My list of memorable games and gaming moments
This is a list of games that are especially memorable to me in some way.
List items
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Everquest did not make a great first impression on me. The very first character I created had little or no night vision and I happen to log in at night in an area without any nearby light source. Consequently, I spent about two minutes staring at a black screen before giving up. I later gave the game another chance and found a gaming experience unlike anything else. Death was so punishing in the early days of Everquest, that facing danger carried a real sense of risk. Dying in the game could, in some cases, cost you time measured not in minutes, but in hours. Along with the risk, though, came an equally real feeling of exhilaration and adventure. I remember the first time I went outside my starting city and saw my first real mob. It was a huge spider crossing a field, and I knew it would kill me in seconds if I got too close. If it did, I would respawn, naked and back in my starting city, and the only way to get my equipment would be to run back to my corpse with the same spider waiting for me. I had several years of thrilling encounters in Everquest, but I still remember that first spider.
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Doom was first game that actually scared me. My parents kept the family computer in an office that had no windows, and I played my first game of Doom with the light turned off in complete darkness. It was the first time a game actually made me jump in my seat. I played for hours without taking my eyes off of the screen, and when my nerves finally had to have a break, I remember looking across the room in the direction of the only light switch. Between me and the switch, a curtain of darkness seemed to swallow up what little light eminated from the monitor. I really didn't want to cross that room!
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Oh, the highly compressed FMV! How magical! Drama, intrigue, and Mark Hamil -- the first game I played with extensive cinematic cut scenes. Shooting things in space was cool too.
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I don't think I realized how good this game was when I first played it, but it was the first game world I can remember wandering around in, just staring at stuff. It was my first feeling of immersion in a video game, with its "realistic" polygonal environment. Pipes were actual pipes, not just textures on the wall. Offices had desks with computers on them. The aliens and the gameplay were good, but having already been scared by Doom at that point, I was more impressed with the sheer technical accomplishment of the game world and the integrated story telling than I was with the action.
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