Andrew / November 8, 2004 1:51 PM

Atari. Galaga.

Although I've flipped the odometer in Asteroids.

robin.. / November 8, 2004 1:58 PM

8-bit nintendo for me! i need no more bits!

t-bone sally / November 8, 2004 2:00 PM

any of you w/a ps2 and who also like getting their minds blown can avoid katamari damacy at their own peril

dan / November 8, 2004 2:02 PM

I have a weakness for whatever is less than $15 at the used PS2 bin at Blockbuster.

At the moment, Transformers and Futurama.

(Cue Professor Frink-like snort.)

j3s / November 8, 2004 2:03 PM

Life is too short for video games.

Naz / November 8, 2004 2:20 PM

Not meant to diss the gamers, but man, where do you find the time?!

When I was younger I used to play a little Sonic the Hedgehog came out, I remember some Mario, some Price of Persia (PC) and later, some Tony Hawk (1 only).

Alice / November 8, 2004 2:28 PM

I have a hand-me-down Playstation One (thanks, bro) that I occasionally play. Mostly I like RPGs like Final Fantasy 7+. Currently slogging my way through Legend of Dragoon.

dan / November 8, 2004 2:31 PM

Y'know, I'm not a big-time gamer, by any means,(A couple hours a week at the most.)but it's just another form of entertainment.

If I'm exhausted and want to blow off steam, sometimes I'll pop in a video game instead of zoning out on TV. Most TV is crap anyways.

Plus, I have fond memories of playing Goldeneye in college with drunk friends. So, while I'm not up with the current games (Halo2, Grand Theft Auto SA), I can't really be hating on the players.

Steve / November 8, 2004 2:36 PM

Good question re: the time -- I bought a PS2 last winter when the girlfriend was laid up at my place for two weeks after separating her shoulder and needed something to keep her busy while she was off work. She played a whole lot of Simpsons Hit and Run back then, and I bought a mess of cheap (

Heather S. / November 8, 2004 2:41 PM

My boyfriend and I bought Playstation 2 together. I like playing Jak and Daxter series. Sad. I should lover my head in shame.

Alice / November 8, 2004 2:47 PM

Not meant to diss the gamers, but man, where do you find the time?!

It's always a trade-off. I'd only consider myself a casual gamer, at best, but, for example, I don't understand people who subscribe to Netflix. Who the heck has time to watch that many movies? Gaming for me just means less time spent watching TV, movies, or messing around online.

Anthony / November 8, 2004 2:56 PM

I choose life.

(I used be a serious computer game nut, to the point where I probably needed a 12-step program. Now, when I leave my office I don't even want to see a computer.)

steven / November 8, 2004 2:59 PM

got a nintendo game cube a couple of years back, played metroid prime way too much. i'd play more often, but the little voice in my head always says "there has to be something better you can do with your time". he's right too.

dan / November 8, 2004 3:05 PM

High five to you Alice.

Gaming, like anything, can be taken to excess, and a lot of people do play for days straight. But that's not everyone. There's this stigma that kind of pisses me off about games.

I remember having a conversation once with a friend, and telling her I spent the previous night playing Halo 1 at a friend's house with a buncha folks, only to have her sneer.

I asked her what she did, and she told me she saw S.W.A.T. at the Brew and View. What is the difference there?

Plus, I've worked on building games before (Flash and educational CD-ROM games, but games nonetheless). The fact that so much time and creative energy can go into a game, and people simply dismiss it as worthless or juvenalia, it just gets to me.

Mike / November 8, 2004 3:23 PM

The furthest along I ever got into video games is probably owning a Genesis when I was 14-15. For some reason it just stopped there.
Like a couple other posters here, I think gaming can become really addictive and probably isn't the best thing in the world to devote more than 5 hours a week to (like television, mindless web surfing, and drinking).
I have some friends that are totally chasing the Halo Dragon right now, and every time I walk into their place, it seriously does look like an opium den! The whole house is a mess, there aren't any lights on except for the TV, there's an ashtray full of cigarettes and beer bottles on the floor and no one responds to anything you ask them.
At this point I'm glad I suck at gaming.

JackDaddy / November 8, 2004 3:32 PM

Pitfall

paul / November 8, 2004 3:33 PM

I have enough addictions, thank you.

I find game demos that come on those magazine CD's (MacAddict for instance) just enough for me. I shoot stuff or drive into pedestrians until my attention span runs out, which is usually the level-limit in the demo anyway.

jennifer / November 8, 2004 4:04 PM

i long for the day i can purchase a table-top Ms. Pac-Man game. Sigh.

bran / November 8, 2004 4:05 PM

I'm not ashamed to admit it: I regularly go to my brother's house and play "True Crime: Streets of LA" on his GameCube. I don't play by the rules. I don't even play by the storyline. Instead, I jack and blow up cars, run and gun down hos and pedestrians alike, until SWAT appears to put the smackdown on my ass - at which point, I retreat to the freeway. There: I can kill scores of innocent drivers while SWAT is far behind me in their sluggish H2s.

That, or I play Zelda. Either way: hellafun.

Krissy / November 8, 2004 4:07 PM

I *have* a Ms. Pac Man table top (well, my fiance does) and I don't even play that. I do really like Tomb Raider, though.

Eamon / November 8, 2004 4:12 PM

Several games leap to mind:

Katamari Damacy: the best $20 game ever.
Mister Mosquito: I love it, but I'm pretty much entirely alone on this one.
ICO: beautiful, fun, peaceful.
Karaoke Revolution series: guaranteed party fun. Now with duets! And medleys!
Mario Party: it says party right on the box.
Snood: my wife can't stop playing.
Galaga: pure mindless fun (plus, I own a cocktail).

I think the nice part about video games is the fun-to-dollar ratio. Assuming a game goes for $40 new, that usually breaks down to at least an hour of entertainment per dollar. And with five-day rentals, it's even cheaper.

daruma / November 8, 2004 4:23 PM

Zookeeper. Centipede. Super Mario Bros. Q-Bert. Donkey Kong. Pitfall. Breakout. PINBALL!!

Thurston / November 8, 2004 4:30 PM

I lack the coordination to play any video games with more than two buttons, so I never got past the original Nintendo. I still go through Nintendo renaissances every so often. But then the Nintendo inexplicably stops working, and I wait until I randomly see one at a garage sale again.

I like all car games, Ninja Gaiden, 720 and Super Mario Bros 2.

Cinnamon / November 8, 2004 5:20 PM

During college when I needed an escape from just about every aspect of life I got hooked on Tetris. I dreamt falling cubes, I drew them in the margins of my notes during class, I doodled them at work. After about three months I broke my controller and decided to not buy another one.

Apparently: I wasn't alone. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0001F172-55DA-1C75-9B81809EC588EF21&ref=sciam

Andrew / November 8, 2004 5:38 PM

Lots of playa haters! I myself own a Atari 2600, Nintendo, Genesis, and PS2. Basiscally I buy a game about once, twice a year play it until I beat it and then do something else. They're way better than television and great for the winter or sick days. Also there's nothin hotter than a girl who can drive the truck while I shoot in Halo.

myrrh / November 8, 2004 5:55 PM

Do not go to yahoo games, and do not play collapse.

You've been warned.

Ruthie / November 8, 2004 6:26 PM

Cinnamon-- I played Tetris probably six hours a day my first year of college. I got so good at it that I could carry on a conversation, eat, and practically sleep while still rotating those little blocks and slamming 'em down. I didn't really think it was a problem, but when I started taking anti-depressants (for non-Tetris-related reasons) my desire to play Tetris vanished.
I still think about it sometimes though, does anyone know where I can get basic Tetris for OSX? :)

lacey / November 8, 2004 9:02 PM

Hellooooo Xbox anyone? Halo 2? Tomorrow is the day! I'll be playing all day Friday, baby! Yeah I'm a dork.

AH / November 8, 2004 9:30 PM

Ruthie: First search return.

Ruthie / November 8, 2004 10:12 PM

Thanks Andrew. I tried that one, but it didn't quite scratch the itch. I might have to buy a mac classic on ebay just to play old-skool Tetris on. :)

AH / November 8, 2004 11:34 PM

I've got an old LC-III you can have, if you want. Complete with 16MB of RAM and a 15" monitor!

JJZ / November 9, 2004 8:06 AM

Katamari Damacy shouldn't be missed for PS2 owners. The Ratchet and Clank series and Grand Theft Auto series are also good fun.

The Xbox doesn't have that much going for it other than the Halo Series, although for multiplatform games, it's probably the best one to get a game on.

For the Gamecube, any of the Mario games are generally very good. Paper Mario is well written and a lot of fun, Mario Party is always a good time.

Kevin / November 9, 2004 9:02 AM

I bought an X-Box and my daughter plays it more than I do. If you're under the age of four then you'll like "Nickelodeon Party Blast". Thats really the only game I can speak about with any authority. She also likes "Midtown Madness" since I was able to unlock all the cars for her. Something fun about seeing a four year old careen through the streets of Paris in a Lanbourghini at 210 MPH running over those pansy french people.

erika / November 9, 2004 10:57 AM

OMG! DONKEY KONG COUNTRY FOR SUPER NINTENDO

Eamon / November 9, 2004 11:13 AM

Oh, and I totally forgot: Rez. Play it loud in a darkened room and it's an unforgettable transformative experience.

eep / November 9, 2004 11:15 AM

I suck at video games. My parents never let me have one as a child, and by the time I got enough of my own money to buy one, I just didn't care. That, and my "skills" are so horrendous that it's not worth playing. Seriously, the friends whom I've played with have ended up in hysterics watching me go down in flames. I'm that bad.

That said, I was 100% addicted to Snood in college. Dear God, how that game ruled my life. Especially during finals.

Gordon / November 9, 2004 12:48 PM

Donkey Kong Country WAS awesome!

But the best system of all (or at least the biggest leap forward for game machines) was the Nintendo 64. It also had the best controller ever, and kinda-sorta a first -- A REAL JOYSTICK (standard, I mean)! I hate gamepads.

Mario Kart 64, Super Mario 64, and the first Legend of Zelda for the N64 are my three all-time favorite video games.