April 6, 2010

The games that make me who I am

I read an article the other day where he met someone who didn't read fiction:

He suggested that fiction was a waste of his time — he read to learn, not for "mere" entertainment

I don't agree with this view and neither did he:

Fiction allows you to be part of situations that are unlikely to happen otherwise. You can experience thousands of years worth of events by reading fiction. Yes, it is true that what happens to you in real-life — with it’s finality and incomparably richer stimulation – out-weighs that of a book. However, the course altering moments in life are infrequent. Fiction provides a means of accelerating your “personal growth.”

He then gives us a list of fiction characters who has made him who he is, many small pieces of trait that has become a part of him.

Interesting I thought and I began thinking of what characters I could identify with (Lincoln Rhyme and Robert Langdon comes to mind) but then I started thinking of games. What games has made me who I am? It's not an easy answer and it'll never become exhaustive but it's interesting to think about and here's my try:

Worms
I played the demo of Worms 2 to death, I ran to my friend all the time to play Worms Armageddon and I've been addicted to blasting ugly worms with banana bombs ever since.

RollerCoaster Tycoon
I love rollercoasters and I love to build stuff so naturally I played the games a ton... I'm still tingling with excitement when I think of building a super-coaster. The builder that is me was born with this.

Hospital Tycoon
Another constructor game with hilarious humor and I'm still harboring thoughts of resurrecting this beauty as a new game. I think it was one of the first games to make me think about actually making games instead of just playing.

Counter-Strike Source
The best anger management there is. Or well I'm not really civil when playing it but it lets me went out pretty damn good, but don't sit near me when I'm playing - it's not good for your ears.

World of Goo
The game that opened my eyes to the wonders of Indie Games.

Supreme Commander
Introduced me to the world of competitive gaming, or rather the competitive mindset. It also helped me become a better person by helping and being a part of a great community.

Evil Genius
Humor + Base Building = Epic Win.

These are just a few games from the top of my head, some had big impacts and some slightly less so.

We started with a quote and that's how we'll end it:

I am the product of my parents, my friends, my life, my experiences…and my teachers.