Followup to this thread on Analog games:
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=19383.0

If you think console games are evil, Awesome. STEP OFF!!!
But if you consent to play them console or computer games every once in a while, what are you into lately?

Computer:
I started getting into Galactic Civilizations 2, because I was mad into Master of Orion/2 back in the day, and it's pretty much a successor to that line. Unfortunately, the games tend to last a very, very long time so I just haven't been messing with it too much.

The Elder Scrolls: OBLIVION currently is picking at my soul. Forget the gorgeous graphics/sounds/production, etc, it's simply the most open 'faux roleplaying' experience out there, bar none. And I'm including MMOs in there.

Step Mania This is an open-source Dance Dance Revolution game for the PC.  This is probably the game I play most overall, when I have the time I try to get in at least 30 minutes every 1-2 days for exercise.

PS2:
My wife and I drift back and forth with PS2 junkie-dom. I pick up some decent-looking J-Import games, but here's what I've been into:

Katamari Damacy/Everybody Loves Katamari Damacy (available in English). Awesome, awesome games. It's a glorious testament to the fact that games can be fun, addictive, and enjoyable for groups without millions of dollars for a budget, and a relatively simple concept. Recommended for just about everyone.

Final Fantasy XII - I picked this one up, and I think gameplay-wise it's my favorite of the series, but after playing this for 10 hours and playing OBLIVION (above) for 20 or more, I'm treating it more like an interactive movie than a 'faux roleplaying' game on its own. If you like the console RPG stuff, I'm pretty sure you'll really like this one when it comes to America later this year.

Imashime aka "Shinobido Imashime".  http://www.shinobido.com/eng/story.html (apparently coming out in the US in Spring/Fall)
This game was pretty incredible overall. I loves me some ninja games. Previously, the Tenchu series was the best set of ninja games around. Basically, the team that worked on that series created a NEW ninja game here with different characters, controls and gameplay (and Imashime, like Tenchu, means "Punishment"). It's a game that basically plays out in dozens and dozens of "missions", short 10-20 or 30 minute scenarios strung together. Storywise, it's basically The Bourne Identity but with ninja and three masters to serve.

Dance Dance Revolution: I'm a big fan of rythm games, and this one's pretty much the king.

As my day job is programming video games (I work for Rockstar Leeds), I don't tend to play video games in my off time anymore. That being said, I would be remiss not to mention the Grand Theft Auto series :)

Other games I have enjoyed: Everybody Loves Katamari, Ico, the Metal Gear Solid series, Burnout 2 & Burnout 3, Virtua Tennis, Shogun: Total War, Medieval: Total War and Rome: Total War. I also liked the toolset idea of Neverwinter Nights rather more than the prebuilt plot.

Two games currently kicking my arse:

Oblvion, which so far is the best fantasy computer game I've ever played. That's saying quite a lot.

Rome: Total War. I'm amazed at how fun this game is. Awesome.

My X-Box has been mostly out of commission, but I keep meaning to get back to Jade Empire, Mech Assault, and a couple others I've never completed.

Heya,

I used to be hardcore into EverQuest.  I played a bard named Archestratie.  I've basically let a friend take over my character on the Bertoxxulous server.  Anyway, if you're familiar with the game, here's his stats as they are now:

      Name                                                           Server   Lvl   AA     HP       Mana   FT   ATK   AC     Regen
4  Archestratie Darkheart  <Dragon Council> Bertoxxulous  70   975   12015    10758   21 1761   2492   48/51

You can check him out at http://eqrankings.com/

Peace,

-Troy

Jade Empire is just beautiful. I'm working my way through it for the second time, now, trying out the Closed Fist way of playing. It makes me feel guilty when I'm nasty to people.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is rather wonderful.

Morrowind was a deeply, deeply beautiful game and I'm trying to hold off buying an X-Box 360 for Oblivion. The longer I hold off, the less it costs, but God it's difficult.

Graham

I'm currently hooked on the second Fire Emblem game for the GBA.

And I'm slowly working my way through career modes in EA's most recent NASCAR and MLB games on the X-Box.

My home computer, alas, is way too underpowered for serious gaming, but the last games I was really into were Rome: Total War and the first Freedom Force game.

Gal Civ 2 is pretty damn cool.  But like most 4X games they have trouble making a compelling end game.  I played on a huge map and have ridiculous amounts of ships and starbases and planets.  The interface actually makes it pretty easy to keep track of them all.  The problem is that the game is essentially no different than when I had 6 planets and little weenie ships.  In Gal Civ 1 you could push for Massive Death Stars which could roam the galaxy and destroy at will.  But there really isn't a similar goal to shoot for in GC2.  It still is a pretty good game.  I just have to play on smaller maps that finish before the grind become obnoxious.

Civ always had the same problem.  They tried to solve it with the sudden death space race ending, but that ending always leaves me feeling unsatisfied...he who races to the top of the tech tree with some high producing cities wins.  It really narrows the range of competitive strategies so I tend to turn Space Race victory off.  I keep waiting for them to continue the game with a brand new unexplored Civ Map that you can colonize by sending space ships to it.

Pretty much that's what I play.  Games that let me conquer the world, crush my enemies, drive them before me, and hear the lamentations of the women.  4x all the way.

So currently:  Civ IV, Gal Civ 2, Rome Total War and RTW: Barbarian Invasion, Pirates.

Previous favs are all along the same lines:  Civ III, Gal Civ 1, MOO 1&2 (there was no 3), Age of Wonders, Medieval Total War, Combat Mission.

And of course going into the way back machine: Civ 1&2, Warlords 1&2 (there was no 3), Reach for the Stars (there was no 2), Pirates Gold, Spaceward Ho, and on the way way way back tip:  Lords of Conquest (on the Apple, the PC version was the suxxors).

Shooters, nope.  MMORPGs, nope (aside from a brief flirtation with DAoC and some earlier text MUDs). Sport Games, nope (unless you count ballroom dancing in Pirates).  Racing games, nope (although the original Driver with a force feedback wheel was pretty cool).  

CRPGs, occassionally.  I did play the hell out of the old Ultima Series and the D&D gold boxes and classics like Wasteland.  More recently I ran around killing stuff in Baldurs Gate and Morrowind.  But as CRPGs become more and more like 3/4 view shooters (like Diablo and Dungeon Siege, and even the much hyped Fable)...blah...give me Ultima II over Diablo any day.

So console games currently hold little appeal for me.  I'll still break out the old Sega Genesis for some Pirates Gold or Lightning Force Goodness, but X-Box has just been 1 long string of disappointments.

On the taking it old school track though, I just picked me up the Arcade Legends machine from Ultracade with the 2 main upgrade packs.  Yup...all the classics from the hey-day of the Coin op (almost, it doesn't have pac-man or galaga, or xenophobe).  250 odd games...1 upright old school arcade machine...I was playing me some 1943 (and 42, and 41) last night, SpyHunter, Road Blasters, Rampage, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Warlords, Ramparts, Battlezone...oh yeah...and unlimited Continues...

As I work on D&D Online, I tend to play that a lot...which is cool, because *gasp* it's fun. And clever monkeys may see some familiar names in the game...

My crew rolls with Half-Life FPS mods; originally CS and DoD, and now the Source versions of both.  Not on public servers, of course!  If you play, PM me and I'll hook you up for some p0wnage.

Anybody who does not love Katamari Damacy needs to be shot in the head, too. 

Jason wrote: Anybody who does not love Katamari Damacy needs to be shot in the head, too.

Shadow of the Colussus owns my heart.

Katamari Damacy owns my soul.

I've been playing through the old Squaresoft games on emulation.  You know, back when you didn't have to wait through the movies to play your game?

yrs--
--Ben

Civilization IV.

That's pretty much the only one, but it is enough.  Oh, is it enough.

Civ always had the same problem.  They tried to solve it with the sudden death space race ending, but that ending always leaves me feeling unsatisfied...he who races to the top of the tech tree with some high producing cities wins.  It really narrows the range of competitive strategies so I tend to turn Space Race victory off.

Graham!

It was good-natured hyperbole but, being American and called out in public, I am, indeed, obligated to shoot you.

Katamari Damacy

Heya,

As I work on D&D Online, I tend to play that a lot...which is cool, because *gasp* it's fun. And clever monkeys may see some familiar names in the game...

My gamer buddy Nick and I have an Xbox night every thursday.  It's a tradition we started some 3 years ago and we mostly play co-op games together.  The one we play most at the minute is X-Men Legends 2 which is cool, but I like The Conflict Desert Storm games as well.  For solo play I love Morrowind and GTA.

One of the massive benefits of playing way to many TT RPGs is that it gets you way behind in your computer game playing. Meaning you can buy really cheap game systems that everyone finds obsolete, and dirt cheap games.

To whit, in our house, we've been playing nothing but Breath of Fire CRPGs on the old Playstation of late. Before that it was Zelda games on the N64.

Once the PS III is out, I'll think about getting a PS2. Maybe. When you don't even look at the newest games out there, you don't miss being behind, I've found.

I've been thinking about getting Civ 3 for the computer, but who has time?

:-)

Mike

I think I can one-up you, Mike. The computer games I've been playing lately are:

Civilization: Call to Power
Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (those two were present for my daughter, but we've both been playing them)
and I just downloaded the first Elder Scrolls game (I've never even seen the other ES games)

I am a computer game wayback machine.

I got y'all beat -- I'm back to playing Nethack again. 

Julie

One always goes back to play Nethack or Moria, or some other Roguelike game after a while. Doesn't one? That's not being behind, that's nostalgia or something.

Josh, funny, but I bought those Harry Potter games in a fourpack recently and we've finished exactly the same ones you have so far. We're waiting for Marj's machine to get repaired before doing 3.

That's kinda creepy. Or maybe we just saw the same games on sale?

Mike

Mike wrote: Josh, funny, but I bought those Harry Potter games in a fourpack recently and we've finished exactly the same ones you have so far. We're waiting for Marj's machine to get repaired before doing 3.

That's kinda creepy. Or maybe we just saw the same games on sale?

I was playing WoW for a while-- it was a lot of fun at first, with a good group of RL friends.  When half the group gave up and Chris joined an end-game guild, I played less and less, until I finally canceled my account.  Of course, now friends are getting into it-- but on new servers, etc., so I'm resisting returning to it.

I did reinstall Alpha Centauri and play through a game of it just recently.  It was a lot of fun.
--Scott

Okay, Nethack = nostalgia.  I buy it.

What about Resident Evil (the first one), is that sufficiently behind?

Julie

Just playing Nethack. Nostalgia? The fuck you say! It's still the best CRPG around.

I haven't been able to afford to blow money on PC hardware in years, so I'm way behind the curve there. Not really losing any sleep over it or anything. Paying more than $20 for a computer game is silly anyway, since they hit the bargain bins.

I play X-Box multiplayer stuff with my friends.

I need to set aside some time and finish Ur-Quan Masters.

Josh, that's identical to the one we got (had quidditch, too), except we got 3 with it.

Julie, Resident Evil, yah, that's olde school. I'll have to go find a copy of Alone in the Dark to beat that...

Mike

Nethack's not nostalgia, I still haven't beaten it. And there was an update last year.

I'm currently mostly playing Dungeon Siege and Sims 2 Nightlife. Been trying this challenge in Sims 2 where you create a full family within certain requirements, give them a bunch of money, and try to equip a house in such a way that they can survive on their own (no intervention) for ten real-world hours. First family all died at about eight and a half hours. Second family had one survivor. They do great at first, but usually around four or five hours they discover some repetitive behavior and their needs plummet. First group was smashing back drinks at the bar until they died, second was freaked out by a roach infestation and spent their miserable lives stomping the heck out of 'em.

I dunno why I'm playing Dungeon Siege again, I beat it once. I used to do that with Quake I and Heretic II, go back and beat it again... tried to reinstall Heretic II a couple weeks ago, though, and it doesn't seem to work anymore on XP. Graar smash.

Other than that, I don/t keep up to date with video games.

Everybody's talking nostalgia, and Ralph's the only one who's mentioned Wasteland, which is very possibly the best computer game ever made.

Yeah.  Ever

jrs wrote:
What about Resident Evil (the first one), is that sufficiently behind?

People have beaten Nethack? Dude, I think that's an urban myth.

Rogue wasn't too bad. Moria was hard. Angband is reeeely hard (and I never finished). Omega has a trick finish. Nethack? I figured that if you looked at the code that there was no bottom.

A new version of nethack is...well, just more of same, no?

Mike

Mike wrote:
People have beaten Nethack? Dude, I think that's an urban myth.

Rogue wasn't too bad. Moria was hard. Angband is reeeely hard (and I never finished). Omega has a trick finish. Nethack? I figured that if you looked at the code that there was no bottom.

A new version of nethack is...well, just more of same, no?

Marhault wrote:
Everybody's talking nostalgia, and Ralph's the only one who's mentioned Wasteland, which is very possibly the best computer game ever made.

Yeah.  Ever

I'm back to playing Nethack again too...on my handheld.  R00x0R. (Elbereth! Elbereth!).

I've come close to finishing Nethack (mneme-W starved to death on the Plane of water), but it's actually both harder and easier since 3.1 (fewer stupid character tricks, but it's also easier to play without every click risking instant death) -- and they really do keep adding stuff.  The current version (unlike 3.1) doesn't have wizards start with an athame, has a bunch more side quests (Sokoban!), doesn't make you get really hungry whenever you cast a spell (and has spells last a lot longer than in 3.1), has spell failure for wearing metal armor, and has a full skill system for weapons (oh, and it has riding).

The farthest I've got ever on my handheld was 11th level, past the Oracle and Sokoban and the Gnomish Mines (I found a wish and an amulet of Life Saving...but I never found a like-aligned altar or I would have done much better).

I don't know if any of you have tried the Battle of Wesnoth (http://www.wesnoth.org).  It's free and I absolutely am addicted to it.  Link to the description: http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/Description

Turn based strategy and way fun.

Also Uplink (http://www.uplink.co.uk/), which is fun, although I would have never thought that I'd enjoy it.

Yeah, it's marketing, but it makes me giggle every time I look at it:  Samurai Kittens

Julie

I had the 8th highest score on Samarai Kittens for a brief time...I saw all but one of the Furrtalities...

If Nethack does not have enough kewl new stuff, there is always SLASH'EM.

You know it's bad when you look in the sky, see a full moon, and think, "Oh! I better play Nethack tonight. Luck bonus!"

The guys on the alt.org server ascend all the time. I am not nearly as good. My top 3:
[tt]
1      48225  Larry-Bar-Hum-Mal-Neu died in The Dungeons of Doom on
                level 10 [max 11].  Killed by a lynx.                  - [119]
2      33440  Larry-Bar-Hum-Mal-Neu died in The Dungeons of Doom on
                level 12.  Killed by an invisible stalker.              - [104]
3      28841  Larry-Mon-Hum-Mal-Neu died in The Gnomish Mines on
                level 6 [max 9].  Killed by an owlbear.                -  [63]
[/tt]

I tend to play one game at a time, a whole lot. The past couple days I started playing Project Gotham Racing 2 again. Before that it was Halo and Halo 2, Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. At some point I want to get back into playing Dragon Quest VIII and Makai Kingdom. I need to get around to playing more Para Para Paradise (like Dance Dance Revolution, but you use your hands to dance to eurobeat music). And Katamari Damacy is just plain good for the soul. ;)

Mike wrote:
People have beaten Nethack? Dude, I think that's an urban myth.

I, too, am a fan of crushing my enemies.  At the moment that means a significant amount of play of Galactic Civilizations II and Rome: Total War.  GalCiv is an incredibly interesting game.  The tech tree is incredibly sparse and interestingly linear for a 4x game, but the core mechanics are pretty much brilliant.

Outside of crushing-my-enemies games, I tend to three primary types: thinky games (this means I play stuff like Dynasty Tactics; interestingly a certain subset of CRPGs fall into this category, see the Grandia series), fighting games (how has no one mentioned the joy that is Soul Caliber or Guilty Gear?), and pretty games (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus).

I also just recently got a free GameCube, so Zelda and Metroid Prime have gotten some recent action.

Thomas

Thomas,

We played many, many, many a game of SC and SC2. But that was long ago, and now there are none who remember it.

Phantom Dust is a fucking gem, which is sort of like a CCG but isn't.