What is the best computer game ever?

[rockymountaindem]

My votes are:

1) The "Oregon Trail" one and two. After that they blew it, but one and two were both educational, fun, and allowed me to indulge my wild west fantasies as a kid.

2) "Wing Commander IV". Anyone who has played that will know why it's on here. Good gameplay, and an epic storyline that the player could control. The last 4 missions were mind-blowers.

3) "Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II". This is here for the same reasons as Wing Commander IV, but WCIV was better.

What are your picks?

Edited to add runners up:

"Sim City and Sim Farm". Sim Farm is less well known, but I loved it so. I read an excerpt from the manual on legumes one day in 4th grade as my "read aloud crowd" selection for that week.

"Call of Duty". Kind of a software homage to the warriors (and yes, that's an o-mage, not a hom-age)

[arcos]

1. SimCity...

Especially the latest version.

I have to admit I still play Digger regularly... I don't know if anyone remembers it, but it came out on 1983. It is basically Pac Man on stereoids. :P

[lenidog]

3. Do you mean Dig Dug?

Because if you do then I am right there with you. Have you seen the games they have out for sale yet. Basically as its been describe to me its an old Atari style joytick which has cords coming out of it that you plug into the TV. It then has usually a dozen to two dozen of the old classics like Pac Man, Donkey Kong etc. From what I understand they run about 20 to 30 bucks.

[arcos]

5. hrmm, not sure... you can download it for free

www.digger.org

It is basically the same old DOS game, but compiled for for recent versions of Windows.

[lenidog]

9. Looks like it was a knockoff of Dig Dug

which was an arcade game originally.

[arcos]

31. oh, interesting...

I didn't know Dig Dug, but really loved Digger. And a few days ago I found this version so I've been playing for hours

[ghostsofgiants]

58. I loved Digger when I was a kid!

Awesome, thanks for that link!

[countmyvote4real]

40. I love SC. It is my all time favorite.

However, I must acknowledge some old time vices:
Quebert and Burger Time.

[Hershman]

2. Half Life and Half Life 2

The. Two. Best. Games. Ever.

Story is solid, graphics are awesome (on HL2 especially). And the Nerd-As-Hero thing just rocks.

[Ready4Change]

27. Agree on Half Life. Haven't played 2.

My current machine isn't up to HL2 snuff. But the Original Half Life was really cool. Good story, good game play, creative challenges. All around good stuff.

[jayctravis]

49. Half Life 2 owned me over the course of 2 weeks.

I didn't play constantly but it had the same effect as a good book that you can't stop reading. Every time a sequence feels like it's too long, something so amazing and incredible happens that you have to plow right back in. The huge cross-country trek in the dune-buggy could have been its own game. And Ravenholm, where suddenly you find yourself in a horror movie over the course of one night is certainly worth the price of admission.

[tridim]

4. M.U.L.E.

Without a split second of doubt.

[Deja Q]

30. Planet Irata, one of my favorites in the galaxy!

:thumbsup:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

72. Wow. I haven't thought of that game in years.

But I absolutely loved it.

[Randi_Listener]

6. SmashTV and fucking Half-Life 2

[ProgressiveConn]

7. Meridian 59 & Civilization III tie for Gold.

Best two PC/console games I've ever played.

Probably the replay value that puts them over the top. =)

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. SPACE INVADERS!!! I was addicted to that game.

Man, that was a blast in it's day. :hippie:

[lenidog]

13. I got addicted to Defender due to a glitch in the game

When I was a kid the local K-Mart had an arcade and one of the games there was Defender. Somwhere along the way the game got busted. So all you had to do was to put a quarter in when the first opened in the morning and when they closed in the evening you could still be playing. You never ran out of men. So all the local kids caught on and would play this game endlessly. This went on for a year before they closed the arcade.

[VelvetMonkeyWrench]

10. Old School stuff

On the PC? Rogue or its newer analog NetHack
Arcade? Asteroids, BattleZone

That goofy simple minded "Frozen Bubble" game that comes with some Linux distros is strangely addictive for me too.

[frylock]

11. grand prix legends..

released in 1998, it set the standard for racing simulators with its incredibly realistic physics engine. This game is over seven years old, and is still as popular as when it debuted. There is an active community that continues to release graphic improvements, and even complete modifications like the recently released Legends of '65.

[LSdemocrat]

12. There was an Oregon Trail 2? Why was I not informed?

[rockymountaindem]

16. It was fantastic.

The characters talked, the map was expansive, there were interactive forts and hundreds of landmarks. You could also go to California, Salt Lake City and southern Oregon. Everything was awesome.

[LSdemocrat]

21. What system was it made for?

[rockymountaindem]

25. PC

There may have been a Mac version.

[Rapcw]

14. America's Army

lol n/t

[amjucsc]

15. Some great games that most people have probably forgotten about...

The original Master of Orion (to hell with micromanagement... Just build yourself a kickass fleet with a couple of thousand ships... And try not to be buried alive by the computer on the higher difficulty levels...)

Dark Forces (I've heard that someone is creating an updated version of it as a series of add on levels for JK 2)

X-Wing

[slutticus]

17. PONG!

[Mojambo]

18. Tough to answer

Here are my favorites by Genre...

Sports - High Heat Baseball 2001

FPS - Half-Life

RPG - Pre-1990, it's Wasteland. Modern era, it's Knights of the Old Republic (although Wizardry 8 deserves honorable mention)

Turn Based Strategy - Civilization 2

Realtime Strategy - Command and Conquer: Red Alert (the only RTS I've ever played all the way through)

Puzzle game - Bookworm (immensely addictive game)

[njdemocrat106]

19. I've only played Oregon Trail 1 out of the ones on your list

And it was the Apple IIc version that I owned. A few of my favorite PC games include Crisis in the Kremlin, Perry Mason and the Case of the Mandarin Murder, BioMenace (remember Apogee Software?), and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. I'm probably forgetting a few, too.

[lenidog]

20. Does anyone remember the old RPGs

games from the beginning of the PC era? Basically there was no graphics and it told you the story and then you would type in a command and your person would go and do it and then it would tell you what happened or what you were seeing. One company made these games and it was where the game Zork (?) had its start and they also had the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as one of the titles.

[Mojambo]

26. Infocom was the company

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/

[lenidog]

33. OMG!!

Thank You!!! That brings back a lot of fond memories.

[jayctravis]

51. If you like RPG...

and don't mind a lot of reading, the pinnacle of the genre is a game called Planescape:Torment. You can find it in bargain bins still today, often in a bundle with another inferior game.

It involves the afterlife of someone who only remembers glimpses of what came before who wakes up in the mortuary where corpses are harvested and sold by shadowy figures by the wagonload.

[Frozen Hamster]

66. Yes, definitely try Planescape

It's a great game, very cerebral and philosophical, which is probably why it didn´t get the recognition that it deserved

[Swamp Rat]

22. OIDS

Works in Apple UNIX now! (OIDS X) :)

http://www.xavagus.com/

[yourout]

36. Astroids, Donkey Kong,

New games are way to complicated.

[amjucsc]

23. And some games people might actually know about...

Combat Mission (quite possibly the best war game ever)
Falcon 4.0 (If you got past the bugginess and the fact that it could melt your computer, it's one of the most realistic and intense computer games ever)
Starcraft
Civ II
MOO II

[MrModerate]

24. No question: the Civilization series and Civ III in particular

For playability, replayability, the "god factor," etc., etc.

Disclaimer -- I don't enjoy shoot-'em-ups or other wrist exercises, so I can't reliably judge that category.

[Blue_Tires]

28. 1. Doom, 2. X-Wing

[Hatalles]

60. To be completely honest...

Doom isn't seen as the greatest FPS of all time anymore -- Half-Life would take the cake here.

Regarding X-Wing -- I actually think Tie-Fighter CD is a far superior game, it was actually voted Best PC Game of All Time by PC Gamer a few years back.

[DS1]

70. Agreed on Tie-Fighter v X-Wing, but Half-Life sucked ass

[Jack_DeLeon]

29. Fallout 2

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. I like the old Talonsoft series of games entitled....

...East Front, West Front, Napoleon in Russia, Waterloo, Prelude to Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Antietam.

They were excellent for teaching what the conditions were like back when those battles actually took place. You had to learn something about the strategy and tactics of each era so that you could hold your own.

[Ready4Change]

34. My pics

1. FPS: Half Life. Original, good gameplay, good storyline, creative yet not unbeatable challenges.

2. RTS: Homeworld, Homeworld Cataclysm. With a tutorial that should be an example to all would be game makers, this games interface is just beautiful. Seemless and transparent. The graphics bring capital starship combat to life. And Cataclysm has the one and only moment in my computer game experience that sent shivers of horror racing up and down my spine. (The first encounter with the Beast. What the Hell? Is the crew of that ship screaming?)

3. Multiplayer Simulation: Air Warrior. Now long dead. It was online and massively multiplayer before anyone else had any clue what that could even mean. I recently heard players talking about how amazing it was that 64 people could play some FPS, when I recall twice that many every weeknight twisting their WW2 fighters in the air. TEN YEARS AGO. Kids.

[lenidog]

35. My pick and it would be a personal one

suited to my own tastes in games would have to be Microsoft's "Close Combat Series."

[rockymountaindem]

37. I've only played close combat III: The Russian Front.

It was and is really good.

[lenidog]

42. My favorite is a Bridge Too Far

The Battle of the Bulge and D Day went slightly downhill. They changed how you pick your units. Instead of picking them one by one as in the earlier games you have to pick them by battle groups. So you lose a lot of versatility and a lot of options that you would have had before. They also took away that anti-tank capability that the German infantry squads had in the earlier games. Before every squad had at least one panzefaust so every squad had at least some protection from armor. Now they are as helpless as the Allied squads. Which they weren't in real life. But besides those little screwups they are still as much fun as the earlier ones.

[TOhioLiberal]

38. Sims...

I love the sim based games such as Simcity, SimEarth, and the 'flagship' games: The Sims and its many expansion packs, and the Sims 2 (my current obsession).

[uberotto]

39. Leasure Suit Larry...

Versions 1 thru 6.

[slay]

41. Diablo II

Best/most addictive game ever. :)

[foxy]

46. Completely agree n/t

[BlackVelvetElvis]

47. Diablo II is the best ever.

Even if I know every square foot of ground from each act, I can still get all caught up in trying to collect magic/rare/unique items and gambling with the merchant for something really good. Not to mention what crafted items I can make with the Cube.

[0rganism]

55. definite candidate for most addictive, not so sure about best...

Something about Diablo (I or II) makes me feel cheap, dirty, used, like I've been turned into a crack whore by my mouse... the longer I play the worse it gets.

[progressor]

68. That's why I quit.

;)

[democracyindanger]

43. Ultima

[skids]

44. Ghod you guys are so softcore :-)

You show your age when you assume "video game" means arcade.

Favorite old-school games:
Centipede/Millipede
Spy Hunter
Space Harrier
Noone can deny Tetris was a landmark.

Favorite PC networked FPS:
Unreal Tournament (up to but not including the latest version)
Tribes 2

But by far the best "video games" are home console games.

And the best of these (as long as you aren't too young to play them) is whatever the latest version of Grand Theft Auto happens to be at any given time. Problem with calling it the "best of all time", is that the next one comes out, and blows the last one away.

There really is no competition, because they have so many embedded minigames. San Andreas isn't just a gang war, it can be used as all of the following: racing (many different vehicle types and game formats), BMX stunts, gambling, older classic console games, shooting range, flight simulator, DDR (yuk!), and hell even the people who
just like to "play dress up" can get a laugh by working the wardrobe.

[walldude]

45. So many to choose from..

it's hard to pick a favorite.
My Favorite Arcade Games Were Missle Command, Robotron and Galaga.
Old School PC I liked the Monkey Island Games, Sam & Max, Duke Nukem 3D. Some of the old Sierra Adventures, The Kyrandia series, X-wing, Hitchhikers Guide, Eric The Unready...
New PC. Jedi Knight II, Deus Ex, Half Life, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and Raven Shield for multiplayer...

[jayctravis]

48. Several of mine.

System Shock 1 & 2. Shodan is the best game nemesis ever. Part 2 I could only play in small doses at times because the sense of dread was nearly overpowering.
Half Life 1 & 2. 2 is nearly perfect.
Nearly any adventure by Lucasarts.
Most Infocom text games, standouts are Trinity and A Mind Forever Voyaging.
Uru (expert class situational puzzles, make sure to play with the expansions, for one of the most existential game-moments ever.)
Zuma (addictive action/puzzle in the vein of Tetris)
The Sims 1 & 2. Actually will make you break down the events in your real life and think of them in the same way as the game does.

[Floogeldy]

50. Lemmings

B-)

[0rganism]

52. I'm still pulling for Fallout 3, myself

The Fallout series, and the Wasteland game from whence it hailed, are looking less like fiction and more like survival training by the day.

Between that and Starcraft and MOO2, my bases are pretty well covered.

[CanuckAmok]

53. Simpsons Hit & Run, Burger Time, Carmageddon II.

All are amazing for wasting days of my life.

[zelda7743]

54. Not a computer game, but....

ToeJam and Earl kicked ass! God damn nerd herd...

[Catholic Sensation]

56. by genre

RPG: The first Knights of the Old Republic
Sports: Fifa 2005
MMORPG: Ragnarok Online, though from the five minutes of WoW, it could be a tie...
FPS: Quake 3 Arena
RTS: Age of Empires

[ghostsofgiants]

57. Far Cry is pretty cool

And Doom 3 is the last game I was really hooked on.

But for games in general, the Silent Hill series is my all-time favourite.

[flvegan]

76. I love Far Cry.

I've been stuck in one spot for almost 3 days, but I still love it.

[ArmchairActivist]

59. One poster has the correct answer...

... and that answer is nethack.

Many good and fun games were mentioned. Great ones, classics even. But there can be only one.

www.nethack.org

-AA

[Nile]

61. Kings Quest

Played every one of the series. Wish Sierra would come out with another one.

[Hatalles]

62. If I MUST name ONLY one...

It would be Half-Life 2 and *not* because it's still fresh in my mind and relatively new but because it improved upon all the qualities that made the original Half-Life great (including mod support) but also because it added an entire new dimension to the game -- the amazing physics engine. My only problem with HL2 was with the sub-par storyline. I'm very demanding when it comes to story yet HL2 was still able to 'wow' me over enough that I'd choose it as the greatest PC game of all time.

Some other notables (in no particular order):

Tie Fighter CD
Age of Empires
Sim City 2000
Mafia
The Longest Journey
Warcraft II
The Sims

And the best of classic LucasArts adventures:
Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle
Grim Fandango
Sam and Max: Hit the Road
The Secret of Monkey Island
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

On EDIT, I'll add this:

The first MMORPG to get it right (I'm not sure if it has come along yet, but a lot of people have been saying World of Warcraft has been able to pull it off -- I won't add it to the list however -- I've yet to give it a try).

[Huckebein the Raven]

63. For me it's

1.) Sim City

2.) Starcraft

3.) Grand Theft Auto

[Kellanved]

64. Hmm

1. Transport Tycoon
2. The Settlers II
3. Tie Figher


Runner ups:
Sacrifice, Terra Nova, Archimedian Dynasty

Honorable Mentions:
The Monkey Island Series, Elite, Morrowind, Gothic, Ultima Underworld II

[seg4527]

65. Civilization III, it's the reason i'm still awake at 4.30 am right now

nt

[kick-ass-bob]

71. I stayed up till 3 playing that...

and had to go to work in the morning. I was supposed to wake up at 6...
(didn't happen)

:spank:

[Discord]

73. LOVED that game!

That would definately make my top 3.

Don't know if we are including MMORPG's in this as well, but if so I would pick EverQuest as one of my picks.

Also the SimMultiPack had a bunch of great games in it. Always liked the Sim series of games.

[Swamp Rat]

67. OIDS

Asteroids type game for Apple UNIX.

Xavagus.com

[ladeuxiemevoiture]

69. Doom, Quake, TombRaider Series

The Pandora Directive, Myst, Resident Evil, Starstruck

[Akoto]

74. Legends of Kesmai

An old, online tile-based MMORPG. I've yet to find another online game that's quite as fun. I miss it so. :(

Currently, I'm playing World of Warcraft and like it a lot. Some of my favorite offline games are the Ultima series, the Civilization series, the Avernum series, Morrowind, the Sims, and the Baldur's Gate series.

[Dastard Stepchild]

75. I really liked Duke Nukem

haven't played that in ages tho...

[Moms Baby Democrat]

77. I have a few too

Sanitarium (Awesome game, never got tired of it)

Oregon Trail 1 & 2 also (being a kid playing this was heaven back in the day)

Kings Quest - They do still make them like this, adventuregamestudio.co.uk has tons of cool freeware adventure games, and you can make your own!!!

The Reality On The Norm Series, very funny, wish they'd make more!

I'm sure I'm missing a few but those are off the top of my head