I'm Bored...So Very Bored...

Maybe it’s maturity slowly creeping in or I’m just getting old, but something in me has changed. No, not my waist line…but that may be. No, my hair isn’t receding; in fact, it seems to be spreading. What is changing is my preferences. Back in the day I would play for hours. I remember one day I wanted to play with my beloved Legos. I sat down, pulled them out and couldn’t think of a thing to do. I had outgrown it like so many old pairs of underwear. I can remember one distinct day where I got them out and tried to force myself to like it. After 5 minutes I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Play was dead. It was a sad day for me.

About that same time my mom and dad had finally decided to catch up on technology and get a “super computer”. It is a bit off topic, but for those who know computer specs, you might enjoy this. My first computer had a Pentium I processor. We had 4mb of RAM, my computer now, 768mb. The first hard drive was 500mb. That’s half a gig. That was ok for then, but that’s about two thirds of a CD. That’s it. My computer today has 240gig. My “state of the art” CD ROM drive (no way it would burn) was a fancy double speed. Mine now is 52X. And last feature worth note is was my 14.4k modem. 56k was in the Sci-Fi movies and high speed was beyond that.

One thing I did like was DOS based games. These were my replacement for Legos, Mask, and GI Joes. The first one I was hooked on was DOOM!

Doom

And about the same time was Wolfenstein 3D.

Wolfenstein 3D

I was IN to these game. I played them for hours on end. I even bought a game enhancer that would add over 900 levels to DOOM2 and let me make my own. What a great way to spend my hours of awkward adolescence – a way to bide my time until the acne cleared up and the voice went down. These first person action shooters made me feel in control, especially if you knew that IDDQD would make you GOD! With IDKFA I’d have all the ammo and keys. IDNOCLIP helped me walk through walls. What more could I want?

Then I went on my mission and DOS based games would be extinct as Windows 95 and 98 made their way out. By the time I returned from my mission, It was a whole new game.

Half Life and Counter Strike were the norms.

Half Life 2

Counter Strike

I bought them it once I built my new computer. I was IN again. I was invited to LAN Bashes. That’s where a multiple number of pasty faced extra skinny or extremely round folk (there is no in-between with this crowd) gather their computers in the same room, link them up and play these games together. I think it’s more cost effective to get multiple controllers for a GameCube, but that’s just me.

Since I’ve been here on campus, I’ve been invited to many of those. Being an Information Systems (IS) major, you ‘d expect me to like that stuff.

It happened again.

I lost it. I just lost it. The fun is gone. Is it just me or have all of these games just proven that our creativity has not improved as fast as our technology. I don’t see any difference in these first person action shooter games.

Wolfenstein: Return To Castle Wolfenstein

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

Unreal Tournament

Doom 3

Ok, I recant, these games ARE different. They have different looking guns, different maps and different looking villains.

Play Station 3 is on it’s way out. I’m sure that Nintendo is working on something and The Xbox is never done evolving. This time, I don’t think I’ll invest in one. All I see are more Halo and Tom Clancy games on the horizon and I’m yawning!

Halo 2

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six

I think that perhaps it’s not that I’ve lost the ability to have fun playing video games. Maybe it’s just that I’m tired of playing THE SAME GAME!

Programmers! Wake up! It’s all the same game and I am so, so, so bored! When will we get some NEW games!?