Memories: Earliest Gaming

One of my earliest memories of gaming, occurred when I was either two or three years old. I can remember, having this big joystick, grabbing on to the stick with both my hands, pushing it forward and back, left and right, and watching this excitable yellow mouth on the tv run around a maze, chomping on other yellow dots, while colorful blobs chased him. I didn't know the name of the game, or even that was a game at the time, I just remember being fascinated that I could control something other then myself, and that it was fun.

I of course learned much later it was Pac-man, and I was playing on one of the original Atari game stations. My father, who was in College at the time, having gone back after serving a tour in the Navy, was never big into gaming or electronics, although he, like me was a great fan of science fiction. Being in Engineering College in California, in the late 70's, and early 80's, it was almost destiny that he picked up the Atari, to have when friends of his and my mother's were over for a "party". And it was almost destiny, that his son, being the next in a long line of engineer minded would pick up the controller, and find it just right.

Most of my impressions from that time, are colorful snap shots. One of which, was of various people, not my parents, watching me play Pac-Man, and then trying to beat my high score, but failing to do so. This was confirmed by my parents, who claim that frequently, when their adult friends came over, they would sit down and try to beat my score or ability, but very rarely being able to.

One would suspect that this early rivalry would have made me more competitive, however even at that time, I didn't rejoice at beating someone so much larger then me, but instead loved to watch, compare, even teach even with a three year old's vocabulary. Something I still do to this day, when I love co-op games, and teaming more then PvP.

Beyond Pac-Man, I would most later remember this air dogfight game, however even now, I'm not sure when they took place, other then by the time I was six the Atari had broken down again, and when we moved, I was left without another console or computer till the NES broke on the stage.

[TB] Planetside: Go, Go, Go....

My eyes fluttered open to darkness. A constant thruming permeated the cabin, vibrating the deck behind my back. 'Had I fallen asleep?' I thought, 'Was I just dreaming?' A snore to the right broke into my silence. Turning my head I saw another soldier, cradling a Cycler machine gun. Looking beyond him I saw the third guy in our compartment. Then it all came flooding back to me. My platoon and I had departed from Sanctuary in a Dropship, on a long haul through the night to a continent bordering the New Conglomerate. We were on our way to battle, and all we could do was sleep while we had the chance.

How long I had been out was a mystery. It had probably only been minutes, but even those few minutes had been precious jewels to treasure. Allready I was beginning to miss them. Sleep on the hand, wasn't to be forthcoming. Instead the Squad Commander's voice broke through the constant hum, banishing any further thoughts os sleep.

"Allright people, stop sleeping and listen up," came the command from the comm speakers.

I nudged the soldier snoring to the right of me. His snores abruptly stopped with a suck and a cough. Straightening in his seat, he briefly glared at me for daring to wake him. However, just as he was about to spew forth some hot retort, he abruptly swallowed it back as the Commander's voice continued.

"We're coming up on Dagnor, on the continent of Easmir," intoned the Commander.

"There are reports that the New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty have reached a compromise here. This is allowing them to divert troops to other areas, putting pressure on some of our bases close to Sanctuary. Our job is to disrupt this by taking Dagnor and opening a whole for future forces to pour into the area," the Commander paused.

"This is likely to be a hot drop, so I want all of you to check your equipment and get yourselves ready...

"Johnson," asked the Commander, subtly changing track, "You and Haussin will advance to the vehicle pad, hack it and get us an AMS unit. Turner, soon as we are in, I need you to hack the outboard med and equipment term. The rest, make your way to the Command Center and take it...

"Once we've got the base hacked, we'll set up some patrols. Now all we have to do is hold the base at least 15 minutes. After that and reinforcements will begin to arrive. I don't want any funny business so you all stick to the plan and keep an eye out for each other...

"One last thing," paused the Commander, "We've done this before, and we'll do this again. None of us our raw recruits, and I expect you all to do the job. These idiots don't know what real war is, and it's up to us, the Terran Repbulic to show them. 2 minutes to drop..." and the comm clicked off.

I grimaced to myself in the dark cabin, and swung my Cycler around. Quickly I checked my gear, priming a concussion grenade in my quick snatch spot, as I went over the orders in my head. Finally I was done and looked up, in time to meet the snoring soldier's grin. I signaled a quick reply with a single thumbs up, then settled myself back into chair, bracing for ejection, just in time for the Commander to speak again.

"Well sweethearts, I hope you had a nice nap, cause it's now time to go to work, and this will be a hot drop. On my mark, I'll see you on the ground."

I grinned, my energy levels spiking with anticipation. The dark cabin subtly changed in hue as the side panels of the dropship slipped aside. The time was at hand.

"On my mark, prepare to drop...

"Go, go, go!"

[TB] Planetside: All Hail, the NDA is Lifted!

A few weeks ago, while browsing a website I ran across an ad for a new game. Curious, I went to the website and checked it out. Astounded by what I could find on it, and wanting to sample it before I bought it, I decided to apply for an Open Beta position. A week later, I had the unmitigated fortune to be accepted into Exclusive Beta. Unfortunately, as I found out, this was both good luck, and a curse, because now I was privy to all the wonders of this game, but couldn't tell anyone! Now I can, as Open Beta starts this week, and the NDA is lifted.

Even though the NDA has been lifted, I still the find the quickest way tell people what it's like, is to give them my first impression... Tribes 2 on steriods.

In truth, Planetside, is not a Tribes 2 sequel in any shape or form, primarily because Planetside is being produced by Sony. Secondly, where Tribes 2 focused on specific team vs team combat, Planetside focuses on army vs army combat. Yes, both take place in the future. Yes both involve suits of armor, ground and air vehicles, and bases, but there the similarity stops.

For starters, Planetside is also and RPG game, with a persistent universe where you have a character that gains experience, and obtains certifications to qualify them to use equipment and weapons. Planetside's "maps" are also continent spanning, with a dozens of bases scattered across a globe. Movement is seamless transition from one base to another, although movement between continents is limited by warp gates, or HART transport. Bases are also more complex, with each giving special functions and capabilities to the faction that controls them.

Literally, there are hundreds of differences between the two games, with just enough similarity to attract almost all Tribes 2 fans. Although to mention it, this game has enough similarites to wet the appetite of Unreal, Quake, Battlefield 1942, Mechwarrior, and even some RPG fans as well. So it's less a Tribes 2 game on steriods, then a Bride of Frankstein genre merger, designed to crack barriers and be an instant favorite to a wide audience. And after playing it, even with the occasional Beta problems, I can saftely say it will be a success, and a genre killer.

Because of Planetside's emmense cross genre popularity, many a game will pale in comparison for some time to come. Not to say that not all gaming fans will flock to it, and its safe to assume that many multiplayer games will thrive in the coming years. However, Planetside will be a dominant force on the gaming market, with its First Person Action, on a massive world bending scale.

Or as Doc Brown says at the end of Back to the Future I, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."