My Machine Life is not just about what the machine could be, but also about our relationship with the machine, which in my case, is the computer. My relationship with the computer began very early with the introduction of computer games into my life, which have continued to influence my writing, dreams and creative process today. I consider myself to be a creative individual, but for a long time I wasn’t able to focus on a single creative writing project for more than a few hours or a few days. It wasn’t until the end of graduate school, when I was regularly writing 20+ page papers, that I decided I could apply my long-form writing skills to creative writing.
In this blog arc, I will share and discuss some of the computer games I grew up with and how they may have impacted me as a person and as an artist. I have split my interaction with computer games (not video or handheld games, which would be even more) into 5 periods of my life until today and counted the games I remember playing, which totaled to 87 computer games:
Early Period, 3-7 years old: 27 games
Landmark Period, 7-11 years old: 13 games
High Period, 11 – 14 years old: 29 games
Sustaining Period, 14 – 20 years old: 8 games
Waning/Nostalgic Period, 20 – 30 years old: 10 games
I’ve decided to highlight some of the more meaningful/impactful games in more detail while rolling through the less impactful ones. At any rate, here is the full list of what I remember, with names in brackets when I wasn’t able to find the official name:
Early Period – 3-7 years old
Zoo Keeper
Arthur’s Birthday party
Harry and the Haunted House
Just Grandma and Me – Little Critter
Around the world in 80 days – Paintbox pals
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego
Peter Pan – Paintbox pals
Commanche
U-Boat
[B-17 over Germany]
[Star Trek game]
Battle of Britain II [?]
Myst
[Myst (kid’s version)]
Riven
Darkseed
Out of this World
SimCity 2000
[Tank and stick figures]
[WWI combat flight simulator]
Hellcats over the Pacific
[Futuristic tank simulator]
[F-16 flight simulator]
[Gardening simulator]
[Puzzle game involving a Castle]
[Design your own palette]
[Game involving placing Stickers on a game board]
Ski free
Landmark Period: 7-11 years old
[GI Joe-like toy saves rabbits from malicious toys]
Age of Empires: Age of Kings
Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far
[Die Hard 2 shooter]
Minesweeper
Space Cadet
Sonic and Tails
Wargames
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
Nuclear Strike
Close Combat: The Russian Front
StarCraft
StarCraft: Brood War
Age of Empires: The Conquerers
High Period: 11 – 14 years old
Counter-Strike
Half-Life
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Team Fortress
Command & Conquer
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2
Dune 2
Dune: Emperor
Fallout 2
Diablo 2
Quake 3
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Final Fantasy 8
Worms: Armageddon
Dark Reign
Total Annihilation
Tribes 2
Treadmarks
Ground Control
Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 2 – Pacific Theater
Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun
Liero
Triplane
小朋友齊打交
風色幻想 SP
風色幻想
Stickdeath
Sustaining Period: 14 – 20 years old
Star Wars:Battlefront
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Fallout: Tactics
Grand Theft Auto 3
Battlefield: Vietnam
Warcraft 3
Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War
Team Fortress 2
Waning/Nostalgic Period: 20 – 30 years old
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Duke Nukem 3D
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (again)
System Shock 2
Fallout 3
Fallout: New Vegas
Treadmarks (again)
Fallout 1
Primordia
Dungeon Keeper 2
