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[jay-ell]

Finster's Head was probably the single thing, thinking back, that (for me) made Wasteland super fuck*ng great as opposed to just super great. I am a stone cold sucker for that Reed Richards psychonaut stuff.

Preach it.

My sowwy widdle macros never got any more complicated than trying to revive comatose characters or break down doors.

Oh, dude.  See, our copy was totally pirated, so we didn't have the paragraph book or the manual or anything (although we beat the game anyway, somehow).  We didn't even know about macros the first time thru.  Once we found out, tho, we made one for every important skill.  Lockpick, perception, doctor -- you name it.  And it certainly helps with the night terror.  

N/A/Y/<ENTER> N/A/Y/<ENTER> N/A/Y/<ENTER> ETC ETC

At one point, I had intended to put the Night Terror onto a t-shirt, with the words Darwin = Proteus underneath in that Ladybird children's primer font.

I would totally buy that t-shirt.  

TWO CHILDHOODS WELL-SPENT RIGHT HERE

The best part was, I spent my Wasteland days playing it with my brother, ten years my senior, whom I totally idolized.  There were few things we could do together and both enjoy -- I was too young to do the things he was interested in, and he was too old to care about ripping the heads off my Barbie dolls -- but computer games, Euchre, and hockey gave us enough common ground that now we're both unnaturally attached to those things.  We spent the most time playing Wasteland, and it turned me into what I am today -- the rare and elusive GamerGirl -- although I have to say that he plays very little these days, seeing as how he never really moved beyond the C64 in terms of technology.  

I wonder what ever happened to that old machine.  <sips bourbon, takes hit from Newport Light.>  I can't believe I used to play on that old thing.  Ah, well.  <Turn the page>

[AugustWest]

and it turned me into what I am today -- the rare and elusive GamerGirl

Proud to say that I am raising one.  Younger daughter and I interact best over joysticks.

[V-Adore]

I have always been a bit confused as to the precise implications of "gamer girl." Does it merely refer to video games, which I have never quite gotten into hardcore unless you count Angband variants? Or is there a clause that allows sufficient D&D concentrations to be acceptable? Sigh. How will I ever know how to classify and label myself?

In any event, this Wasteland thing sounds keen. I should play it.

[St_Zartan]

See, our copy was totally pirated, so we didn't have the paragraph book...

You really should seek out a copy of this and give it a read through. For one thing, I cannot possibly imagine playing without it; it contained things like PASSWORDS TO BASES and such. For another, the red herring paragraphs end up sketchily forming an alternate Wasteland story that is really quite (unsurprisingly) rad, in a "found document" sort of way.

I have always been a bit confused as to the precise implications of "gamer girl."

I just take it to mean a girl that is capable of enjoying gaming, where "gaming" unfortunately usually equals "games that are stereotypically the province of males". I'd say paper-and-pencil role-playing games totally count. I am quite proud of my gamer girl conversion rate; I have turned three successive disinterested girlfriends into video game addicts, wielding but a single weapon: Monster Rancher 2.

<sips bourbon, takes hit from Newport Light.>

And that, friends, is being alive with pleasure.

[CortJstr]

I have always been a bit confused as to the precise implications of "gamer girl."

I just take it to mean a girl that is capable of enjoying gaming, where "gaming" unfortunately usually equals "games that are stereotypically the province of males". I'd say paper-and-pencil role-playing games totally count. I am quite proud of my gamer girl conversion rate; I have turned three successive disinterested girlfriends into video game addicts, wielding but a single weapon: Monster Rancher 2.

I'll agree. Lots of 20-something guys blow all their money on PS2 games but they aren't really gamers in the same sense that a commuter is not a car-guy. True gamers inhabit a level of geekdom that would gladly embrace RPG's.

I'm not familiar with Monster Rancher 2 but I doubt it can compare the undebatable crossover awesomeness that is Super Mario Kart which buried the needle in the Replayabilitron.

[jay-ell]

I have always been a bit confused as to the precise implications of "gamer girl"...How will I ever know how to classify and label myself?

Yes, V, I agree with the others' definitions.  You're definitely one of us.  

In any event, this Wasteland thing sounds keen. I should play it.

Welcome to the fold, child.

You really should seek out a copy of this and give it a read through.

Oh, I have, since then.  In fact, you can get a copy here.  Even if you're not interested in playing the game, it might give you an idea of what it's all about.

I am quite proud of my gamer girl conversion rate; I have turned three successive disinterested girlfriends into video game addicts, wielding but a single weapon: Monster Rancher 2.

Pedro will claim the credit for converting me, but he forgets that I was a more hardcore gamer at eight than most people are at eighteen.  I just didn't have an up-to-date computer for many, many years.  (We went from a C64, purchased ca. 1985, to a Power Mac, purchased ca. 1995.  And we all know how macs are for games...)  But to hear PEDRO tell it, he's solely responsible for my geekiness.  He tells everyone, "I got my girlfriend interested in video games, and then I married her."  

I let him have his delusions.  It's the foundation of a happy marriage.  

I'll agree. Lots of 20-something guys blow all their money on PS2 games but they aren't really gamers in the same sense that a commuter is not a car-guy. True gamers inhabit a level of geekdom that would gladly embrace RPG's.

Yes, but what are the criteria, then?  It must not be platform-dependent (PC games), since RPGers are included.  It can't be the amount of time spent, since some eight-year-olds sit on their butts and play video games all summer.  It can't be the amount of money spent, unless you index it to the percentage of one's income one spends on electronic media.  What is that intangible quality that separates the men from the boys, as it were?  

My guess?  Intensity.  Hardcore gamers shout, scream, cry, laugh, and do the joystick dance* when playing, often to the point of ridicule by non-gamers.  Hardcore gamers back-up their savegames on CD.  Hardcore gamers will call in sick to work to beat that last level.  Hardcore gamers write long missives on message boards proclaiming their superiority over casual gamers.  

Hardcore gamers, my friends, buy expansion packs.  

*RPGers substitute twelve-sided die voodoo.

[St_Zartan]

I just didn't have an up-to-date computer for many, many years. (We went from a C64, purchased ca. 1985, to a Power Mac, purchased ca. 1995.

Essentially the same story here: I went directly from a late eighties (?) IBM PS/2 (special internal architecture means that you will never have a sound card ever) with a luxurious thirty megabytes of hard drive space to a Pentium 100 in late 1995. Now I can play X-Com with sound! And try out this "Doom" I keep hearing about! A-A-AND A "CD-ROM" DRIVE

This probably accounts for a lot in the development of my gaming aesthetic - you had to be hardcore about it, if you wanted any real satisfaction and / or closure. I could usually only really have like one or two games installed at a time. And installing games was all time-consuming and shit. And you couldn't backup save games. Since I was only really "into" one game at any given time, I spent a lot of time thinking about (read: obsessing on) it. MYSTERY: WHO SPRAY PAINTED "SLEEPER BASE" ON THE DOOR OF THE NEIGHBOR'S OLD CHICKEN COOP

Didn't mean I wasn't a choosy little fucker, though - I am pretty sure that the local Babbage's changed their return policy entirely on my account. Pfft. Like it was my fault that there were so many terrible Turbografx games. These days, I am absolutely spoiled for choice, what with MAME pretty much being exactly what computers were meant for and all.

OH AND ONE LAST THING



Yeah, that's right - scanned fresh this morning

[jay-ell]

Oooooh!  So...beautiful...

Ours was a cracked copy on four two-sided 4" disks -- back when floppies were, well, floppy.  With handwritten labels.  

I am envious of those who obtained their copies legitimately.  My dad didn't believe in computer games, so we were never allowed to buy them.  Wasteland was contraband on several levels!  

I think we made it through Wasteland because my brother had a friend at college with a photocopy of the paragraph book.  He got the really important codes, but we missed out on much of the awesomeness of the game that way.

[CortJstr]

My guess?  Intensity.  Hardcore gamers shout, scream, cry, laugh, and do the joystick dance* when playing, often to the point of ridicule by non-gamers.  Hardcore gamers back-up their savegames on CD.  Hardcore gamers will call in sick to work to beat that last level.  Hardcore gamers write long missives on message boards proclaiming their superiority over casual gamers.  

Hardcore gamers, my friends, buy expansion packs.  

*RPGers substitute twelve-sided die voodoo.

Hardcore gamers beta-test expansion packs. They know the cheat codes 2-days before they get the game. They participate in game-specific fora and have titles like "Deity." They're chatting about rumors for C&C 3 while C&C 2 is still in alpha testing. They mock those who would consider the "low-end" systems at Alienware. They remap the keyboard. They RTFM.  And I think this page speaks for itself.

[jough]

You had 4" disks?

I thought floppies only came in 5.25" and 3.5".  And of course those bizarre 8" floppies that go back to like, 1981.

[jay-ell]

Oh, yeah.  You're right.  I never was good with numbers...

Sorry.  Senior moment.

[Gimpson]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I lost Roast Beef, my best Anti-Tank guy to one of those Scorpfuckers.  

Well, at least he's with Molly now...

[pmcd9]

I think this page speaks for itself.

That link affected me much the same as when I accidentally stumbled into a fetish porn site.  I feel dirty and I need a shower.

~Paul

[CortJstr]

I think this page speaks for itself.

That link affected me much the same as when I accidentally stumbled into a fetish porn site.  I feel dirty and I need a shower.

~Paul

I want to know how corruption works but that shit is insane. Just tell me where to put my Forbidden Palace, dammit!