Why I love Gaming

[kapone32]

So it's 2024 and the journey from 1980 has me celebrating the state of Gaming in this space. Where do I start? Let's take Helldivers2 for a ride. Can we agree that it is the strongest hit from word of mouth. I saw a MSI Gaming Livestream and bought the Game before the stream was finished. Then Sony tried to capitalize on the success of the Game by making it PSN exclusive. That lasted for exactly for 1 day. What is Helldivers2 well for me it a morph of Exoprimal and Outriders both Games that I thoroughly enjoyed.

It's May and we have a new Homeworld Game. Deserts of Kharak was successful because of the nostalgia from Homeworld but a new Homeworld is the cat's meow. I complain about the controls because I have not played a Homeworld Game in years but this Game will be mine soon.

There was a Game on PS where you played as a Ninja in a 3D Environment I can't remember the name (DABs and Herb) but Ghosts of Malthusian will be mine on Friday.

I have to admit that my Entertainment budget has been blown away.

Let's go the simulation side and see AMS2 and Le Mans Ultimate. Forza is a good attempt but with the rise of Hypercar in WEC and IMSA driving the Cadillac or BMW are a joy but PC is also about mods and AMS2 lets you add all the content from Project Cars 2. So I can race the Bentley Speed 8 and Mazda 787B against the new crop of LMDH but I can also use the Sauber BMW and Mercedes that flipped the fence at Le Mans. Yes the Nisssan is there too. Even without mods you can relive Nigle Mansell Racing with updated Graphics and engine. Yep I had Advan Racing on PS and Test Drive Le Mans on Dreamcast f me let's give Top Gear some love and even that Enduro raicing Game in C64 that had pit stops and tire wear.

Starfox and Colony Wars gave Console the magic of Wing Commander and Everspace2 is the most arcade Sapce Sim in today's offerings but if you want the promise of Star Citizen, Spacebourne2 will blow you away.

Let's talk about content that is considered "old" like Sleeping Dogs and Mass Effect. If you are new to PC Torchlight and Torchlight 2 are strong contenders as well but Shadow Tactics is nothing but fun.

When the narrative was strong for Tollkien we got 2 Gems that are completely different Games Shadow of War did the genius move of using Arkham Batman combat system (So does SLeeping Dogs) and they totally expanded the mechanics of the Game for Shadow of War making it a refined version of that Game on PS from a a Japanese studio I don't remeber that you can control entire Armies.

Manor Lord desreves it's own paragraph as even though I don't play it it is one of my favourite Games to watch on Youtube. The scale of that Game is insane.

Total War also gets a special mention as that used to be the reason I upgraded my PC, there is a mod for TWWH3 that gives you the Old World map with over 900 Settlements. Just think of having the Entire Wood Elf of High Elf Legendary lord stack to get rid of the forces of Chaos.

I don't care how anyone feels about this statement but Humble Choice are the real curators of this space and that service has me enjoying Games like Raji or Hell Let Loose that are not even 1% of what they have given you but Shadow Tactics is a part. I have a young daughter and every month Humble gives me at least one Game that is perfect for a 7 year old in this digital age.

Let's talk about the ode to the arcade. let's look at Redout 2 and realize that Game would be crazy in an Arcade cabinet. Epic recently gave people Orcs Must Die 3 free and those are as about as Arcade as you can get,

COH3 gets a mention but so do the raft of RTS Games like Dune and Starship Troopers that make RTS sweet but Iron Harvest is great.

BG3 was a return to the tradionnal RPG but updated for today's hardware. While I read plenty of Drizzit novels Rogue Trader is more fun to me. Both Games offer you a compelling RPG exeperience.

CP2077 also gets a mention as when I was in the TV blew my away and using a melee weapon is super satifying in a Witcher way in that Game but it is a ture Cyberpunk world that made me enjoy the ARPG hat esacpes me right now that is pure Cyberpunk.

Hardware is also a part of the equation and all 3 vendors give you chooices in the bracket. Personally I have a 7900X3D/7900XT combo and it laughs at 4K native but the raw specs cannot be taken for granted . Do we not remeber when 1.5 Ghz was considered good for a GPU not we have GPUs that can hit 3 Ghz and have 20+ GB of VRAM buffer. I also have a 10600 based system and that is also great for Gaming. AMD firced Intel to try nd that is onoly good for the consmuer.

 

[alwayssts]

Why I love gaming:

Reading (and/or watching/listening to) essays on different peoples' perspectives on a piece of media we may all appreciate for different reasons, which expands my appreciation for not only the art but helps me better understand and feel more connected to those people in areas we may relate, or at least learn to appreciate a new perspective (which I may or may not agree with, but may not have even considered).

Like this one.

Nice write-up, Kapone.

 

[kapone32]

Why I love gaming:

Reading (and/or watching/listening to) essays on different peoples' perspectives on a piece of media we may all appreciate for different reasons, which expands my appreciation for not only the art but helps me better understand and feel more connected to those people in areas we may relate, or at least learn to appreciate a new perspective (which I may or may not agree with, but may not have even considered).

Like this one.

Nice write-up, Kapone.

For me that is the essence of what TPU so enjoyable! Thanks for your kind words.

 

[64K]

I guess I love gaming the most as an escape from reality. Getting to experience different worlds, different possibilities, different concepts and no real consequences for mistakes or bad judgement or just not trying hard enough. I can always restart the level or even the game and choose different paths and ideas except where the Developer scripted some events to only proceed one way.

For me it all began with an Atari 2600 back in 1980 and I have been gaming ever since off and on as time and life responsibilities permitted. I know that I will still be gaming in my eighties in some form if health permits. It's a lifelong hobby with me just like my other main entertainment (reading).

They can take my gaming rig from me when they can pry it from my cold dead fingers.

 

[Hyderz]

Why i love gaming? It was the people i was growing up with..

When i was young walking around the i would stumble upon shops that some kids are playing... some reason i remember contra.. then one day our family was invited to another family friends place and a cousin of theirs happens to love gaming. Its 1993 and i was introduced to wolfenstein 3D.. and so i was dabbling some games, watched some anime etc..

Then in 1995 our family got a computer and it snowballed from here with Warcraft Orcs and Humans.. you can guess what followed.. quake, warcraft2, diablo, starcraft, ff7 etc.. Gaming continues in 1997 as we got a playstation and had tons of fun with ff8, ff9, metal gear solid etc.. then in 1999 at school i was introduced to pokemon with some school mates and thus i got a gameboy pocket with pokemon red.

Year 2000 some weekends me and our neighbors poured some cash together to hire nintendo64 and we would jam goldeneye and play mario65. I still have my playstation, jamming Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Medival, Spyro, Gran Turismo 2, Street Fighter EX+EX2, Alpha3 and tons more. I had cool accessories like that namco yellow arcade stick, namco gcon gun for time crisis, not to mention dance dance revolution mat as well.

2001 family pc was a celeron 700 with tnt2 m64 and a few school friends and i managed to be beta testing for warcraft3. Hilarious time during free for all matches in 5 ppl lobby with 2 other friend we would always certain to decimate the poor sods.. At the same time playing diablo2 + lord of destruction, unreal tournament, but came 2003 pc was too weak.. So i manage to buy my first proper gaming pc.. Behold Amd athlon 2400+ Xp with 128mb Geforce4 Ti4600 with 256mb of ram..

From 2003 - 2009 played guild wars with friends, jammed warcraft 3 and frozen throne. Wait for it... Defence of the Ancients aka DOTA with some friends, mate bought me guild wars in 2005 jammed that for 4 years... it was Half Life 2 Eps2 that my pc couldnt run. I upgraded to
Core2 Duo 1.8ghz overclocked by my friends to 3ghz.. with 8800GTS. Incoming Crysis, Aliens vs Predator.. etc

I cant remember when i was playing Heroes of Newerth but i met an online friend there and we became good friends and jammed DOTA 2, Battlefield 3 n 4, and we had a lot of common interests in anime, books travels and i met him in Japan. Later i met my wife, who supports my gaming.

So yeah why i love gaming and the games i play is shaped by the people around me.

 

[sepheronx]

Been playing games since....late 80's? I didn't have the Atari but uses to play the 5200 at a friend's place a lot. Got a NES as it was my sister's gift my parents got her but it was really all of ours.

Ended up kinda meh in games aside from arcades till around PS1, N64 and Sega Saturn era when I really enjoyed gaming. Had so much fun with all 3 consoles.

I enjoy them less now than I did back then as I'm older, got a family of my own, and other things happening. But from time to time I love to sit down and play a game with either my daughter or just alone. Sometimes it helps with bonding and other times I enjoy the story and the hidden secrets in the games.

But since I'm more of a horror game fan, like movies, there is a rather strong drought in the field imo. So don't enjoy em as much.

 

[Keullo-e]

Been a gamer for ~30 years and still enjoying. I still have the same NES I got as a kid in the early 90s.

JRPGs, story-based games and horror games are mostly my thing. And why not some racing as well.

 

[#22]

It's like books have gave us entertainment from being part of some action when imagining it. Movies have took it to another level with replacing imagination with sound and image. Games took it even further with giving control. It can be considered as evolution of the same kind of entertainment.

 

[Vayra86]

It's like books have gave us entertainment from being part of some action when imagining it. Movies have took it to another level with replacing imagination with sound and image. Games took it even further with giving control. It can be considered as evolution of the same kind of entertainment.

I've always perceived gaming like that exactly. Its the ultimate form of entertainment that way, in my view. More 'complete' and engaging than books or movies. You could consider audio a journey too in that sense, it can be equally immersive, create a world.

Why i love gaming? It was the people i was growing up with..

When i was young walking around the i would stumble upon shops that some kids are playing... some reason i remember contra.. then one day our family was invited to another family friends place and a cousin of theirs happens to love gaming. Its 1993 and i was introduced to wolfenstein 3D.. and so i was dabbling some games, watched some anime etc..

Then in 1995 our family got a computer and it snowballed from here with Warcraft Orcs and Humans.. you can guess what followed.. quake, warcraft2, diablo, starcraft, ff7 etc.. Gaming continues in 1997 as we got a playstation and had tons of fun with ff8, ff9, metal gear solid etc.. then in 1999 at school i was introduced to pokemon with some school mates and thus i got a gameboy pocket with pokemon red.

Year 2000 some weekends me and our neighbors poured some cash together to hire nintendo64 and we would jam goldeneye and play mario65. I still have my playstation, jamming Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Medival, Spyro, Gran Turismo 2, Street Fighter EX+EX2, Alpha3 and tons more. I had cool accessories like that namco yellow arcade stick, namco gcon gun for time crisis, not to mention dance dance revolution mat as well.

2001 family pc was a celeron 700 with tnt2 m64 and a few school friends and i managed to be beta testing for warcraft3. Hilarious time during free for all matches in 5 ppl lobby with 2 other friend we would always certain to decimate the poor sods.. At the same time playing diablo2 + lord of destruction, unreal tournament, but came 2003 pc was too weak.. So i manage to buy my first proper gaming pc.. Behold Amd athlon 2400+ Xp with 128mb Geforce4 Ti4600 with 256mb of ram..

From 2003 - 2009 played guild wars with friends, jammed warcraft 3 and frozen throne. Wait for it... Defence of the Ancients aka DOTA with some friends, mate bought me guild wars in 2005 jammed that for 4 years... it was Half Life 2 Eps2 that my pc couldnt run. I upgraded to
Core2 Duo 1.8ghz overclocked by my friends to 3ghz.. with 8800GTS. Incoming Crysis, Aliens vs Predator.. etc

I cant remember when i was playing Heroes of Newerth but i met an online friend there and we became good friends and jammed DOTA 2, Battlefield 3 n 4, and we had a lot of common interests in anime, books travels and i met him in Japan. Later i met my wife, who supports my gaming.

So yeah why i love gaming and the games i play is shaped by the people around me.

Oh man... Dota and WC3 custom mapping. Don't get me started. That, Unreal Tournament and lots of console splitscreening was my youth. Glorious.
GoldenEye, Super Mario Kart 64, and later the fabulous Super Smash Bros... The PS2 with its infinite amount of glory, too... yeah. There was so much to see back then, but there is also a lot to see today, its just that the real eye openers are gone, that low hanging fruit can only be picked once.

 

[#22]

I've always perceived gaming like that exactly. Its the ultimate form of entertainment that way, in my view. More 'complete' and engaging than books or movies. You could consider audio a journey too in that sense, it can be equally immersive, create a world.

Some may don't like active nature of gaming or find it tiring. Or games are still not close to things we see in movies and there will be many examples against seeing games as some evolution or superior form of "the same". That's why they can be only considered as something like that and there's still place for books, movies and similar.

 

[Vayra86]

Some may don't like active nature of gaming or find it tiring. Or games are still not close to things we see in movies and there're will be many examples against seeing games as some evolution of superior form of "the same". That's why they can be only considered as something like that and there's still place for books, movies and similar.

Ohyeah sure, there is a time and place for everything, its personal too where you prefer using different kinds of media. Gaming is for its interactivity def also the most intense, which isn't always a plus.

 

[alwayssts]

I've always perceived gaming like that exactly. Its the ultimate form of entertainment that way, in my view. More 'complete' and engaging than books or movies. You could consider audio a journey too in that sense, it can be equally immersive, create a world.

So we agree then, Sayonara Wild Hearts greatest thing ever created.

(I'm kidding wrt forcing an opinion on you, just trying to convey that I understand your perspective.)

I actually really do appreciate all forms of media (and resulting conversation/recollection). I grew up reading a ton of novels; transitioned to spending most of my time on international film and music.

I've always enjoyed gaming, and just like the outreach of said other forms of media, I've appreciated watching it evolve from mere jumbles of pixels to a combination of almost everything that came before.

I apologize for not having much to contribute to this thread, but I am quite enjoying it.

Keep it going!

 

[droopyRO]

Total War also gets a special mention as that used to be the reason I upgraded my PC, there is a mod for TWWH3 that gives you the Old World map with over 900 Settlements. Just think of having the Entire Wood Elf of High Elf Legendary lord stack to get rid of the forces of Chaos.

I have yet to play a game with as much replay value and variety as the Total War Warhammer trilogy. I bought it without knowing anything about the fantasy universe. It was back in 2017, almost a year after the launch. And it was the best thing i could do at the moment. It had a steep learning curve since i had only played TW Shogun and Medieval. And Warhammer is the reason i upgraded all this years also it is the only game i have ever bough all the DLCs when they released.
Now, i have this issue that i have yet to play a lot of legendary lords and races at least once, but i am steadly getting there, currently at turn 30 on my first Yuan Bo campaign.

 

[kapone32]

I have yet to play a game with as much replay value and variety as the Total War Warhammer trilogy. I bought it without knowing anything about the fantasy universe. It was back in 2017, almost a year after the launch. And it was the best thing i could do at the moment. It had a steep learning curve since i had only played TW Shogun and Medieval. And Warhammer is the reason i upgraded all this years also it is the only game i have ever bough all the DLCs when they released.
Now, i have this issue that i have yet to play a lot of legendary lords and races at least once, but i am steadly getting there, currently at turn 30 on my first Yuan Bo campaign.

This is good, I had totally enjoyed the TW Games. I discovered TW with a copy of Rome for $5 at a flea market. The hook for me was weeks before I had bought a copy of Praetorians at a discount store. Both of those are RTS but TW was like that Game on Steroids. After Rome was Medieval 2. I bought 3 copies of that before Blockbuster offered their Disc repair service. As soon as Shogun 2 was announced I got that and had to upgrade my machine. One of the things I loved about TW was Crossfire support. Shogun 2 was a nice departure from Medieval and that was when I also discovered Radious mod. That mod made me fall in love with the Game as I could recruit entire Armies of Ninja or Warrior Monks for glorious battles.

I have been reading Fantasy novels since I was a kid; Piers Alexandar, David Gemmell, Micheal Moorcock, Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan come to mind as authors I liked but I also read just about every Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan and Mars novels and Robert Hienlein influenced my intersest in Sci FI and outer space but this is Warhammer. I remember telling a co-worker about (Liked the historical) TWWH2 with Wood Elves and after I told him that you could use a Dragon breath to mow down an entire troop of archers, he went home and bought the Game and all available DLC. In clsoing TWWH is my kryptonite. I only play the Good races so I am seriously looking forward to an update for the Wood ELves or High Elves.

Mods needs a special mention for TWWH3. The Immortal Empires map is great and the vanilla Game is good but mods are what makes TWWH3 an average 1000+ hr Game for those who love it. From units to entire Campaign rework makes the Game whatever you want.

I could mention Rome 2 but once you got Pikemen you became invincible at Siege Battles but the Spartan mod units were great. I also have a special mention for Troy which is the only Game that has an African based faction.

So I get your TWWH3 hook I also have every single DLC with the exception of blood as it is a Game after all. The kicker is I am coming from a completely different tangent than you.

 

[droopyRO]

There are no good factions that is what i like about this universe. Just order, "neutral" and chaos. I played all races, that is what i loved about the Warcraft 3 campaign, you are not only the good guy.
Skaven are my favorite race, they are so unique, and AFAIK have no counterpart in real world or any other fantasy universe. Vampires(well duh! i'm Romanian ) are my second favorite with the Empire comming in for a bronze medal But honestly they are all fun to play, i did not have a moment that i wanted to quit a campaign,no matter what race it was Order or Chaos or neutral like the Wood Elves or Ogers.

I don't play with mods in general. I heard about some very good ones for TWH 3 like the Jade Vampires and The Old World, but i don't have the time to play them, just the vanilla experience