Friday fun: What's your favourite videogame/console?

[Marcos Sanchez]

We all play videogames in our free time, either in mobile, PC or console and everyone has a different opinion about them and there will be always the fight between the ones that think that playing in PC is better than consoles and vice versa... 😒

As I'm 21 years old, my first console was the Game Boy Advance and the first game was Pokémon Fire Red (and, in my opinion, the best Pokémon game ever). But at home we also had the Nintendo 64, the GameCube and the PS1 so I've played them too.

I also like old ones and I'm in love with the SNES and the Atari 2600 (my father had them) but if I had to choose my favourite console ever I would be in conflict with myself between PS3 and GameBoy Advance SP... And my favourite videogame is Portal (1 and 2, both are amazing), without any doubts.

So, the question is which videogame and console are your favourites??

Have a nice weekend and have fun playing videogames!! 😜😎

The cake is a lie.

[Pedro Felgueiras]

It's always hard to chose one, there are so many genres. 

For a long time I've been a fan of flight sim, and at the moment the X-Plane 11 is a grate game. 

For RPG, i think the last one is the one that i like must, The Zelda breath of the wild is a fantastic game. 

[Marcos Sanchez]

Yes, I agree on that. Zelda is an amazing game, Breath of the Wild is really great but my favourite Zelda is A link to the past 👌 

[Daniel Eads]

Nintendo platforms for sure. SNES had the most iconic RPGs that really shaped what future games came after and people have been trying to reproduce ever since.

Because of the limitations of the hardware, the stories and must had to be really good because there wasn't a lot of space on the cartridge and the graphics were pretty limited.

Of course Mario and Zelda games have been consistently good since then, and Breath of the Wild is amazing. But the Super Nintendo era was when RPGs had very strong story telling, clever writing, and memorable soundtracks. Later platforms like the N64 had the ability to actually put you in a 3D world - while there were strong games, they didn't have to work as hard to really capture your imagination. Golden Sun (for Gameboy Advance) is really one of the only games I've played that recreated the same magic that wasn't on SNES.

One thing I've always wanted to do as somebody who has a Computer Science degree with a Music minor is analyze the Pokemon tracks that came out of the Gameboy Color. Since the Gameboy could only produce so many sounds at once, the composers had to make some interesting choices about what parts of the melodies to stop/start throughout the tracks. There's a lot of polyphony in the Gold/Silver/Crystal soundtracks and they managed to make all the town themes memorable. Translating the themes back to sheet music and showing the melody, harmony, counterpoint, chord structures, and all the tricks the composers pulled would be pretty fun.

Of course, there's also some great soundtracks in the N64 era - Banjo Kazooie stood out as imaginative and also pulled off some amazing tricks. If you've got some time, check out this detailed analysis of one of the themes in Banjo Kazooie. I would love to make a presentation like this about the Pokemon tracks! :)

[Meg Holbrook]

@Daniel Eads- created by a sacramento local, for your enjoyment:

https://trashcaneagle.bandcamp.com/album/xoc-n-swop

[Daniel Eads]

Noooice. It's amazing to look back at what the music scene was like in 2001 when OCRemix was the only thing out there. Now it's super common for people to create and release full albums like this. Somebody in your neighborhood probably has done it!

Thank you internet, and thank you cheap technology.

[Meg Holbrook]

Anything is possible with fruity loops :D

[Meg Holbrook]

I'm a PC gamer through and through, I enjoy consoles just as much as the next person, but I live for point-and-click adventures/text-based adventures.

Mobile gaming has been awesome for this genre because there are so many independent developers who can get their stories and apps out there, so there's always something new to try.

The first text-based adventure I ever played was Zork [the original]. I think this eventually led to my love of choose your own adventure books.

It is pitch black. you are likely to be eaten by a Grue.

When games became a little more visually-appealing, I played games like Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, Loom, Discworld, and To The Moon. I feel like I've probably played every point and click adventure (but that's impossible, so probably not).

Point and Click became RPG and I started in on Final Fantasy, Knights of the Old Republic, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc.

And then I play WoW for 12 years >_> where did the time go??

[Jack Brickey]

zork is such a classic. one of my first and sadly yes I was finishing up HS when it came out. .....light a match

[Meg Holbrook]

@Jack Brickey - I wasn't alive when the first zork came out. You've dated yourself hard on this one. 

[Jack Brickey]

yep, sad i know. :-( I think @Monique vdB and @Erica Moss keep me around because they need a senior citizen on the team. I stay out of desperation to hang on to my youth. But, hey I still play video games so there is that. LOL

[Erica Moss]

@Jack Brickey I think you're severely downplaying your coolness, sir. 😉

[Marcos Sanchez]

I've been in love with Monkey Island for a looong time 😍

Now I still playing it sometimes but with an emulator (as W10 doesn't allow to play it as native).

My favourite is The Revenge of LeChuck!! 

[Meg Holbrook]

@Jack Brickey- I agree with @Erica Moss

[Jack Brickey]

whichever one i'm currently playing??? ;-)

I have had so many over the years: Nintendo NES - Commodore 64 - Nintendo 64 - Nintendo Cube - Wii - Xbox 360 - PS 4 - Switch

I would have to say that the two most impressive for me was the NES as it was first and the Wii which really turned industry heads for good reason. With that said it really comes down to the games as the games sell the platforms at least these days.

Some Game Favs:

1. Mario - pretty much any of them but special place for Sunshine on Cube
2. Zelda - all but BOTW is tops for me
3. Horizon Zero Dawn - really awesome
4. Half-life - all
5. Portal - i go back and replay this every so often. love coop play on 2
6. Halo - early days (started w/ Bungie's Marathon on the Mac platform)
7. Call of Duty - early days mostly
8. Metroid Prime
9. Duckhunt - still play that on an old NES
10. Star Fox
11. Myst - on Mac

[Meg Holbrook]

@Jack Brickey - Myst is the best series ever created, true story. 

[Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM]

A great list of games! Halo oh Halo the amount of hours I have spent playing that game with my friends. We still play it to this day the same 2 v 2 teams/rules as it was 15 years ago. Mario Sunshine was such a great game on the Gamecube, felt that system was overlooked at times.

[Marcos Sanchez]

I really love Portal and GladOS is maybe the very best "enemy" ever.

And I like both 1&2 but I think that 1 is a little bit better than 2...

[Jack Brickey]

@Marcos Sanchez, agree on 1 being better than 2 but I do love coop play in 2. Fun fact- I have a Jira Software project called Aperture. It is a customer portal. It might even have some Easter 🥚. 🤐

[Marcos Sanchez]

Agree on that @Jack Brickey, Coop was great 😊

Let them know what the cake is... 🎂

[Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM]

I am certainly a console player. Sure I've played games on the PC and still will but there is something about a console that I just love. But I have so many memories on both formats.

On the PC I remember my dad and I playing 7th Guest, 11th hour, and then the more known in that line Myst. We would stay up so late to play those games and beating them were so satisfying.  We also played Wing Commander believe it was 3,4, and 5 which had Mark Hamill as the star! If I had to choose from that lot of games I would have to go with 7th Guest based on the memories alone.

When it comes to consoles I have to say that although I love mostly all the classic systems and next gen systems (I remember playing Sonic on Sega Genesis while talking to my girlfriend at the time on the phone) but Dreamcast is my favorite console. Sure it was gimmicky with the memory cartridge having a screen on it but it added a cool factor to it. The Sonic game believe it was Sonic Adventures was a fantastic game. Sonic in a true 3D format it felt like you could feel the speed Sonic had.  Dreamcast was the only way I could play one of my favorite games of all time Shenmue, and Shenmue II. 

My favorite game of all time that is a tie between three very different games, Resident Evil 2, Shenmue, and Final Fantasy 7. 

[Jack Brickey]

7th guest was a great game though very slow and a bit buggy at times. still pretty cool.

[Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM]

Certainly it was very slow and I can remember getting glitched in several spots. They definitely improved with 11th hour and then Myst.

[Meg Holbrook]

Duuuuuuude, 7th guest! I think I still have my hard disc kicking around! That first walk into the mansion still gives me the heebie jeebies. The double staircase... so awesome.

One of my absolute favorite games though was phantasmagoria. I should NOT have been playing that when I was a kid.

[Jack Brickey]

Meg, awesome that you play these classics!

[Meg Holbrook]

@Jack Brickey - I love this stuff! Did you ever play Sanitarium? 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/284050/Sanitarium/ - is that the one?  It's an excellent story

[Meg Holbrook]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- - yes! Now that I know it's on Steam, I think I'm going to pick it up and replay it. Hopefully it's as good as I remember. 

[miikhy]

I'm definitely fan of Final Fantasy VII. Have quite a collection of various items about the game, from guides to playing cards including game discs in every console zone (NTSC, JPN...) and OSTs.. I've spent so many hours on that game and waiting for the remake version announced in 2015 is an every day struggle!

As per the console, I'm more a PC player even if I have a switch somewhere, played Zelda quite a lot and Super Mario Odyssey! 

Very interesting to see what games you guys loved as well!

[Bryan Trummer - ReleaseTEAM]

I certainly am with you on waiting for that remake for FF VII! Its exhausting every few months there is news on it but not really news on it!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I'm going to dodge the "console" question because I don't really have one.  I was lucky enough to have a computer around long before consoles made an impact in gaming and also tend to play games that computers are as good as, or better than, consoles do it.

As an example of that, I'm not a good gamer.  I do play first person shooters sometimes.  I've been able to beat "expert" FPS players on consoles simply because I have a keyboard and mouse, which is hugely better than any console controller for that type of game.

But, on to the games.  I like puzzles and strategy, so there's a very heavy bias here, and this is a vastly short list.

• Monkey Island (2 ideally), Sam and Max hit the road, and Day of the Tentacle
• Paradroid
• Deus Ex
• Laser Squad
• Chaos
• Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim
• Fallout (both styles)
• Slay

[Meg Holbrook]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- - A newer series that has the tongue-in-cheek feel of Monkey Island was the Deponia series, I think it's Dutch with English translations. Have you heard of it? I highly recommend, and it's usually on sale on Steam. 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I got a bit bogged-down in Chaos on Deponia - a bit too much "not quite sure what to do next".  I keep going back to try again though.

[Meg Holbrook]

There was definitely some glaring glitches in it, but overall I enjoyed all three. Goodbye, Deponia was definitely the most well-polished. 

[Ana Retamal]

I just re-played the Day of the Tentacle a couple of weeks ago :D

[Meg Holbrook]

@Ana Retamal - yaaaahhh! So much fun!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It's coming up for a time for me to work through my three favourite SCUMMs again.  Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island 2 and Sam 'n Max hit the road.  (I'm not a malefactor, I'm a lagomorph!)

[Erica Moss]

In middle school, you couldn't pry my Game Boy from my hands for a second. Super Mario Brothers, FTW. 🙌🏼

[Marcos Sanchez]

When I was on High School I've been punished lots of times because of I was so addicted to my GBA that I played between classes and teachers always caught me 😂

[Heth Siemer]

YES. MY PEOPLE.

I'm a PC and PS gamer. My favorite games for PS have been Last of Us, Persona 5, and Skyrim!

However, I probably have several hundred games on my Steam account. I'm HUGE into League of Legends, and now that I've moved I'm setting up my gaming station so I can stream again <3 ((Shameless self-advertisement: twitch.tv/ladyheth))

That said, my favorite game of all time was an MMO-JRPG that died like five or six years ago called Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online (the online MMO spin-off of the Persona series).

Gaming Clips (ignore the weird names twitch gives its clips):

https://clips.twitch.tv/TrappedBlatantHarePoooound

https://clips.twitch.tv/DeliciousClearTomatoTinyFace

[Ana Retamal]

Game Boy Color was my first console ever, and Pokemon Silver the first video game I played, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. Oh, how I enjoyed those games! 

[Marcos Sanchez]

I had a GBC too, mine was the purple with the transparent plastic case...

Wow, Pokémon Silver was the one that had Lugia as the main legendary, right? Lugia is one of my favourite Pokémon 😍

[Ana Retamal]

Mine was the turquoise, and you're right Lugia was the legendary pokemon in that game. My sister had the Gold one with Ho-Oh as the legendary, we had so much fun and spent so much time evolving the Pokemon together! :D

[Heth Siemer]

My coworker Marissa makes her own GBCs out of a 3D printed body and a Raspberry Pie. They can run pretty much any console or hand-held game from NES to PS1. Legit probably the coolest thing I've ever played on.

[Sloan]

Sameeeeeee! Pokémon Silver was the first game I got for GBC!

[Sloan]

Everything Nintendo. :)

My first gaming Experience was my dads NES.

Later on I had my own Gameboy Color, this is probably the handheld console I spent many hours in my Childhood with. Since the Gameboy Color I owned every single Handheld by Nintendo. The Nintendo Switch today is a blessing! 

And my fav game series is probably Pokémon. Just finished the alola Pokedex of Pokemon Ultra Sun. ;)

But I also play on PC, PS4 and iPad these days. Nintendo is just my favourite. :D

[Scot Mcphee]

Switch.

Splatoon.

end of story.

[Marcos Sanchez]

Well, as I agree on that Splatoon is a good game, I'm not very fan of Nintendo's consoles.

After Game Boy series (except GB Micro), I don't like any of their consoles. 

[Scot Mcphee]

Ehh, the switch is great, I love it.

[Zak Laughton]

Gameboy Advance SP is my favorite console! Lots of fun and memories on that device!

But my favorite game also has to be the Portal games. I actually just played them in the past few years, and was pleasantly surprised at how funny and fun they were!

[Naomi Bowyer]

Always been PlayStation for me 😁

[Suvradip Paul]

After thinking for a while - Nintendo !