PC gaming is for the REAL dorks though, right? PC gamers like to “frag”, “spawn” and many other things that hopefully enjoy the pleasures of being called a “faggot” by a 12yr old from Levenshulme, pretend they are in WARS despite their only combat experiences involving a couple of episodes of Sharpe and something or other about ROME.
However, I am now going to have to change my ways – a fact which may or may not be related to my recent acquisition of a laptop HEM HEM! And of course I’m concerned about great graphics, up to date gameplay and getting involved with this massive crowd of online dorksfascinating gamers – and that’s why I’ve just ordered the box set of Kings Quest from eBay!
For those not in the know, the last time I played a Kings Quest game would have been on my dad’s computer in 1989. I played Kings Quest 4: The Perils of Rosella where you played a Princess teleported to another world to find a magical FRUIT well poo ur. At age 8, I don’t really remember getting that far, but being absolutely fascinated by this huge world enfolding before me. Wikipedia also tells me that this game was the first one to feature a female protagonist and it was released in… 1988. I wonder if getting to play one of my first ever videogames (featuring a human character that is, although to be honest with you I generally thought the Centipede was a girl) as a female might have had an impact in my continued interest in games through the years. I attempted a little of From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and Computer Games a while ago, which talked about ‘games for girls’, focusing on titles such as Barbie: Fashion Designer which thankfully I’d never even heard of (despite outselling Doom and Quake which are far higher profile in videogames world!), but with my innocent straightforward experience of playing a strong female lead – who wasn’t glamourous, objectified and centred on outfit changes and a high speed stat/low attack – perhaps that’s why I was far less likely to write games off, unlike the majority of my friends who couldn’t find any interest in them…
Anyway! Perhaps now I am at the ripe old age of 25 I can finally complete Kings Quest IV! I also remember a Snoopy game which involved a bouncing ball you had to kick through the town. Nothing else happened. It had to bounce over a puddle or something, and then I abandoned it in favour of, I don’t know, going outside and playing like I was supposed to. Needless to say, I haven’t bothered to track that one down on eBay.