Thursday 5 January 2006

Pic of the day: And a big black plastic garbage sack with the remnants of the cardboard boxes and manuals. Sic transit glorious games.

Killing even more games

Dogz II: Superseded by Nintendogs, but I keep the CD and serial number even so. Although in truth I am more of a cat person. Co-dependency disturbs me on a deep, fundamental level. I prefer everyone to be independent emotionally, although we all depend on each other for society to cooperate seamlessly. Cats seem to hold the same attitude: As long as the water and food bowls are filled and the litter box is clean, all is well with the world. They may choose to amuse themselves or amuse me depending on their whim, but they don't make puppy eyes and try to emulate human emotions to fit in.

Premier Manager - another soccer management game for the PC, even though I can only remember to have had one, and definitely threw away one the other day. Mysterious. Also quite old. "DOS 3.1 or above required." Eh.

Whale's Voyage is a sci-fi game I'm pretty sure I never even installed. It doesn't ring a bell in any way. Role-play, trading and action sequences, says the cover. I don't remember having even read the cover before. Where did I get this game and why? In any case, it seems like a clone of a game I actually liked but have forgotten the name of. Oh well.

Imperialism is actually a pretty good game. I believe there came a follow-up to this one, too, which may be more up to modern standards on graphics and interface. Anyway, the one thing in its disfavor is that Civ3 and later Civ4 absorbed the basic gameplay idea, that certain natural resources are essential and the cause of war or diplomacy, whichever is deemed most effective. I really don't need an old game with only a subset of Civilization.

Hammer of the gods: A strategy game with Vikings! How cool is that? Oh wait, I already had some of those, and discarded them. Well, this is a bit newer but still pretty old, and not amazing in terms of gameplay. A bit interesting for a while though. But not anymore.

Origin Screen Saver. For Windows, even! Don't know if it works with modern Windows, but I remember enjoying this one for being severely trippy. Psychedelic. You know, stretching the brain waves. Worth saving for a rainy day, I guess. Just in case. I should have tested if it still installs, but I don't have the time. STRESS!!! Anyway. I'll probably reconsider next time I move, if ever. (I hope there is a next time, seriously. I doubt I'll get as attached to my new digs as I was here.)

Lords of the Realm is a medieval strategy game. The graphics and sounds were not quite medieval, at least at the time, but there was nothing really impressive about this game. Perhaps if I hadn't already had Castles.

Spider-man Cartoon Maker. Eh... 'nuff said!

Silent Service - the submarine simulation. See my numerous earlier comments about war games having to be really good, and not being it. Same here. It is also very long past its due date. The excuse for buying it was probably that it is by Microprose.

Powermonger was one of my first games for the PC, I think. Not the very first – that was Jones in the Fast Lane, I think – but really early while these things were just a hobby for a few geeks. It certainly looks really early, the looks and the interface is indistinguishable from the norm of the Amiga games at the end of that machine's reign in the home.

Speaking of which... Populous has nearly exactly the same look and feel, and was a cult hit of the Amiga. It was also published for the PC and is part of the package Strategy Masters by Ubisoft, together with Merchant Colony, Spirit of Exchalibur, Cohort and Chess Player 2150. Nothing worth seeing here, at least anymore.

Historyline 1914-1918. Yeah, war game. At least it is the first world war for a change. I think I installed it, but I can't remember it. Look, I was kinda buying anything at the time, OK? At least as far as PC games went. It was that time of my life. I had daydreamed about computers since I was just a boy, and suddenly I had one. And evidently unlimited space in the kitchen drawers.

Heroes of Might and Magic: A true classic, would you not say? There have been several successors, and I am sure many remember this game with a special fondness. You better turn the other way while I rip the box to shreds and throw the disk in the garbage bag. Oh yeah, that gotta hurt! Sic transit gloria mundi, indeed.

Microsoft Space Simulator - "Go to the Edge of the Galaxy – and Beyond". Um, I don't think I am ready to go Beyond quite yet. I would rather wait awhile, please. The Space Simulator, however, is hopefully ready to go now. At least I am ready to let it go. On the good side, nobody ever accused it of being used by terrorists in training...

AIV Networks is the successor to A-Train. Highly advanced, less charming, it failed to hold my attention nearly as long or as often as A-Train did. It tried to dazzle with new gimmicky features like video cut scenes. Unfortunately for them, technology is outdated over the new year, while gameplay lasts for a long time indeed.

Well, there you go. Soon 2AM again. I have to admit that I enjoy this archeology in gaming, but I'll also be happy to be finished with it. If that makes sense at all. It probably makes more sense than buying them did. But then again, to quote Radar the super-dog after hundreds of flying puppies appeared in the sky: "It felt meaningful at the time."