Up hill both ways in the snow!

Back in my day....

Any gamer that has been gaming for a few years has fond memories of their first games. For me, I played Ultima on an Apple II. I was able to run it off one of those fancy Floppy Disk Drives and not load from cassette. Your first games, much like your first kiss (or first beer), is remembered with much fondness. Some games stand the test of time, though most really were just okay. So much has improved not only in the presentation (aka graphics) but just game theory itself.

Not only does your first game make an impression, unique games (for their time) also leave their marks. For example. I have many fond memories of Ultima Online and Everquest, but today I would not play them. On one hand the games have change so much that they are almost completely different, but then I would not want to play them in their original format either.

So then we get Sequels. This week Fallout 3 came out. 10 year ago the first Fallout came out and was a seminal game in the CRPG industry. It gave life to the story based RPG market and really allowed a person to play good or evil, or something else. The world did change as you moved though it and what you did had effects in the end. Many games built on those ideas such that now it is required for today's Story based CRPG.

But like any sequel, there is the debate "Is this game a XXXXX?" This could be any game. In this case Fallout but I have had recent arguments over the 4th Edition DnD, as well as others in the pass.

Gamers love to argue.

However some gamers will also dismiss good games because the game isn't what they think it should have been. It is kind of sad, but it does not bother me. I look at each game on its own merits. I have played Fallout 3 for a few hours now, and I have enjoyed it. And being the contrarian that I am, I will happily argue either side of the debate. It does not change the fact that I enjoy this game as it is.