1 - The Start of Something
Now what’s this business with all these games?
I had a problem. That problem has led to another problem, albeit a less serious one, that haunts me to this day: my backlog of games that I intend to destroy.
I have always loved playing video games, maybe too much at times, but I feel like I’m your typical guy. I’ve been married almost three years, have a decent job, and rent to pay. I do live abroad in Hong Kong, so maybe that’s unusual. I went through a pretty rough period of time that I may talk about in the future several years ago. This lasted two or three years and was pretty devastating in many ways, but that’s the past. This blog is not exclusively about that period of my life, but it did lead to what it IS all about. During my time spent attempting to understand what was happening to me and getting things in order, I amassed an insane amount of games through easily accessible services such as Steam and GOG.com. I intend to finish these and complete the pact made with my wallet now that I have recovered.
The reasoning behind these purchases lies within the introverted tendencies of those times. (I’ll go into these in another entry to keep from getting too heavy now.) I found staying home relatively better and would sink into the world of PC games and books to take my mind off what was going on. I would see games in sales that struck my fancy or reminded me of better times that demanded an immediate purchase with no further thought. These are still on my shelf and in my list taunting me and reminding me of not so happy times. I wanted to start this blog to make a semi-structured way to complete this task, practice my writing which has suffered since I have recovered, and maybe inspire others to do the same thing as I know many people have this problem. I also want to thank the recently defunct CRPG Addict blog as another inspiration for this blog and how fun and useful it can be. Be sure to check out his past entries for very entertaining thoughts and retrospectives on classic RPG games for the PC.
So how will this go down?
I intend to choose a game at random from my backlogged list that I will compile to show you in the notes for this posting. Once I pick a game out of the hat, I intend to complete the game or play it for at least five to ten hours to give it a chance before moving on. These games are from no particular genre and are from many different time periods. There is no unifying factor and should provide a great variety for me as well as you readers out there. For games that I own more than one game in a series of, the series will be in the hat and I will play the first one I have not completed (e.g. Ultima 6 first as I played and mostly finished all I care to of 1-5.) I do not want this blog to become a job to create another item in my life to be too stressed about. I just want something fun to help me out and, hopefully, provide you with some entertainment.
Check here for a full list of games.
I will begin with an introduction to each game chosen with some background, fun facts, and reasons why I initially made the purchase (if I remember). I want to mess around with different formats and find what works best, but the content should always be the same. I will inform you of my progress in the game (including some spoilers that I will tell you about), post some pictures of interesting things, and weave in some interesting stories from the past about my experiences. These will probably lead to a lot of my thoughts on gaming in general including my bias towards older games which I’m sure will reveal itself.
I also reserve the right to talk about other topics as I see fit. Hell, it’s my blog right? The overwhelming amount of content will be about the subject and I hope you enjoy it as much as I like playing these games.
So what now?
Well, I’m already breaking my rules for game number one. At work I like to listen to podcasts about comedy, games, and music. One of my favorite podcasts, called Watch Out For Fireballs, is a discussion on classic games; their impact, their legacy, and the hosts’ thoughts on design and game play. For an upcoming episode, the hosts (Kole Ross and Gary Butterfield) will be covering Planescape: Torment which I have fond memories of. This will be my first game and a posting about it will be coming soon. After it is completed, I will be doing a random draw.
I hope you enjoy reading as I am very excited to begin posting and digging into this project. See you on the other side for the modern classic RPG -- Planescape: Torment. It is available from GOG.com for a good price of $9.99 for such a meaty game if you want to play along. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys games of any kind, really.
Now what’s this business with all these games?
I had a problem. That problem has led to another problem, albeit a less serious one, that haunts me to this day: my backlog of games that I intend to destroy.
I have always loved playing video games, maybe too much at times, but I feel like I’m your typical guy. I’ve been married almost three years, have a decent job, and rent to pay. I do live abroad in Hong Kong, so maybe that’s unusual. I went through a pretty rough period of time that I may talk about in the future several years ago. This lasted two or three years and was pretty devastating in many ways, but that’s the past. This blog is not exclusively about that period of my life, but it did lead to what it IS all about. During my time spent attempting to understand what was happening to me and getting things in order, I amassed an insane amount of games through easily accessible services such as Steam and GOG.com. I intend to finish these and complete the pact made with my wallet now that I have recovered.
[A small selection of the gems in store for me.]
The reasoning behind these purchases lies within the introverted tendencies of those times. (I’ll go into these in another entry to keep from getting too heavy now.) I found staying home relatively better and would sink into the world of PC games and books to take my mind off what was going on. I would see games in sales that struck my fancy or reminded me of better times that demanded an immediate purchase with no further thought. These are still on my shelf and in my list taunting me and reminding me of not so happy times. I wanted to start this blog to make a semi-structured way to complete this task, practice my writing which has suffered since I have recovered, and maybe inspire others to do the same thing as I know many people have this problem. I also want to thank the recently defunct CRPG Addict blog as another inspiration for this blog and how fun and useful it can be. Be sure to check out his past entries for very entertaining thoughts and retrospectives on classic RPG games for the PC.
So how will this go down?
I intend to choose a game at random from my backlogged list that I will compile to show you in the notes for this posting. Once I pick a game out of the hat, I intend to complete the game or play it for at least five to ten hours to give it a chance before moving on. These games are from no particular genre and are from many different time periods. There is no unifying factor and should provide a great variety for me as well as you readers out there. For games that I own more than one game in a series of, the series will be in the hat and I will play the first one I have not completed (e.g. Ultima 6 first as I played and mostly finished all I care to of 1-5.) I do not want this blog to become a job to create another item in my life to be too stressed about. I just want something fun to help me out and, hopefully, provide you with some entertainment.
Check here for a full list of games.
I will begin with an introduction to each game chosen with some background, fun facts, and reasons why I initially made the purchase (if I remember). I want to mess around with different formats and find what works best, but the content should always be the same. I will inform you of my progress in the game (including some spoilers that I will tell you about), post some pictures of interesting things, and weave in some interesting stories from the past about my experiences. These will probably lead to a lot of my thoughts on gaming in general including my bias towards older games which I’m sure will reveal itself.
I also reserve the right to talk about other topics as I see fit. Hell, it’s my blog right? The overwhelming amount of content will be about the subject and I hope you enjoy it as much as I like playing these games.
[My gaming throne.]
So what now?
Well, I’m already breaking my rules for game number one. At work I like to listen to podcasts about comedy, games, and music. One of my favorite podcasts, called Watch Out For Fireballs, is a discussion on classic games; their impact, their legacy, and the hosts’ thoughts on design and game play. For an upcoming episode, the hosts (Kole Ross and Gary Butterfield) will be covering Planescape: Torment which I have fond memories of. This will be my first game and a posting about it will be coming soon. After it is completed, I will be doing a random draw.
I hope you enjoy reading as I am very excited to begin posting and digging into this project. See you on the other side for the modern classic RPG -- Planescape: Torment. It is available from GOG.com for a good price of $9.99 for such a meaty game if you want to play along. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys games of any kind, really.