Coming Home...
Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 8:47PM Those who've listened to the podcast a few times probably know that I like to talk about classic PC games. While I began gaming on the NES in the late 80s, it wasn't very long after that my family picked up a PC. I can still remember its specs: 386 SX 16, 1 MB of RAM, 40 MB HD. Some friends of my dad loaned us a few games, Sierra adventure titles and a little gem known as Sid Meier's Pirates!, and I was hooked.
I don't like to claim that PC games were 'better' than console games back then - we all respect the classic console greats, of course - but it's undeniable that they were different. Chalk it up to hardware specs and/or design philosophy, but there was a certain grandeur to PC titles that was lacking in early consoles. The RPGs were immense and epic, the strategy games timeless, the simulation titles punishingly accurate, and so on. While I love aspects of games on all systems, my decision to leave PC gaming in favor of console exclusivity for the past several years has occasionally left me with pangs of regret.