Archaic video games

[Consvming Impvlse]

Starflight is a game worth playing- it is self-paced (for all intents and purposes), vast, and almost meditative in places. Get the Sega Genesis emulator and play that version- it was the best iteration. Review and hints here: http://socksmakepeoplesexy.net/index.php?a=scottstar

[Alexis]

The PC games I remember had a certain impact on me were two point-and-click adventure games.

Syberia: Lawyer attempts to track down a person to conclude her case, but ends up in a world of tales and mysteries to figure out who she is and what she wants to do with her life. The graphics, soundtrack and story are fascinating. Hard to complete though.

http://www.gamingexcellence.com/pc/games/109/review.shtml

The Longest Journey: A young girl skips art classes to unravel the strange magical things taking place in every day life, and ends up defending an ancient world against destructive forces. Very creative, typically difficult, but contains a lot of exploration and mythological references.

http://www.longestjourney.com/

These games require fantasy, creativity and brains. Most games are mindless time wasters.

[ken]

They could put it to more productive ends by making BETTER GAMES, just like in music. I find the parallels of the rise and fall of computer games to metal very interesting - starting in the 60s/70s with very rudimentary stuff, quality thoughtful games started in the mid 80s and peaked in the late 80s/early-mid 90s, then declined slowly towards the end of the century with mostly crap being churned out in the last 10 years.

They both declined for the same reason - an obsessive focus on the form (flashy technicals) over the content (plot and function/melody and structure). People now buy games and music for instant gratification, only to be disposed as soon as the latest graphics design or faster guitar shredder comes out.

not quite. the video games industry may have grown(it is bigger than the film industry now), but quality games do come out. nostalgia aside, games are getting better and better. bigger worlds to explore with better graphics. and better graphics means bigger worlds.  games like deus ex, starcraft, warcraft III.

in the next ten years we should start seeing video games as becoming 'artier', and different mediums to interact with them on.

[Svmmoned]

in the next ten years we should start seeing video games as becoming 'artier', and different mediums to interact with them on.

Nothing new then. It depends on how you define  "to interact". Most experimental interaction is still domain of educational products or interactive fictions. It's stays far away from games. Such interactions can be of course interpreted as being influenced by book, movie (and I don't mean by that commercial productions made simultanously with blockbusters), with artwork/music of artist from different realm or with appearance of someone from different sector of pop-culture (there are plenty of those) . Older games, from memory: Darkseed - with Giger's artwork; I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream - based on Harlan Ellison novel (with added holocaust trend to it); Shadow of The Comet - Lovecraft; I remember also, that there were game based somehow on Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung.

[istaros]

Wasn't the last thread on videogames locked because the admin deemed them an incredible waste of time?

Anyway, Planescape Torment is the only game I feel comfortable endorsing here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape:_Torment

The game begins with the protagonist, known only as The Nameless One, waking up with total amnesia. He soon finds out that he is immortal; if he is killed, he will simply reawaken in the same body. He sets out on a quest to regain his lost memories, and discover why he is immortal. As the game progresses, he slowly remembers events from his many previous lives. He discovers much about the personalities of his previous incarnations, and the great influence they have had in the worlds and people that surround him

The key philosophical theme of the work is presented as a question several times: "what can change the nature of a man?". This question considers the possibility (or impossibility) of changing fate; many characters in torment are fighting against their natures, or against what seems to be an inevitable fate. One example is Nordom, who, despite being a modron (a hive-minded species) is developing a personality of his own.

Selfishness is also a very present theme. The Nameless One has, in previous incarnations, been so committed to understanding his condition that he has been willing to sacrifice everything and everyone on that quest. Many consequences of this can be discovered through the game..

this. the only game i've ever played i can honestly say approaches(if not "is") art. and the only one that actually affected how i live my life.

[ShitFaced]

I found Morrowind to be pretty interesting. It had a very thick fantasy world that was fun to progress through. Starcraft is a good strategy game that is competitive and to the point. Dwarf Fortress is a mix of both, except much more complicated and has ASCII graphics. But it's free.

[esoteric]

not quite. the video games industry may have grown(it is bigger than the film industry now), but quality games do come out. nostalgia aside, games are getting better and better. bigger worlds to explore with better graphics. and better graphics means bigger worlds.  games like deus ex, starcraft, warcraft III.

in the next ten years we should start seeing video games as becoming 'artier', and different mediums to interact with them on.

Better graphics means bigger worlds? First, how is this so and secondly, why is this a good thing? Games which merely simulate a fantasy world are the lowest form of the medium. More=better is the biggest fallacy of art there ever was.

The games you mentioned do not come close to their predecessors, just like the new wave of metal.

Games will not become artier as long as technology is the benchmark for quality.

[istaros]

Black & White was also pretty interesting as a microcosm of society. funny how you could only be a "good" god by endlessly and exhaustingly pandering to your believers' every desire comfort and laziness - doing things practically inevitably made you "evil"

[Christ Died of AIDS]

Myst is one of the best games I've ever played. It's not technically 3D because you're navigating through worlds of still images (with the occasional motion sprites for water or falling leaves), but it's still a very enriching experience for the senses.

It's also a good exercise in problem solving. You start out on an island covered with all kinds of strange gadgets, physically impossible landscapes, and puzzles. You have to figure out where you are, how you got there, and how to leave. You navigate to other worlds through books that teleport you.

Most people remember it as one of the first CDROM games.

[Chessnut]

Kohan: Ahriman's Gift. It's about 8 years old now, but still has an online community. Probably one of the most intelligent gaming communities out there. It's a real-time strategy, based in a fantasy world, reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, or Wheel of Time novels. Very innovative, great 2d graphics, and steep learning curve. Using real-world combat strategies such as flanking, ambushes, etc. Very interesting balance between economy and military, and is not micro-intensive. In the online community, there are standards that everyone abides by, to create a balanced game. Highly team-oriented playing.

I would compare it to chess.

I highly recommend it to anyone looking for real-time strategy games, but the likelihood of actually finding the game and a cd key are low.

[Humanicide]

ive always enjoyed the music for some games. sometimes, the compositions really add to the atmosphere of the game. such as in this case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krARTrx2PE&feature=related

[Pptlkaos]

ive always enjoyed the music for some games. sometimes, the compositions really add to the atmosphere of the game. such as in this case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krARTrx2PE&feature=related

The Diablo 2 soundtrack has to be one of my favourite music compositions for any game. I have the album floating around somewhere (can't find it at the moment) and I have saved it onto my mp3 player.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BODYxesJLVo This song is my personal favourite from the soundtrack

[Hrafn]

ive always enjoyed the music for some games. sometimes, the compositions really add to the atmosphere of the game. such as in this case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krARTrx2PE&feature=related

The Diablo 2 soundtrack has to be one of my favourite music compositions for any game. I have the album floating around somewhere (can't find it at the moment) and I have saved it onto my mp3 player.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=BODYxesJLVo This song is my personal favourite from the soundtrack

If you find it, please upload it, I enjoyed that games music a lot.

[istaros]

Mechwarrior 2's music was some of the best i've ever heard in a game

[Svmmoned]

Being on a nostalgic trip I still find myself amazed by amiga's so called demo scene back in times when amiga was still used to produce music. Great graphic art and sometimes amazingly conscious music which was, despite its instrumentation close to heavy metal or techno produced by young, intuitive people.

If someone got few minutes...
http://www.mobygames.com/game/amiga/damage-the-sadistic-butchering-of-humanity
Amiga game created by people somehow connected with/influenced by metal. It's like goregrind or suomi black metal statement. Can be enjoyable only in consideration of its intent.

http://edvardtoth.com/games/perihelion/#more-27
Archaic rpg with good graphics, for free from its author.