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Geek Squad: The Games People Play |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Arts & Science
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
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Games have long been a hobby of mine, in a slightly removed sort of way. I like playing games -- board games, video games, card games, what have you -- but I'm even more interested in why and how we play games. As you know, I spent some years as a government "consultant" during the Cold War, and am proud to say many of my game theory postulates are now official foreign policy. Maybe "proud" is not the word...
At any rate, I am greatly cheered by the remarkable ascendancy of gamer
culture in the last few years. Did you know that the videogame industry
has surpassed the movie industry in yearly gross receipts? According to
some sources, anyway. Of course, these guys can cook the books a different million
ways before breakfast.
But here's an overlooked little segment that doesn't get the attention
it deserves. "Browser-based games" is the overarching term for
quick-and-easy online videogames that can be played solely with your
Internet browser. They are typically powered by plug-ins like Flash,
Java and Shockwave. And they can be remarkably engaging and
sophisticated. Addicitinggames.com is one of several good portal sites
for browsing through these creations, and there are thousands of them;
tens of thousands. Some of the best game design, period, is happening
in this area.
One that was recently recommended to me, and which I wholeheartedly
endorse, is the supercool Monster's Den. This is an old-school,
turn-based, Dungeons & Dragons type game recalling the golden age
of PC RPGs from the 1980s and 1990s. What's incredible here is how the
creators have distilled the essence of this particular genre down to
its base DNA. It's entirely point-and-click, and really quite elegant
in the way it has simplified the system for the 21st century.
Check it out when you get the chance, then plan on spending all your
goofing-off time returning again and again. Much better than
Minesweeper, okay? Take my word for it.
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