Online Gaming

[Beauty]

Hi there

I generally don't start too many threads, but I do have a question. (and since the games on this site are very popular)

How many of us play online games?

I play poker on Yahoo.
Everquest.
Madden Online (Console)
The Sims
Hearts (via Microsoft's gaming site)
Rainbow Six (the series)

I grew up in the Atari generation. I don't like Quake, Doom, or Unreal though.

So I was just curious if there are other gamers here.

Especially since I'd love to game with someone who is a in two ways like me. Both a CD'r and a gamer.

Beauty

[Jadeanne]

I don't go for online games myself. I work with computers and just don't feel like participating at the level needed to be truly competitive. I think that having to overpower your gaming opponent is a trait more masculine then feminine.

I had an original pong game that I traded in for a commodore 64. The games I liked best weren't the violent ones. After the 64, I got Amiga, then PCs. My favorite PC game is spider solitare. For a while I played with the MS Train simulator.

I do read some gamer magazines sometimes and I don't want to dig into my pockets for high speed internet and have to upgrade my computer equipment just to venture to dark realms, meet strange, repulsive beings, and disembowl them with the results displayed in 24 bit color.

I'd rather dig into the manuals of the software for the embroidery module of my wife's sewing machine and try to teach myself how to make designs for that.

Just my bleached blonde ramblings,

Jadeanne

[Beauty]

Hi Jadeanne,

I don't really go for those kinds of games either.

I like to play games where I'm on a team.

The Sims is super fun because you can take your character dancing, visit friends, buy clothes, go traveling. I even have roommates. I have found a few CD'rs on there and have now GG friends who know about me.

The most competitive game I play is football. Otherwise I like to play games where my wife and myself can play. She's also a gamer.

Thanks Jadeanne for posting your thoughts!!

Beauty

[Nancy]

Not an on line gamer. Sometimes some of them catch my interest but I don't have the time. However, my wife and I are good friends with another CD couple and from time to time all four of us gals will get together on a Saturday night and play some of the old board games.

[Jessie]

I beta tested Star Wars Universe and it was well a BETA. Once it went mainstream I had no feeling about getting it and paying a 16 dollar a month fee on top of my DSL. It was interesting I have to admit but too costly for my taste. I like console games. I am X-BOX owner with a very diverse collection of games. I find it cool when they make a game with a strong female lead character such as the Coming game Starcraft Ghost and a game I have just recently Got Beyond Good and Evil both games got strong female characters. I wish to see more games like that. I do remember my surpise when I saw my first game with a STRONG female character and that was Samuse from nintendos Metroid. I do not go into those first games that often for reason it makes me queezy the more real it becomes.

By the way can any one else name games with STRONG female lead characters or ones that are main characters?

Jessie

[Beauty]

Not an on line gamer. Sometimes some of them catch my interest but I don't have the time. However, my wife and I are good friends with another CD couple and from time to time all four of us gals will get together on a Saturday night and play some of the old board games.

Hi Nancy,

Ok. I'll scratch another gal from my list.

Beauty

[Beauty]

I beta tested Star Wars Universe and it was well a BETA. Once it went mainstream I had no feeling about getting it and paying a 16 dollar a month fee on top of my DSL. It was interesting I have to admit but too costly for my taste. I like console games. I am X-BOX owner with a very diverse collection of games. I find it cool when they make a game with a strong female lead character such as the Coming game Starcraft Ghost and a game I have just recently Got Beyond Good and Evil both games got strong female characters. I wish to see more games like that. I do remember my surpise when I saw my first game with a STRONG female character and that was Samuse from nintendos Metroid. I do not go into those first games that often for reason it makes me queezy the more real it becomes.

By the way can any one else name games with STRONG female lead characters or ones that are main characters?

Jessie

Hi Jessie,

Usually when I play any game I choose the female character.

In football there aren't any, but that's the only game I don't choose one.

In Resident Evil game you play a female character for 90% of it.

Beauty

[Carol Ann]

I voted no, as many games as I have I grow tired of them quickly. Did try an online combat game once (fighter game) got my butt kicked before I got started good Guess I wasn't born a fighter polit.

[Beauty]

I voted no, as many games as I have I grow tired of them quickly. Did try an online combat game once (fighter game) got my butt kicked before I got started good Guess I wasn't born a fighter polit.

I'm starting to see a trend here.

Not a trend of non-online gamers, but a trend of those who only think shoot'em ups are out there.

There are lots of social games out there. Like the Sims for instance.

Thanks Carol Ann!!!

Beauty

[CJ]

Hi all,

Beauty,

This is an interesting topic. The video game industry now tops the movie biz as an entertainment moneymaker, by a good couple of billion dollars each year. Most potent demographic slice in North America: the 36 to 44 year old crowd. It seems those of us who grew up with the Atari 2600, among others, are going back to our roots. Back in the 90s, I worked for about five years in a video game arcade. It was the ideal job at the time; I was attending university and I've written many of my papers, hunched over that counter, occasionally giving out change. My boss, who ruled in absentia, didn't mind. It took me about three months to get used to the roughly 120 dB noise level. Ugghh!

I don't play online games. I've tried. I get creamed every time, before I've even had a chance to get my bearings. Online gamers are just too good for this girl, I think.

I am a big solo player, though, on my PC, Nintendo 64, and XBox. Sometimes, I have friends over for a console game. My favorite types of games are Solitaire card games, First Person Shooters (such as Doom, Quake, Half-Life, and Halo), Adventure and Exploration games (Tomb Raider, Myst and Riven, etc.), Racing games (Project Gotham Racing, Apex, etc.), First Person RPGs (Morrowind, Deus Ex II, etc.), Board games (Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, etc.), Horror Survival games (Silent Hill series and Resident Evil series), and Puzzle games. For some reason, I could never get into sports--neither in real life nor in games.

I find the Myst series (Myst, Riven, Exile, and Uru--now with an online component) to be the most relaxing, soothing, meditative, and narratively rich experience available out there, as far as games are concerned... so much so, in fact, that I've even purchased the stand-alone soundtracks to all of these. Plus, the graphics are incredibly lush and pretty to look at (see screen shots below). Coupled with the haunting music, these gaming experiences are hard to beat.

I've never tried online card playing. I imagine it must be fun, though. You've given me a mind to explore Yahoo games, Beauty. I think I might try some of them out (virtual Poker, though? that has to be difficult when it comes time to bluff your way past a measly pair of fours... :| )

Anyway, thanks for the topic.

Love,
CJ

http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/rev ... nners2.jpg

http://chat2.scummunity.de/~stefan/adve ... riven3.jpg

http://www.indiana.edu/~iirg/ARTICLES/I ... /riven.jpg

http://www.adventuregamesforever.de/riven08_sm.jpg

[Beauty]

Hi CJ,

There are lots of games out there where you can be a social butterfly without needing to beat anyone or compete.

Everquest is a great game. One day there will be enough online gamers in the CD'd community where we can set up an online gaming CD'r.

Thank you for responding.

Beauty

[CJ]

Hi Beauty,

You know, one of my colleagues is an avid "Everquester." She's always trying to get me to go to her place so that I can see what it's all about. I should give in one day and just go.

The Sims I find intriguing also. Imagine a CD/TG Sims community where we can all interact with each other in a "space" that goes beyond merely glancing at someone's forum avatar... no how cool would that be?

I might try that out, too... if I ever get around to subscribing to broadband internet.

Love,
CJ

[Beauty]

Broadband is kind of a prerequisite to playing most games, but Sims Online isn't one of them.

There are lots of games that host really well over a modem these days.

Beauty

[CJ]

Hi all,

Jessie and Beauty,

Here are my favorite video game female leads:

Lara Croft (who started the whole trend);
Alex D., from Deus Ex II (a game you can play as either a male or a female);
Joanna Dark, from Perfect Dark (wish she came to the XBox);
Kate Walker, from Syberia (now there's a determined character!);
and, yes, the lead character from the upcoming Starcraft Ghost looks mighty intriguing.

Turn-offs: "babes" who are babes just for the sake of being "babes," as in DOA Extreme Volleyball and such.

I'm looking forward to the day when games have strong female leads that will be able to use their minds and hearts, rather than just an Uzi or a silenced pistol.

Love,
CJ

[Beauty]

Resident Evil does that, but she does use a gun.

She uses her mind more though.

Beauty