Max speaks

Flemingovia

Flemingovia

TNPer
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On his blogsite, Max has listed his top 15 games of all time:

My Top Video Games

Icon A few nights ago, Jen, Moo (Jen’s brother), and I got to talking about our all-time top computer games. Naturally, this quickly devolved into a bitter, insult-strewn debate about whose top-ranked games were ground-breaking titans of their time (mine), and whose were mindless, derivative trifles (theirs, except where overlapping with mine).

We did settle on the criterion that we should rank games based on the impact they had on us personally. This still left plenty of room for argument. Initially we were going to pick our top 5, but this got pushed out to 10. I still had too many classics left over, so successfully argued for 15, plus an “Honorable Mention.”

Three days later, we were still debating and re-arranging our lists. Clearly this was an important topic for us. In fact, it was surprising how much we cared. Games aren’t usually considered up there with books or movies, but these ones all meant a lot to us. They left a lasting impression and we wanted to give them their due.

So here is the result. My list:

  1. Elite (1984, Commodore 64): My mother bought me this for Christmas when I was about 11. I don’t think I did anything else that year. I never made it to “Elite” status, though. At least, not in the game. Ha ha!
  2. Doom (1993, PC): Ranked this highly for the multiplayer: Jen and I played together. Not competitively. Oh no. Jen lacks that part of the brain that lets you distinguish between reality and a computer game, which means if we play head-to-head, she tries to kill me in real life. We play co-operatively. (Fifteen years of marriage, bud. Fifteen years.)
  3. Shattered World (1990, MUD): A MUD is an online text-based game, usually swords-and-sorcery based. You type in commands, like, “kill goblin”, and read the responses, like, “The goblin dodges your swing. The goblin cleaves your head from your shoulders. You die.” I wrote tons of content for this game when I should have been studying for my marketing degree.
  4. Age of Empires II (1999, PC): I wrestled with the ethics of including a sequel when the original was much more, uh, original. But while Jen and I lost countless hours to both, this is the one we really pounded. Our strategy to defeat the computer-controlled hordes was to pour arrows upon the endless tides of units throwing themselves against our walls until our opponents had consumed every single resource in the game, reducing themselves to small groups of peasants standing around with nothing to do. Then we would ride out and butcher them.
  5. Half-Life (1998, PC): I was roundly ridiculed by Jen and Moo for not fitting HL2 into my list as well, but although it’s an amazing technical achievement, I didn’t really feel it, you know? No, Jen and Moo didn’t buy that, either.
  6. Paradroid (1985, Commodore 64): Ah, brave little 001 droid. I used to get up at 5am to play this before school.
  7. Portal (2007, PC): The only game I’ve played through since Fin was born. Portal is wonderful. I especially love how its story evolves from nowhere.
  8. NetHack (1987, PC): Sadistically difficult game that can strike terror into your heart by revealing a “D”.
  9. Warcraft II (1995, PC): The reason that for about five years there every single game on the shelves was a Real Time Strategy. Zug zug!
  10. Diablo (1996, PC): Diablo II was fantastic, too. But this game I knew I wanted the second the demo loaded.
  11. Unreal Tournament (1999, PC)
  12. Rygar (1986, Arcade)
  13. Battlefield 1942 (2002, PC)
  14. Defender of the Crown (1986, Commodore 64)
  15. Speedball (1988, Commodore Amiga)
Click to expand...

Two thoughts:

1. WHAT! No Nationstates?
2. What would be your list?
 
My top 10

1. Elite. No contest. The best game ever. If I could find a version that played on my PC now I would never sleep again.
2. Age of Empires.
3. Myst. Hot damn, still the most original computer game ever.
4. 10Rogue. The first PC game I played. Ascii game, anyone?
5 Guildwars.
6. Nationstates.
7. Civilization
8. Doom
9. Lemmings
10. Pong.
 
If he put NationStates in his top 15 he'd be lying!! The game is as boring as hell and has next to know scope for any individuality or gameplay!! Offsite governments and regional interaction is the only thing that kept the game going this long!!

However, Pong is awesome and as a game reviewer Max should stick to writing B-Grade novels for omitting such a brilliant game!!

I don't have a top 10 as I haven't played computer games for at least a decade!!
 
Hey, anyone remember that arcade game by Atari called "Tempest"?

How about "Missile Command" and "Defender"? :w00t:


As a semi-side note that is related - most of those old arcade video games are essentially lost forever. The programming for them was mostly 'firmware' and not 'software'. You should try converting firmware routines into a software type program - not easy. You have to be an electrical engineer to figure out how the analogue aspects of the 'firmware' program (the type of hard-wired programming that was used in the guidance systems of things like the Saturn 5 rocket systems), because there is no real way to 'rip' a firmware program to a software based program automatically. You can create emulators or simulators, though (and it has been done with a lot of the old Atari Video Games).

At any rate - the actual #1 game on my list is actually Pong, because that is what started it all!
 
I've honestly never played any other "proper" game except NationStates and occasionally Cybernations on the internet. I played a couple of computer games in the past but not for a year or two.
 
You mean there are other computer games besides this? :o

I prefer games with real people. Scrabble, chess, monopoly, twister.
 
I'm not really much of a gamer. I tried a few games in the past and they all sucked. NS was the first one to catch my interest, in part BECAUSE it was simple. Though the core of the game is boring, the players MADE it interesting, and went well beyond the original game.
 
Great Bights Mum:
You mean there are other computer games besides this? :o

I prefer games with real people. Scrabble, chess, monopoly, twister.
Click to expand...
OOOOH! A TNP Chess Tournament!

It would take about a month to play a game, but think of the running commentary!
 
Holy crap! Someone else remembers the game Tempest? That game completely rocked!
There's actually a gaming parlour in my hometown with nothing but 70's arcade games...it's a blast to go in there.
 
I think if I thought hard I could probably remember the sequence of shots that ensured that you always got 300 points for the spaceship on the original space invaders. That is how old I am.

I think you shot 23 aliens then the spaceship, then 15 soldiers, then the spaceship etc.

ahhh... happy days.
 
Hey, Mum, ever see that two level pinball machine "Black Night"? It had "Magnasave" on it - you had a button that activated a magnate under the board that held and prevented (most of the time) a side-lane drain-ball. It was cool. If you hit the right targets in sequence, you could play all day on one quarter!

@ Sir Lans -

Tempest was the greatest! I used to get to level 29 on one man. I've got the PC version of it, but the physical arcade game is the best! In college, we had an arcade in the student center. A bunch of us used to get really stoned and go down and play that game for hours on end. :D
 
Hmm....I haven't really thought about the exact order they come in for me...but here are ten of my favourite games / game series (yes, I'm cheating a bit :P ):
  • Monkey Island Series: How fun can you get? I loved 'puzzle' games (that weren't TOO taxing) when I was younger. I still do, and Monkey Island was one fo the first ever computer games I ever played. In the first game, I loved the sequence when you had to steal an object at the mansion. It was HILARIOUS, yet only relied on text and sound effects. Wonderful
  • Commander Keen: Possibly THE first ever computer game I ever played. Simple, yet taxing at the same time. I still have the floppy disks somewhere. I also have it on CD, downloaded from the winder that is the internet.
  • American McGee's Alice: Doesn't work on Vista, unfortunately. But it is one of the most graphic 'kid' games I've played, and offers a warped version of Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.
  • The Elder Scrolls: Just...awesome. I haven't played Oblivion in a while now, but both it and its predecessor, Morrowind, sucked time from me, like some sort of temporal vampire. Plenty of WTF!! moments in it, plus the dark and twisty humour that runs throughout (Anyone else find the body of 'Peke Utchoo' in Morrowind?) and some stunning graphics combine to make some awesome games.
  • Doom: It's Doom. I don't really have to say much else, do I? Incidentally, my brother was playing on it the other day, and years afterwards it can still scare him. A monster REGENERATED (which I've never seen before) in a way reminiscent of Terminator 2. My brother freaked out and emptied his BFG into it. Heh.
  • Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast: We got a Star Wars game boxset a few months ago, and the main reason was this one. Forget KotOR or Battlefront (although they are worth the price on their own), this game is awesome. I never really played the main story, but instead used the multiplayer in offline mode, in which I filled a map full of bots and stuck it on free for all mode. Great fun, especially when you force push someone off a high place and the plummet to their deaths.
  • Spiderman: This was before the films, and was on the PS1. Remember the old cartoon series from the 90's? It had some of the voice actors from that, particularly Doc Ock. It was great, it had loads of characters in it, from Mysterio, Venom, The Punisher, Daredevil.....in fact, the only major villain missing was Green Goblin, and none of the X-Men had cameos. Not only was the plot fun, the gameplay and graphics made you feel that you were swinging through a Marvel New York.
  • Pandemonium 2: Man, I miss this game. It had a disturbingly alluring female playable character, and was so bright and vivid....I did prefer playing as the pyromaniac Jester though.
  • Half-Life: A modern Doom, with more puzzles and much smarter enemies. It had a good story too....and I did waste loads of ammo trying to shoot the dark suited man. Smug git.
  • [size=-2]Pokemon: I don't care what you say, I still play on it.[/size]
An Honourable mention goes to Halo, cause although the main story had its lame points, I spent my first year in Uni playing LAN Halo multiplayer. I kept getting the lowest scores until they chose a small map. AND I ANNIHILATED THEM ALL. Everyone usually grabs a sniper rifle and camps somewhere, but on a small map, that is impossible. So I just grabbed random weapons, blowing away everyone until I reached the kill limit without dying once. Needless to say, they never played the small maps again.
 
My mate was raving about assasins creed must be a good choice there bottle of Grog.

Anyone else think total annihilation is great?
 
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