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zwolanerd

I guess I just like liking things

GamesRadar posted a list the other day of The 50 most important games of all time. You’ll never see a list like that here simply because I haven’t played all the games ever, so I don’t feel like I could make a list like that with any sort of confidence. I could do a “most important to me” list, I suppose.

I consider myself a mostly well-rounded gamer. Even stuff I haven’t played I’m familiar enough with to understand their importance. Apparently, though, I am not a well-rounded gamer and should feel bad about myself, because I started making a list while reading their list, a list of things I haven’t played (or haven’t played much of), and 62% is a failing grade.

I decided to leave the numbering the same as they have it on their site, both so you can see where they listed it in importance and so you can find it easily over there if you want to read their comments on it.

50. Zork (1980) – I have played a few text-based games (most notably The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), but never did play any Zork. However,  do still like to say “You have been eaten by a grue,” so that should count for something.

47. FarmVille (2009) – But I have played The Simpsons: Tapped Out, so I think I understand.

45. RuneScape (2001) – I had heard of it, but wasn’t very familiar with it at all. Seems like the sort of thing I might have enjoyed once upon a time.

41. Gears of War (2006) – I actually tried this one. I played for about a half hour and just didn’t care to go any further with it. I have used a “cover system” in other games, so I guess I owe it some credit, but I just can’t seem to work any up.

40. Starsiege: Tribes (1998) – Again, familiar with it, but never played it. Honestly, I had a small window of time in which I enjoyed multiplayer shoot-em’-ups, but even during that time I don’t think I would have enjoyed one that required jetpacking all over.

37. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) – I have played Warcraft and Warcraft II a little, but never played III. I am completely inept at playing resource-gathering-so-you-can-build-stuff games. I used cheats in Starcraft so I could see the rest of the story, and I still had trouble finishing that one.

"And you call yourself a gamer? Tsk."36. Shenmue (1999) – To me, this is the most embarrassing entry on the list. I was a die-hard Dreamcast fan, for one, and for two, I actually rented this and played a little of it, but I didn’t really get it. I hadn’t ever played anything quite like it before, so I was confused. I think if I were to play it now, I’d probably like it… and that leads me to a third embarrassment about this one: I saw it for sale this past weekend for $15… and I didn’t buy it. Ever since, though, I’ve been wishing I had, so that counts for something, maybe?

35. Myst (1993) – Tried it, hated it. I’m no good at puzzle games, anyway, and the puzzles in this one seemed even more ridiculous and random than usual.

34. Metroid (1986) – I’m not a Nintendo guy and I have always been bad at platformers. Sorry!

33. League of Legends (2009) – As mentioned above, I think my window for this one has passed.

32. Minecraft (2011) – This one intrigues me, and I enjoy hearing my friends talk about it, but my enjoyment of building my own fun begins with The Sims and ends with The Simpsons: Tapped Out. I still occasionally think I’ll try this one, but I haven’t so far.

31. Diablo (1996) – I have a non-gamer friend who says she was obsessed with this game when it came out, to lack-of-sleep-and-shirking-responsibilities levels. I don’t see the appeal, but I don’t know that I’ve actually played any game in this genre, so maybe I just don’t know.

22. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) – Yeah, yeah, I know: I’m the worst. The Zelda games sound like they’d be right up my alley, if that means anything to you.

17. Super Mario 64 (1996) – I have played this one, but not much. In fact, I played this game for about a half hour in Denver, Colorado, about two months before it was released in the U.S. I was in town for just a couple of days and wandered into a used game store to see what they had in the way of  Sega Genesis games. They had a Japanese N64 set up with this game running and he let me try it out a bit. I’ll admit it blew my mind at the time to see Mario running around in 3D, but in the end it’s still Mario, and Mario doesn’t do much for me.

8. Pokemon Red & Blue (1996) – Again, the Pokemon series seems like something I’d like, and if they ever release a version for my phone or Xbox, I’d give it a try. I just doubt at this point I’d be willing to buy, set up, or carry around a separate piece of hardware to play it.

7. EverQuest (1999) – “More like ‘Neverquest,’ am I right?” I skipped a lot of the precursors and just did the World of Warcraft thing for a few years.

6. The Legend of Zelda (1986) – Go ahead, keep hating me.

3. Super Mario Bros. (1985) – Yes, I have played this, but not much and I never rescued the Princess, so I don’t think it counts. For what it’s worth, this is the one videogame my wife admits to playing and liking.

1. Spacewar! (1961) – None of you has played this one, so you can’t judge me.

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