Rating: 9 Out of 10

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is one of the greatest games ever. This game is a very open ended game where you can basically do whatever you want, whenever you want. The area is a huge environment named Morrowind where you can save people...or kill them. This is a great singleplayer game and it contains all the expansion sets, and new content. However, there are quite a few bugs, and the game can get a little choppy. Also, there is a lot of reading you must do with these characters, some don't even talk much. Overall though, this is a very good game that people will be playing for days or weeks on end.

Pros:

+ Great Singleplayer Game

+ Huge Environment

+ Open Ended to the Extreme

+ Contains all expansions and new content

Cons:

- Quite a few bugs

- A lot of reading

- Little choppy

Extras:

# The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Cheat Codes

# The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - Music File

Portal

Ok, this almost didn't make the list - after all, it's been out only a short time compared to the other three games I thought of and yet I couldn't shake it out of my head.  It's the kind of game that you idly start playing one evening to discover that the credits are rolling.  When I make that kind of allusion normally it means that I got so caught up in a game I didn't notice the length, but in Portal it's mostly because there isn't much length.  A few hour are all you have - but who cares?  Portal is intelligent, interesting, and hysterically funny.  GLaDOS is a wonderful invention and the whole feel of the game is really superb.  The plot (there's plot!) is surprisingly simple and yet beautifully executed, and the "created" nature of the game means that you have no worries with limited environments and so on - it's testing chambers after all.  It's only a tenner on Steam, so go get this right now.  Go on.   Shoo.

Morrowind

I know a lot of people who didn't like Morrowind, and I can sort of understand where they are coming from.  "There's no direction" they say, "It's boring and you spend a lot of time doing seemingly trivial things".  Do you?  Travelling from one town to another isn't trivial, especially when there are nasty beasts lurking along the way.  Going to retrieve and artifact from a dungeon isn't trivial, in fact that might be the basis of an entire game.  The problem is, for these poor people, perhaps, that the game is too big.  Enormous.  Ludicrously stupidly large.

Quests and actions that might be the entire focus of a lesser game fade into the background in Morrowind - going to find the incredibly powerful portal devices to relink the island of Morrowind with easy and instant transport so trade and communication can flourish might seem a huge deal, but most players won't ever do it.  It's a tiny infinitesimal fragment of the game, and one that many people will probably miss altogether.

What I'm trying to say is that this game is batshit crazy.

I played it solidly for months on end and I'm convinced that I've not found everything.  In fact, I know I haven't.  The reason for that is simple - most game worlds take place in a "country" which consists of three fields, a town with a couple of houses and an inn, and four dungeons.  The rest of the country is there you just can't see it.  In Morrowind... well, that's not the case.  See that mountain over there, looming majestically of over the town?  Fancy going to climb it?  Go ahead - it's real, and it's a bastard to get to the top of.  Anywhere you can see, you can go.  It's not quite tabletop levels of openness but it's the closest damn thing I've seen yet.

Final Fantasy VII

Tricky one this.  It's not open.  Really, it's not.  It has no pretenses of being open.  In fact all the bad things I described about "normal games" in the Morrowind section apply to this game.  It's awful.  Each country has one small city, except the one where you start which has three.  Every ruler with good intentions has a splutteringly evil sidekick.  The baddies are a big corporation.  Trying to deviate from the linear plot is impossible.

It should be rubbish.

It's not.  It is, in fact, one of the greatest games ever made.

And that's all down to the insanely complicated plot, and the bluntly awesome characters.  Sephiroth instilled a chill in the spines of an entire generation of teenagers, and with good reason - even going back to the game as an adult he's fuck-off scary, a terrifying combination of zealous insanity and reasonable doubt.  If you had gone through what he had, wouldn't you be that insane/bad-ass?  Many of us would hope so :P

The characters are all stereotypes.  The twists are either so obvious that you see them coming a disc of game play away or so arcane you don't really understand them on your third play through.  The combat is just appalling and I detest the "collect everything" mentality of the game.  But still it can send shivers down your spine with the precision of story and belief woven together.

Knights of the Old Republic

Coming to this after describing the other games is like returning to an old friend - something so pure that you don't have hesitations or worries.  Straight from the off, if you ignore me on every other game on the list, I beg you to not ignore me on this one.  It is, quite simply, my favourite game of all time.  It is beautiful in every way.

The story is incredibly rich and wonderfully told.  The characters are so deep and involving that you truly begin to have empathy with them.  There is a real sense that you have control over the outcome of the story - your actions have real effects on those around you and the worlds you visit.  Even better, being evil (falling to the dark side) means a lot of the time not being a pompous jerk, and taking the easy option - not necessarily the outrageously heinous one.  You need a shell the woman is selling to keep her kids from starvation, but it's five thousand more credits than you have?  Well, you could go and do off jobs and sell your inventory, etc, etc, but look, seriously, she's probably lying about the kids anyway... how much will it hurt if you just convince her to give it to you a bit cheaper.   Or maybe free?  It's not that bad, it's just easier.  Seriously, who wants to run around herding cattle or whatever - I've got a galaxy to save.  Don't look at me like that.

Because, at the end of the day, the Jedi are pompous gits - and avoiding being one yourself is very satisfying.  Until the point, of course, that you realise you're electrocuting people with the force and slaughtering innocent puppies for fun and profit.  Damn, that dark side was, well, seductive.  Oh yeah, it also had a twist so good and unexpected that I actually stared in horror at my screen then ran to my housemates room and went "WHAT THE HELL?  SERIOUSLY!  CHRIST!  WHAT THE HELL?  HE'S... ARGH" for the next half an hour (and if anyone spoils it in the comments your comment is gone bye bye my friend).

Which brings me onto KOTOR2: The Sith Lords.

Picture everything that I have just said is good about the first game.  Got that?  Great.  Now take out roughly ten percent of the content of the game at random.  Got that?  Now make it so buggy that it crashes roughly every hour of play.  Good?  Now remove fifty percent of the dialogue from the last hour of the game.

Congratulations, you have created KOTOR2 in your mind.

Play the first one and then read one of the many good synopses online.  It's much better for you in the long run.

I'm trying to play Morrowind and keep thinking it should be an MMO. For those of you who play Oblivion, you know what I mean.

I'm actually PvPing, kinda. On a spreadsheet mmo game called AstroEmpires.

I'm considering going back to WoW for awhile, if I can find the money for the subscription (danged school loans)

I'm loving my little Star Trek RP group. I'm a El-Arian Counselor on an Excelsior class starship (*giggles* is that nerdy enough for you?)

... and I have to remember to get Shadowcall's DVD's in the mail to Netflix tomorrow....

Friday night I met up with Lindsey, whose blog, photography and general sauciness I am a big fan of. We had some drinks and food stuffs at Mellow Mushroom in the 'Boro, and then I drug her to my house to meet my cats and Ian, and then over to a friend's house where she was subjected to our weekly drunken Texas Hold 'Em game and lots of crude, un-PC jokes. I am so stoked I finally got to meet her, and if y'all don't already read her blog, go forth and read it. NOW.

Saturday I went to the eye doctor to get a new prescription because the lenses in my favorite frames are finally cracked enough where it's interfering with my vision. When I was done with the exam and had the prescription in hand, I hauled ass across town to Bella Optical (Wal-Mart is cheap for exams but I am not letting them make any more lenses for me ever again. They suck.), only to discover they were closed for the entire Labor Day weekend. So now I have to drag my ass out of bed early AGAIN next weekend.

Saturday night Ian and I were hoping we were going to get together with a good friend who was in town from Florida (he crapped out on us Friday night), but he ended up having other plans involving family, so we just hung out at home. Which was better anyway because Ian was really feeling like shit by then, and I was able to take a three-hour nap to rid myself of the never-ending hangover induced by the night before (I am such a lightweight).

But I would soon discover that taking a three-hour nap that ends at 6:30 p.m. isn't the best idea if you want to go to sleep again later that night. Luckily I was on my aforementioned Morrowind bender, so I stayed up til 5 a.m. playing the game until the xbox quite literally told me to get my ass to bed, am I crazy? Do I think I'm still in college or something?

So obviously I slept through half of Sunday, and woke up to play more xbox and hang with Ian. That night our friend was finally allowed to see us (HA! I kid, I kid... Kind of?) and so we met up with him and his wife at Buffalo Wild Wings, where I actually ate food and didn't vomit it immediately back up. Score. After a couple hours of trivia and beer, we parted ways and Ian and I headed back home. I was bummed we didn't get to see our friend more than that, but I guess that's what happens when you get married and your spouse doesn't really care for your friends.

I know, like me, you are probably having a hard time imaging why anyone wouldn't like us, but Ian's take on the matter is that our humor might be a tad bit crude for some people (What, you mean gratuitous F-bomb dropping and answering the waitress' "Another beer?" question with "Why not, I'm driving!" doesn't fly in the upper echelon of society? Then count me out, folks. Count me the F out.)

Anyway, it was a good time (even though I think we got our friend in trouble with a few unsavory stories), and I do not mean to sound like I am complaining. I am also glad that at this point, Ian and I have pretty much the same friends and we are all used to each others' offensiveness by now.

Monday brought more slacking... We set out to go to Kroger about 1:30 p.m. and somehow ended up at a bar across town that had Dos Perros on tap and a wicked awesome sampler platter. We had to come home and nap (Ian), play xbox (me) and watch about two hours of the Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations marathon (both of us) before we ventured out to Kroger again. Don't worry, we stayed focused and came home with groceries this time.

What's that saying.... You have to get older but you don't have to grow up? I'd like to think that can hold true, even as we get on into our 30s. Either way, a weekend filled with friends, booze and video games is a winner for me.

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* shodan could babble about Oblivion all day!
shodan: . o O ( Which is odd, considering I don't have any beer. )
AB: I understand that there's a lot of Oblivion to babble about.
shodan: Indeed!
* shodan is amused at some of the higher level equipment, which is made of glass, apparently.
shodan: A glass sword, I can see that. It'd be awfully sharp, if you're careful with it.
shodan: And a glass warhammer... Well, I've got this solid glass candle-holder that looks like a sleeping cat. If I strapped it to a stick and hit someone with it, bones would break before the big lump of glass would.
shodan: But I can't suspend my disbelief enough to accept glass *armor*.
shodan: <Bandit wearing Glass Armor> Have at thee, etc. <shodan> Oh yeah? * shodan throws a rock. <Bandit's armor> *SHATTER* <Bandit> .... ouch.

--------

AB: Damn.
AB: Ammonia has a crazy high vapor pressure.
AB: The vapor pressure of Ammonia at a temperature of 40C is: 11793.258 mmHg
AB: Compare with:
AB: The vapor pressure of Water at a temperature of 40C is: 55.332 mmHg
shodan: <Oblivion> *beep!* <shodan> Wha? <Oblivion> Just by listening to AB, your Alchemy skill has gone up ten points!

--------

* shodan snerks
* shodan gets the Skull of Corruption.
shodan: <shodan> Hm, wonder what this does... * shodan zaps a random NPC with it.
shodan: <NPC> What the! <Corrupted NPC Clone> *poink* Hi!
shodan: * NPC and his clone fight each other
shodan: <shodan> NEAT!
AB: hah
AB: <shodan> THIS IS SO COOL! * shodan wanders around zapping criminals and such. <Goody-Two-Shoes Clone NPC> *poink* Repent of thy evil deeds! <Criminal> What the...

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shodan: Doh!
shodan: <quest-guy> In order to proceed, I'm going to need a Daedric artifact to sacrifice to the spell.
shodan: <game> [Hand over Skull of Corruption?]
shodan: <shodan> No! Mine!
shodan: <quest-dood> I think we should use your Skull of Corruption. <shodan> And *I* think you should discuss that with my good friend, Evil Quest Dood Clone! *zot* <Clone> Hi!

L'imperatore 'Uriel Septim VII' è stato imprigionato nella dimensione parallela di Oblivion e il trono è stato usurpato dal suo consigliere Jagar Tharn, il mago-guerriero imperiale. L'unico modo per riportarlo indietro e salvare l'impero, è ritrovare gli otto pezzi del Bastone del Caos sparsi in tutta Tamriel...

'The Elder Scrolls: Arena' è il primo capitolo della serie 'The Elder Scrolls' creata dalla software house 'Bethesda Softworks'. Uscito nel 1994 per MS-DOS, è stato reso disponibile in seguito come freeware...
Quindi se siete dei patiti di 'Oblivion' (ad oggi ultimo capitolo della serie, disponibile solo su piattaforme di ultima generazione) e volete sapere come è iniziato tutto, beh, non dovete far altro che raccattarlo!

L'ambientazione è fantasy e il mondo ricreato è straordinariamente 'aperto'; esistono infatti vari modi per risolvere il gioco e una libertà d'azione notevole, caratteristica questa che verrà mantenuta ed ampliata nei capitoli successivi raggiungendo la punta più alta con il titolo 'Oblivion'!

Le incredibili possibilità di interazione con i PNG (Personaggi Non Giocanti, ovvero i personaggi gestiti dal computer) e di personalizzazione del nostro personaggio lasciano davvero sorpresi e rendono 'The Elder Scrolls' il vero progenitore degli RPG moderni.

La serie completa di 'The Elder Scrolls':
Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Bloodmoon (espansione), Tribunal (espansione), Oblivion, Knights of the Nine (espansione), Shivering Isles (espansione)

Alcune info sulla mitologia di 'The Elder Scrolls' prese da Wikipedia e ridotte qua e là dal sottoscritto:

Aurbis

È il nome dato all’universo in cui prendono vitia gli eventi della saga di the Elder Scrolls . In esso sono contenuti tutti i piani dell’esistenza, ovvero Aetherius, Mundus, Oblivion e i Reami Esterni.

Le Prime Forze
Sono due entità: Anu e Padomay.
Anu, è la quintessenza sotto forma di stasi. Gli Aedra, e altri dei classici associati con la creazione di Mundus sono ritenuti sotto la sfera anuica.
Padomay, è la quintessenza sotto forma di cambiamento. I Principi Daedra e Lorkhan sono ritenuti sotto la cosìdetta sfera padomaica.

Aetherius

È il Piano immortale, sede degli Dei e fonte di ogni magia e arcano potere. Si dice che le anime delle persone morte viaggino fino a raggiungere questo piano dell’esistenza.

Mundus

È Il piano materiale dei mortali. Fu pensato e concepito per la prima volta dal Dio Lorkhan, che in qualche modo riuscì a convincere gli altri Aedra a contribuire alla Grande Costruzione (...)

Oblivion

È il piano infernale che circonda Mundus e lo divide da Aetherius. È diviso in sedici piani diversi, ciascuno governato da un proprio Principe Daedra, che a seconda della sua natura e dei suoi poteri ne determina l’aspetto. Per questo motivo i piani di Oblivion possono essere profondamente diversi tra loro; si pensi allo splendido regno di Azura e al dominio infuocato e morto di Mehrunes Dagon.

Nirn

È il pianeta in cui si svolgono le avventure di The Elder Scrolls. Esso fa parte di Mundus ed è stato creato per desiderio di Lorkhan a partire dai progetti di Magnus. Nirn è scaldata da un sole chiamato Magnus e possiede due lune: Masser e Secunda. Il sole e le stelle sono dei veri e propri buchi in Oblivion, attraverso i quali la luce di Aetherius può risplendere nel Mundus.
Tamriel è il principale continente di Nirn ed è il suo simbolico centro ma ci sono anche altri continenti: Akavir, Atmora, Yokuda, Aldmeris.

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shodan: <NPC> The Imperial City has some of the finest things for sale! How fortunate that I can afford them.
shodan: <shodan> Do go on. * shodan slips on his Heavy Platemail Gauntlets of Pickpocketing
shodan: . o O ( <d00d> How are those friggin' metal oven-mitts gonna help you pickpocket someone? <shodan> Easily. Check it out. * shodan raises his phist and bangs an NPC on the head. *CLANG!* <NPC> *unf* Zzzzz....)

--------

* shodan *lafs* at Oblivion
shodan: I think I mentioned, long long ago, that if you do well in the Arena, you get an "Adoring Fan" NPC who follows you around.
shodan: Basically all he's good for is holding a torch in a dungeon. He runs away whenever combat starts, and doesn't really do anything else aside from gush about how awesome you are.
* shodan lost his Adoring Fan a long time ago. Fell into an abyss, or somesuch.
* shodan is sneaking through the Imperial Prison, sticking to the shadows, using the best of my stealth ability to avoid the guards...
shodan: <Adoring Fan> Hi! <shodan> You again?! NOW?! <Adoring Fan> Dark in here, innit? Lemme light a torch! <shodan> No, you idiot!

--------

* shodan is mopping up side-quests in Oblivion
shodan: (The game world seems a bit more boring, now that I'm not being pulled in twenty different directions)
shodan: * shodan runs into a tavern. <shodan> Anyone need anything? <innkeeper> Nope. <patron> Nah, I'm fine. <shodan> Right. * shodan scratches "The White Mare Inn" off his list, and runs down the road.
shodan: * shodan runs into the Bunch O' Grapes. <shodan> Anyone need something done? <innkeeper> Nope. <guard> Nope. <patron> Help! Someone stole the potatos from my garden! <shodan> ... Potatos. Right. Well, why not.
shodan: Though amusingly, the game's auto-scaling-to-player-level caught me off guard on that particular quest.
shodan: * shodan trudges through the forest, muttering to himself. <shodan> *mutter mutter*... stoopid potatos... *mumble* probably a Drudge Skulker got 'em or something, *grumble*
shodan: <giant ogre> MMM, POTATOS! RAAAR! <shodan> Holy friggin'...
shodan: * shodan completes the quest, and painfully limps back to the tavern, wearing the jagged remains of his armor, with his magic sword bent nearly at a 90-degree angle.
shodan: <NPC> Did you get my potatos back? <shodan> Yeah. Barely. Incidently, that'll be 10,000,000 gold for the service, please.
AB: <NPC> Here's a shiny copper piece!

PC Gamer recently released the yearly update to their Top 100 Games of All Time list and have also set up a rather intriguing bit of democracy in the form of a public all-time voting system. Having duly registered and voted, I thought I'd give a quick rundown on my choices and why they were picked...

In reverse order:

10. Flashback

This golden oldie dates back to a time when I didn't even have a suitable gaming machine and had to make do with popping round friends' houses to sample the latest delights. Sort-of follow-up to Another World, Flashback was an ambitious platform adventure that melded the super slick animation of Prince of Persia with the plot of Total Recall, resulting in something that was quite unique in terms of production values and storytelling. Anybody that played this back in the day no doubt spent the first half hour of gameplay simply unholstering and holstering the gun, over and over, marvelling at Conrad Hart's rotoed leather jacket.

9. The Secret of Monkey Island

A game that needs no introduction, unless you're some kind of young thing that doesn't respect his gaming history, Monkey Island is a genre classic, the very pinnacle of the point-and-click adventure. Well, unless you prefer Sam & Max. Or Full Throttle. Or Grim Fandango (ok, ok, so you didn't actually point or click in that game, but it's the same genre!). The piratical adventures of Guybrush Threepwood riffed on all the great pirate stories and also succeeded in being one of the funniest games ever made. They don't write 'em like this anymore (well, unless you're Tim Schafer - see below).

8. Knights of the Old Republic

Bioware still haven't surpassed the storytelling in this Star Wars-set roleplaying epic and, tellingly, neither has George Lucas. KotOR captures the magic of Star Wars as we remember it from our childhoods, hitting all the right notes and showing an understanding for both the fans and the source material that was sorely lacking from the movie prequels. Bioware's two subsequent games, Jade Empire and Mass Effect, haven't come anywhere near to the effortless sleight of hand performed by the game's narrative, which is always in service to the wonderfully memorable characters.

7. Morrowind

As you may have noticed elsewhere on this site, I'm not too keen on Bethesda's Oblivion or their forthcoming, seemingly dreary interpretation of the Fallout series. Part of this negativity comes from my massively positive experience with their earlier game Morrowind, a majestic achievement in experimental gameplay and unbridled ambition. There's a depth of imagination and maturity to the island landscape of Vvardenfell that no other game has come close to bettering. Despite clunky combat, Morrowind remains one of the most atmospheric games ever made, packed full of fascinating politics, religion and incidental stories waiting to be stumbled across. Please, Bethesda, bring back the team that made this classic!

6. Portal

The big surprise of 2007 was Portal, a tiny little FPS that snuck into The Orange Box compilation. While most of us were eager to get our hands on Half Life 2: Episode 2 and Team Fortress, it was Portal that turned out to be the collection's gem. Taking the portal concept tentatively explored in the much more generic (but still good fun) Prey, Portal follows it through to its natural conclusion, crafting a unique series of puzzle before pulling one of the best and most mischievous plot twists in gaming history. Portal is evidence that short games most definitely have a future.

5. Darwinia

Brit developer Introversion's breakout game, Darwinia melds Cannon Fodder with the RTS genre to create a highly unique experience. Its TRON-inspired world is a marvel of imagination and lateral game design. Click here for my full review.

4. Deus Ex

Though the passing years have dated the turn-of-the-millennium, conspiracy-laden, X Files-inspired story, Deus Ex remains a milestone in game narratives. Throwing out all the established rules of both the FPS and RPG, it depicts a nightmarish urban future blighted by terrorist fervour and overactive government surveillance following an attack on New York (it's worth noting, though, that the game was released pre-9/11). Playing as cybernetically enhanced operative JC Denton the plot interweaves conspiracy theories, paranoia and globe-trotting to tremendous effect. The scope of the game is seemingly limitless and it's a tragedy that no other developer has yet attempted to follow in its footsteps.

3. Beyond Good & Evil

On the surface, this is a typical console platformer mixed with a smidgeon of stealth gameplay and a quirky art design. Beyond Good & Evil is very much greater than the sum of its parts, though, mostly due to its charming characters and world, which have an innocence and exuberance that is pleasantly distant from the usual marines-with-guns theme prevalent in the industry. That the protagonist is a woman is probably no coincidence, nor the fact that the few marines-with-guns that are present are most certainly the bad guys. Discarding weaponry for a camera and explosions for wit, this is a rare and memorable experience indeed.

2. Half Life 2

For me, game design doesn't get much better than Half Life 2 and its episodic follow-ups. Valve have honed their craft to such a degree that their achievements appear effortless; they leap over boundaries and hurdles that bring down other developers, constantly innovating and pushing the enevelope in unexpected directions. On the surface, Half Life 2 sounds fairly generic - you are the lone warrior that can stop an alien invasion. What really lingers in the mind are the characters, subtle, indirect storytelling, natural environments and instantly appealing combat. Throw in what remains to this day some of the most iconic and efficient art and level design in gaming history and there's no way to look at Half Life 2 as anything other than a classic.

1. Psychonauts

Endlessly inventive, Psychonauts is always bringing you something new. Just as you think you've got it sussed, it pulls another genius idea from the mind of creator Tim Schafer and wraps it in wildly imaginative and gleeful vision and sound. This is another game that refuses to play by the rules, despite initial impressions of being a standard platformer. Given that Psychonauts is about the power of the human mind, it's appropriate that it is so full of ideas. Fresh, funny and fabulous.

Disclaimer: As with all 'top 10' style lists, ask me in a month, or even tomorrow, and I'll probably give you a completely different selection.

Punkjävlar se hit..
Jag har färdigställt sida A av mitt virtuella blandband, som innehåller ett urval ur relativt politiska band som spelat stor roll under mina tidigare år. Tyvärr gick det inte att få in Kontrovers - Besviken på allt för muxtape är störda, men resten gick finebäng.

I övrigt har inte mycket hänt, därför har jag legat lågt med bloggandet. Min lillebror har köpt 40" HDTV och PS3 (bundle med det fina Uncharted och kassa Rättshett än klänk) i Växjö idag fick jag reda på, så nu sitter jag som på nålar och väntar på att kreaturet ska adda mig online, men han tar ju sin lilla tid på sig att fixa det och MSN är han ju för fin för... Hör du det Tias, FyFan är ute efter dig! ;)

Skogsblogg
Helgen är planerad att förläggas ute i Nås, där Linnea ska leka skiten ur lite kompisar, och tro det eller ej så ska laptopen naturligtvis få följa med och få känna lite på trådlöst nätverk (som de har där ute) - smakar det bra så kan jag ju bryta mig in på wordpress därifrån och rapportera om mina skogsliga upplevelser. Det är ganska roligt att blogga om småsaker i vardagen, även om det verkligen inte alls är roligt att läsa andras jävla bloggar, som bara handlar om skit (min handlar om bra saker, har ni väl märkt). Men trots detta finns det en hel del bloggar där ute som av en eller en annan anledning är riktigt trevligt att hålla koll på - och jag har mentalt börjat fila lite på en lista över sådana. Kanske ska jag ge mig på en snabbmatsrecension om varje länk också, så blir det som ett litet faktaindex över bloggar som enligt mig är fifan.

I researched this topic quite thoroughly throughout my July vacation. I clocked Dungeon Siege II, started and finished Fable: The Lost Chapters and carried on a bit more with my Morrowind character (which has been a work in progress since December, really).

The majority of the games that I play are fantasy-genre, you see. I love to take on magic-using characters, and for a couple of hours I can be a powerful sorceress (or sorcerer, if your game constrains you to one character of one sex) who battles against the evil of the world. I love the freedom, I love the possibility, but most of all, I love the story.

Successful games, I have decided, are actually good literature. The ones that I love the most have strong storylines which carry your character through the game. The only difference with literature is that you are shown what the character is doing - either through reading about Harry Potter's last and great battle wih Lord Voldemort, or through watching the aliens battle it out in Aliens vs Predator, you aren't in control. However, in a game, you are in control - or at least, in as much control as the developer allows you to be.

The hundreds of literature-based games available reveal just how important the story has become within the game. Mobygames.com gives a relatively comprehensive list of these. Serious gamers I have spoken to criticise a game on a number of criteria: one of the most important of these being the storyline. Is it plausible? Does it carry through the game? Am I still interested half-way through?

Gaming series such as The Elder Scrolls series have created an entire world for their games which resemble the worlds of great fantasy writers. Indeed, fantasy writers are often brought in by game developers to write storylines for games, or even to assist in developing games based on their books. Raymond E Feist, author of The Riftwar Cycle and novels such as Magician and his latest offering, Wrath of a Mad God, was approached by game developers to assist in developing games based on Midkemia, the world his books are set in. Eventually the games were turned into books, and have become an integral part of the Riftwar Cycle. Good games become good literature.

It boils down to escapism. I want to get lost in a good story - I want to sympathise with the main character and share their triumphs and their losses.

Gamers often cultivate their characters, rearing them as they would children, where each level-up is a personal triumph and a decision that is the gaming world's equivalent of where to send your favourite kid to university.

I know that this is what I do. I want to forget how crappy my last week was, and I want to delve into a world as far-removed from mine as possible. And what easier way is there than to actually become someone else for a few hours, even if they are just a few pixels on a computer screen?

Anyways, when I played Oblivion, I thought it lacked some charm that Morrowind had. What charm that was, I wasn't quite sure, but it just didn't feel like Morrowind did. Maybe it was those few years between the games; it was something.

But now, I discovered something that's quickly making me scour my domicile for those Morrowind discs - Morroblivion! A new add-on recently released 'uploads' the morrowind game files into the Oblivion engine, in effect, letting you play Morrowind in the Oblivion engine - graphics, physics and more, oh my!

I haven't tested it yet, but by tomorrow, you can rest assured I'll have put a fair amount of time into this beast!

Next my thoughts turned to the Operating System: it was supposed to have a dual role, on the one hand enabling me to finally finish Morrowind, so I bought the last legit copy of Windows XP my local mum and pop retailer had left ("funny that", he said. "We have never sold so many copies of XP as in the last 6 months.") and prepared the one half of the harddisk to be my gaming 'rig'. Albeit a rather ancient one, but for Morrowind it works beautifully, and as its completely off the net with all connections disabled, it's probably the safest XP machine in the neighbourhood. But it also should be hooked up to net, print and do some decent wordprocessing  so a more secure option was necessary.

"Use what you know", so a Debian derivate it needed to be. I previously ran Ubuntu on my last 'real' gaming rig, but that was an enormous, up to date thing with quad core cpu and a bloody expensive new GPU, so I was hesitant to try it on this machine with specs from 2003. Nevertheless I am happy to say that Hardy Heron is performing well. Better than I thought, actually.

To check how the dear old Duron was coping with an OS from 2008 and the new breed of ajaxified websites with their rich content and online streaming I had three desktop windows open: Window one ran the resource hogging Open Office,  window 2 had Evolution in all its glory, while Window 3 was filled with Firefox running the BBC's iplayer, showing me the installment of that weird archaeology show 'Bonekickers'. The 5 year old beige box performed absolutely flawless. No hickup with the playback on the iplayer, even though the machine connected to the internet via a Asus usb plug-in wifi thingie (that was instantly picked up by Ubuntu and hooked up without any problems to my WPA-2 network). LastFM is playing nicely, printing works out of the box, and my non DRM'd songs on my itunes collection are picked up as well.

I would put the value of this machine at, what, 20? 30? pounds?

Don't fall for the hype of always buying the latest multicore machines. The only reason I would ever buy a new, 'pushing the envelope', PC again is if I wanted to play the latest games on Vista. But as I have a Playstation3 and would rather eat my coffeecup before running Vista I'll stay with my beige box for now.