@steakceleryice said in [Best video game you’ve ever played](/post/1520475) said:
The other day, I walked into my brother’s room to chat with him about something, and I noticed he was playing his usual video game. As we started talking, it caught my eye that he moved away from what he was playing and started clicking the mouse randomly while devoting more attention to our conversation. A look at his laptop screen revealed a superhero-themed slot game, which is apparently a thing these days.
I used to work as a TV producer so I know a thing or two about movies and their influence on pop culture. To me, the fact that you can now enjoy themed gambling games that use motives from the most popular movies and TV shows (like https://www.nodeposithero.com/feature/marvel-slots-free-spins/, for example) came as no surprise.
But, it also made me remember a time when things were much simpler. When I was growing up, we would go to the local arcade to play Street Fighter II. It was only later that we had access to Sony PlayStations and games like PES, Mortal Kombat, and the like. I realized that, despite the ultra-realistic graphics and storylines, I still preferred the glitchy, pixelated Street Fighter game because it reminds me of a happier time in my life. What’s the best video game you’ve ever played?
I kind of thought the same thing a few years ago, about new vs old games.
I used to be an avid gamer in my youth; I was raised in the 80s (sounds like you were too), started with an Apple IIe, then an IBM 386, SNES, N64, Pentium PC etc. etc. I used to play Street Fighter and Final Fight down at the arcade. I was PC gaming and trading games before it was generally popular and accessible to do so. I played the absolute arse out of some games back then on 5.25 and 3.5 inch disk: Ski or Die, Syndicate, NBA 89, Arkanoid, Test Drive, Indiana Jones Last Crusade, Wolfenstein, Command & Conquer, Warcraft etc.
My favourite games from that era were Global Conquest (made by Microprose, not so well known), Quest for Glory (originally called Hero's Quest, but Sierra had to rename it due to the MB board game), Freespace 2, Tie Fighter.
Then later classics for me - Total Annihilation, Homeworld, Deus Ex, Starcraft, Jedi Knight, Age of Empires II, Half Life. I loved Donkey Kong Country on my SNES.
Then I had kids and stopped playing for quite some years, just didn't have the time.
After about 5 years break I bought an Xbox One X in November 2018. I had a Nintendo Wii for sort of casual gaming, but I basically missed all console gaming between the Nintendo 64 and the Xbox One / PS4.
I played Red Dead Redemption 2 as one of my first games - transformative. Blew my mind how it looked, the scope, how it played; the emotional content of it. The concept of stopping mid-game to admire the amazing view, and pinch yourself that it's not real. I used to go back into the game just to ride my digital horse around and drink up the atmosphere, with no particular aim in mind. Brought my love of computer games right back and as good as anything I've ever played. Then I played Subnautica and that is potentially the best game I've ever played. Totally hooked on the setting, the constant niggling fear of the unknown in the deep water, but the drive to explore, collect, build. At the end of the game, not wanting to spoilt it, but I didn't want to go offworld, I just wanted to kick back in my underwater base and drive around in my sub.
So there's my long answer - Subnautica. I must have played it 200 hours and that's voluntary, outside of my large family obligations, in this day of seemingly limitless content via streaming and digital download. When I was 10 there weren't so many games available and I couldn't afford to buy them anyway, so I played what I had. These days if a game grabs you hard, it must be good, even all-time era good.
Back to one of your original points though, I can't relate to my kids' gaming preferences and it's a generational thing that exists across all other media like music and TV. Why would anyone waste time on Marvel Slots? I must have 200 games in my library, but all my kids want to do is play Lego games, Minecraft and Roblox. My son complains that Roblox crashes all the time, and I tell him "because they are shitty games made by nobodies on a poncey framework. I have so many real and reliable games, go play those."
