Who here likes video games? Anyone?

[Jared2914]

I used to play video games obsessively. One semester in college I got addicted to World of Warcraft. I ended up having to retake a class. It wasn’t totally the game’s fault though; I was going through some depression and working too many hours. I cut my work down and playing time down and aced the class the second time.

That bad experience caused me to lose my addiction. I still play video games most days for an hour or so. On console I only play Wii U games like Super Mario 3D World. On PC, I play a lot of the indie games like Torchlight 2, Trine 2, and Bastion. I fill those extra hours now with prayer, learning more work skills outside of work time, and spending more time with family.

Here are my favorite games over the years. Some of these might not be good for a Catholic to play, but at the time I wasn’t a strong believer.

Console Games
Mario Bros. 3
Duck Hunt
Krazy Kreatures
The Legend of Zelda
Final Fantasy 3 (6 in Japan)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario 64
GoldenEye 007
Perfect Dark
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Super Smash Bros.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader
Super Smash Bros. Melee
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (my favorite Zelda so far)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Tales of Symphonia
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Super Mario 3D World

PC Games
Syndicate
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Command & Conquer: Generals
Star Wars: X-Wing
Warcraft 1, 2, & 3
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Starcraft 1 & 2
Age of Empires 2
Age of Mythology
Rome: Total War
Empire: Total War
Civilization 4 & 5
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Star Wars Jedi Knight
Half-Life 1 & 2
Portal 1 & 2
Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2
Mass Effect 1, 2, & 3
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Diablo 2
Risk Your Life (my first MMO)
World of Warcraft
The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim
Torchlight 2
Bastion

 

[suko]

Console Games
Chrono Trigger

U have Chrono Trigger but no Chrono Cross?!?

http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090531235115/chrono/images/d/d6/Chrono_Cross_cover.jpg ~ Awesome game for sure!
Source

Just look at these scores :

Aggregator - Score
GameRankings 92.18%
Metacritic 94 / 100

Publication - Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly 98.33%
Famitsu 36 / 40
GamePro 4.5/5 stars
Game Revolution A-
GameSpot 10 / 10
IGN 9.7 / 10
Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 5/5 stars
GameRankings 99 / 100
GMR 10 / 10

 

[balto]

Tales of Symphonia

This was a favorite of mine as well from a couple of years ago. I’m looking forward to the PS3 HD remake that is coming out in 2 weeks.

Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2

The Baldur’s Gate series was an awesome series . I used to play those a lot as a kid. Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights were also very good. I liked being able to create the entire party in Icewind Dale.

 

[Jared2914]

U have Chrono Trigger but no Chrono Cross?!?

~ Awesome game for sure!
Source

Just look at these scores :

Aggregator - Score
GameRankings 92.18%
Metacritic 94 / 100

Publication - Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly 98.33%
Famitsu 36 / 40
GamePro 4.5/5 stars
Game Revolution A-
GameSpot 10 / 10
IGN 9.7 / 10
Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 5/5 stars
GameRankings 99 / 100
GMR 10 / 10

I never had PlayStation but one of my friends did. I got to play most of the top games like Resident Evil 2, Metal Gear Solid, and Final Fantasy 7. He rarely offered to let me play though. I usually only watched, not that it was totally his fault. I was pretty shy then.

 

[Robyn_p]

Here are my favorite games over the years…

PC Games

Star Wars: Dark Forces
Star Wars Jedi Knight
Half-Life 1 & 2
Portal 1 & 2
Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2
Mass Effect 1, 2, & 3
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Diablo 2

You sir, have good taste in games. :yup:

 

[Fone_Bone_2001]

Anyone play BioShock Infinite? It’s incredible - not just a great game, but truly profound, unsettling, and moving.

As I’ve told other friends of mine, BioShock Infinite is basically Flannery O’Connor + Tom Stoppard + Quentin Tarantino.

It’s really violent, but that’s a thematically critical motif: the violence is supposed to be disturbing, and ultimately the player character’s violence isn’t what saves the day at all.

Check out this trailer if you’re curious about it!

Warning: even the trailer is violent in a few parts, though most of it isn’t.

 

[Robyn_p]

Anyone play BioShock Infinite? It’s incredible - not just a great game, but truly profound, unsettling, and moving.

As I’ve told other friends of mine, BioShock Infinite is basically Flannery O’Connor + Tom Stoppard + Quentin Tarantino.

It’s really violent, but that’s a thematically critical motif: the violence is supposed to be disturbing, and ultimately the player character’s violence isn’t what saves the day at all.

Check out this trailer if you’re curious about it!

Warning: even the trailer is violent in a few parts, though most of it isn’t.

I bought it during the Steam holiday sale for 10 bucks but haven’t got a chance to play yet. My brother keeps telling me I need to play it and now with that trailer I’m definitely curious to try it.

Do you have to play the first two in the series before you play this one though?

 

[Phalanx]

I used to play video games obsessively. One semester in college I got addicted to World of Warcraft. I ended up having to retake a class. It wasn’t totally the game’s fault though; I was going through some depression and working too many hours. I cut my work down and playing time down and aced the class the second time.

I was the same way. Whenever I got into a game it took over my whole life, especially when it was competitive. Starcraft 2 and a game called “Face of Mankind” were the worst ones. Starcraft basically ate up 4 months of my life, and whoa, those months flew by FAST… Im glad i never tried Eve online or World of Warcraft.

I had to quit cold turkey, im never going back, i can’t handle moderation haha

 

[MLMartin97]

U have Chrono Trigger but no Chrono Cross?!?

Not the original poster, but: for me personally, Chrono Cross suffers from being unfinished (which is why you get those massive plot dumps near the end) and an environmental message that sometimes veers towards anti-humanity. There’s a lot to love about the game too, but it’s a flawed masterpiece compared to the nigh-perfect jewel that was Chrono Trigger.

(And yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the US release of one of my own favorites: Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride on the Nintendo DS. There’s an article just waiting to be done on the way the use of religion differs between Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and other JRPGs.)

 

[Kamui_Senketsu]

I’m not exactly a gamer, per se.

However, I do enjoy playing them when the opportunity arises.

I’ve played video games since I was at least in middle school. This doesn’t include generic computer games during the age of Windows 98, 2000, ME, etc. (I admit I was a fan of Math Blaster. =P )

Lately, I’m into shooters and fighters games.

Any titles you have in mind?

For games, I recommend,
Metal Gear Solid(Series)
Command and Conquer 3 and Kane’s Wrath
Mario Kart
Mass Effect(Series)[It has sexual themes in it but, you as the player can choose not to initiate it]
FEAR(Series)
Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light
Singularity(fps)
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Dishonored
Bioshock(Series)
Total War Series

Next Gen games I can’t wait for,
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain
Watchdogs
Thief
Titanfall
Tom Clancy’s The Division
Destiny
Dying Light

 

[JorduSpeaks]

Video games are SO dead right now. They’re too expensive to make, which means production companies don’t want to take risks. The result is that everything comes out with more or less the same, cookie-cutter design.

Board games, oddly enough, are where all the innovative designs and unusual themes are taking place these days. They also have the advantage of having their designs laid out beautifully naked before you so that you can appreciate the genius of their rules clicking together like some intricate clockwork gear box. You simply can’t get that from a video game’s arcane jumble of code and focus-testing.

 

[Bataar]

Anyone play BioShock Infinite? It’s incredible - not just a great game, but truly profound, unsettling, and moving.

As I’ve told other friends of mine, BioShock Infinite is basically Flannery O’Connor + Tom Stoppard + Quentin Tarantino.

It’s really violent, but that’s a thematically critical motif: the violence is supposed to be disturbing, and ultimately the player character’s violence isn’t what saves the day at all.

Check out this trailer if you’re curious about it!

Warning: even the trailer is violent in a few parts, though most of it isn’t.

For whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into Bioshock Infinite. I made it as far as the part where you’re chasing Lady Comstock’s ghost around but I never got further than that. I can’t say specifically why I didn’t care for it. I loved the first Bioshock game and heard nothing but amazing things about Bioshock Infinite. Oh well.

 

[Joe_5859]

Video games are SO dead right now. They’re too expensive to make, which means production companies don’t want to take risks. The result is that everything comes out with more or less the same, cookie-cutter design.

Board games, oddly enough, are where all the innovative designs and unusual themes are taking place these days. They also have the advantage of having their designs laid out beautifully naked before you so that you can appreciate the genius of their rules clicking together like some intricate clockwork gear box. You simply can’t get that from a video game’s arcane jumble of code and focus-testing.

I wouldn’t call time of death just yet, but you do touch on something that has had me wondering for a while. Back in the day, all you needed was one simple idea, a couple of programmers, and a couple of weeks and you could come up with games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong that would catch on (and plenty of other games that didn’t catch on).

With the continuing increases in technological capabilities raising everyone’s expectations, many gamers keep expecting bigger and better with ever offering. And so now you have games with budgets the size of some Hollywood movies. It’s hard to take a gamble on an unknown entity when you’re investing millions and millions of dollars and sometimes years of development.

I don’t think video games will ever “die”, but I do wonder if perhaps we have already passed the top of the bell curve. I don’t see the "video game demographic disappearing, but it could get smaller. We’ll see.

 

[Fone_Bone_2001]

I bought it during the Steam holiday sale for 10 bucks but haven’t got a chance to play yet. My brother keeps telling me I need to play it and now with that trailer I’m definitely curious to try it.

Do you have to play the first two in the series before you play this one though?

No. There are some easter egg-type references to the first two, but the setting, plot, and characters are entirely distinct.

 

[Tenofovir]

Anyone play BioShock Infinite? It’s incredible - not just a great game, but truly profound, unsettling, and moving.

As I’ve told other friends of mine, BioShock Infinite is basically Flannery O’Connor + Tom Stoppard + Quentin Tarantino.

It’s really violent, but that’s a thematically critical motif: the violence is supposed to be disturbing, and ultimately the player character’s violence isn’t what saves the day at all.

Check out this trailer if you’re curious about it!

Warning: even the trailer is violent in a few parts, though most of it isn’t.

There’s a Catholic blogger dude who makes some astute comments about BI.
malcolmthecynic.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/bioshock-infinite-a-full-story-analysis-with-spoilers/

 

[Robyn_p]

No. There are some easter egg-type references to the first two, but the setting, plot, and characters are entirely distinct.

Ah cool, good to know thanks!

 

[john1513]

Video games are SO dead right now. They’re too expensive to make, which means production companies don’t want to take risks. The result is that everything comes out with more or less the same, cookie-cutter design.

Board games, oddly enough, are where all the innovative designs and unusual themes are taking place these days. They also have the advantage of having their designs laid out beautifully naked before you so that you can appreciate the genius of their rules clicking together like some intricate clockwork gear box. You simply can’t get that from a video game’s arcane jumble of code and focus-testing.

Very good point. I started playing the board game Wings of War recently and was impressed with its strategy, simplicity, and levels of difficulty. You can go at your own pace, stop to chat with the other players, and smack talk all with a board and some cards! In a weird way, it was the most realistic flying game I’ve ever played: damage, firing range, plane capabilities, air tactics, etc. I was very surprised that the board game genre was so robust and popular.

 

[SpiderByte]

When it comes to games recently, the Indie market is booming quite a bit. Like you said, studios are more inclined to play it safe, but the Indie stuff is really cool. Antichamber is one I highly recommend, it’s a lot like portal but even more mind bending (if you play it you’ll know what I mean), with nice bits of philosophy thrown in too.

 

[RedCaves]

I was wrong. I didn’t start out playing video games when I was middle school. It was some time during my elementary school years.

Besides Math Blaster, I remember Dinosaur Adventure 3D. Oh, yeah… fun it was.

 

[nezzz]

I wouldn’t call time of death just yet, but you do touch on something that has had me wondering for a while. Back in the day, all you needed was one simple idea, a couple of programmers, and a couple of weeks and you could come up with games like Pac-Man or Donkey Kong that would catch on (and plenty of other games that didn’t catch on).

With the continuing increases in technological capabilities raising everyone’s expectations, many gamers keep expecting bigger and better with ever offering. And so now you have games with budgets the size of some Hollywood movies. It’s hard to take a gamble on an unknown entity when you’re investing millions and millions of dollars and sometimes years of development.

I don’t think video games will ever “die”, but I do wonder if perhaps we have already passed the top of the bell curve. I don’t see the "video game demographic disappearing, but it could get smaller. We’ll see.

I think it could also be a lack of creativity. Now every game is a clone of Call of Duty, Warcraft, GTA, etc… Its very evident too with low budget mobile phone games where everything is a clone of Candy Crush, Clash of Clans, or a poor port of a game from bygone times.