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list of games and favorites by game genre always makes me think the assumption is that my hobby is something called "gaming" . Now if somebody tells me their hobby is "reading" I tend to think they're either 12 year olds or they're not very intellectual. We intellectual snobs say our hobby is history, or science, or whatever.
Now games hasnt reached that point, a sign I think of the immaturity of the medium. The technology and the issues it generates still dominate. But at least for me, that is not the reason i play games. I think we should start to think differently - our real interests are NOT 1. Spreadsheet management (TBS) 2. Fast clicking (action games) 3. Fast clicking with some spread sheet management (RTS) 4. Puzzle solving (Adventure) 5. Managing character stats (RPG's) etc.
Rather our interests are History, fantasy, science fiction, etc.
Thus for me playing a history game is an extension of my interest in history - just as reading a history book, or seeing a historically themed movie, or visiting a historic site is. So when i play a history game its the history that matters, not whether it RT, TB, or whatever. Similarly a good sci-fi game should hold my interest as sci-fi, just as a novel or movie would, regardless of its genre.
In the interest of furthering that i invite all to list their favorite games by setting. I will not be tabulating anything, so feel free to list as many as you want. In the interests of clarifying my meaning, I will list most of the games I own.
Categories - History - (including wargames, empire builders, city builders, etc)
Science fiction
Fantasy
Post-apocalypse (this should be seperate setting from sci-fi, no?)
Contemporary life (could include a strategy game, though im thinking more of games like the sims, or tycoon games. I'll use 1989, the fall of the Berlin wall, to set apart from history games.)
Abstract ( no particular setting, like free cell, or, arguably, chess)
Nature (sim ant. the never made dinosaur game?)
My games
History
1. Civ2
2. Imperialism2
3. Age of Empires
4. Caesar 3
5. Sid Meiers Gettysburgh/Antietam
6. RE Lee: Civil War General
7. 1602 AD
(note in addition to strat games and citybuilders, this could include WW2 era flight sims, historical setting adventures, etc)
Sci Fi
1. SMAC
(this will include many strat games, but also RPG's, shooters, etc)
Fantasy
1. Myst
2. Zork
3. Collosal Cave
(though lots of adventure games here, obviously also lots of RPG's, action games, and strat games)
Contemporary life
1. SimCity 2000
2. Simtown
3. Simtower
3. simcopter
(Mainly "tycoon" games and flight sims, but really should be wider if gaming is too be genuine interactive fiction. Also hoping for the great contemporary power politics game)
Nature
1. Simisle
2. Simsafari
(Seems to belong to will wright)
Post-Apocalypse
( i dont have any - seems to be popular in RPGS and RTS)
Abstract
(Only ones i own are the ones that came with windows, but there seems to be some market)
Now games hasnt reached that point, a sign I think of the immaturity of the medium. The technology and the issues it generates still dominate. But at least for me, that is not the reason i play games. I think we should start to think differently - our real interests are NOT 1. Spreadsheet management (TBS) 2. Fast clicking (action games) 3. Fast clicking with some spread sheet management (RTS) 4. Puzzle solving (Adventure) 5. Managing character stats (RPG's) etc.
Rather our interests are History, fantasy, science fiction, etc.
Thus for me playing a history game is an extension of my interest in history - just as reading a history book, or seeing a historically themed movie, or visiting a historic site is. So when i play a history game its the history that matters, not whether it RT, TB, or whatever. Similarly a good sci-fi game should hold my interest as sci-fi, just as a novel or movie would, regardless of its genre.
In the interest of furthering that i invite all to list their favorite games by setting. I will not be tabulating anything, so feel free to list as many as you want. In the interests of clarifying my meaning, I will list most of the games I own.
Categories - History - (including wargames, empire builders, city builders, etc)
Science fiction
Fantasy
Post-apocalypse (this should be seperate setting from sci-fi, no?)
Contemporary life (could include a strategy game, though im thinking more of games like the sims, or tycoon games. I'll use 1989, the fall of the Berlin wall, to set apart from history games.)
Abstract ( no particular setting, like free cell, or, arguably, chess)
Nature (sim ant. the never made dinosaur game?)
My games
History
1. Civ2
2. Imperialism2
3. Age of Empires
4. Caesar 3
5. Sid Meiers Gettysburgh/Antietam
6. RE Lee: Civil War General
7. 1602 AD
(note in addition to strat games and citybuilders, this could include WW2 era flight sims, historical setting adventures, etc)
Sci Fi
1. SMAC
(this will include many strat games, but also RPG's, shooters, etc)
Fantasy
1. Myst
2. Zork
3. Collosal Cave
(though lots of adventure games here, obviously also lots of RPG's, action games, and strat games)
Contemporary life
1. SimCity 2000
2. Simtown
3. Simtower
3. simcopter
(Mainly "tycoon" games and flight sims, but really should be wider if gaming is too be genuine interactive fiction. Also hoping for the great contemporary power politics game)
Nature
1. Simisle
2. Simsafari
(Seems to belong to will wright)
Post-Apocalypse
( i dont have any - seems to be popular in RPGS and RTS)
Abstract
(Only ones i own are the ones that came with windows, but there seems to be some market)
.
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