Philotic Web

Games I've played since July 30, 2006, how much time I've wasted gaming, and if applicable, the time I've wasted gaming in the past 7 days. It's in a table-like format.

Game Past 7 Days Total v
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory - 693 hours
Rome: Total War - 519 hours
Empire: Total War - 267 hours
Civilization IV - Beyond the Sword 9 hours 246 hours
Sins of a Solar Empire - 184 hours
Medieval II Total War - 120 hours
Sins of a Solar Empire: Entrenchment < 1 hour 96 hours
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer 9 hours 91 hours
SPORE - 74 hours
Superpower 2 - 65 hours
America's Army: Special Forces - 58 hours
SimCity 4 - 54 hours
Civilization IV < 1 hour 46 hours
Minesweeper 3 hours 39 hours
Silkroad Online - 32 hours
Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties - 28 hours
Call of Duty Single Player - 25 hours
Entropia Universe - 23 hours
RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 - 21 hours
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs - 20 hours
Age of Empires II - 18 hours
Call of Duty Multiplayer - 18 hours
Civilization IV: Colonization - 14 hours
SimCity 3000 Unlimited - 13 hours
Zoo Tycoon - 11 hours
Monopoly Tycoon - 9 hours
Age of Empires III Trial - 8 hours
Madden NFL 07 - 8 hours
Project Torque - 8 hours
Solitaire - 6 hours
Caesar 3 - 4 hours
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Singleplayer 1 hour 3 hours
Freecell - 3 hours
Age of Empires III - 2 hours
Microsoft Flight Simulator X - 1 hour
Pinball - 1 hour
Freeciv - beta - 1 hour
Chess Titans - 1 hour
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Demo - < 1 hour
Spider Solitaire - < 1 hour
Rollercoaster Tycoon - < 1 hour
Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo - < 1 hour
Hearts - < 1 hour
Civilization IV - Warlords - < 1 hour
America's Army 3 < 1 hour < 1 hour

Overall Hours 24 hours 2,847 hours

Lol, how times change... in my days, we used to be ashamed of acknowledging how much time we played games. Heck, i still hide my ffxi or wow playtime from my in-game mates XD (and it isn't all that high).

You young whippesnappers... geroff my lawn!

I really haven't had any time to play video games. After I beat Assassin's Creed II and Dragon Age (like 3 times) there hasn't been anything of interest to me. I'm waiting for the latest Splinter Cell game to be available used (I hate buying games new). And lately I re-bought the Firefly series and Serenity movie and made my room-mates watch (they loved it - and were suitably pissed at how short the series was and were left wanting more.)

The two games of all time that I've spent the most time on (and would pick right back up on if they came back into my periphery, like a bad addiction ) are Golden Sun 1 & 2 (I really felt like this was a highly under-rated RPG set) and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2. The latter I plugged about 150 hours into during down time at work through the course of a year. If I could play it on PS3, I wouldn't even be here talking to you.

I can't give a time figure, but the game i probably poured more hours into was Civ1.
I mean, blam! that game was awesome! It was around the time cds began to become common-place... (so, pirate compilations began to appear).

Similar to how Ender's Game is the book I go back and re-read every couple of months, the Ratchet & Clank series is the video game series I go back and play every couple of months - though only on the PS2 (because I, very very sadly, don't have a PS3) and without Size Matters (because I heard the R&C ports aren't that good). I must have spent at least more than a hundred hours on the series' first four games.

Just played through:
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Back to back.

Soul Calibur IV

Just played through:
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Back to back.

The best way to play them. Had you played them before? Naked Snake: manliest video game character ever, or most manly video game character ever?

Soul Calibur IV

I love Soul Calibur.

I got a PS3 for my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...and of course, I can't enjoy it because I have a buckload of tests coming up. But I let myself enjoy a few minutes of NBA 2K10 or Devil May Cry 4 every once in a (short) while..

God, the games are beautiful. For someone who spent his last 8 years playing on a PS2, and just now moved to a Hi-def PS3, this is like paradise.

For those of you who don't know, this needs to be said loudly, with a lot of enthusiasm and joy.


FREE PORTAL! ARGH!

Anyway, yes. Valve, in their infinite wisdom (and apparently due to a TERRIBLE accountancy team) have decided that to celebrate the release of Steam on the Mac, Portal is free until May 24th.]

Please note: this does not mean you must pay for it AFTER the 24th. As long as you get it before the date, it's yours for life. Awesome, much?

To get it: www.steampowered.com , install Steam, make an account, go to the 'Store', find Portal (ignoring the price tag) and click install. And then it is tied to your account for ever more. Plus, you get access to all the great mods/mappacks around. Also,

FREE PORTAL!

Soul Calibur IV

I love Soul Calibur.

One of my faves. A fighting game with a semblance of story. And there aren't many good fighting games where it's weapons-combat. Guilty Gear is pretty good, but it's kind of a different beast (2d arcade/anime style) than SC. And the chicks, man.. Damn. Forget Kasumi and Ayane and those other DOA whores. Taki, Talim, Tira, Hilde, Amy, Seung Mina, Setsuka, Xianghua, Ivy, Shura, Scheherazade, Kamikirusi, Ashlotte, Angol Fear, not to mention Sophitiaand Cassandra, those lethal Greek goddesses. Uh... I'll be right back...

FREE PORTAL! ARGH!
[...]
FREE PORTAL!

yay!

YAY!

yay!

So pretty much the only game i play anymore is Rockband... and im kinda obsessed haha...
BUT Im kind of a screen watcher lol my brothers play all sorts of games and i LOVE watching them play so... if it counts lol they are currently obsessed with super street fighter 4 lol

Just popping in this thread to say:

PORTAL!!!

So pretty much the only game i play anymore is Rockband... and im kinda obsessed haha...
BUT Im kind of a screen watcher lol my brothers play all sorts of games and i LOVE watching them play so... if it counts lol they are currently obsessed with super street fighter 4 lol

I hate how obsessed I am with Rockband! I suck at just about everything but the drums, but oh how I love to play the drums. I also love to sing Mr. Roboto...

I've gotten back into Oblivion, but with specific rules this time. 1) I will always play in third-person mode whenever possible, and 2) I'll try out the Shivering Isles DLC.

It really pales in comparison to Morrowind, it really does, but there are definitely a lot of things that Oblivion has going for it. A still-active modding community, for one thing.

I'm still stuck on Super smash Bros Brawl, despite the fact I've had it for like two years.

It's like - I have this irresistable need to be the best I can be on games. I have to master them or at least get to pro level.

I'd probably be off it if I wasn't constantly playing people online from a Brawl website, which makes it easy to hook up with random people to play at like anytime of the day.

Computer players are consisten, online players range in skill and techniques and can really surprise you and switch up the reptitiveness.

lol thats way funny fred cuz i play expert on everthing except drums if its a super hard song... but in my family, if we arent pushing our limits and abilities, we arent playing, lol no matter how many times we have to replay the song. my 12 year old little brother can now play on med on everything... i cant wait till i can push him to hard

Rock band, Rock band...so much less evil than Guitar Hero because it has options for those of us who can't do multiple things at once, like stare at a screen and push buttons. Or something. I have sung, if you can call it that, but it had FOB, so I sort of had to.

Meanwhile, the guitar decided to not be recognized yesterday, making me want to channel my inner rockstar and smash the thing on the floor. However, I was supposed to be the mature grown up, so I just scowled instead.

You know, I loved the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games. Well, not as much Guitar Hero, but I had to include it 'cause it was the first one I got. I got bored of the guitar, though, once I could do all but the most ridiculous guitar solos on expert guitar hero 3. Drums are my love, there is nothing quite as satisfying as nailing those tough songs on expert drums. Not only can you see yourself nailing it, you can literally feel it, hear it both from the sound of your sticks and the speakers; can't be beat. I don't play so much any more, though; I hated the Rock Band drum orientation, and I spent so much time putzing around with my Guitar Hero set to make it recognize all my hits and not register double hits, or learning how to hit it "just right" that it'd register, I just got tired of trying to improve. Why strive to do better than 95% when even a perfect song only registers 98% of the notes?

I cannot wait, however, for PowerGig: Rise of the Six String to come out. Here's hoping the drum kit is as awesome as the guitar...

Sold my PS3. I was bored with it already. I realize I'm not a 'hardcore' gamer anymore. I swapped it for a GameCube and a GameBoy Advance SP, $75 and the following games:

The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Oh, geeze, how have I not mentioned this? My current obsession is Minecraft. Those of you who have heard of it, I apologize, but yes, it is stupidly addicting. Imagine if someone took a sandbox, like the kind you dug tunnels and things out of when you were little, and made a video game of it, only giant-sized, with trees and such, and crafting. That's what this game is. The graphics are super-retro, but 3D, and it's apparently all being programmed by one guy. I have never been able to get multiplayer working, but there are a bunch of different modes, and the version you can buy has about a billion extra features.

It's so fun. The creator just added doors and ladders, and I found a tool that takes images of your maps and converts them to .png with one block = one pixel. I'm working on making a road from the current main entrance of my dungeon down to the beach.

Sold my PS3. I was bored with it already. I realize I'm not a 'hardcore' gamer anymore. I swapped it for a GameCube and a GameBoy Advance SP, $75 and the following games:

The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Want Zelda: Wind Waker? $15 + shipping.

Forza 3's been getting my time recently. I picked it up on launch day, but then Assassin's Creed 2 and Mass Effect 2 knocked it off for months. Now I'm finally close to finishing the seasonal play on Forza, and I'm trying my hand at tuning cars. My latest creation started as a 2005 Mustang GT, and now it'll do 0-60 in 1.8 seconds, and make a top speed of 226 mph.

Recently, though, I've been wanting to pick up Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions again. When I first played it, all the new special units were too much fun to resist - Balthier especially. And now that I think of it, I've setup a WiFi network in my house since then, so I can get online with it.

Sold my PS3. I was bored with it already. I realize I'm not a 'hardcore' gamer anymore. I swapped it for a GameCube and a GameBoy Advance SP, $75 and the following games:

The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

Want Zelda: Wind Waker? $15 + shipping.

Do it, Satya. DO IT.

Although the graphics might be a little too "kiddie" for you.

For great justice?

Might just have to. I'd never played it, but since I have a Gamecube now anyways. We'll see if I still have a Zelda jones after all the others.

So I'm wondering, what's the draw for Zelda? I tried playing the Gameboy game years ago, and I couldn't get myself into it. I realize that it's probably a lot better on not Gameboy, but I know so many people who love it, and I've spent hours watching people play it. I just have never felt a longing to play it, so, why do y'all who like it, like it?

On a side note, I've decided I enjoy playing COD, but I'm not telling my boyfriend that until I get better... So that he thinks he has to bribe me into playing with him...

I'm finding Twilight Princess to be to my liking. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's the best Gamecube game they made. That might not mean much to some, but honestly the GC is a very respectable console, even today.

The draw for Zelda is simple; it seems to offer fun for almost any type of gamer. From the beginning, in its humble NES roots, it offered an experience when everything else was nothing but a way to pass the time. It's not quite an RPG, it's not quite simple action-adventure, it's a world you jump into with both feet. For some, it's the nostalgia, sure - but for others, like me, it's a game where the suspension-of-disbelief margin is incredibly wide. I buy into it every time I turn on the system. Especially with Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and now Twilight Princess. The moment I hear those first strains of the theme, it's got me. Body and soul, I'm into it.

Yes, the Gameboy games don't have the same draw for me, but I still played them. And I had fun doing it. Of course, the Zelda series was a legend even before the N64, but from Ocarina on, it became something more than legend - it's transcendent. That's not hyperbole. It's beyond a simple "game." The music and sound effects; the familiar settings, characters, and concepts; the timeless story of good-vs-evil, of heroism, courage, and wisdom against despotism and lust-for-power; the easy way you get sucked into the fantasy; the way it creates a world you fall in love with, and then threatens it in a way that makes you want to save it more than anything.. it's got everything you could ever ask for in gaming.

Ocarina, Majora and Twilight, even now, on consoles 1-and-2 systems behind the current generation, far exceed, in my opinion, any offering currently available. The closest thing that even approaches it for me was the modern incarnation of the Prince of Persia series. The second two, Warrior Within and Two Thrones, were highly polished products that incorporated dramatic story, excellent gameplay that went above and beyond the standard formula to weave in platforming and combat effortlessly, and came close to creating that sense of 'epicness' that comes easily to Zelda titles. But even those, my favorite of the modern era, fall frustratingly short.

Nothing that's coming out interest me. Nothing piques my excitement. Sure, they've got their positives. I can get down with a good FPS or tactical-shooter, but I could keep coming to the Zelda well for the next decade. I'll say it - the Legend of Zelda is the greatest video game series of all time, and some of it's individual titles are the greatest individual games of all time. Of my top 5 games from any console, Zelda holds 3 spots. On the top 10, it holds 6. It is gaming's answer to Star Wars, fantastic, epic and engrossing.

I'm finding Twilight Princess to be to my liking. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's the best Gamecube game they made. That might not mean much to some, but honestly the GC is a very respectable console, even today.

The draw for Zelda is simple; it seems to offer fun for almost any type of gamer. From the beginning, in its humble NES roots, it offered an experience when everything else was nothing but a way to pass the time. It's not quite an RPG, it's not quite simple action-adventure, it's a world you jump into with both feet. For some, it's the nostalgia, sure - but for others, like me, it's a game where the suspension-of-disbelief margin is incredibly wide. I buy into it every time I turn on the system. Especially with Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and now Twilight Princess. The moment I hear those first strains of the theme, it's got me. Body and soul, I'm into it.

Yes, the Gameboy games don't have the same draw for me, but I still played them. And I had fun doing it. Of course, the Zelda series was a legend even before the N64, but from Ocarina on, it became something more than legend - it's transcendent. That's not hyperbole. It's beyond a simple "game." The music and sound effects; the familiar settings, characters, and concepts; the timeless story of good-vs-evil, of heroism, courage, and wisdom against despotism and lust-for-power; the easy way you get sucked into the fantasy; the way it creates a world you fall in love with, and then threatens it in a way that makes you want to save it more than anything.. it's got everything you could ever ask for in gaming.

Ocarina, Majora and Twilight, even now, on consoles 1-and-2 systems behind the current generation, far exceed, in my opinion, any offering currently available. The closest thing that even approaches it for me was the modern incarnation of the Prince of Persia series. The second two, Warrior Within and Two Thrones, were highly polished products that incorporated dramatic story, excellent gameplay that went above and beyond the standard formula to weave in platforming and combat effortlessly, and came close to creating that sense of 'epicness' that comes easily to Zelda titles. But even those, my favorite of the modern era, fall frustratingly short.

Nothing that's coming out interest me. Nothing piques my excitement. Sure, they've got their positives. I can get down with a good FPS or tactical-shooter, but I could keep coming to the Zelda well for the next decade. I'll say it - the Legend of Zelda is the greatest video game series of all time, and some of it's individual titles are the greatest individual games of all time. Of my top 5 games from any console, Zelda holds 3 spots. On the top 10, it holds 6. It is gaming's answer to Star Wars, fantastic, epic and engrossing.

QFT
x2
Truer words have never been spoken.

I'll just chime in that I've never been able to explain why Zelda is so great and why I love it so much. It must be beyond nostalgia, because the fights on who got to play Zelda back on the NES were legendary in my house, I think I almost cried at one point during my first playthrough of Ocarina, and the games keep getting better. I've never really liked the 2D handheld games, and even the DS games don't hold a candle up to the console games. They're missing something, I don't know what it is. The feeling of a huge-seeming world, teeming with unique and interesting characters? The exploration inherent with looking all over that world and finding things the developers put in there just for a hardy player to find?

Oh, God, the characters in Majora's Mask. The amount of involvement you get into their lives...

I need some alone time.

I really need to get Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess.

I've played tons of Zelda games, including Ocarina of Time, but never Majora's Mask

One thing that depresses me about Twilight Princess is the Stalfos tutor. It seems to lend credence to an interpretation of Link's character that is, well... depressing.

Consider the Link in Ocarina of Time at the end of the game, returned to child form with Ganon sealed away. Seems all hunky-dory, right? Well, how would you deal with it if you suddenly had to deal with the fact that you're an orphan 10 year old whose only life experience involved being suddenly drafted into adulthood physically and mentally, forced to battle terrifying monsters, seeing the land of your childhood burned and devastated by a malevolent tyrant, and then having all of the fruits of your labor ripped away as you're suddenly put back into a world where no one else can even relate to your experience because it simply didn't happen to them. It'd be like living through the Depression, WWI, and WWII and suddenly being sent back into the Roaring 20s. Everything would just be... hollow.

You'd probably try and reconnect with the only other being that had been through it. Your constant companion - Navi. Hence Link's motivation for leaving Hyrule and wandering the Lost Woods trying to find her, ending up in Termina. Link braves his way through that ordeal, but again, Termina is a world that Link has fought to save, and no one in it can relate to his struggle, and so he goes off, wandering the Lost Woods again in search of Navi.

Twilight Princess overwhelmingly suggests that the Stalfos sword tutor is the Ocarina of Time Link, who spent the rest of his life wandering the Lost Woods, never finding his only companion until he became a Stalfos, cursed to live out eternity undead.

Well, you know what Zelda Wii is about? Who the Link is, right?

Hopefully it won't lead to him turning into a Stalfos, but I think I've always believed that theory, that the Stalfos is HoT Link.