Comments on: Novelist, Gamer, Story Junkie

By: Thud

Thud — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:05:40 +0000

Oh, yes, I remember Adventure. And now that I think about it, the fact that there was story there made a big difference. Yar’s Revenge came with a comic book that laid out what was going on, and that made a big difference too. Most people I know who loved Yar’s Revenge remember the comic well, the people who hate it picked it up used in a store or downloaded a ROM somewhere.

Story is very important in a game for me. I play for the story. I cheat to get through the game just so I can see the end of the story. I couldn’t connect with the story in Halo 3, so I didn’t like it. But BioShock — with it’s anti-Ayn Rand themes and little character narratives had me hooked. Half-Life 2 has a strong story, too.

By: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:14:48 +0000

Ooh, yeah, I love the adventure/rpg crossover stuff as well. For that matter, a first person shooter with a good story will hook me as well. I loved the Marathon games.

By: Daniel MacGregor

Daniel MacGregor — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:21:06 +0000

I’m an avid gamer and a young writer. One of my favorite story games is Metal Gear Solid and it’s sequels. A close friend of mine once remarked how playing MGS was like watching a movie, but you could control the level of violence or suspense. Truly an excellent series.

By: Ryan Viergutz

Ryan Viergutz — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 02:08:12 +0000

Holy bog yes, video games.

I think my generation is the first for whom “I want to write video games!” was an uber dream. Maybe not. But that’s why I’m working on my computer programming skills.

Like you, RPGs are my favorites. I’m the type who still feels awe of Chrono Trigger and FF6. A lot of games have more RPG elements these days, whether it’s a story or customization. See Halo for instance.

The action RPGs crossovers are my favorites, usually. Things like Vagrant Story and System Shock 2.

I could go on and on, but perhaps you get the idea.

By: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:34:17 +0000

Part of the reason they bothered back when I started gaming was that consoles provided a _much_ less expensive gaming option than computers. But that was in 1977 with the launch of the Atari 2600.

By: Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:28:50 +0000

Yes, I’m a gamer too. Flight sims, race driving sims, shooters with a plot (e.g. Half Life, Deus Ex, System Shock 2)

I bought my first computer in 1983 - a Sinclair ZX81 with the 16Kb expansion pack - and eschewed the arcadey games for things like Perilous Swamp by Psion. When I got my speccy I was into Lords of Midnight, Psytron, Shadowfire, etc. None of these would have made it to the US, but you can grab a speccy emulator and the tape files are easily found.

Arcade conversions to 8-bit were the worst kind of games. I seriously don’t know why they bothered, when computers offered the opportunity for longer, more involved gameplay.

By: S.C. Butler

S.C. Butler — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:56:06 +0000

Civilization II lives!

By: SMD

SMD — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:46:55 +0000

I guess you could consider me a gamer. I don’t play as many games as I used to though. Being in Uni and trying to write and read seriously is a little difficult (you can’t jump-start your writing career if you’re playing Pacman all the time).
I do play the occasional game though. I have a SEGA Dreamcast and a Nintendo Gamecube, both excellent systems, and a computer with a bunch of games. I usually play games to clear my head these days because a lot of games can be played online and don’t require a lot of thinking.
What draws me to games is that they are fun. That’s about it. Half-life is one of the greatest games ever made for PC and I love that game to death. I play a lot of the online mods too. They’re just fun and exciting. That should be enough