Games Games Games

Yes, the point of this blog is to talk about the game industry. But we can also talk about our favorite video games here. So, here's my history:

I didn't own any consoles growing up. I was strictly a PC gamer. I remember the first time I played Wolfenstein 3D. I don't remember if it was the whole game, or just the first level, but it fit on a small 3.5" floppy disk. I was blown away by the graphics. We have really come a long way since then, in just the short span of 15 or so years. Just imagine where we'll be in 15 years if technology keeps advancing at the current rate.

Today, I don't really touch PC games at all (except maybe some X-Moto every once in a while). I currently own a PS3, PS2, PSP, and Nintendo DS. Ever since I started at Sensory Sweep, I've been working mainly on DS games (as I've mentioned in other posts).

Another great perk about my company (and I'm sure a lot of other companies in the industry) is that we have video game competitions every once in a while. I've been in Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, and Rock Band competitions. They also do other games that I'm not so good at, like Madden.

We also have a video game library. There are hundreds of titles across all the major platforms that we make games for (which is pretty much all of them). It's great borrowing games from the library, rather than going out and spending $50-60 on a game that you may end up not liking.

So here is a sampling of some of the best games in my collection (to give you a taste of what I play):

PS2

• Hot Shots Golf (several)
• Tony Hawk (several)
• Guitar Hero (several)
• Shadow of the Colossus
• ICO
• Burnout (I have 3 and 4, but 3 is still the best Burnout game ever made)

PS3

• The Orange Box (I got this one mainly for Portal, even though the rest of the package is amazing too)
• Rock Band
• Tony Hawk (both PS3 releases)
• Lego Star Wars (these Lego games are great for Co-op)
  
• Lots of PSN titles (Echochrome, Pain, Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars...)

And I'm currently playing Phantom Hourglass on the DS. Overall, I would say that I'm a gamer driven more by new and different concepts that are well-executed (see Echochrome, Shadow of the Colossus, Portal), and not so much by typical FPSs or sports titles that tend to dominate the charts . I'm usually willing to take a chance on groundbreaking new concepts or ideas that will push game design in a new direction. Of course, I still have my old standby's of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, but they, too, were new and groundbreaking when I started playing them.

So what drives you to play the games you do? Let's hear about some of your favorite games in the comments.