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.

You can fly over New York, Washington D.C., Paris, Tokyo, and London all while laying down strafing fire.

• TurboTanks
  This game is like a stripped down version of Combat for Atari.
• The Ultimate Face
  I spent way too much time on this website trying to create an exact replica of my face.
• Cool Mosaic
  This is a neat Mosaic. You really get the sense of infinity here.
• Dungeon Escape
  A simple little action game, but still very addicting.
• Treasure Box
  I can’t even describe this game. It’s pretty damn cool though.
• Java Sand
  Sand. Lots and lots of sand.
• Lightning Pool
  Speed pool. Really addicting.
• Escapa
  I hate this stupid, stupid game…
• Stick Arena
  Here’s a cool multiplayer shooter. Takes a little getting used to.
• Bert is Evil
  I know this a old, but I was looking through my del.icio.us tags and I saw this. It’s just too funny.

Okay, there you have it. Don’t blame me if you get fired.

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.