10 Games You Should Have Played: A list

A couple weeks ago, while driving back from lunch, I was scolded by a coworker for having never played The Secret of Monkey Island, or any of the SCUMM games beyong Maniac Mansion and DotT. That weekend I threw a copy of ScummVM on the DS and started to play catchup. And it got me thinking.

We all have gaps in our history. Home computers we didn’t grow up with, consoles we didn’t have. Those two years of prime gaming missed while working the boats off the coast of Alaska. Whatever. We all have gaps in our history.

But what if there was a list to help you fill in those gaps, a sort of AFI top 100 for video games? To make it easy, what if we broke that list down by platform (and possibly time period, for the PC), so that when, for example, you completely missed out on the original Playstation, you could pull up the PS1 list and get cracking?

And hell, lists are fun.

Okay, so the rules. To keep the whole thing from becoming too unwieldy, let’s limit each list to 10 items.

The games on the list should be either genre creators, blockbusters, revolutionary, just massively fun, or otherwise historically significant in some way. Additionally, the games need to stand the test of time; we want these lists to be enjoyable to play through, not a chore. A recent playthrough of an old favorite would probably be a good idea to make sure nostalgia is clouding your judgement. Having a personal and huge nostalgic attachment to Pooyan because your grandma bought it for you that snowy day when you were home sick from school is wonderful, but don’t mistake that for true historical value as far as the list is concerned.

My eventual goal is to end up with a list of lists, something for every platform out there. My personal goal is to play as many of the games on those lists as possible.

So, the first list. I’m starting with a classic, the Atari 2600. Really easy to come by, and most cartridges are dirt cheap. I’ve posted this in a few different places, and will be assembling the list based on the discussions that follow.

Sins of a Solar Empire

File this under Games to Look Forward to in a Relatively Dry Year. I’m really keen on seeing how they combine RTS and 4X elements without turning the whole thing into a confusing or watered-down mess. If they get this right… bliss.

Kieron Gillen over at RPS has written a nice (and brief) preview. Also, the official site.

Toot toot.

Co-Optimus

I’m a sucker for co-op games. That and apocalyptic fiction. Releasing a co-op apocalyptic game? I’m so there.

Anyway, while it’s definitely becoming easier than it used to be, finding good co-op games can sometimes be a chore, especially when it comes down to the details of cooperative play support, whether aspects of the game are neutered during co-op, what works, what doesn’t, and so on.

Well, fret no longer. Enter Co-Optimus.

Every game you see on this site has a co-op mode in it. We’ll tell you how many friends you can play with, if you can play online, splitscreen, and more. Anything you need to know about that game that pertains to cooperative gameplay…we’ll tell you.

While the site just launched, they’ve already assembled quite the list. Kudos, guys!

[thanks Josh, found via Ozymandius]

Remember that?

Hey, remember back before del.icio.us, when we’d post things like

Note to self: Simplified WoW Lore

It speaks wisely.

Caucus Chaos

Tina and I attended the Nevada Democratic Caucus on Saturday and cast our lots with the Obama camp, who, although he lost the popular vote, won out the day with 13 delegates over Hillary’s 12.

Organization was a mess. No one had any clue what precinct they were in, an issue as everyone was supposed to be grouped by precinct. I wound up being thrown into the mix, a line of folks in front of me as I looked up addresses and numbers on the caucus website. Hillary people were yelling at Obama people, no one could hear any of the official letter reading bits, and there weren’t enough forms to go around. A dozen or so people turned in handwritten votes on purple construction paper.

Still, it was an interesting experience, a chance to meet the neighbors, and hey, we were making history!

Okay, from the top. Birthstones, take 7!

It’s nice having the guy who made the game on hand for harassment purposes.

Just wait till I get to the fireberry caves.

Walking with Dinosaurs

When I was 6, this would have been seriously life altering.

Please don’t rob my house.

Mr. Crecente has been collecting photos of developers’ gaming setups, and posted the whole batch today. Petroglyph is represented by Mike Legg, Adam Isgreen, and myself.

My setups, in immediately viewable form: