Although it wasn't mentioned in the Slashdot write-up (so as not to spoil the list), the GameSpy editors did pick Total Annihilation as their top RTS game of all time. Personally, I think they hit the nail on the head. I've yet to play another RTS game that has done so many things so right as Total Annihilation. What a blast...
It's been years since I've actually played it, but I seem to recall that a decent chunk of the puzzles in LucasArts' Sam & Max Hit the Road had little or no grounding in logic or reality. Nevertheless, it was still quite enjoyable (not to mention hilarious) -- if you had a walk-through nearby.
If you're looking for a game to get your kids up and moving, I'd suggest picking up Dance Dance Revolution for the PS2. Whereas a decent chunk of the EyeToy games consist of simply waving around your arms, DDR actually serves as a decent calorie-burning workout.
Out-of-the-ordinary, mainstream games like DDR and The Sims are a good place to start, but there's also something to be said for introducing a non-gamer to a game featuring a storyline that you think might appeal to him or her. For instance, my wife was never a fan of gaming aside from Mario on the NES and SNES. A little over a year ago, however, I convinced her to play the vastly underrated Anachronox with me because I had read a bit about the game's storyline and thought the sci-fi/comedy elements might appeal to her.
It turns out that they did, and the game got her interested not only in the RPG genre (we just finished Knights of the Old Republic together), but also gaming in general (some of her favorites have been Thief, System Shock 2, and Tropico).
That being said, if you can find a game with a story that might appeal to a non-gamer, you might have even more luck than just introducing him or her to a more gimmicky title.
It's also worth noting that you can take over the combat in KOTOR and control every action taken by each member of your party if you choose, from movement to melee attacks to Force powers.
Personally, I thought that Knights of the Old Republic was a fantastic game--quite possibly the best RPG I've played since the vastly underrated Anachronox.
As the guy who submitted the story in the first place, I'll take the blame here. Gamespy is currently running a link to the NetHack story on their front page under the "Recent Highlights" category, and I didn't look into its background quite as thoroughly as I should have. I guess Gamespy is just recycling content onto its front page. Oops!
"the first chance to play as friends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, along with Harry Potter, switching between characters and utilising their key attributes and skills to resolve challenges."
Have you tried role-playing games? My wife and I really enjoy playing CRPGs together; Anachronox has been our favorite so far. First-person shooters don't really allow both players to participate. An RPG requires a bit more thought and is slow-paced enough that both people can take part even if only one has his or her hand on the mouse. The same goes for strategy games. We've had a blast with Tropico. She does most of the planning, and I do most of the grunt work on making it happen. It's a good arrangement.
If you're really attached to first-person shooters, though, try something slower paced with a bit more strategy--System Shock 2, the Thief games, Deux Ex, and so forth. You might find something you both like.
Putting sic after Induhviduals distinguishes you as an induhvidual. Welcome to Dogbert's minions.
Ah, but my intended strategy by including the "sic" after Induhviduals was to keep said Induhviduals from thinking that I was an Induhvidual because I misspelled "individual." You and I know the truth.;)
So, they're going to associate music piracy with actual "yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-rum" piracy in this post-Pirates of the Caribbean era, and they expect kids not to think that it's even cooler than they already do? Sounds a bit counter-intuitive to me...
For a bit of future-gazing satire, I would highly recommend Scott Adams' The Dilbert Future. I guess it's about five years old now, but it's a great book of what amount to short essays predicting future trends with Dilbert comics interspersed throughout. Predictions include:
Life in the future will not be like Star Trek.
On average, Induhviduals (sic) who are alive today will experience 80 years of complaint-free living. Unfortunately, they'll live to 160.
In the future, Internet capacity will increase indefinitely to keep up with the egos of the people using it. Cost will not be an issue.
In the future, filty, perverted hobos will refer to themselves as telecommuters, until someone points out that they aren't being paid.
In the future, kids won't have access to online pornography, because X-rated Internet sites will be clogged by horny adults who have more patience.
In the future, computer-using men will be the sexiest males.
Okay, so maybe that last one is a bit far-fetched.;)
"Despite the perception that IM is commonly used for social purposes in the workplace, we found that was rarely the case. Only 13 percent of the conversations we monitored included any personal topics whatsoever, and only 6.4 percent were exclusively personal."
Wow... that's pretty surprising. I'm hard-pressed to come up with any non-personal uses for IM in the workplace.
Meanwhile, from the first article:
"That is, beyond the instant text-chat capability and sense of presence among online colleagues that IM provides, what other cues of activity should collaborators share to help coordinate their work? When a person you want to contact is not present, what information can the system provide to help you coordinate contact in the future? Even when you are physically present, can the system provide cues for when you are mentally receptive, or 'available,' to being interrupted?"
Don't most (if not all) IM clients do that already with their status alerts and away messages? If you ask me, "awareness services" sounds like just another new buzzword for an old idea...
Awesome! I can't wait to spend hours on end scouring the stadium, whacking rats with my +2 Baseball Bat of Slugging in order to level up my half-elf Second Baseman.;)
This is the problem with so many public school funding schemes today. When money is allotted to failing--or failed--public schools, it invariably goes toward buying more computers for the classroom. Apparently, the people authorizing these purchases just haven't figured out that computers don't make kids learn--they just help them not to learn more efficiently.
If we want public schools to improve, funding should go toward increasing teachers' salaries. After all, if you graduate from college with a degree in chemistry, are you going to teaching science in a rural or inner-city school system for $30,000 a year or go to work for that pharmaceutical company for twice as much?
Strangely enough, searching for Gator brings up www.Gator.com, which takes you to www.Claria.com, but search for Claira brings up websites about Claria headsets, I wonder how they're going to get round this.
Just keep linking to their site like that, pal, and Google's PageRank will eventually take care of the rest.
Slashdot Mirror
As I said above, I didn't want to spoil the list when I submitted the story. Where's the fun in that? ;)
Although it wasn't mentioned in the Slashdot write-up (so as not to spoil the list), the GameSpy editors did pick Total Annihilation as their top RTS game of all time. Personally, I think they hit the nail on the head. I've yet to play another RTS game that has done so many things so right as Total Annihilation. What a blast...
It's been years since I've actually played it, but I seem to recall that a decent chunk of the puzzles in LucasArts' Sam & Max Hit the Road had little or no grounding in logic or reality. Nevertheless, it was still quite enjoyable (not to mention hilarious) -- if you had a walk-through nearby.
Along similar lines, it seemed particularly odd that the Virtual Boy wasn't included on the list.
If you're looking for a game to get your kids up and moving, I'd suggest picking up Dance Dance Revolution for the PS2. Whereas a decent chunk of the EyeToy games consist of simply waving around your arms, DDR actually serves as a decent calorie-burning workout.
Aww, man... and I just had business cards printed up with my email address.
It turns out that they did, and the game got her interested not only in the RPG genre (we just finished Knights of the Old Republic together), but also gaming in general (some of her favorites have been Thief, System Shock 2, and Tropico).
That being said, if you can find a game with a story that might appeal to a non-gamer, you might have even more luck than just introducing him or her to a more gimmicky title.
Personally, I thought that Knights of the Old Republic was a fantastic game--quite possibly the best RPG I've played since the vastly underrated Anachronox.
<insert obligatory Duke Nukem Forever joke here>
As the guy who submitted the story in the first place, I'll take the blame here. Gamespy is currently running a link to the NetHack story on their front page under the "Recent Highlights" category, and I didn't look into its background quite as thoroughly as I should have. I guess Gamespy is just recycling content onto its front page. Oops!
Yeah! Since when are good programs larger than 1MB?!? ;)
If you're really attached to first-person shooters, though, try something slower paced with a bit more strategy--System Shock 2, the Thief games, Deux Ex, and so forth. You might find something you both like.
So, they're going to associate music piracy with actual "yo-ho-ho-and-a-bottle-of-rum" piracy in this post-Pirates of the Caribbean era, and they expect kids not to think that it's even cooler than they already do? Sounds a bit counter-intuitive to me...
- Life in the future will not be like Star Trek.
- On average, Induhviduals (sic) who are alive today will experience 80 years of complaint-free living. Unfortunately, they'll live to 160.
- In the future, Internet capacity will increase indefinitely to keep up with the egos of the people using it. Cost will not be an issue.
- In the future, filty, perverted hobos will refer to themselves as telecommuters, until someone points out that they aren't being paid.
- In the future, kids won't have access to online pornography, because X-rated Internet sites will be clogged by horny adults who have more patience.
- In the future, computer-using men will be the sexiest males.
Okay, so maybe that last one is a bit far-fetched.Actually, apostrophes can also denote missing (or missin') letters/characters. So, the proper way to refer to the decade would be the '50s.
Meanwhile, from the first article:
Don't most (if not all) IM clients do that already with their status alerts and away messages? If you ask me, "awareness services" sounds like just another new buzzword for an old idea...Awesome! I can't wait to spend hours on end scouring the stadium, whacking rats with my +2 Baseball Bat of Slugging in order to level up my half-elf Second Baseman. ;)
If we want public schools to improve, funding should go toward increasing teachers' salaries. After all, if you graduate from college with a degree in chemistry, are you going to teaching science in a rural or inner-city school system for $30,000 a year or go to work for that pharmaceutical company for twice as much?
I thought that the surprisingly awesome Anachronox was the bastard child of Ion Storm...
Personally, I'd recommend membership in the Jelly of the Month Club. It's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year around.
Guh! That's what the deflector shields are for. ;)