The Good Videos Games Have Done

[SandyB]

After posting a topic on this board mentioning my own opinions on Video Game violence, a lot of enthusiastic and yet some would say almost zealous discussions started to unfurl. Like I said I consider Video Games an art and then a question hit me: If I love this medium so much, why am I constantly asking for people's opinion on the bad side? Why not the lighter and more positive aspects?

After watching the "Extra Credits" YouTube channel's 200th video - WHICH IS A CHANNEL I SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND - I MEAN IT! WATCH EXTRA CREDITS!! - they decided to not to moan or complain about the things that are broken about the art and discuss the good that the art has done around the world. The topic that had me jumping for joy was the confirmation that the U.S. Supreme Court have ruled in favour of Video Games being an art form and have granted the art to be protected by all the benefits of the First Amendment. The case fell apart after the most vocal supporter of the "Stricter Game Censorship" lobby was caught in the middle of criminal activities. After I first heard this I couldn't believe it, you guys have gotta watch the video it's a so ironic it's delicious.

The video also mentioned some other good things, such as a public game school and the Smithsonian museum had put on an exhibition about the artistic and scientific elements of the medium. Seriously, check it out-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKmNzujz-Aw

I'm gonna end on my "Desert Island Games." My pick of games I've played over the years and have enriched my life by playing them.

5. Fallout 3
Most absorbing survival RPG I've played in my life.

4. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Rockstar Game's Masterpiece.

3. Portal
"Well done 'SUBJECT NAME HERE'. You must be the pride of 'SUBJECT'S HOMETOWN HERE.'" The best black humour I've ever heard in any game. I even found myself howling with laughter at the screen.

2. The Walking Dead Season One
The first game that ever made me cry.

1. Rocksmith 2014
Thanks to this game, I can play a decent A chord on my bass guitar.

Now I realize that not that many people play video games or their parents are strict about the media you guys consume. That's a good thing and believe it or not, I know what that feels like. My Mum for example wouldn't buy me a games console because they were too expensive and she thought the games were too violent. I bought my first console (Playstation One) when I was 17 and I was expecting her to nuclear but she said it was fine by her. But I wanna hear what games - it can be anything - that you enjoyed playing and left a lasting impression on you.

[Rusvul]

Minecraft is and most likely always will be one of my favorites. The things I've set up in Minecraft via the amazing mods people make... So awesome.

Terraria had me completely obsessed until I had completed all of the non-grindy content at least twice.

Civilization 5 is spectacular to play now and again, it has practically infinite replayability. And that's without mods, with them, there's even more.

The first few MMO's I played (Wizard101, Pirate101) I quite enjoyed.

Wildstar is a game that I was hyped for for a while, and then I found (During an open beta) that my system couldn't handle modern games. Big slap in the face. Currently working on an upgrade so I can play this (And other) games.

I was also hyped for Starbound, which was kind of a flop, because the devs over at Chucklefish never update the game in any meaningful way. However, I've had quite a lot of fun modding its easy to understand LUA code.

Cube World was even more of a flop- Beautiful game, I love what there is, but there's not enough to justify it as a legit game. Seriously, this dev has been promising an update since LAST YEAR, and there's been absolutely nothing except little inside views on the blog- He's getting NOTHING done.

Portal is spectacular. I cannot put into words how much fun it is to continually annoy your friend with the 'thermal discouragement beams' or whatever they call them.

Hearthstone is a wonderful and wonderfully simple strategy game.

Dungeons and Dragons isn't a computer game, but I figure I'll put it on the list. If you give me the choice "Do you want to play D&D for six hours or any other video game for 6 hours?" D&D, hands down. Computer games can wait. And if they're Wildstar, they already have. And will for a while longer.

DDO, that's Dungeons and Dragons Online is a great MMO, it stays incredibly true to the tabletop even if the pay scheme is iffy.

Games!

[Blaggut]

HEAVY RAIN

12 Endings, sad even on the good one...

[Rusvul]

I've heard that Heavy Rain is insane.

[James Gryphon]

I'm afraid I don't have much profound to say about the topic of video games right now, except to say that there is very little in the gaming community that can be as great -- or as terrible -- as playing a game with someone. I say "with someone" as opposed to "multiplayer" because I'm not narrowing this down to only games where more than one person plays a game at the same time (a traditional multiplayer game). I'm including people competing for high scores in solo games, and games where one person plays the game and other people watch him play it (which can happen) into this.

Some (not all) of my all-time favorite games, by genre:

FPS: Avara
None of you have probably ever heard of this obscure Classic Macintosh game. I'll just say that it was the bomb in the mid-late '90s and early-to-mid '00s. The solo gameplay admittedly left somewhat to be desired, but multiplayer... that had it all. Competitive play was an ideal mix of reflexes, skill, and tactical ability. The balance between the hulls and weapons was superb. There were hundreds of great multiplayer levels, and a player who was willing to spend a little time and get his hands dirty could make more. I maintain that multiplayer Avara was the best FPS that has ever existed. Unfortunately, hardly anybody can play the game today because the operating system it was released for is practically defunct.

Strategy: Alpha Centauri (Honorable mentions: Master of Orion, Spaceward Ho!)
The true sequel to the best-seller Civilization II, Alpha Centauri included more of all the knick-knacks that made Civ2 cool, and threw in an amazingly deep science fiction theme on top of it. In fact, the theme was so good that you didn't even care how unbalanced the game was. I'm deadly serious. At any rate, the gameplay was still very fun even when unmodified. With a great balance mod, AC would have been a nearly perfect world conquest game.

Honorable mention: There were other space strategy games before MoO, and there have been others since, but none of them before or after have had as much of an impact, and for a good reason. The original MoO featured good game balance, a great economic/industry system that limited tedious micromanagement, well-defined AI personalities and abilities, and an elegant tactical combat system that set the standard for the industry. MoO2 added a ton of new features, getting much "cooler", though at the expense of getting a little worse at everything that the original did particularly well. MoO3 was a disaster. Can't win 'em all.

Second honorable mention: Spaceward Ho!
Though greatly overpriced (once selling for something like $50!), this Macintosh classic was one of the best space strategy games ever created in terms of how it modeled the economy and the consumption of planetary resources. Its "easy to learn, difficult to master" design is worthy of emulation in any strategy game. Just as importantly, though, it was a phenomenal multiplayer game. My father and I wiled away quite a few hours on it, and that's the real reason why it'll always be a little bit special in my book.

Puzzle: Oxyd series (open-source port is called Enigma)
The Oxyd series, from Dongleware, was an experience. Enigma loses somewhat of the atmosphere of the original games, but makes up for it by including many customization options that the old games were lacking, as well as a massive fan-made level archive.

Racing: Star Wars: Episode I Podracer (Honorable mention: LEGO Racers 1)
To be honest, this game has some significant flaws in that the competition with the AI, and with human players, is pretty weak, and the pods are not at all balanced. There's a lot of room for improvement. However, this game does feature very good course design, amazing graphics for 1999, the Star Wars flavor, and what is arguably the most important part of any racing game, the sensation of speed. If you're racing, you ought to feel like you're going fast, and this game didn't disappoint. As far as competition goes, there's still a lot of room for that in the time trial mode.

Honorable mention: LEGO Racers might've been a run-of-the-mill kart game in most people's books, but it's the one I got to first. Just about everybody loves LEGOs, and I'm no exception. This game got me when I was young, and it never let go. The course design is very good, and some of the AI opponents can actually be tricky to beat (particularly in the time trials).

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The thing that I suppose really stands out about this list is that with the single exception of MoO, I associate all of these games, to at least some degree, with the real-life experiences I've had either playing with someone, watching them play the game, or likewise being watched by someone while I played it.

The common misconception in the media is that video games are used primarily as a substitute for interacting with people in real life. While that can certainly be the case, as with any other addiction, this list tells me that many of my favorite games, at one point or another, had a role in supplementing my real-world relationships.

[Rusvul]

The common misconception in the media is that video games are used primarily as a substitute for interacting with people in real life. While that can certainly be the case, as with any other addiction, this list tells me that many of my favorite games, at one point or another, had a role in supplementing my real-world relationships.

In my case, most of the friends I have are gamers, and I only know or care about them because I am. 90% of the time, when I play a game, my preference is social interaction. I interact with my friends mostly online. I think that online interaction is just as valid as in-person, barring hugs. And hey- That's what Q > Hug is for. (That was obscure, I wouldn't be surprised if no-one got that... )