Computer Games

I am a computergame junkie. This is neither contestable or even that bad. To say i am addicted is reasonable. If i spent as much time boozing as i do playing games, i would not be an acoholic, i would be dead.

I tend to fixate on one (or a small handful) of games at a time and i'm VERY picky about what i'l play. Firstly, it has to be on PC. I'm not a fan of the instant gratification of most console games. The sole exception to this is beat-'em-ups which as a rule, don't come out on PC. Secondly, it has to be intelligent. Although i bought Doom 3 it didn't hold my attention. Half life 2 and Deus Ex however did (although not Deus Ex 2, that sucked. Dumbed down for the console market). I like strategy, roleplaying and MMORP games.

Current favourites are:

World of Warcraft - Where i have 2 characters, Obould the Orc and Vardigan the Undead Warlock. Saying that this games sucks hours of your life is like saying the ocean has some water in it. Vast understatement. The real joy of Warcraft is in exploring. The game is truly beautiful in a cartoony gothic kind of way. The regions are so varied too, you can run on the savanah of the Barrens, climb the Stonetalon mountains, Go Swimming near Fenris Isle, fish for Mudsnappers off the coast of Durotar, take a zeppelin across the continent to the festering jungles of Stranglethorn Vale, run across the blasted wasteland that is Desolace, hunt werewolves through Silverpine, the list goes on and on. And i haven't even been to a lot of areas or played on entire half of the game (as i only play hoard at present).

EVE online - Just amazing. You start as a basic pilot with a small space frigate and are let lose in a galaxy of corporations, battling empires and capitalistic greed (which generally i'm against but is fun in a game). Players join corporations (or found their own) for mutual protection and profit and then go off and make their fortune. To make money you could try trading goods (buy low, move goods, sell high) , be a courier (transport goods for others for commision), become a bounty hunter (hunting NPC pirates and player criminals for cash), become a miner (and mine asteriod fields for the juicy minerals they give up), become an industrial tycoon (making things people want from the aformentioned minerals using factories) or any of the above. The game is so vast and the possibilities are endless. My corporation, the Spartan Elite, are a mining corp with very strong views on mutual defense and looking after our own. We are currently trying to build a POS (player owned station) in a risky sector which will allow us to mine very lucrative areas. I personally support myself with a combination of pirate hunting and mining. When i want something made it trade cash or minerals for the good which is made by someone else, generally someone in my guild. Plus, flying around in space ships, blasting pirates apart is just cool.

Dawn of War - Excellent RTS (Real time strategy). I'm a strategy freak but i have strong defensive tendencies. I only like to attack once i have overwhelming force so my battle plans tend to revolve around self defense until i can muster a big force to crush my foe. This doesn't work in Dawn of War. If you do that the enemy will just control more resource points than you and simply out produce you, leading to your messy demise. You have to fight the computer all the way. One of the best games i have ever played (of anything) was with three human players (me and 2 mates) versus 4 computer players. It took three hours and was DAMN HARD. We fought tooth and nail and eventually beat back the computer and destroyed their bases. After we won we just looked at each other and kinda went "wow". It was that tense.

Theres been a lot of negative press about computer games recently. The standard "Corruption of youth thing" that gets aired every 10 years or so. People tend to focus on Manhunt and GTA and ignore all the amazing games like Deus Ex and Knights of the Old Republic (i actually cried out "NOOOOOOO!" when the plot twist happened it was that good). I think some ofthese games are approaching art forms just like movies are. Games can make you scared, angry, happy, tense, nervous, satisfied and peaceful, they can hook you up with players all over the world (example, some of my Corp mates in EVE are based in the states). And the some pitiful hack like Jack Thompson comes along and says to the World "Video games are evil!". Of course he hasn't played Eve, or Warcraft, or Deus Ex, or Knights of the old republic or Baldurs Gate or Torment. No, he hasn't even payed attention to the 18 stickers on Manhunt or GTA. Nope, he just says Video games are evil. What an arsehole.