Saturday 27 September 2008

The Evolution Of Taste (in gaming)

In the beginning....

When I was a child, my brothers owned a sega. That opened my eyes to the world of gaming.


One Christmas (I think....) we were delighted to the gift of a N64 (still one of the best consoles, in my eyes). During those years with the N64 I discovered the joys of Harvest Moon, the farming sim game. I mean who wouldn't love picking turnips, wooing...uh...girls (they didn't have girl versions back then), and petting cows. I even got my first calluse from playing the N64 so much. (Haven't had one since that I'm aware of...)

Ahh...memories....

As the years passed we found it was time to upgrade. We bought a gamecube, (also there was a short time with a playstation, but it was for only a week, when I rented it for my birthday....to play Harvest Moon: Back to Nature....). To this day my gamecube sits rather forlorn and sad in the corner. The only games I really played on it were Harvest Moon, LOTRO, and Mario Party. I was never into those shoot-em ups or sports. Yuck x 200.

Ah consoles....I used to love you....before I met the internet. Plus consoles these days are far too expensive, I'm too much of a cheapskate to keep up.

These days I don't game as much as I used to. Back in my younger days I would play Puzzle Pirates, Age of Empires, Civilization....Now the only game I really play is LOTRO. (level 40 Elf Champion) Such a good game...Once again the main reason I'm not more into the MMORPG scene is the price. I mean the only reason I finally gave in to LOTRO was because it was on sale >_>;.....I highly recommend this game, in case anyone is looking for a new RPG. Perhaps one day I will do a post on it alone. Not today though.

Anyways, so what fond memories do others have of their gaming days? Now or past?

To this day I own 5 Harvest Moon titles (with the consoles to play them.)GBA: Friends of Mineral Town, More Friends of Mineral Town (girl version of afore mentioned), GC: A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life (girl version of afore mentioned), and Songs of Happiness (includes option for boy or girl, seriously I think the suckiest Harvest Moon made...I've only played it a few times...). I even have the stuffed dog from pre-ordering one of them <3.

Random Note: One of the first reasons why I wanted to learn Japanese as a really young child was so I could get Harvest Moon before it was released in Canada (as it would first come out in Japan). haha...

5 comments:

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oisterjosh said...

Hey loserface. You said LOTRO was on sale? Does that mean you don't have to pay each month?
Also, I don't understand your love for Harvest Moon...I never really got into that game. Animal Crossing, however, completely destroyed my first Gamecube-owning summer.

Cartoonist62 said...

Well LOTRO had a sale, which meant it was basically half price. I did play Animal Crossing, but I don't really like games that "force" me to play i.e. if I don't play weeds will destroy my town. I mean really I am the player, therefore I should be in control. LOTRO is nice as it has both elements, a few odd time trials, but mainly questing at your own pace.

oisterjosh said...

Yeah, I agree. I hate it when games continue even if you don't play. I'd usually just write down the date I last played, then change my clock to just be the next day, to avoid massive over-weed-growing :P

But do you pay every month for LOTRO, or do you just buy the game, and then you don't have to pay anything to actually play it? Lots of MMORPG's cost money every month.

Cartoonist62 said...

Technically yes, you do have to pay every month, unless you buy unlimited or something for $400 bucks (I'm waaay too cheap for that.) So the way I'm set up right now is for 3 months + 14 days of free trial...and then 2 months free. All for $30 bucks. I'm assuming it will auto charge the same amount again,(Only for 3 months though, the 2 free were introductory) which happens this month too :O...will have to pay up ;_;...and play more to get my bang for my buck...