I was reminiscing about the old gaming days, the days when you had to log out of the Windows screen to play your favorite games. I remember having two versions of Oregon Trail . Everyone and their mom is familiar with the strategies about whether to caulk your wagon or pay the $3 to float the damn thing. I also remember playing the first Warcraft and how you built three farms to complete a mission and you couldn’t scroll around the screen because that was the entire map. I had other obscure games like Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and the Logical Journey of Zoombinis among my collection.
Logical Journey of Zoombinis was probably one of the best and most addicting games I had played as a kid. Some of the mystique was because my mom promised me that she would give me something awesome if I finished it. I remember our old computer getting swapped for a better one but when I had tried to play my game, I couldn’t because the computer specs were too high. Since then, there have been many restless nights where I had dreamed of getting this fantastical prize. Not too long ago, I asked my mom what I would have won had I finished the game. My mom had no clue and dismissed this as something trivial but to me, it had meant a lot. A little bit of hope died that day.
I also played games that required some minute level of skill or effort like Mario’s Teaches Typing. I remember playing online games like chess on my now non-existent AOL account. I soon evolved to playing Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne and games like Command and Conquer but my dell died and I switched to a mac. I now mainly play online strategy/action/adventure flash games. Every so often, though, I long for the old days, my old PC gaming days and I pray that my old outdated games are being made into iphone apps so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I did.
Crackweasel Strikes Again 