific game it was. Then some more people would say it. Then some more. Now it’s considered one of the best sleeper hits of 2003.

Alright, I’ll shut up now. I’m sure I missed a ton of games that deserve to be on this list, but my brain hurts right now. Like I said, I’ll add them as I remember them.

I was sitting at my desk, like the good little employee that I am, when my diggtray alerted me of a new story on digg.com. Usually I ignore these alerts since there is a new story on digg every 10 freak’n seconds, but this one caught my eye. It was called The End of an MMO and the excerpt was as follows:

What happens when a massively multiplayer game is approaching it’s final days? Asheron’s Call 2 is doing just that, and Clive Thompson is taking a look into the desolate, anarchic final days of the game which will be turned off forever on Dec. 30

For those of you that don’t live in the fascinating world that I live in, i.e., normal people, mmorpg stands for massively multiplayer online role playing game. And these games really are all that. They are gigantic virtual worlds where thousands of players interact simultaneously. To help maintain these massive worlds and keep them running 24/7, mmorpg’s usually require a monthly subscription. Subscriptions usually range anywhere from $10.00 to $15.00 a month. Asheron’s Call 2 is one of these said games.

Now, I’ve always preferred playing first-person-shooters (f.p.s), and still do for that matter, but around 2002 I started really getting curious about mmorpg’s . You see, in a f.p.s. you usually play on servers that host 8 to 64 players at a time depending on the game. You can usually walk from one side of a map to the other in a couple of minutes, sometimes even seconds. Now imagine playing on a server with one to three thousand players at the same time and with worlds so big and complex that it would take you hours or more to reach the other side. Not to mention, the world is always there. Even when you aren’t playing, thousands of others are. It’s a world that never stops. I couldn’t even fathom it at the time. They must be exaggerating. It must look like crap or run like crap or just be boring as hell.

Then the day came when I had my chance to see what all the fuss was about. Before Asheron’s Call 2 was officially released they had an open beta for people to try. Essentially, the point of an open beta is to work out any bugs in the game before its final release. Beta’s are also free; so I signed up, downloaded the client, and installed the game.

I was a little apprehensive at first. I’ve never played anything remotely like this. I’ve also heard how irritated some veteran players can get with noobs entering their territory, but I put that thought aside and logged in. The first thing I had to do was create a character. Next, I chose a name for my character. From there, I worked on the characters attributes, appearance, race, class, skills, etc… I may be confusing some small details here with other mmorpg’s, but they’re all basically the same. Once I was done creating my character, who I believe was a ranger, I entered the world. They start you out in a series of caves. In the caves you run through a string of training exercises and tutorials. I remember it being pretty neat, but nothing I hadn’t seen before in other games. I was essentially by myself in an enclosed area running around doing quests. It was still fun, however, and very nice looking. The graphics were beautiful and very detailed. Once the training was finished, maybe an hour later, I was able to enter the world of Dereth.

I was absolutely blown away. I had never seen anything like this. I was on top of a large hill looking down over a valley. There were mountains on either side of me. I started making my way down the hill. When I reached the bottom I saw other players doing various things, most likely just getting used to the environment themselves. When I looked up I saw stars sprawled across the sky with a large moon off in the horizon. I kept walking, still reveling in the enormity of this place. In the distance I saw menacing looking creatures ducking in and out of the trees. The ambient music was soothing and yet very eerie. In fact, the whole experience was eerie. The first couple of days were very quiet and one couldn’t help but to feel alone. The beta was still relatively new and the thousands of players that would soon occupy this land were not yet there. It felt like one of those movies where everyone in the world was gone except you. Like walking down the streets of New York City in perfect silence, completely devoid of life.

Over the next couple of months I continued to explored the world of Dereth. I saw rolling hills and green fields that seemed to span miles. I saw great cities with hundreds of people bustling around in the streets, selling there goods, playing music, or just chatting with their fellow citizens. I saw beautiful coastlines that stretched as far as the eye can see. I went on dozens of adventures with friends I met in-game and some I new from my real life. I watched my character grow from a fragile apprentice to a seasoned warrior. It was one of the greatest gaming experiences I ever had. If you’ve never played a game like this before then you are probably thinking I am a lunatic. But that’s okay. I felt the exact same way you did at one time.

Over time I started drifting away from the game. It ceased to be fun for me and felt more like work than pleasure. After about 5 months of playing AC2 I finally logged off for good. At the time, there was no sense of remorse. I just moved on to the next game, almost relieved that it was over. But the world continued on with out me.

I’ve since played other mmorpg’s and dozens of first-person-shooters. Great ones too. I’ve played hundreds and hundreds of games throughout my life, but there are only a select few games that give me such an overwhelming sense of nostalgia the way Asheron’s Call 2 does. It was one of those few gaming experiences that really piqued my emotions.

In the article by Wired, Clive Thompson writes:

“Anybody out there?” I type, but I already know it’s pointless. There’s nobody anywhere near me. For almost an hour, I’ve been wandering around a desolate plain: Gray clouds scud slowly over rough quartz mountains, while a few birds wheel in the air near mushroom-shaped trees. I never see another living soul. It feels like the end of the world.

We have come full circle. When I first set foot on Dereth, it was beautiful and desolate. And now, at the end, it is desolate again. But in between these two times, thousands of people occupied this virtual land. Friendships were made. Countless hours of adventuring were had. You could come home from a long day at work, sit down at your computer and escape from reality for a time. You could be alone in your house and yet surrounded by hundreds of strangers, all there to have a good time and to meet good people.

It was quite a time. I will especially miss those first few weeks I spent in AC2. As of December 30th, all Asheron’s Call 2 servers will be shut down forever. No one will ever set foot on Osteth, Omishan, or Linvak Massif again. All characters will be permanently deleted.

The point of this entry was for me to just reminisce about that world I had almost forgotten, and to say one last goodbye to Dereth and to all the people who made it such a great experience. Good luck to you all, and thank you for the great times.