I hit up Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2012 this year and am still surprised to see these video retrospectives come out so far afterward. That said, this is a good video overview of the event as it was back in the summer.

I am planning on hitting up the next PRGE and am working out a fun collab between Cheerful Ghost and Watch out for Fireballs. No promises, but if it works out, it could be fun.

I got this gift from some of my friends this Christmas. So awesome to have Spright as a little plushie toy!

http://play-dune.com/

Some consider Dune 2 to be one of the first, if not the first Real Time Strategy game. Some righteous soul has taken it on to see this classic playable in your browser.

To accomplish this awe-tastic goal they nabbed the source from the Open Dune project and used emscripten to convert the Open Dune C source to JavaScript to bring the browser love. Now if the same could be done for Warcraft: Orcs and Humans!

http://play-dune.com/
https://github.com/OpenDUNE/OpenDUNE
https://github.com/kripken/emscripten/

Fun video illustrating some highlights of this year in games. No Borderlands 2 or The Walking Dead jokes?

"MMEEEEEEEHHHHHH!"

Recently I wrote about a classic game I love called Spaceward Ho! You can read my thoughts about the game here:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/853

For quite some time I have been wanting to do an interview with the developers responsible for such an amazing classic. As luck would have it, I was able to talk to Peter Commons the original developer of Spaceward Ho! I found it awesome to be able to bat around questions with Peter about a game so close to my gamer DNA. If you are not familiar with Spaceward Ho! it is available now on the iPad, iPhone and Mac.

jdodson: Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to answer my questions today. Spaceward Ho! is one of the coolest games I remember from my childhood. I played it for the first time at my friends house and being in awe at how cool it was as I tried to conquer the universe. Thank you for being part of such a classically awesome game!

You were the developer of Spaceward Ho! and as such I wonder if you could describe how you fit into the project and what your duties were?

Peter: I was the programmer for the first 5 versions of the game for the Mac. I of course contributed lots of ideas for the game as well and even am the source of a couple of the original sounds like "Let's get outta here!" Joe Williams was the primary designer. Howard Vives did the graphics. And Mark Madeley most of the sounds.

jdodson: Delta Tao Software were the publishers of Spaceward Ho! How did you first meet up with them and Joe Williams?

Peter: A friend of mine was interested in their first paint program, Color MacCheese, and brought me along to meet them as they lived in Sunnyvale, not far from where we lived.

jdodson: About how long did it take from you being introduced to the project to you guys shipping the final version?

Peter: About 6-9 months, if I recall. It was a long time ago - 1990, to be exact.

jdodson: After the game launched was there anything that your remember or were surprised with from peoples reactions to the game?

Peter: One of the most fun parts about "The Ho!" as we called it that I didn't expect was it's strong appeal as a multi-player game. Back then, multi-player was hard to set up. The original Ho! relied on a common AppleShare file server (it actually traded info by writing to different parts of a shared file - this was a much more guaranteed and easy-to-set up option than trying to get computers directly networked at the time). People would bring their Macs over and we'd set up a network of them at someone's house - I remember many "Ho! Downs" as we called them that had more than a dozen people (Ho! allowed up to 20 shared players in the original versions).

jdodson: Spaceward Ho! was released in 1990 and still lives on most recently being ported to the iPhone and iPad. I wonder how you look back at the game now having such a long lifespan?

Peter: It's pretty cool, to be honest. Joe used to always say that if it's a good game, it doesn't have to have the best graphics or anything else. Clearly Spaceward Ho! has passed the test of time to prove it's just fun to play.

jdodson: It's interesting that you say that because Spaceward Ho! has some of the most memorable graphics and sound from most games I played at the time. I really liked the way the ships change as you improvedthem and thought the planets always looked totally awesome. Playing it now on the iPhone with a Retina screen I see some artifacts but I still love the graphics. Its like coming back to a classic book, they still work very well.

Peter: Point taken - we tried to make the graphics and sounds cool, but we didn't have a studio creating them nor were they at the cutting edge in terms of use of the best rendering technologies (e.g. 3D) of the time. Just like the game, we tried to make it simple, yet elegant. Building on my previous comments, simple and elegant and functional and fun - just enough to make it good. (And yes, I love the graphics and the sounds, too to be clear).

jdodson: How involved are you with the more recent ports of Spaceward Ho?

Peter: I provided the source code, asked lots of clarifying quesitons ("what the heck does this line of code do?"), and helped beta test/suggest improvements.

jdodson: Another game that was around at the time of Spaceward Ho! was the old BBS Door game Tradewars. Was there anything that inspired Spaceward Ho! from the Tradewars itself? As a child they seemed like different takes on how to take over the universe yet I loved both. I guess I had an affinity for Galactic rule from a young age.

Peter: There were lots of similar games - Tradewars, Masters of Orion, and others. Other than setting it in space, which suggested certain commonalities with other space games, we didn't use any other game as a basis, no.

jdodson: One thing I love about Spaceward Ho! is its simplicity. The game allows you to dominate the entire universe and you accomplish that goal with very simple game mechanics. I wonder what you removed from early versions of the game to pair it down to what we have now?

Peter: From the very beginning, we had the mantra "sacrifice realism at every turn for a good game" - this meant that we didn't have a lot in there extra ever because we tried to keep it simple from day one. Money, for example, is the "renewable" resource and metal the "non-renewable" one. Unless something felt like it added new value (a different strategic dimension), we kept it out from the beginning.

Peter: As far as changes from v1, there were some additions over time where we saw a need for something extra:
- armageddon and biologicals to help eliminate stalemates later in games when everyone is out of metal but not dead
- tankers to save stranded ships without requiring you to send a whole colony ship there
- satellites IIRC weren't in v1 (or maybe just early beta versions - can't remember)
- radical tech as a whole came later
- so did the idea of savings
- and the various levels of starting planet (outpost - abundant)

jdodson: The game I remember always had Satellites but I wasn't sure what that version I first played was. Good thing they were present too, I find them integral to a good strategy. Its interesting because I notice the new types of ships added in the iPhone version with Dreadnauts & Tankers. It's interesting because I see why they were added but so far have stuck to the Fighters, Colony Ships, Scouts & Satellites. I am looking forward to trying out the new ships in some future games but I have been making smaller galaxies and "trying" to win in 20 minutes or less. Keeping to a simple formula helps :D I think my best time at this point is 45 minutes as I still like to take my time :D

Peter: A ship parked around a planet is a satellite; it just costs more :-)
There were no new items added to the iPhone version - everything (including dreadnaughts and tankers) started in a previous version. DNs are fun but dangerous to use - great until you see one wiped out and all the metal gone in one fell swoop!

Peter:The other thing we did was to simplify the money mechanics. For example, in early versions, the sliders for the planets had a bar which was the "minimum spend" required to keep the planet afloat. When you dragged the sliders for each planet, you had to make sure the bars stayed above the lines - leaving it below the line was the way to abandon the planet. But it was a pain to keep all those bars to the right when you were in fast expansion mode. So we changed it later such that the "min spend" was at the left edge (0) and you had the "abandon planet" option in a menu.

jdodson: What was the most challenging part about working on Spaceward Ho?

Peter: Most definitely the AI. I spend probably half my time creating the AI across multiple versions.

jdodson: Spaceward Ho! was one of the first games I remember having awesome sound effects for a computer game beyond the garbled beeping of a PC speaker. Hearing that "YAAAH" sound effect as you direct your ship blew me away! I wonder what feature you are particularly proud of that comes to mind?

Peter: The sounds were great - I was in a singing group in college @ Stanford called "Mixed Company" and one of the guys in the group named Mark Madeley was awesome at sound effects (and from Texas) so he was the obvious choice to ask to do most of the sounds.

Peter: I also loved the planet themes and the graphics and their style (done by Howard Vives).

jdodson: The planet art is fantastic. I really tried hard to terraform my planets part in to see how beautiful they could all look and get a "sea of blue planets". Its a form of incentive to the player to provide awesome art for the highest form of terraformed planet. Plus seeing the holiday themed planet hats is always awesome :D

Peter: :-) We loved doing easter eggs. Have you ever played on any birthdays?

Peter: Personally, I was proud of:

- the dragging of ship paths - always felt really clean and fun
- the AI, as noted above. Not sure if you know this, but Spaceward Ho! doesn't ever cheat - many games make themselves "hard" by giving the computer faster production/cheaper ships, etc. This is not true. The best computers may start out with the best options (e.g. abundant planets), but they never get anything you as a player can't also have.

jdodson:I think this made Spaceward Ho! challenging but never impossible. At a young age if I sort of applied myself, I could often win. Choking out a player or starving them of metal was a viable strategy and it makes sense why because if the computer cheated that wouldn't be possible.

jdodson:Thank you for making the AI not cheat, it wasn't popular to do that at the time and just now companies like Blizzard are doing it in games like Starcraft 2. Its odd as its a pretty big feature they tout that Ho! had back in 90!

Peter: :-)

jdodson: I was always curious how the undefended Planet mechanic worked. How does the attack and defense of the Planet scale VS an attacking force?

Peter: They get one shock per 50,000 inhabitants at your current weapon tech level, IIRC.

jdodson: So if you attacked a planet with 500,000 inhabitants with one fighter the planet would "shoot first" with 10 shots? Sorry, I am slow and must work this out with words until I understand it. :D

Peter: Yeah

jdodson: I was wondering though why the choice was made to not be able to terraform the "rock" planets even if it took forever? I remember as a kid trying to do this and kept sinking money into it like I could do it even if the game said it wasn't possible :D

Peter: This is still one of those either/or things to make strategic interest. You are aware that each race has a different opinion of what perfect gravity and temperature are?

jdodson: I was not aware of that.

Peter: Yeah - absolute ranges for planets go from .5 to 4.0 but "perfect gravity" for each race is between 1.0 and 2.0 - thus all players will have an equal (based on luck at least) percentage of planets in the good (.5 of perfect to 2.0 of perfect) range.

jdodson: I recently played a Spaceward Ho! game a few days ago where my starting planet was called Hobbiton. Over the years I have seen Yavin and other names I recognize from geekdom. Since I am a programmer BUT can't troll the game source I was wondering if the game picks planet names from a static list only or is it from a part static and procedurally generated list?

Peter: It's a static list that we populated with every name we could think of, from every star name to geekdom references - as long as it was not too long. The old Mac versions also let you name a planet if you won, which it would then throw into the list to pick randomly from going forward.

jdodson: What strategy do you use to conquer the universe on the highest difficulty? I am curious because find the game quite challening and havent been able to crack it playing at the highest IQ setting yet.

Peter: The hardest computers attack hard and fast and as noted above start with the maximum planetary benefits. They're also very good at leveraging all the info they have (legally acquired) of your tech levels and ship locations. Until you get far ahead in tech and/or metal/ships, you need to keep the computer guessing about what you have and where you have it. Never let the computer have an easy win where the computer gets lots of metal. And, FYI, Joe's better than I am. I've never been able to defeat multiple of the smartest computer players (although I can pretty easily 1:1).

jdodson: That makes sense, thanks for the tip. I will try to integrate that with my current strategy which is quick expand out and try to not accumulate too many planets that will never be terraformed or if I do, mine them as quick as I can. I have been realizing if I get out to too many unsustainable planets too quickly the metal yield is good but the constant cash drain is not sustainable.

Peter: Yes, it's as much a game of economy as it is ship power.

jdodson: Has there been any talk or movement on Spaceward Ho! 2?

Peter: Well the last Mac version (launched around 2000) was v5. As for the iOS versions, I know Ariton is looking at newer graphics, multiplayer, and other options, which I guess could be considered 2.0. Although note, even from v1-v5, we never really changed the game - we added things that made it easier to do what people already were doing (e.g. tanker to refuel an attack fleet vs. using a colony ship but abandoning each colony as you went) and we did plenty of things to make it look nicer (e.g. rotating planets in v3 or net server in v5), but rarely added much to change the core game play.

I marked this post with spoilers because I want to talk a bit about the plot. For yall that have played before, chime in with if the game was different for you in some way.

I am continuing my current game as an Elf Mage.

After the Mage Origin story I was tossed into the King's warcamp as they were assembling against the Blight. Basically some people in my world were corrupted somehow and became "The Blight". The good guys have to rise up every so often and beat back The Blight and now seems to be the time yet again. The Blight minions kind of look like Orcs from Lord of the Rings so nothing really scary or new in the way of the game antagonists.

One thing I have noticed about DAO is that they seem to be kill off characters quickly. Already I have met a few interesting characters and the murdered them before my eyes. After a huge battle where the King and his Army were double crossed all that was left in my party was myself and a Grey Warden fighter. I blacked out after the battle and awoke in an old Witches house I had met earlier in the game.

I kind of liked that they sort of "reset the game" at the Witches house because it stripped the game away of an uninteresting King and the notion of fighting for some kind of country I had no association with. I also like that the odds are stacked entirely against us. Right now I am a rather low level Mage in a world crawling with a ton of Blight minions. So it was a good way to sort of clear away the cruft that RPG games seem to accumulate in terms of really generic and uninteresting plots. Clear it away in that now all those uninteresting characters and tropes are now dead. Fun.

I really like the in game dialog. At first I was annoyted because the game the seemed so chatty. Annoyed until I sort of broke through to an understanding about it. I can shape my characters relationship with others through my choices. At least it seems like I can. If I am pity, the other characters react to that. If I am too nice sometimes they question that. If I am a jerk they call me out on that. Its interesting to play a game where those kinds of things actually matter.

In this episode one of the Game Shop Employees makes a VIDEO GAME!

It has been way too long since the last community interview with @panickedthumb so apologies to all about that. The lull till the next community interview won't be as long. For all of you that didn't know, Tungsten did the current incarnation of the Cheerful Ghost logo for the site from its very early form as well as being a site moderator. I really enjoyed tossing around game related questions with him quite a bit.

jdodson: What is the last game you picked up? What do you think about it?

Tungsten: Money has been tight, so it's been a while since I picked up a AAA title. Instead, I've been delving into F2P. I just started on Planetside2, and I'm really enjoying it. Other than that, I'm still active in Diablo III. I don't have tons of time to play games on a normal night, so a couple Act3 farming runs usually fits in nicely. I know others have been disappointed with it, but it is almost everything that I wanted, and my over 200 hours of playtime will attest to that.

jdodson: I am planning on downloading Planetside 2 soon, any tips for starting out? How does it compare to other recently released MMO F2P shooters like Tribes Ascend?

Tungsten: Planetside is big and fairly well designed. It is a persistent world FPS, which is kind of interesting: there is no match or round, it just keeps going. They've introduced a bunch of mechanics that naturally break up the fighting into battles, but these battles can last minutes, hours, or even days. The fighting is more traditional than Tribes Ascent: it feels almost like a Call of Duty, but perhaps a bit slower.

I like it. It feels... epic. A lot of things that have to be scripted into other games occur naturally: air-strikes, reinforcements, new enemies joining a battle... it feels good.

It is very intimidating to start, though. I highly recommend watching the tutorial videos and then finding a small, well-run squad to fight with (the squads are temporary and can be automatically joined with the [insert] key.) A couple hours in and you'll be complaining about noobs like a pro.

jdodson: Occasionally I get a game that is a total let down. Did you get one recently that comes to mind?

Tungsten: Total let down... none since Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (I mean the title would make you think it was awesome, right? It wasn't).
Well, I'll probably get flack for it, but I was a little let down by Skyrim. I am in no way saying that it was a bad game or that I didn't enjoy it (shoot, I'm at least 200 hours into that one as well); it just didn't live up to my expectations. It became a bit more of a sandbox for me when I started to plugin mods, which redeemed it in a lot of ways.

jdodson: I am gonna come out and support you here. I like Skyrim, but I didn't love it. I am still not more than maybe 15 hours into the game. Not sure why. I imagine I will come back and play it more at some point, I think having so many games attributed to this.

What mods do you recommend people checkout to give Skyrim a bit of a boost?

Tungsten: Ultimate followers Overhaul (UFO) - lead as many people as you like. While it does have more than a few bugs, it changes the game in a nice way.
Invested Magic - Changes how a few spells work in a logical way. If you do lots of magic, try this one out.
Unlimited Conjuration - Want a zombie army? Well, here's your chance.
Cloaks - Um... cloaks...
Whistle - Summons your horse.

Oh, and if your computer can handle it, throw in an ENB. It makes the game look **very nice**.

jdodson: If you have Netflix, I wonder what movie you recommend watching from Instant Streaming?

Tungsten: It's not a movie, but recently my wife and I have been going through the show "Better Off Ted." There are only about 20 episodes, but they're hilarious. Highly recommended. Apart from that, I love the new Sherlock (not the movies, but the BBC series), the Walking Dead, Dr. Who. Movie wise, I just watched Raising Arizona again the other day. It was all down hill from there for Nicholas Cage.

jdodson: Steam is coming to Linux. Big Picture Mode has been released. Portal 2 on PC allows split screen mode. What does this mean to you? What do you think this means for gaming over the next few years?

Tungsten: Convergence? Maybe? I don't know. The problem is that the mobile market is pushing the console market to be faster and more reactive. This has lead to some great things like the marketplace and DLC. Unfortunately, as is starting to happen in the mobile market, games are going to stop running on everything out there. Here is what I see: in a few years time, everything will just be the same thing. With the advent of iOS and tablets, computers are starting to look more console like. Consoles on the other hand are adding browsers, media streaming, DLC, indie games... it's all starting to get indistinguishable. Money always wins, so my guess is that they won't ever truly unify because it justifies more sales if they don't. I'll tell you though, I don't see myself buying a new console any time soon. I think I'd rather invest that money in something I have a bit more control over.

jdodson: I agree with you on wanting more control. With the push to app stores do you think the gaming landscape is getting more open?

Tungsten: It is very nice that I can, right now, open up Steam or Live, and buy games that some guy down the street made. Look at Minecraft or (insert other example, I can't think of one right now), but with the new level of accessibility we can get innovation and ideas to an industry that puts out a new roster for Madden every year and calls it a game.

jdodson: What is the current/last gen console you use or like the most? XBox 360? PS3?

Tungsten: I really enjoyed my XBOX 360. Live works like a charm. Even coming back to PC, where online multi-player really started, seemed slow and clunky in comparison. It amazes me when huge titles don't come with voice support, while any little XBOX game can pull it off with no trouble at all. Game wise, it all got muddled after a while. That's what drew me in to the PC again: I have more titles to choose from, usually for cheaper, and they look better. Look at something like SpaceChem, my favorite game of (last year? two years ago?): that sort of thing, at least at this time, is only happening on PC.

jdodson: From all the rumblings you have heard about the next gen consoles what is something you heard you don't like? Something you did like?

Tungsten: Well, the Wii-U holds no interest for me whatsoever. I wasn't too happy with what they did with Kinect on the 360, so I have doubts about that future. (Seriously, you have something that can track objects in 3D and the best you can do is simple gestures that would have been easier with a button? I really just wanted an FPS where I could lean and the screen would lean with me. Is that too much to ask?). Sony has a lot to prove after losing ground to Microsoft, so I would expect them to come out with something solid.

jdodson: I agree with you now, the Wii U doesn't interest me either. I like the HD graphics, but to be fair, I didn't mind the graphics of the Wii. They were a bit fuzzy, but I didn't come to the Wii for that kind of game. You seem to have skipped the PS3 I wonder why that was?

Tungsten: I never put more than 2 hours into one, so, in my own personal gaming landscape, it doesn't exist. I really would love to play few games on it some time: Uncharted, Dust 514, Metal Gear. I've just never had the chance.

jdodson: 3 new Hobbit Movies. Hot or not? I don't know why but I have to write "3 MORE HOBBIT MOVIES" in all caps.

Tungsten: 2 months ago I would have said 'not', but after a few trailers I think that I could use three such movies. Oddly enough, here's what I'm most excited about: singing dwarves. I know it's odd, but the singing was such a big part of the books and it all disappeared from the first set of movies. If I only get one song per movie, I think I'll be satisfied.

jdodson: If Peter Jackson can tap more into that element of the books I will be happy too. The Hobbit is my most beloved book of all time so when they said they would split it in three my already hesitant mind went to a worse place. I had some time to sort of take it all in and have come out on a positive note. I really enjoyed looking forward to a new Lord of the Rings movie in December and for the next three years we will have Hobbits again each year. I can get excited about that even if it isn't everything I want.

With Jackson's push into the realm of 48 frames per second... well do you think this will bring us to a new "HD" movie territory or make it look too foreign?

Tungsten: I think that I will personally pretend to like it for about a year before finally giving up and admitting that it makes me want to vomit.

jdodson: I recently got Minecraft and all I seem to do is farm wheat and breed Cows and Sheep. Well that and chop down trees. I just built a tree house. I am not sure this is a question.

Tungsten: Here is what I do: wander until I find something cool. Build a portal to the nether. Build a portal out of the nether. End up somewhere else and I have no clue where. Rinse, repeat.

jdodson: I should try this. I haven't built a nether portal yet, I should look up the recipe.

Tungsten: 10 blocks obsidian arranged in a doorway pattern. Then you light the bottom two block on fire with a flint.

jdodson: Cheerful Ghost has around for almost a year now. What would you want to see it do if you could have it do something different?

Tungsten: Merge a few things. Don't have a separate "games" section. Instead, just have the "write about" list become the "games list" and have write about become the top option. What I love about the site, is that you really start to get to know the people who post, even if it is just through a few words at a time. I would love another way to connect with them, perhaps through personal pages (like games pages, but for each member instead. Shoot that's starting to sound like face-book. Don't do that, they'll sue). I do think that the site needs to be more... broad... not in its content but in its structure. If that ever happens, I would love the ability to follow people's comments, connect in games, and even chat with them.

jdodson: Max Payne 3 is on sale during Steams Autumn Sale for $15. Is this a must buy or is it fine I wait for it to be in a larger sale pack during a future sale?

Tungsten: I don't know... It's really good, but I don't think that waiting 2 months is going to hurt it much. I guess it depends when you're going to have the free time, because it really is a game that should have at least a couple hours to a play session so that you can keep the story intact.

No matter what though, get it. Other than Red-Dead Revolver, it is the best Rockstar game.

jdodson: Read-Dead Revolver? I just checked that game only has a PS2 and XBox port, without a PC port these kinds of games get a pretty limited life. What made Read-Dead Revolver so awesome to you?

Tungsten: Typo: Red Dead Redemption.

jdodson: What video game character from your childhood do you think is the coolest?

Tungsten: Bowie from Shining Force 2 was a badass, and I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Luigi from Super Mario Brothers 2. Oh, and I can't leave out Cecil and Kain from FFII (or FFIV if you're a hipster). I even suggested Cecil as a name for our first child if it was a boy. (It wasn't.)

jdodson: Recently I had to switch my brain to call Final Fantasy 2 IV and 3 VI. I bow to the hipsters I am tired of getting corrected :D

Tungsten: All I know is that when I want to my friends house and he was playing THE BEST GAME EVER it said Final Fantasy 3 on the box. If you grew up playing an import copy, then call it 6, more power to you.

jdodson: Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis?

Tungsten: Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy > Phantasy Star. Mario > Sonic. Metroid > everything else. (Honorable mention: Herzog Zwei on the Genesis was one of the great games of my child-hood.)

jdodson: You have played a lot of Diablo 3. From your perspective now, what keeps you interested in the game? What could they add or change to make the game better in your opinion?

Tungsten: I love the grind. I don't know why. It almost feels like a job some times, and I think I shouldn't like that... but I do. It's also been fun to watch it change as the patches come out, almost like Minecraft was in its beta days. I think it's the promise of that Legendary Drop worth 500,000,000 gold that brings me back, almost like gambling where I get to crush demons along the way.

jdodson: What's the most epic drop you got?

Tungsten: Ya, about that... I never got anything all that good. I don't know why, but the Diablo god's never deigned to deliver unto me anything worth more than 1-mil or so gold, and in today's market, that isn't anything.

jdodson: Indiana Jones 4. He rode a fridge. Shia Labeouf played Tarzan with monkeys. Aliens. Again, I am not sure this is a question.

Tungsten: You know what... never saw it. I blame this whole thing on George Lucas (and you Mr. Spielberg for listening to him). Keep that man away from everything I love please. I'm calling it here: the Disney Star Wars movies will be at least 10 times better than the previous three. I think that he gets confused as to why people like movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones: it's because, while watching them, for just that moment, we feel like we're Harrison Ford, shooting Nazis and Aliens. Stop trying to fulfill your vision Mr. Lucas! Fulfill ours!

This holiday season? Some awesome person got me Borderlands 2 on PC so I have been playing that! The graphics are stellar on the PC. Anyone get anything awesome as a gift or from the Steam Sale they are enjoying?

It's fairly rainy in Oregon so it's a good time for some gaming!

Awesome picture above by ivanparas
http://www.reddit.com/user/ivanparas

12 years ago I got Warcraft III as a gift for Christmas. After I got it I immediately started playing it for the remainder of the holiday break. The game experience was so awesome for me that for the last few years around the holidays I have wanted to play Warcraft III again. Somehow when the Christmas tree goes up, my mind returns to Arthas epic struggle as a Paladin to Death Knight. I need to aquire Frostmorne and see his turn to a lieutenant of the Undead all the way to becoming their leader. Its just one of those odd things I associate with the holidays.

That all said, a few days ago I dusted off Warcraft III and have started playing though the campaign and have finished the human section and am starting on the Undead missions now. I remember how awesome it was to see Arthas turn 12 years ago and whereas the game looks a bit aged now, its still fun and all I remember loving about it is still present. I like the story of the Human Campaign but as a race, they are my least favorite.

The game is fairly inexpensive now as you can get the Warcraft III Battle Chest for less than $20 and if you like strategy games you could do worse. The game editor spawned many tower defense maps and one such map, Defense of the Ancients of DoTA started an entirely new genre of MOBA games seen in such greats as League of Legends and DoTA 2.

So ho, ho, ho and all that Undead awesomeness, because its Christmas and time for some Warcraft III.