Columns This Isn't About Monkey Island, Honest

Blimey yes - most demos were amazing. Remember Eric Schwartz' animations? Amy the Squirrel? I remember one that had an animation of a head that sang, "Please, release me, let me go.." then the head flew round the screen like a balloon deflating.

My PS also ended up on its side, despite mucking about with the pots inside. It's the only way I could get FMV's to play smoothly.

 

I just want to thank all of you for all your responses. Its taken some time, but I've read them all and all the emails too.

 

I really liked stuff by The Silents. They did a music disc called Blues House that had a Lander type game to play while you listened to the tunes. Was cool. I spent days watching demos and listening to music disks. Remember not being able to sleep because of it due to all the spinning cubes in my head...

 

The first game that really pulled me into it was probably Civ1 on the 286 of a good friend of mine
I remember us playing until late in the night, taking turns, and his mother complaining we should be into bed already.
I also remember that we didn't understand half the rules and half the game's messages, since we were only just learning English at school.
What's always great about a game - and it was esp. great there - is when you have a real person you can share the experience with.
I've played all other Civ titles since then, but nothing can beat sitting in front of a tube and arguing about what to do next with that "chariot".

 

That's going to be the slogan for all old-age homes once us mousepushers start reaching that age

 

this isn't about monkey island

Being Joe's Dad makes it a bit strange reading about the 'when I die' bit, however, - Joe claims that 'Thief' was the game for me - he may be right and that got me thinking along the same lines. Maybe it was things in the game that match things in me that got me hooked. For me thief had the element of going about unnoticed which is something I like. It reminded me of childhood games when friends would lock me in or out of a room and I would have to escape or break in (oh what career paths that could have led to) That feeling of getting things done without too much fuss, there is an intelligence to it. What is also important is that the game gave me a language and a common ground. For me as an old man in a world of young people I needed something that crossed an age gap and gave me a chance of having a language that helped me share and communicate with a geeky son who I love dearly (sorry Joe if the open emotion is embarrassing - but I think I have distracted from it by obviuos bad spelllling). Maybe it is not just the game but our own lives and our social grouping that come together to make them special?

 

has bit-tech found its next columnist? because that was brilliantly put.

 

Remind me to tell the PC at home not to remember my forum login details anymore. And then kill myself with embaressment.

 

I wouldn't be embarrassed, your father does have a very good point. and its starting to make me wonder if writing talent is genetic.

 

Hi Joe
Apologies for a very late response to this. I’m off sick at the mo., and random interweb stalking led to me this article, which then led me to cry, and has now ultimately led me to leave a very long and grammatically lacking response (my apologies, and congratulations to anyone who reads it all).
Although I’ve played computer games since I could sit up at one, I’d never considered myself a gamer until this last year or so. Which, on analysis, could have been down to the company I have kept, which includes your good self, and my ex-boyfriend, for starters. But on deeper analysis I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the reason that I have rediscovered my inner gamer, rather than THE reason I would consider myself a gamer. Well, part-time gamer anyhow.
I’ve had to really rack my memory to remember the first game I remember playing, and have landed back sometime in the late 1980’s (1987/88?), at about 3/4years old, sat at our dining room table playing on Qbert. My Dad was a computer engineer so I presume the pc was ‘borrowed’, and the dining table was more frequently used for computer related activities, than those relate to fine cuisine. This NEVER changed throughout his life, and the only times I particularly remember using the dining table for food was Christmas, or to rest my Pot Noodle on while on the computer. From then, up until my teens, nearly every game I played on will have been because my Dad’s excitedly said “Maddy, come and play on this...”.
Since Qbert, games from my early years that stick out are New Zealand Story and Space Invaders on the Commodore 64, and Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on my Nanna’s NES. My Nanna gave me the NES after a few years because the controllers made her hands sweaty. My mother threw the NES away at some point when I was at University because it was old, along with the aforementioned game, Bayou Billy, and Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers. BECAUSE IT WAS OLD! I can NEVER forgive her. But I digress... I also remember playing this platform game on the PC (around 1990-1992 maybe) where you are a space man and jump around the screen collecting multi-colour gems. I’m sure there was a deeper meaning and story to this, but as a 7 year old girl with magpie syndrome this passed me by. However, there are 2 games that I remember playing most vividly: Monkey Island and Doom. Even more vividly, I remember I was never alone, and always had my Dad by my side playing these games with me. Especially on Doom, where game play went as follows: I walk round looking for monsters; I find monsters; I get scared and hand over to Daddy to kill it cos ‘I don’t like it’. In the event of him not being in the room I got highly skilled at pausing and screaming “Daaaaaaaaaaadddd! Come kill this monster!” at the top of my lungs.
At high school I didn’t really have many friends, and tried very hard to ‘fit-in’. What a waste of time! The reason I’m saying this is because I don’t have any childhood memories of playing computer games with friends. All my experience of gaming was family related. And when you’re at school trying to gain an ounce of popularity, anything related to family activities was not cool. So I didn’t play on computers with the people that I tried to hang out with. Nor did I hang out with the people who played on computers. High school sucks. Fortunately, I have now learnt to be myself, and that people like me for it. They do. I have friends... :-D They play computer games, and are cool. Apart from Joe. He’s just grumpy. The games that have helped me rediscover my inner geek are Tales of Symphonia on the Game Cube, and my recently completed Assassins Creed, Halo 3, and Portal. Wherein the latter of which the cake actually isn’t a lie – hurrah!
So, thanks to these friends who have helped me to not only rediscover my inner geek, but to embrace it and be proud of it. And a special thanks to Joe for writing such an inspirational article, which has prompted me to discover that my reasoning for liking computer games is far from them being superficial time-filling activities. They hold a deeper meaning of connection to simpler happy times with my Dad, who passed away a year ago. He’d have bloody loved Portal!

 

Brought a tear to my eye Maddy. Allow me to buy you a drink next time our paths cross. And give me a chance to redeem myself on Mario Kart. And Wario Ware. And Super Bomberman. And all those other games you beat me at that afternoon, lol.

Btw, your choice of childhood favourite games (Doom and Monkey Island) made me laugh given mine and Joe endless debates on the subject (Doom's better!)

 

I read it all!



aw Maddy, that was a really touching read. It's good to hear you embrace your inner geek too! Once you come out - there's no going back!

Next time you visit we're having a gaming marathon to celebrate - and I'll play you the portal theme tune (which im trying and ever so slightly failing to learn).

It's strange though, I didnt recognise any of the games you mentioned apart from the big two - monkey island and doom (which do you prefer? Remember you're gonna break one person's heart whatever you say). I started gaming with Repton, then later Earthworm Jim, Sonic, Dizzy, stuff like that. We'll have to compare notes one time, see what we both missed out on.

 

Aw, thatnks for commenting guys

Erm, Doom or Monkey Island? Monkey Island or Doom? Sorry Ben, gotta be Monkey Island
I'm still not the biggest fan of first person shooters. For example, about 4 years ago playing Alien on my PS1 with Hev resulted in a similar situation to that of Doom as a child... Apart from neither of us dare kiil the Aliens. *shudder*. I'm much better now, my therapy was to complete Halo3, which initially terrified me - but I'm no longer afriad of death! That's what respawns are for! I am Master Chief! Maybe gaming death was so scary because I was used to Mario - lose all your lives and start again :-(. I like humour in a game hence Monkey Island. I didn't expect the humour that there was in Assassins Creed, albeit simple one liners from citizens "what is that man doing?""If he falls, I am NOT going to help him."... which sound very lame now I've typed it! But made me chucle every time. What also made me chuckle was 'blending' while walkng over the pile of guards I just slayed, while other guards seam oblivious to the fact that there is a dude with throwing knives and a huge sword strapped to his back. I wonder if I could rob Tesco like that?

I don't know Repton or Dizzy. I remember playing on Sonic, and that Alex kid thing... i preferred that! And earthworm Jim... they made a cartoon of that didn't they? I also forgot to mention my Pokemon obsession at 16 yrs old. Yeah. Hmmm...

 

Sounds like Crystal Caves

 

Aww, thanks Jamie, I got really excited then - I've been trying to remember this one on and off for years. Unfortunately that's not it :-( I particularly remember levels outside, with a star spangled night sky as a backdrop. And the platform game play kinda moved across horizontally, like mario. And that's all I have to go on!

 

Whatever it is, it can't beat Jet Set Willy

 

Ragdoll84, it wasn't anything like Nodes of Yesod was it?

 

Ah got me thinking about old platformers now.

E.g. BC Kid - So utterly brilliant. Who wouldn't want to play as an egg-headed caveman who nutts enemies into submission?

Elf - First every hybrid genre game? Part platformer, part puzzle game, part RPG, impossibly difficult. I never made it past level 5 D)

 

The Castle of Dr Brain!! I loved that, in all its MS DOS glory, along with the sequal. That's what probably got me into puzzle/adventure games and led me to The Game That Cannot Be Discussed.

 

Holy thread revival Batman!

Since I'm stuck on a rig, I have nothing to play but SNES and Genesis emulators on my G1 and DOS games on my laptop.
Terror from the Deep here I come...