Your Favorite Games

[REdiculous]

Currently, for me, it's Modern Warfare 3 on Wii.

I'll play some Rockband or Guitar Hero once in a while too. Expert.

[mud2005]

don't forget about choplifter! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choplifter

[Xanda2260]

Name it: The Platform, The Game, The Version, The Characters, and Why.

Next question: Are you married or have a significant person in your Life other than your mother? On second thought, don’t answer that – we already know based upon your gamer tag.

I’ll start…
It’s a long list. Suffice it to say I’ll cut it short, list only the last two and call it good: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3, both on the XBOX. I like a good game that goes on for weeks providing rich entertainment and interactivity. ME doesn’t truly allow reentry of past conquests without starting a new play-through, and Skyrim is limited as well with partial refill of cleared dungeons. Still, to me this is dang good gaming. The XBOX though is reaching the end of its’ service life and I am looking forward to the next version, and to where platform gaming will go. As a UI/UX-guy, I enjoy the virtual immersion into realms of possibility: of flight, of swimming, climbing or looking down then leaping from high vistas (definitely a visceral sensation)… the extensions of our super-humanity and all that goes with it.

I'm with you KF, Skyrim and ME3 are amazing, even if nearly everyone dies...

And I'm married, with a 2yr old and a second on the way

[number1cruncher]

PC, Might and Magic, All, especially IV, because I'm a dork

Wii, Resort Sports, Because my wife will compete against me

Wii, Super Mario Bros., I love the nostalgic feel to the game and play it with my 5yo son

PC, Solitaire, Windows Version, It kills a lot of time at work

[John in CR]

My new favorite game is to cruise around town hunting down motorcycles with the Sheriff (my Cannondale SuperV powered by Hubmonster)

Before SuperV my favorite game was one I've never gotten to play, which is see how long it would take to destroy every time wasting social skills retarding video game and device used for video games within a 50m radius.

[mud2005]

Before SuperV my favorite game was one I've never gotten to play, which is see how long it would take to destroy every time wasting social skills retarding video game and device used for video games within a 50m radius.

from 'the king of kong' : "everyone games" if you don't like games... it's pretty much impossible. some don't like games with a controller and screen, but I'm sure you would like a game of cards, darts, pool, whatever. and it is a social thing.

[John in CR]

Before SuperV my favorite game was one I've never gotten to play, which is see how long it would take to destroy every time wasting social skills retarding video game and device used for video games within a 50m radius.

from 'the king of kong' : "everyone games" if you don't like games... it's pretty much impossible. some don't like games with a controller and screen, but I'm sure you would like a game of cards, darts, pool, whatever. and it is a social thing.

I like games just fine, but anything that is just an electronics device that makes a person sit alone for hours on end pushing buttons to no real world outcome or benefit isn't a game, just a time waster and time is all we really have on this planet. The multi-player games provide some competitive release, which can be healthy especially for guys, but all video games are designed to be addictive and stimulating the addictive trait is horribly destructive for a significant percentage of people.

[mud2005]

I like games just fine, but anything that is just an electronics device that makes a person sit alone for hours on end pushing buttons to no real world outcome or benefit isn't a game, just a time waster and time is all we really have on this planet. The multi-player games provide some competitive release, which can be healthy especially for guys, but all video games are designed to be addictive and stimulating the addictive trait is horribly destructive for a significant percentage of people.

thats an interesting viewpoint and I can see where your coming from.

In my case, I don't know how I would have made it through adolescence w/o video games. they provided an escape I desperately needed. also I spent many hours playing games with friends, making new friends...

when I got a little older I became obsessed with writing video games. I "wasted" much of my spare time in from of a screen by myself hacking away. I never went to college and I just barely made it through high school. I learned c/c++/java 3d modeling UI design and even physics coding all on my own.

right now I am negotiating with a company for a job that makes triple what I'm currently making as a baker. the job is website development, but the company was impressed with the fact that I'm self taught and I know linux very well. they told me they're going to give me contract work for a couple months and if that goes well hire me.

so all my time wasting turned out to be a good thing.

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted. John Lennon game on!

[def215]

i would have to say any one of the gran turismos on playstation. also any one of the forza motorsports and grand theft auto from the third one and up on xbox.

but i think one of the best games ive played on a nintendo ds was dementium: the ward and dementium 2: the escape. call me a bitch, but i didnt think a game could be so scary on a 2 inch screen.

[Philistine]

Before SuperV my favorite game was one I've never gotten to play, which is see how long it would take to destroy every time wasting social skills retarding video game and device used for video games within a 50m radius.

I have always been intrigued at the deep hatred that a lot of people hold for video games. Don't get me wrong, I don't let my kids play them, for the same reason I drastically limit the amount of TV they watch - ie, because I would rather they did something physical and outdoors than indoors if possible. And it is probably more than that, in that I am aware (even from my own experience) how addictive computer games can be. At first blush most haters of video games will say that they hate the sedintary nature of the activity, but you don't hear them hating on people playing poker in the same way.

I personally have never understood the attraction to the really deeply involving and addictive computer games like World of Warcraft and Skyrim and so forth, I just don't understand why role playing games are so fascinating to people, but I don't resent them for it, whatever floats their boat. I personally don't think that people who hate video games hate the indoor/sedintary part, I think there is something deep in a lot of people, that they feel very uncomfortable when other people take a deep interest or fascination in something they can't find an attraction to. Why I say that, is that I remember there used to be similar handwringing by concerned parents about role playing games before they were in video form. I remember when I was at school they banned Dungeons and Dragons and those kinds of games, and there was all this discussion about the impact of these games on young minds. It is the same mentality of people who hate recreational drug use, even putting aside the "problem" people who take drugs, they don't even like or can't believe that productive healthy people can be undertaking the activity, because they can't relate to it, and so the fact that others are deeply engrossed in the activity which they hold no interest in, makes them uncomfortable. It is the same reason that people develop a strong dislike for different religions, cults, sexual practices and ideologies, even where the practice has no discernable impact on their life.

I first developed this theory from talking with homophobes. I couldn't understand why they had such hatred for something that had no impact on them. They would say things to me like "So what do you think about men having sex together?" and I would explain "I don't really think about it". But then I realised that for a large number of people, they are deeply affronted by other people taking a deep interest in something they hold no interest in themselves. I think this recurrs throughout most bigotry.

That's my theory anyway, otherwise I just struggle to understand the degree of hate which so many people have for an activity that is really pretty benign (I am talking about video games there, homosexuality is positively good, because it increases the hetero woman to man ratio). I just fundamentally come from a perspective of wanting everyone to be happy, and to do whatever they enjoy, as long as it doesn't harm others. I would never want to destroy something that brought others pleasure which didn't harm others.

EDIT: I should point out I wasn't suggesting you are a bigot John, I just genuinely am always amazed at the passionate hatred that alot of people have for video games, and was ruminating on that.

[amberwolf]

I just don't understand why role playing games are so fascinating to people

The only role-playing games I've ever played have been with people in the same room, and in those cases it's fun to "act" the parts out, trying to "become" the person (or whatever) you are role-playing. It's kinda fun, but I am not very good at the acting part, unlike some of the people I've played with. In some cases, I continued playing simply to watch them, because they are so good at the acting.

Sometimes it can be fun to play a person or thing or creature that you could never be in "real life", either because it's physically impossible, or because you havent' had the chance (and probably never will) to do the things you can do as that person. If you have the imagination for it, role-playing games in groups in person can be really interesting, entertaining, and fun, as well as sometimes educational.

The ones I have played were plain old Dungeons & Dragons, but it sucked because our DM was way too literal and tight-assed about the rules, preferring to keep exact adherence to rolls and rules and events rather than making it fun for the players. Usually if something is going to kill a major player or make it impossible for them to continue the "quest" or game, a DM or GM is practically obliged to work out some way to get around that, simply so things can continue, even if it's with a major change. This guy would rather end the game and kill off all the players' characters than have fun or continue things.

The one I had the most fun playing was Hero system, both in regular alternate-universe "America" and in the Fantasy Hero game setup. In both of these I played various characters that were totally different from anything the GMs had expected or even had anyone attempt, and it made things fairly interesting. Whenever I had a choice between doing something the "normal" way and some other way that would get everyone looking at me funny, and usually that would cause a totally unexpected turn in the game, I would choose the latter, and in all cases the GMs just rolled with it and altered the game scenario to work with it (same when other players did similar things). Those were the right kind of GMs and players, as they made things fun and interesting.

[Farfle]

Platform: PC
Games: Half dead portal fortress three, but seriously, all the valve games are pretty good, Portal was the best game ever, deep meaningful plot, great backstory, and an awesome ending. skyrim was addicting, but quick. ME3 was somewhat of a letdown, came into the game rocking and rolling with a char that went thru both me1 and me2 on insane, twice... only to have all but one of the people I care about die in ME3. Im debating on whether to do a second playthru until they release new ending DLC...until then, multiplayer it is...

[coldfusion594]

Dragon Ball Z games... any of them!!
possibly the best TV Series of all time... am I right? or am I right?

[John in CR]

Philistine,

It's not hatred. There's nothing wrong with video games in moderation. While you and I may be trying to limit our kids in these non-productive non-learning activities, to a large extent the world is allowing video games to be their children's friend and babysitter. The social impact this brings is only beginning to be recognized. Then there's the opportunity cost. Don't you think something productive could have been done with the 5 million odd man years spent playing WOW, and that's just one of the many games.

[Philistine]

Philistine,

It's not hatred. There's nothing wrong with video games in moderation. While you and I may be trying to limit our kids in these non-productive non-learning activities, to a large extent the world is allowing video games to be their children's friend and babysitter. The social impact this brings is only beginning to be recognized. Then there's the opportunity cost. Don't you think something productive could have been done with the 5 million odd man years spent playing WOW, and that's just one of the many games.

I completely agree with you John, and I suspect that you and I have similar feelings about TV (certainly its impact on children). There is burgeoning evidence that the amount of television your children watch has a directly negative effect on (for example) the vocabulary they will develop. They are actually able to calculate the roughly accurate reduction in vocabulary your children will have for every hour that your child watches TV. I don't mean to sound like a saint, because I have four kids and twin babies, so whilst my first child didn't watch a single minute of TV until he was two, I regularly rely on TV to keep the peace whilst I deal with different duties amongst the kids. But it is amazing to me the difference in speech development and vocabulary relatively between my oldest and my youngest age for age. The evidence is astounding as to the negative impact, and the theory turns around the passive nature of TV, and the need for constant interraction in language development. And that is actually the reason I hate TV so much (in parenting), is that it is such an easy out, rather than engaging with your kids. It takes effort to engage properly with children, and TV makes it way too easy to fail in that task as a parent. Recent research shows that 90% of brain and language development in children has occured by age 2 (this was previously thought to be age 4). Televisions are quite simply put total poison for children's minds, because they require constant active engagement, and before the existence of TVs we had no choice but to do this, even when we were tired and didn't want to. There is also fascinating research that is showing the human brain (due to its plasticity) is changing its form as a result of this fundamental change in how we engage in information exchange. The research suggests that we are becoming better at processing large amounts of information on the fly, but are losing the ability at deep analysis (what psychologists call "system 2 thinking" - system 1 thinking being pre-intellectual understanding as discussed in Malcolm Gladwells popular book "Blink").

As I said in my post, I wasn't meaning to reflect on you particularly, it was just that you had posted on a thread totally dedicated to a love of video games, that you wanted to destroy every video game mechanism within a 50 metre radius, and I considered that somewhat extreme. Imagine if Kingfish had posted a thread asking "who loves card games? Tell me about the card games you love?" and then I posted "I want to see every card game within a 50 metre radius destroyed!". People would either think I was a crotchety old cunt with no sense of fun, or I was mentally ill, or I had drunk half a bottle of scotch (BTW all three could be said to be true of me at any given time on ES).....

I was genuinely ruminating on the issues I discussed, because there is no doubt to me that there is a massive element in society who HATE video games. Just like there is a massive element in society who HATE Scientology, or HATE gays, or HATE Communists. And my theory is the hatred comes from the (probably natural) discomfort that arises from becoming aware that other sentient beings are dramatically attracted to something we ourselves hold no interest in. Basically I am making the proposition that the pretty common hatred of video games emanates (in my opinion) from the strength of the addiction or interest that video gamers show, compared the seeming disinterest that the haters hold.

Anyone who would suggest that there is not a strong passionate hatred for video games in popular culture is deluding themselves in my opinion, and I think a thread on a love of video games is the right place for me to raise my theory. Was never having a go at you John

[mud2005]

I find this incredibly interesting...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 144955.htm

here's a snippet

Gamers Succeed Where Scientists Fail: Molecular Structure of Retrovirus Enzyme Solved, Doors Open to New AIDS Drug Design

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2011) — Gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stumped scientists for more than a decade. The gamers achieved their discovery by playing Foldit, an online game that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules.

anyone here play foldit?

[TylerDurden]

Google 'Zerg Rush' Easter Egg Invades Your Search Results

News of the game quickly made the rounds this morning, with "Zerg Rush" topping the trending topics on Google+ and Twitter as users urged friends to try it out.
"Just Googled 'Zerg Rush' and spent the next 40 minutes clicking on O's...I think I need to get a life...still; it was good fun!" one user tweeted this morning.
"Type "Zerg Rush" into Google. If you've ever spent any time with an #RTS, you'll enjoy the results. #GG," another person wrote.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2403653,00.asp

[Dee Jay]

wassup guys

3 year old on the iPod

7 year old on the Wii

and me on Falcon 4.0

spring, we normally go on long family bike rides for a bbq or picnic but the radiation threat is a great reason to stay our asses home lol!

wasted too much time on Falcon shooting everybody up but I did throw caution to the wind to go out raving during the hanami weekend. I found one fist pumpin party with beautiful electronica music. great music here is pretty rare.. fuggin hate that twangy psytrance shit that these people here OH-SO-LOVE LOL! got shit faced at the party and went on a drunken rage… HAHA! relieving so much post apocalyptic pressure is just what the doctor ordered.

I'm good for a while.. CHEERS!

[e-bike-is-fun]

Chess.
On a board.
Human to human.