My first video game system was the PlayStation 2 when I was in my late 20's. Ok, technically our family had the very first Pong game, but I am not counting that, because I am either spiteful or indignant this evening.
I yearned for an Atari system, I would figure way to get myself invited over to neighbor kids house to play. Two problems with this situation. First, they were pretty bored with Atari games after playing the games for 19,000 hours so by the time I would get invited into the house they were not really into working the seven or eight steps it took to get the game up and running. Second, if we did play, we would play games against each other and with the number of hours of getting beat by their older brothers built up enough rage that they took this out on me trying to figure out how to even hold the joystick.
Anyway, somewhere I was trying to get to a point about not having a vast knowledge of video games. Knowing I buy just a few video games a year. I just get absorbed into them and enjoy them until they about wear out. For many of serial games like Madden and such, there is very little about them that gets upgraded beyond the rosters very often, that I don't bother updating. (Still playing Madden 08 on Xbox). Like many people that are considering spending the money, I like to know about new games and whether I can justify in my mind shelling about $50 for a game. I have been intrigued for years with the PC based game Civilization. The turn-based strategy game has been around for several versions and it's most recent reviews with the release Civilization 5 finally got me to do something about it. One of the issues with many of the reviews is they are based on people that have played it before, the majority of the readers, I would reckon. However, without having played the previous versions I was not sure if it was worth getting. I am glad I did.
The game is based on starting with very few characters and building a vast empire by building cities up, expanding and exploring new territory, making decisions about what kind of empire you want to develop. If you spend time on only building a military empire, you suffer in the long run by having ignored cultural, economic, and scientific advancement. The same goes with any of those factors. You move through the game one turn at time, determining what each city you develop with build, such as schools or temples,etc. As you wait for the city to build, you direct people to explore the new world, you send workers out to build farms and roads. The problem comes with having to remember to go to bed in evening. Every turn is a new decision and your opponents make decisions too, that impact the decisions you made. It is sooooo hard to stop playing. I have already lost many hours to this game and am looking forward to many more.
Games are so much more interactive with being able to play online. Also, games like these are very advanced and I no longer yearn for the Atari system that all my friend owned. Sure, I still would not mind a few rounds of Combat, but it would have to be with modern controllers. Just simple pure fun.
