I suspect @sequentialvibe, aka The Amazing Dirk Galaxy, is up to something. Not for the first time, either.
He asked me to take part in this 'Why Games Are Good' challenge knowing quite well that I am not convinced they are. Hmm.
On the other hand, I am procrastinating this afternoon, so...
I'll bite. But remember, I do not understand the technology behind anything I'm about to talk about. I'm flying blind here, okay?
4 games or game experiences that influenced my life are:
Pole Position, Space Invaders, Raiders of the Lost Ark, & Centipede
Or, you could say, the Commodore 64 and Atari 2600. I was around 10 years old when these started cropping up in the houses of my cousins and friends. They were my very first experience with both personal home computing and games. There would be a group of us down in some dark, air conditioned basement, huddled together on a huge velour sofa, taking turns or calling suggestions. We'd drink endless cans of pop and eat Mr. Freezie's and finally the parents would chase us all outside to play in the sunshine.
Q-bert
Q-bert probably showed up about the same time, in the form of an arcade machine at the local Becker's. It was the first arcade game I had seen outside the ones that replaced the pool tables in the divey pool hall that we weren't allowed to go into. But we were allowed to bike into town and go to Becker's for popsicles, so we also had a chance to play Q-bert. That machine changed my association with arcade games and sketchy characters, which might have been a mistake, now that I think about it.
Tetris
I am like a retired Tetris superhero. Or villain. At night, when I am sleeping, I sometimes hear the music in my head. I would tell you what the tune is, but I can't remember which gaming system it was that my brother had in that disgusting student town house we all shared. What I do remember is that we all got good. Lethal good. The tournaments would span entire weekends. The beer cases would form a fortress around us. There were times when I knew I needed to put the joystick down and go to bed, but I had the perfect set up to slam multiple long ones into place and clear four rows at once back to back! Now, I'll only play Tetris if I'm willing to lose a few days to it. Once an addict...
DOOM
Okay, so remember I started out by saying that I have no idea what I'm talking about, so please don't hit me if I get details wrong here or if I say something outrageous like: I hate first person shooter games. But it's true. I really do. I get bored and kinda queasy. So, imagine my surprise, when I got really into creating levels for DOOM. Like, you have to understand that the only F on my school transcript was in CS 102. Not because I failed, but because I never went. Literally never. I was too busy playing Tetris! What I'm trying to say is: I'm not into programming (or much else beyond basic computer use), so it was weird how I took to making levels for DOOM. DOOM is also the only reason I know what the word 'strafe' means.
There you go, that's four. Was that what you wanted, @sequentialvibe?
I won't inflict this on anyone else, but if anyone reading feels like picking up the gauntlet, go for it!
And look, it's Miller time.
Happy Friday!
Kitty Nebula