I told you I had a surprise coming for you guys in the mail.
I actually managed to dig up a copy of the original article that inspired my series of One-Page Games. This article is from The Rainbow Magazine, August 1986 issue. It is over twenty years old.
There are two old magazines that I absolutely adore and will pick up copies anytime I can find them. They are The Rainbow and The Space Gamer. And the reason I like both of them is because of the attitude they conveyed.
The readers and editors of The Rainbow were all in a state of fascination – “Look at this! This is a computer we can own! How cool is that! I wonder what I can make it do…”
The readers and editors of The Space Gamer were the same way, amazed at the stories they could tell and the fun they could have with roleplaying.
In both magazines you get a sense of childlike wonder as people explored these previously unexplored continents – one in the mind and the other in silicon.
I miss that attitude. I haven’t seen it in a long, long time. It has been replaced by cynicism and curmudgeonism. And that makes me sad.
When Steve Jackson Games started their magazine Pyramid I was hoping to see a little of that attitude come back, but I was disappointed. The feel of Pyramid was slick and professional; the attitude was almost that of people telling an inside joke – yes, we love games, but we don’t…love-love games, because that would be really dorky. Especially since we’re all over thirty now.
That’s not to say that Pyramid wasn’t an excellent magazine – it is. I was a subscriber for over three years and enjoyed reading it very much. I’m just saying that the attitude is different.
And on the video gaming side…do you remember the first game that you absolutely obsessed over? The one you simply could not stop playing? The one you could barely drag yourself away from to go to school or work, and would instantly resume playing once you got home?
I’ve had several games like that. One of them was Civilization. Another was Doom. Tie Fighter was another. And so was Fallout.
When is the last time a game made you feel like that?
This is why I adored Oblivion so much – it was the first time in years that I felt I could just fall into a game and live there for a while, forgetting everything else (well, after the chilluns were in bed, of course). But before Oblivion I’d have to go back years, practically to the Golden Age, to find a game like that.
Is the games? Or is it me?
Have I lost my own childlike wonder? I’d like to think I haven’t…
Well, I love-love games. Truly. With all my heart. Yes, that makes me a geek. And a dork. And a knucklehead mcspazatron.
This is me. I am Gabe in this comic. Except that, you know, I’ve never actually put a game down my pants.
I still think it’s incredibly awesome that video games exist and I get to play them, and I hope I never lose that feeling. I also need to get better at game development so I can make more of my own games, in an effort to help other people feel the same way.
Sniff…I love you all, guys! I love you all!
Awesome. I know what you mean. Never lose that inner child.
The first? Final Fantasy.
Yes. I stayed up nights after my parents had gone to bed, lights off, volume waaay down low so I wouldn’t get caught, and played to the wee hours. On school nights.
And the latest? Hell. I can’t think of one. There’ve been several that were *fun*, that I could play for hours and still be having fun, but nothing has “sucked me in”. I can’t define the difference right now, I’m feeling ill and am very tired, but there is a difference. I guess it’s the difference between understanding and grokking. I guess the latest would be either Gothic (I or II) or Morrowind. My computer can’t handle Oblivion unfortunately. Anyway, I’ll shut up now, I’m probably rambling.
BTW, like the new color scheme, but black doesn’t contrast the green very well. 🙂
Yeah, the colors will need a little tweaking, but I really like the layout. It’ll probably remain light-text-on-dark-background, though.
The first? That’s a tough question. Probably something on the spectrum. Probably some game by ultimate, like jetpac (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetpac).
On the other hand, the whole computer was one big game at the time, and programming on it could be just as entertaining as the games. Even if the programs sucked. =)
The latest? Psychonauts. And it’s been a while since that came out..
The first for me was Dragon Warrior. It was the first game I ever completely finished. The second was probably Simon’s Quest II (which I think is one of the greatest Castlevania games ever made).
I haven’t felt completely enthralled by a game in a long time.
Guess I never actually answered in the format others are using.
First: Ultima II on the C64.
Last: Fall From Heaven 2 Mod for Civ 4 on PC.
For me, that magical feeling of being engrossed in a new game, a new experience, comes and goes in cycles. Mostly it’s there though, for which I am eternally thankful.