QotD: Top 5 Video Games

What's on your Top 5 video games list?
Submitted by mileena.

1. Marathon. 

What can I say? It was so much fun. Marathon is a Mac-only (at the time, its since gone windows and is open source) arcade style first person shooter network game. I have no doubt that it was probably responsbile for millions of hours of lost productivity in Mac graphic design and print shops across the US. I would get a call after lunch from one of the Art Directors, "I'm gathering, get your ass in here." One person would host a game, others could connect up to it across the network. Fun, hilarious psuedo-violence with arcade graphics in 2d simulation 3d. Choose the totz-flamethrower and crisp up your pals to delightful "aaaaarrrrgh's" (the voice talent they used was superb.) Marathon later became, thats right folks, Halo. Bungie, the company that created both games, as well as several other fun Mac games was bought by the evil empire. The Macintosh and Windows versions of Halo were scrapped in favor of X-Box, and all Mac game fans cried a little inside. Well, I know I did. Back in 97 or thereabouts it was a big deal, it was such a fun game that Halo was sure to be a success (and of course it was.) My friend Fran and I would play it at Tank Design's offices on weekends, sometimes all night. Now that its open source, you can actually play online across the internet. And don't think I've gotten rusty, I'm still kicking Spanky's ass.

2. Crystal Castles. 

My wife and I played it back when we were first dated in High School. (1982) When we got back together about 7 years ago, I bought her one, an arcade standup model, which she put in the dining room. Such was the novelty at the time of both a Crystal Castles arcade game, and me. (this would most definitely be voted if I brought one home tonight.)

3. Pengo. 

Joe Ciampa and I would spend all afternoon in the commons at CCCC playing Pengo for high scores. Great game, lots of fun. Sort of a Pac Man feel, but I never memorized the patterns. Not enough of a clue back then, or now.

4. Unreal Tournament. 

When my wife and I first started dating (again), I was living in NYC and she on Cape Cod (where we both grew up.) I would take the bus back and forth from Port Authority in Times Square to the cape. This would take roughly 6 hours friday night, and of course again on Sunday afternoon. I did this for a year, with very few breaks. During those trips, I would charge up several powerbook batteries (really, 3 or 4 were with me always.) I would get a window seat behind the driver (Because there is a small space to the left of his seat where sitting behind him you can actually stretch your legs out.) I would put my headphones on, put on my game face that basically said "Do not talk to me"and fire up the lapper. (I had a G3 pismo at the time.) I would play UT until the cramps in my hands would bring tears to my eyes. I would play against the computer's bot players on steroids, which was a pretty good challenge. Thank you, UT, for getting me through those trips.

5. Asteroids.

Back in Junior High, my friends and I would go roller skating weekend nights at the rink near my house. Lots of girls, music (long live disco) and of course, arcade machines. My friend Jon and I would play Asteroids, but we would play the game at the same time. It was a blast! Jon would control the left and right turn buttons and the thrust (forward) buttons, I would man the fire button and the hyperspace. It was hilarious. Of course Jon would fly us around, trying to line up the asteroids for me to blast, and I would increase the tension by waiting until the rock was almost touching the nose of the ship before I unleashed the laser blasting skills I'd honed in typing class. And of course there was the fun every expert at Asteroids knows, leaving one asteroid and then building up speed as you raced across the screen, looking for the little spaceship (worth 1000 points) to come out so you could blast him. The last night we played we got the score up so high a crowd had gathered to watch, we were zipping from the bottom to the top of the screen, blasting the little guy, score climbing higher and higher. At 98,000 the saucer appeared right in front of us at the top of the screen, we smashed into him, the game ended with our score at 99,000. It stayed on the machine for a while, and makes for a pretty good story you can only use in response to a question like this one, as rare as an Asteroids machine is now.