Friday, November 21, 2008

Gaming Eulogy

...or, giving my nerd-dom a proper burial.

mastersword1024

Here is my recently updated, and most likely final, list of absolute favorite games I've ever completed or spent a significant amount of time playing. This is a wonderfully and shamefully long list. I've made peace with the Lord about it. Abbreviations in parentheses indicate the system the game runs on; PC:IF refers to Interactive Fiction on the computer. Go to GameSpot and enter the title in the search field at the top to learn more about any of these games, or to Baf's Guide to the IF Archive for more about IF titles. I just finished Grim Fandago.

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Completed:
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
Half-Life (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Metroid Prime (GC)
Deus Ex (PC)
Thief II: The Metal Age (PC)
Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES)

[Special note: Ten years later, still my favorite video game.]

SMRPG Covershot

Paper Mario (N64)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (PC)

[Special note: Ten years later, still my favorite computer game.]

SMAC Cover

Sid Meier's Civilization II (PC)
Myst (PC)
Riven: The Sequel to Myst (PC)
Myst III: Exile (PC)
The Longest Journey (PC)
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (PC)
Syberia (PC)
Loom (DOS)

LoomScreenCropped

The Secret of Monkey Island (DOS)
Monkey Island II: The Curse of LeChuck (DOS)
The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)
Full Throttle (PC)
Grim Fandango (PC)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Super Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Star Wars Episode I: Racer (N64)
San Francisco Rush 2049 (N64)
MDK2 (PC)
GoldenEye 007(N64)
Perfect Dark (N64)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

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Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (N64)
Rayman 2: The Great Escape (N64)
Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)
Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (PC)
Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox)
Banjo-Kazooie (N64)
Banjo-Tooie (N64)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Mario World (SNES)
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Commander Keen 1, 4, 6 and Keen Dreams (DOS)

keen6box

MegaMan 64 (N64)
Duke Nukem II (DOS)
Super Double Dragon (SNES)
"Metamorphoses" by Emily Short (PC:IF)
"City of Secrets" by Emily Short (PC:IF)
"Muse: An Autumn Romance" by Christopher Huang (PC:IF)
"Shade" by Andrew Plotkin (PC:IF)
Samarost & Samarost 2 by Amanita Design (Flash)
Knytt by Nifflas (PC)
Minesweeper (PC)
FreeCell (PC)
SimCopter (PC)
Lemmings (DOS)
Bioshock (Xbox 360)

Games you can't complete:
Sid Meier's Pirates! (PC)
Asheron's Call (PC)

[Special note: AC wins game played for the longest cumulative time;
can't remember total, but spent at least an entire week exploring
every corner of this with Gerald Tarrant and Jaril Gaidin (Greg).]

DerethMap

World of Warcraft (PC)
Anarchy Online (PC)
Super Smash Bros. (N64)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (GC)
SimCity 2000 & 3000 (PC)
Tetris (Everything)
Scorched Earth: The Mother of All Games (DOS)
Dr. Mario (NES)

Not finished (but played at least 5-10 hours):
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Final Fantasy X (PS2)
Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
System Shock 2 (PC)
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape to Butcher Bay (Xbox)
Psychonauts (Xbox)
Wacky Wheels (DOS)
Total Annihilation (PC)
Thief: Deadly Shadows (Xbox)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC)
Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War (PC)
FreeSpace 2 (PC)

[Special note: I set my record for longest period of uninterrupted game playing
when Greg and I played FreeSpace 2 from 5pm to 7am the next morning.
At some point around 6am we realized that the longer we played, the more
tired we got and worse we played, and the levels themselves were getting harder,
so we reached a complete impasse (kept gettin' smoked) at 7am. No matter
how fiercely we tried, we got p0wned. Hitting a brick wall of inability
after fourteen hours was morally devastating, forcing Greg and I to throw up
our hands and never again try to beat one of the greatest games ever made.]

freespace2_screen004

Resident Evil 4 (GC)
Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (Xbox)
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox)
Cave Story/Doukutsu Monogatari by Studio Pixel (PC)
Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360)
F-Zero X (N64)
Soul Calibur II (Xbox, PS2 & GC)
Anachronox (PC)
"Babel" by Ian Finley (PC:IF)
"Delusions" by C.E. Forman (PC:IF)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)
Myst: Uru Complete Chronicles (PC)
Black & White (PC)
Shenmue II (Xbox, DC) [This one goes out to Rob!]





Cover
Currently Crying To
Super Mario RPG Original Sound Version
By Yoko Shimomura
see related

Friday, February 18, 2005

Excerpt from "The Brewing of Soma"

(by John Greenleaf Whittier)

"Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!

With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call,
And noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down.

Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
Thy beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the hearts of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be numb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!"

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