I gamed

by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 29, 2004 11:24 PM EST
Back in early high school, just about every weekend a bunch of us (usually around 6 - 8 people) would head out to catch a movie or two. I saw entirely too many bad movies during those years (Sphere, Blues Brothers 2000, Soldier - actually walked out of that one after around 15 minutes - just to name a few) but usually after the movie(s) a smaller group of us would end up building a few systems and gaming for the rest of the night. We played anything and everything that had multiplayer capabilities: SiN, Soldier of Fortune and of course the usual suspects - Quake 3, Counterstrike, etc...

College came around, AT grew tremendously and life just got busier so it's actually been years since I've been able to have a good, solid day of gaming. This past Saturday three of us got together and relived the high school days of all day gaming. For the most part we tag teamed going through Ninja Gaiden, which is an extremely difficult game. It's not difficult in the sense that it's complicated or full of mind boggling puzzles, it's difficult in the sense that old NES games were difficult - limited save points (thankfully more than none), annoyingly powerful bosses and enemies with ever increasing difficulties. It's quite refreshing to play a game like that actually and honestly my only complaint about the game is that the camera angles are some of the worst I've ever seen in a 3rd person 3D game.

We played a bit of Far Cry, which I will admit was the first time I'd touched the game (this semester has been a busy one). Far Cry's graphics are pretty nice, but I have become rather desensitized to "impressive" graphics in most games after having seen endless technology demos showcasing ATI and NVIDIA architectures over the years. Even Doom 3's graphics don't impress me that much, although the physics engine does continue to amaze me. Before I move on from Far Cry, the only issue I had with the game was that I'm not a big fan of the "realistic moving speed" which basically translates into "you walk very slowly." I'm all for realistic graphics and relative realism, but please don't take away my always run :) (and yes I know about the sprinting mode)

The new Splinter Cell game was fun, simply because of the unique multiplayer concept. It's sort of the new age cops and robbers - spies and mercenaries. What can you expect from a generation that grew up with heros like Bond? :)

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent working, this semester is coming to an end very quickly and the work is piling up. I'm hanging in there driven by the thought that by May 11th I will have taken my last exam. Being able to focus exclusively on growing AT will be great; there hasn't been a single year of AT's existence where I haven't been in school so this will be a very welcome change. I miss writing a lot, and although this blog has kept me somewhat satisfied I still miss sitting in front of a keyboard and typing away at an article for 6 hours. We all have our weird kicks, no?

I've gotta get back to studying for an exam that I'm completely unprepared for; don't worry, I'll rant about education some more this week :)

Take care
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  • Bobby - Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - link

    America's Army (www.americasarmy.com) used to be a pretty fun game, until, like any other game, one overplays it. ;)
  • Anonymous - Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - link

    What the hell, you didnt like soldier? Kurt Russel is a tiny god and can do no wrong!
  • GhandiInstinct - Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - link

    Splinter Cell PT is beyond fun its amazing and phenomenal. The multi-player aspect that is. The realism is frightnening.
  • Tim - Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - link

    I got unhooked from the Gee Whiz game graphics mode when BF1942 came out. Now, I dont care about the damn graphics. BF has been the best game I've ever played becuase of the GAMEPLAY and the interaction between players. I'm sure the BF series will be around for years.
  • GL - Monday, March 29, 2004 - link

    Have you thought of setting up an AnandTech Wiki so readers versed in a particular topic can help to educate other readers? I think it would be a nice way for you to channel the negative vibes you got from your post-secondary education into something positive that would help in people's informal education. There are a lot of talented experts who are AnandTech readers or forum members. They might not have the time to allocate to being a full-time teacher but they might be able to contribute a Wiki entry that relays some of their knowledge to fellow readers.
  • Harper7654 - Sunday, February 23, 2020 - link

    All of us played at school and all of us were distracted by games. I just knew that at any time https://essayexplorer.com/review/paperrater/ could come to my aid with his large selection of reviews about various online writing services like Paperratter for example. This is the perfect helper for gamers like me.

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