An entire generation of videogaming has passed me by. The last time I was into videogames was round about the time that Atari came out with its supercrappy home version of "Pac-Man." I was a big fan of Atari's "Missile Command" and "Warlords," but after that got boring, I quit fooling around with videogames, and completely missed the Nintendo/PlayStation revolution. Which is fine by me: there aren't enough hours in the day to read what I want to read, much less play video games.
But reading Vic Matus's story about the joys of "Civilization" makes me want to leave the office this morning, go straight to the Apple store, and buy the latest version (I'm hoping that this is not a PlayStation/Nintendo thing, but that you can buy it for Apple; I suppose I'll find out as soon as I post this blog, and check it out online). One of the constant disappointments I've had since leaving college has been the impossibility of finding a group of people to play "Diplomacy" with (do they make a computer version of "Diplomacy" that one person can play?). This is not "Diplomacy," really, but it sounds like it's got similar strategic challenges. Any readers here fans of "Civilization"? If so, talk about it.
UPDATE: Oh Mac-happy day!
"Civilization" and its contents
Friday February 23, 2007
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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My husband is a devotee of the Civilization games. I speak for him here when I assert that Civ 3 is superior to Civ 4. Why? Well, I have to admit that I tuned out on his explanations. I do see, however, that on the one or two evenings per week when he plays Civ for an hour or so, he acts much less like an 'addict' than I did when the Sims first came out. I played Sims for 5-6 hours a day, for probably five months, got bored with it and have never played since. Civ seems to me (from a couch-distance away) to be a more 'educational' game. Anyone want to comment on the game "Black and White"? My husband played it voraciously for awhile also, but it didn't have the staying power of Civ- for him, anyway.
Allow me to add my 2 cents - Sid Meier's Civilization series is one of the most engaging gaming experiences available. Time suck? Oh yeah. Worth it? Depends on what else you have goin on in your world. Your plate seems pretty full, Rod, so it's probably best you stay away. That being said, if you're ever in Grand Forks, ND - look me up, I'll let you come over so you can demo it. Bring Doritos.
My attention span for video games is typically about an hour. Then I feel like I need to go do something real. However, should any of you want to get a game of Diplomacy going, I'll book a flight. Mark
Civ IV was cool. I once gave the computer opponents a run for its money when I managed my civ as a theocratic christian communist vassal state with representative government. Alas, Civ games become to monotonously involved; afterall it is a turn based strategy. Rod and his kid would really like Microsofts 'Age of Mythology'. Yep, real-time strategy is where its at... if not for just the shorter, quicker games.
Avoid Civ! But Civ4 is best, and the site www.civfanatics.com is the best place for suggestions and getting questions answered.
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