5 – Need for Speed

Need For Speed was one of the first gaming franchises that I really took note of. I’d play it on the computer a lot with and it was always a ton of fun. I like how it’s not that complex a racing game, and they have kept that for the most part. Some of them, more recent ones, try and add in too much story or complexity for kitting out your car, making it more like a Fast and the Furious movies than like original Need for Speed, and it just loses something. I want to go and race immediately, not have to drive around to find the next event, hope it’s a type that I have my car kit ready for. But the game is just a classic at this point, and some of them, Hot Pursuit 2 in particular are just awesome.

4 – Mario Kart

Needless to say, I like racing games. This goes back to what I said in the open, I like games that aren’t going to take multiple sessions that are hours long to play. I can sit down with a group of friends and knock out a Mario Kart tournament in a few minutes, and that has a group of people with it. I like Mario Kart slightly better than Need for Speed because while both are fun, Mario Kart can be more social, and while Need for Speed isn’t highly realistic in damage to your car or it blowing up, Mario Kart is less so, which just makes it that much more fun.

3 – Tales from the Borderlands

This is a kind of bigger game, but mainly it’s a kind of silly game. I love the Borderlands franchise and this is obviously completely different than those looter/shooters, but it is still a blast. Tales from the Borderlands tells a good story set in that world, and even ties into the 3rd (4th) Borderlands game. It does a good job of keeping the humor and tells what is a very traditional Borderlands story in a condensed and faster game play. I like that I can pick my story decisions and make changes to the world because of them. It’s not all amazing because there are some quick time events that are just annoying and feel like they are there so you, as the player feel like you’re doing something, if it’s been a bit between choices, but generally, like I said, just annoying. Great story overall though, and a lot of good choices.

2 – Borderlands Series

Next up we have the whole of the Borderlands series, Borderlands, Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, Borderlands 2, and Borderlands 3. These are just fun looter shooter games. This is a bigger series of games, and the 3rd one has been harder to get through because I just don’t have the time to sit down and play a ton, but I do really like that they are couch co-op and not that difficult to play. They give you a good silly time as you run around, blow up monsters, get crazy guns, blow up bandits, blow up bad guys, get more guns, and did I mention blowing stuff up with guns? That’s basically what the series is about, and the silly humor that it has to go along with it. Such a good time and easy to get into without having to be that good at the game, you can always just go do something else, shoot and blow up something else, and come back when you’re at the right level.

1 – Dragon Age: Origins

Finally, Dragon Age: Origins. I do like the 2nd one as well, but the 3rd one lost me a bit for a few reasons. What I like so much about Dragon Age: Origins is that it’s an “open world” game. By that I mean that you can do stuff in different orders, and explore different sections, but it is a pretty limited open world game. You can’t just wander off in a direction to see what is there, you’ll run up against how far you can go pretty quickly. And you can’t just randomly stumble into a late game quest. This is just an interesting story of a game that is told while giving you a lot of choices but you kind of work in quest batches that you can pick the order of but will always end up at the same ending spot. Now that might seem like your choices don’t matter, they do, some, but the dragon must be slayed no matter what.

Those are some of the top ones for me, a few that just missed the list would be Powerstar Golf, probably my most played game, because I can sit down and play it so fast, and couch co-op. Jazz Jackrabbit, Alpha Centauri and Tony LaRussa Baseball which I grew up with. 1943, a top scrolling flying game, and then stuff like Mortal Kombat and Super Mario, that I can play, but are easy to pick-up and set down.

What are some of your favorite games, with my taste, what games should I checkout?

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10 – 1942

There will be a number of older games that I really like on the list. One of the reasons that I like a lot of these older games is that I can sit down and play a few minutes. 1942 is a WWII flying game, but in classic arcade, it’s top down so you’re just moving up and down and left and right on the screen while firing non-stop. I really enjoy that type of game, whether it is WWII or some crazy sci-fi adventure or alien world, it’s a good time to just sit down and play through a few levels trying to blow everything up and usually failing a lot. A simple game that I can really enjoy.

9 – Jazz Jackrabbit

You’re a crazy rabbit in this side scroller who can jump, and fire a wide array of guns. This was one that I loved and played so much of, even if it was only just the demo version (I’m not 100% convinced there was a full version, I could never find it as a kid). It’s your classic game kind of like Mario, but while Mario tended to be more linear, this had more ups and downs and backtracking and going under what you’d done before. The guns were a lot of fun, and it was a good one growing up that I could again, just sit down and play a level or two and eventually I got really good at those early levels. Definitely a classic style of game that I could have picked a lot of different games from, but I really enjoyed this one a lot as a kid.

8 – Myst/Riven

One thing I like a lot in my video games is puzzles, and while there aren’t many puzzle games on the list, there are some like Chip’s Challenge that just missed the list. Myst and Riven are two of the biggest puzzle games from my childhood out there, and I believe I have at least Myst for steam. They are really though games, but I love their complexity and their story. The puzzles all make sense, but you really need to search and think to be able to figure them out, because a puzzle might be based off of a sound in a whole different part of the world. Definitely challenging, and very hard to get through without hints, but if you want to spend hours on puzzles this works well, and you could save so you could get through a puzzle and then come back later to do more.

7 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Another of those side scrolling games. I like TMNT because it’s TMNT, also because it’s not that difficult a game. I played this at an arcade probably eight to ten months ago, and it was just a blast four player. We were able to get through the whole game in not that much time and without that much money sunk into it. But it’s just a good time. I love playing as the turtles, and I like taking on all the crazy bad guys that they throw at you. I’m not that great at the game, probably died more than the other people I played with, but who cares, it was a fun time and the game is just about a bunch of button mashing.

6 – Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

Another genre of game that I really enjoy are racing games, and in particular the Need for Speed franchise. I started playing with Need for Speed 2, I’ve played the rebooted Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, and others as well, and as long as they are just straight up racing games, they are awesome. There was one that got too bogged down in cut scenes and random locations to go to and that one wasn’t that great, but give me a standard racing game and I love them. Street racing is even more fun because you get to outrun the cops or you get to be the cops trying to keep in contact with the racers, deploy spike strips and do other things to knock them off the road and arrest them. The game is a blast and again, it’s one that you can just sit down and do a couple of races and call it good.

5 – Mortal Kombat

This is kind of a placeholder for a number of games, DC Injustice, Street Fighter, Capcom games, all of those games that just have you moving left and right on the screen, kicking, punching, jumping and trying to figure out the combos, I really like those types of games. Again, it’s just fun to face off against your friends in a few small battles over time and just see who is the “better” fighter or button masher. Mortal Kombat just has some more of the games that I’ve played recently with the Retron system, and always a good time to just sit down and play for a little bit and then give up when I start to run into the computer using logic and then try again.

4 – Super Mario World

So more of that side scrolling action, though last one on the list, it’s hard not to have a Mario game, and I picked Super Mario World as probably my favorite. I have put more hours into the Wii game but this one is probably preferred because I like the older and a bit slower games, more my speed. Though, any game that I can play as Luigi is good as well. A placeholder really for most Mario games, I again like being able to pick it up and set it down easily just to see how far I can get into it and find where the water levels are and figure out if I can avoid them.

3 – Powershot Golf

Kind of different than the rest of my list which is a bit more retro, at least at parts, Powershot Golf is another one of those games that I can play 18 holes of golf in 30 minutes and then be done if I want. And it’s a silly golf game as well. I don’t mind a more serious golf game, but this one is just more enjoyable because who doesn’t want a golf ball that looks like a skull and moans or an enchanted putter. The game plays fast and is pretty simple, I’ve gotten pretty good at it and it’s one that is easy for new players to get into as well. And there are a lot of fun unlocks you can get, overall just a good and relaxing game to play.

2 – Dragon Age

As I said at the beginning, I do like bigger games, it’s just hard for me to get through them. The top two here are bigger games, and even franchises of games. When I say Dragon Age here, I’m talking about the first two games in the system, I was less of a fan of Dragon Inquisition. The main reason is that was too open world for me, Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2 are both open world enough that you can run around and do random side quests, but you can’t just accidentally wander into a whole new area that you maybe shouldn’t be going to yet. I like the story, I like the combat, and I like the way you can build up your power throughout the game. I’ve beat the original game a three or four times now at this point, but doing it the first time took a long time because I’d get distracted, play or do something else for a few months and then come back and restart because I had forgotten where I was and how I was playing my character.

1 – Borderlands

Now, is aid that I don’t love long games, and I don’t love FPS, and I don’t love open world games, but Borderlands, I love. Firstly, I love it because I can easily play it couch co-op or online. With it being couch co-op, it just gets to be a good afternoon or evening sitting around, playing a completely absurd looter shooter and drinking beer. And while it does have a story, I don’t care that much if I’m on the main quest or if I’m doing a side quest or whatever is going on because I’m there for shooting things, dying, respawning, shooting more things, getting crazy guns, leveling up, but really, mainly, the crazy characters who say absurd things. Borderlands, all of them are just a blast and games that even if you don’t love FPS’s I really do recommend.

Ah, so many games that just missed the list as well. The classic arcade Track and Field, I could probably spend a day at an arcade playing just that. The original Final Fantasy is great. Sports games like Madden or Tony LaRussa Baseball 2. Racing games like Mario Kart or Speed Racer (such an awesome game). But I only had room for 10 on the list and I think that those are really my top few. I could have even said something line minesweeper, I got very good at that game.

What are your top video games? Are there any based off of my taste that I need to try, are there any classic games that are a must track down for NES or SNES?

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So, for those of you who aren’t friends of Kristen and myself, I can’t remember if I posted anywhere on Twitter or on Facebook for Nerdologists that we’re expecting our first kid. Which is super exciting, stressful, and life changing. One thing that I’ve been thinking about is how that’s going to affect the website, playing games, D&D, anime, movies, books, etc. I mean, clearly it’s going to affect it, but how much is it going to affect things.

First, I think that the Dungeons and Flagons podcast is probably going to take a bit of a break. Though I’m not sure about that, it’ll depend on a number of things, but at least a little bit of a break and more so than it has. We did just record recently, but once the baby is around it might be more of an official break.

However, I don’t want to get away from my nerdy roots and stop doing things that I’ve loved doing the past few years for the website as well as just in my life. I’ve found that a lot of these things, like playing Dungeons and Dragons, going to AcadeCon, starting up board game night and playing games like Risk Legacy, Gloomhaven, and Charterstone regularly have been great experiences. They also help me because I’m an extrovert  and being around people keeps me energized and ready to go as well as keeping me in a better frame of mind.

So what are some tips and tricks for this? How do you balance wanting to do nerdy things and having a kid?

I don’t have a ton of answers for this, and for every person, it’s going to be different. But I think that there are a few things that I’ve been thinking about, that may or may not work, but that I think we’re planning on trying.

1. Be fine taking the kid places. They have to get used to being at other peoples places, and while we have to take care of their needs as they arise, just because they want something, doesn’t mean that they are going to get it right away. Also, with our friends, we have friends, who are already modeling this some with taking their young children to our place another others places. There just has to be flexibility with Kristen and myself, as well as with others, because things aren’t going to run as consistently with a board game if Kristen or I have to step away to check on the baby, feed the baby or change the baby.
2. Be fine having people come to a messy house. Small children and babies are horrible messy monsters, or something like that. But seriously, it’s going to be hard staying on top of cleaning when there is a small child who needs a lot of attention and makes a lot of messes so our house isn’t going to be as clean as it might be normally. And Kristen and I aren’t over the top and think that our house has to be completely clean when people come over, but we do try and keep it neat. It just might be a little less neat until the kid can pick-up after themselves several years down the line.
3. Make intentional space for nerdy things. Now, with this, some of it is creating physical locations for these things where we can kind of keep board games separate from the baby by me finishing cleaning up and getting my games sorted and set-up in the basement or the corner of the office set-up for retro video gaming. But it’s also time wise, keeping going things like board game night or the Wednesday nights of playing Charterstone and Risk: Legacy or the Tuesday nights of Gloomhaven. But being flexible with them, which we already are, but trying to keep those things on the calendar will be important for me. And for Kristen, helping her keep time where she can play Breath of the Wilds or Dragon Age: Origins.
4. Find faster nerdy things to do or fit them in where we can. Right now, I will probably watch a couple episodes of an anime before Kristen gets home from work. That might not be as possible in a few months, but watching one during down times and being intentional about those things is going to be how we can get in some more nerdy things. Probably won’t be able to play Arkham Horror every night, but getting in a quick round of Sushi Go! Party with Kristen after the kid has gone to bed and before we do, that’s certainly possible. Let those every day nerdy moments still happen whether it’s reading while in bed for a little bit a new fantasy book or watching an anime or sci-fi show.

So, I’m not sure how well most of these will work, and how much brain power Kristen and I’ll have on nights without a ton of sleep. But these are ideas that I wanted to get out of my head and into an article now, because otherwise, while I’m sleep deprived, I’m probably not going to remember any of them.

Do you have kids, or know someone who does, how do you keep nerdy things going yourself or with those people? What changes in nerdy things have you made, and what opportunities has it opened up? I know I’m excited for a few years down the line when I can start playing board games, not the normal kids ones, but some of the new kids games with our kid or introduce them to D&D or some RPG for the first time or until they can do better than me at Mario (that last one probably by the age of one).

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1. Borderlands[amazon_link asins=’B00SHXKC82′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’nerdologists-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8935bf1c-9e5c-11e7-b346-abe9f25fc8a9′]

I am not a fan of first-person shooter games; however, the Borderlands games are amazing. With the irreverent dialogue, the weird but complex characters, and the fun guns, all of the Borderlands games are just great. They are made even better by the fact that you can play local co-op. So you and your friends can just hang out, blow stuff up, go shopping, and repeat. The missions were funny, the bad guys were great, and the whole concept of the game was a weird mix of seemingly sci-fi, shooter, and fantasy done in an absurd way. The best character is the crazy-pants robot, Claptrap, who seems like he is related to Bender from Futurama in some ways with his desire to party and score. The characters you can play are fun as well; each has unique abilities and skill trees, and you can pay a little to reset them and change them up as you want. All of the games in the series are really good, and they got a lot of love when they were released. I always hope there’ll be another one in the works so I can be insulted by Claptrap and whomever the villain might be in hilarious ways once again.

There were a lot of other games that were close to making this list. I mentioned, with Heroes of Might and Magic, Age of Empires, which is a really fun series. There are all the Need for Speed games, as well as sports games like Madden, Tony LaRussa Baseball II (super old game and super easy with tons of classic players like Tris Speaker and Walter Johnson). And there are party games like Mario Kart or Wii Bowling that are always fun to pull out in the right situation. The last honorable mention I have is Jazz Jackrabbit, a classic side-scrolling game where you are a jackrabbit named Jazz who has plenty of awesome guns that seem to run out of ammo pretty often.

What games do you look back on as some of your favorite games to play?

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