Well, for the umpteenth year in a row, I've slept in and missed the rememberance day minute of silence. I actually kinda wanted to watch it this year, esp. after the "a pittance of time" movie shown in my quantitative analysis class. But whatcha gonna do.
Today was one big lazy day, waking up around 1, playing civIV intermittently throughout the day, dinner, then to church to help out, then back home. Yadda yadda yadda...
Oh, and this just occurred to me. From Panzer General to Heroes of Might and Magic to Civilization, turn-based strategy games are definately the best video game genre out there, by far. At least, to me it is.
Although I do enjoy Diablo quite a bit, and Warcraft etc. had it's moments.
Hmmm, I feel like delving into my history of computer/video games...
1984-1989: Playing a whole bunch of OLD games on my dad's columbia, like Firehouse Rescue, and Joshua's learning tree, the original SimCity, this old beat-em-up game, Operation Cleansweep or something, and even old Sierra games like Black Cauldron and Kings Quest. Yes, all before the age of 5.
1989-1993: The joys of Nintendo. When I went to elementary school at Ferris, all my friends had Nintendo, and thus I always went over and played said video game system. This included my absolute favourite game on the Nintendo, TMNT 3. Up up down down left right left right a b a b select select start, indeed...man, I remember buying a strategy guide book thing on the scholastic book orders, and I read that for hours and hours...I eventually got my own NES from my cousin who never played it anymore (since he had SNES now), and thus started my video game renting phase of my life. I went through oh so many video games...
1993-1996: My uncle bought me an SNES, which was incredibly awesome...I think I tried to tell him that I was buying SimEarth, and that it'd be educational, hahaha...but anyways, my rentals continued, incl. Widget (which I thought was AWESOME) and Street Fighter II. Man, street fighter was awesome. It was about this time that I started buying Gamepro religiously (oct. '93, I think, to about '96), and when I read about SFII, I couldn't wait to rent it. And it didn't disappoint. Although, I couldn't really do all that much, hence my favourite characters were Blanka and Chun Li, heheh...also of note were other incredible gaming moments, such as Donkey Kong Country (which I played 'til 3am on the Christmas I got it), Power Rangers: the Movie (which I bought in California), and Super Mario RPG (which I beat in 2 days, 24hrs total. Then again, and again, and again, and again...). I remember always going over to Donald's and Erik's place to play video games...and watch wrestling PPV's, but that's another story...good times, indeed...
1989-1995: All throughout this time, I still played computer games, except they were mostly demo games from PC Gamer. Such awesomeness from these demos...oh, other things of note are comp. games like Willy Beamish & Sea Quest (or something) on my old 386. Then, in '95 I think, we bought a Pentium 90 (a 586! wow!), and my gaming repetoir expanded, including this 7-disc thing with awesome games like Lenny's Music Tunes. My sisters and I loved that stuff...man, I remember going to future shop at midnight in my pajamas w/ my dad to buy Windows 95, but then it was too busy so we went to computer city across the street instead, which was way less crowded and way more friendly and only a few dollars more expensive. Shame they went under...I think my dad bought Panzer General, and I remember loving that game, just the different armies to buy, the strategy involved...anyways, back to magazine demos, one demo immediately caught my eye, enough for me to wanna buy...
1995-2000: The first "real" comp game I ever got (at least, something I actually wanted for myself) was Warcraft II, because the demo was just so flippin' awesome. And yes, that game was awesome. However, I sucked. Horribly. Thus, cheat codes were used. And ruined the game for me. Oddly enough, my dad bought CivII at the same time for himself, and I started playing that, much much more so than Warcraft...oh, also of note, I never really got into the whole N64 craze. Never did like the controller, a bit too weird. Although, this did not deter me from going over to Erik's place and play WCW games for hours, oh no...
Anyways, my dad continued buying game mags. w/ demos, and another incredible game caught my eye once again: HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC II. Holy crap, this is the best game ever. I mean, I remember sundays, waking up early, listening to RickDees, playing my Heroes II demo for hours and hours and hours...honestly, these were the best memories of my entire life. Everything was just so peaceful and happy and awesome. Sad, I know, but what can I say. Heroes II is the best game ever. Now, I don't remember when I actually got the game (perhaps christmas '96?), but I know that I did, and I played it for hours and hours...I absolutely loved that game. But, for all the awesomeness that was this game, there was another that took me away...
My dad still bought demo mags, and there was another demo, a final demo, that really caught my eye: DIABLO. Incredible game, even the manual was enthralling. I just loved that universe, and the click click exp. instant gratification was uber-addicting. I played the demo for quite a while, and I believe in summer '97 I ended up getting the game. Thus, I played this throughout gr. 8. Also of note, I played this game so much so that I kept playing it on a school night past 12:30 (quite late at the time!), in which my dad wanted me to go to sleep, but I didn't since I couldn't save 'til I was in town, but I died and had to go back to get my awesome gear (no elite speak for me!), but my dad wouldn't let me, but I pressed on, and my dad restarted the computer. GAH! I was so pissed off. And thus, I was grounded from Diablo for a month. Although, I did manage to sneak in a few hours here and there when my dad was asleep...
Anyways, this went on for a while, and I think I went back to Heroes intermittently, but by the time school started again, Gr. 9, there was another videogame phenomenon: Pokémon. Now, this was an awesome awesome game, all marketing gimicks aside. I think on my official game, I played close to 300hrs. But the main reason for this was the fact that Erik and Donald and Kris and Rob, along with just about everyone else, bought this game. I had to keep up! Everyday, it was a "where are u now? Did you beat --- ? Did you catch a --- ?" Oh man, my social network was based on this game, I swear...having thirty lvl100 pokemon is quite an achievement, but not as much as an achievement as Erik's 10 Mewtwos! Crazy guy, bought red & blue, kept restarting and beating the game in 5 hrs for a new mewtwo...oh, I bought Red, btw, while most of my friends bought Blue...now, something that also came along w/ the pokemon craze: the odd realization that not everybody played video games. Kinda blew me away, talkin' to so many people who never liked nor really played video games...kind of an aside, really...
Anyways, there were other games that filled in the gaps afterwards, mostly including SNES/GBC emulators (esp. near the end of the P90's life, when everything turned to crap). Man, hours spent on Pokemon G/S/Cardgame on GB, Ogre Battle on SNES, etc etc...another thing to note was that I always went over to Shane's place around this time to play Heroes III, which came out, but my comp couldn't handle it (sadly enough). So, needless to say, I was over at Shane's quite a bit. Which drove my mom nuts, because of Shane's cat, and my athesmetic allergy to such a creature. But well worth it, for the Heroes as well as the N64 games...
2000-2002: Now, my P90 finally crapped out completely, and we bought a new computer, one we still use today (P3 800) albeit w/ a bunch of upgrades. Now, I don't remember playing all that many new games (since I believe I either watched tv or hung out w/ friends more often, but perhaps that's just me thinking the best), although one game I do remember buying, quite vividly: Civilization III. Man, that game was awesome back in 2001. I played that for quite some time. Then, I stopped. This time definately because of hanging out w/ friends. Or, to be more exact, going to NightShift w/ Haig. And thus entered my more socially-focused phase of my life, incl. a gf/band/etc. Looking back, definately not the best of times...Although, my newfound social life did not limit me to all video gaming, for I did end up buying Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (which barely worked on my comp), as well as a GBA w/ Golden Sun near finals. Although, that game (and pkmn red) did end up getting taken by my sister's ex, who "borrowed" them about a week before my sis broke up w/ him...stupid guy...but anyways....
2002-2004: Off to BCIT! And thus, much less time for games, since I was at BCIT for most of the day, or if I wasn't at school, I was doing stuff w/ people (at least 'til around march of 1st year). And thus, the GBA I bought near the end of gr. 12 was definately paying off dividends, w/ the new pokemon game especially. Another 100+ hrs of playing, although w/o friends to compare and trade with, it just wasn't the same. Oh, other GBA games I picked up were Advance Wars 2 and Mario/Luigi Superstar Saga (AWESOME!). Internet games started taking hold, esp. CurveBall and Defend Your Castle (among others). Oh, and there was an arcade at school, although I barely played 'cause I didn't wanna waste 5 bucks when I could just play my GBA or net games.
Summer '03/'04: Now, another big thing to note was the fact that during the summers of BCIT, I believe I became clinically depressed. Although at the time, I felt like I was loving every minute of it. I basically stayed awake playing computer games 'til the sun came up. More specifically, I played CivIII mostly (while listening to Vroom) and when the sun came up, I watched Arthur and Adventures of Lois and Clark in the morning. Then slept 'til 2/3. Then did the same thing again. Looking back, I guess in '03 it was because I wasn't over my brakeup (esp. since I still hung out w/ her 'til mid-summer, while she was falling further and further into drinky/piercy/smokiness...but that's another story...). Therefore, I listened to "emo" while playing video games, the most comforting form of recreation I know. I mean, I got all super nostalgic and felt like a kid again, playing video games, listening to music, etc...
Now, in '04, I started off all gung-ho about finding a job, after graduating from BCIT, but then I was tired from my final grueling year, and thus for a week I played Fire Emblem on my GBA emulator (loved the save/reload feature, plus I was cheap). Well, a week turned into a month or so, and thus I fell back into old habits, sleeping in 'til whenever, waking up whenever...up until we had to move outta the house! Then, my video gaming turned to playing my cousins' N64 at my new place, back when the floors were still plywood, the rooms were not painted, there was absolutely no furniture, etc etc...heheh, pokemon stadium etc is quite fun when playing w/ others...nostalgia, I guess...
2004-2005+: Kwantlen! Definately not much videogame time, hanging out at kwantlen most nights. So, between hanging out w/ friends and what not, very little gaming. Although, I do remember buying Pokemon LeafGreen near the end of summer solely for the fact of playing at kwantlen, as I have bought the prev. pokemon for BCIT, hahaha...oh, and I do believe I bought some other GBA games, incl. FFI&II, although I don't believe I ever finished it...
Summer of '05 was mostly work and hanging out, and any time on the comp was mostly spent on msn or blogging. Little gaming, indeed...although, I did end up buying Fire Emblem II. Fun game, played it a bunch, but again I don't believe I finished it...
Now, I have my CivIV addiction. Kinda. 'Cause my sis won't let me play 'til 3am. Or else I probably would stay up that late. Good thing, I guess...oh, and although I got into the Heroes V beta, the comp barely runs it, and thus I'm not able to play multiplayer with any luck. I gave up trying once I got CivIV, heheh...
And that's basically my video game history. Although, I do believe I'm forgetting a bunch of other games and moments, as well as not emphasizing the earlier video game stages of my life. Perhaps because earlier, I was much more integrated in non-secluded activities (looking back, perhaps not). Or perhaps because I got rambly near the end. And oh man, did I ever get rambly...I mean, it's like 2 hrs after I started, and I gotta get up early tomorrow...oh well, I did wake up around 1...
So, who out there actually read all that, hmmm? Heheh, not a lot, if any...all for posterity, I guess...plus, it's quite calming writing down my history...etc etc ramble ramble...
Until next time, I guess...
