I have decided to start up my gaming blog on 1UP again as doing so gave me great joy several years ago.  You can find some of my old, (mostly Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War related) entries under the name "Sunhawk1337", but I decided to drop off the digits as they seemed a bit puerile. Plus then it will provide a clean break between the two different series of posts.  

In these entries I will describe what I am currently playing, beating, losing at, getting frustrated by, hacking, slashing, or otherwise wasting my time with. 

Since this is the first entry I will write just a bit about where I’m coming from, to lay out my biases right in front of everyone… right on the table as it were. 

I’m 25, just about to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Information Science.  I’ve been playing video games, specifically computer games, since I was about 8. I’ve always been most interested in strategy games, particularly real-time strategy games.  But that doesn’t stop me from devouring a lot of the big new titles as well.

The first gaming experience I remember was when my two brothers and I went to a computer store and picked up a copy of Star Control 2.  And a phenomenal game it was (is!).  Ships blasting each other in space, dodging missiles, activating shields at the last second to avoid an otherwise fatal attack.  I was hooked.  

After chewing through StarCon 2, I went on to play dozens of the old, cheesy, and awesome freeware games that BBS provided. Jill of the Jungle, Jazz Jackrabbit, One Must Fall, Wolfenstein and Doom.  

After the arcade binge, I got a hold of the demo to WarCraft 2: Tides of Darkness, and was hooked on RTS instantly.  I loved the bright colors, the gore, the humor, the intense battles, the cheesy voice-acting.  The strategic planning.  Do I expand, or defend? Do I research better weapons, or build more troops?  I went through both sides of the full campaign and later, Beyond the Dark Portal as well.

But I couldn’t stay completely biased in the classic RTS war that was going on at the time between WarCraft and Command & Conquer.  So I picked up a copy of C&C and tore through it as well, loving the (even cheesier!) voice acting and FMV sequences.  

Turn-based strategy games drew me in as well.  Mostly the Civilization series, which I have played since its original incarnation to varying degrees.  They’re the type of game where one can lose a week of free-time and never quite know where it all went (though truly, most of it went to an attempt at conquering a virtual world, but I you know what I mean).  

I’ve played my fair share of MMORPGs as well.  That tendency started in 1997 with the release of Ultima Online.  At one point, when I was around 13, I cried when my pet llama died.  Oh yes, I was that kind of intense when it came to my virtual livestock (No, I do not play FarmQuest or whatever it is called on Facebook, that is where I draw the line!). 

After sticking with UO for almost five years I played City of Heroes for a Summer, and then came World of Warcraft.  The juggernaut.  The home-wrecker.  I played WoW, Burning Crusade, and some Wrath of the Lich King from its open Beta up until about a year ago (around 100 days played among all my characters over the four or so years, my main being a Human Paladin on Frostmane [This is relatively low for consistent, hardcore WoW players, which is scary since it ends up being multiple hours a day over the course of several years, but I digress again.])  And then a bit of Champions Online for the (lol balanced) PvP and customization.

Then there were the FPS and Simulation games: MechWarrior 2, 3, 4, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Quake, Team Fortress Classic, Counterstrike, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal.  Basically all kinds of stuff.  Basically, a ton of stuff.  

But I find myself playing a considerable amount less now, but hopefully will be able to document my experiences more in the future. 

There is just one pressing matter: that of the catchphrase.  I need a good solid opener and an even clever(er?) closer. 

Till then, I will take a minimalist approach.

-S