What is your favorite video game?

Mine is probably Grand Theft Auto V, although I haven't been playing it much lately. But when you work full time overnight and have kids, it makes it hard to play video games. I normally play NCAA Football or Madden during football season and then GTA V and other games in the off season.

My GTA V "gang" or "crew" or whatever is called the Main Street Locs and my screen name is ophion1031. I play on the ps3 for now (will be getting a ps4 eventually). Feel free to add me or to join my crew if any of you play.

I'm also a huge fan of old-school Atari and Nintendo games. Some of my favorites include Pitfall, Moon Patrol, Mario Bros 1 & 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Duck Tales, Contra 1 & 2, Double Dragon, Dig Dug, Frogger, Q-Bert, Missile Command, Defender, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Combat, Joust, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Berzerk, Galaga, Kung Fu, Haunted House, The Legend of Zelda, Adventure Island, Tetris, Castlevania etc etc etc.

I prefer the old 3rd person games they give you more time to think and react. GTA 2 ,Commandos 1 & 2 but Marine Sniper is cool

Never played Marine Sniper. The first play station had some really cool games like that and they took off from there. The games now are just fucking insane. I used to be awesome at video games and now my 10 year old is kicking my ass at these newer games.

ophion1031 wrote:Mine is probably Grand Theft Auto V, although I haven't been playing it much lately. But when you work full time overnight and have kids, it makes it hard to play video games. I normally play NCAA Football or Madden during football season and then GTA V and other games in the off season.

My GTA V "gang" or "crew" or whatever is called the Main Street Locs and my screen name is ophion1031. I play on the ps3 for now (will be getting a ps4 eventually). Feel free to add me or to join my crew if any of you play.

I'm also a huge fan of old-school Atari and Nintendo games. Some of my favorites include Pitfall, Moon Patrol, Mario Bros 1 & 3, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Duck Tales, Contra 1 & 2, Double Dragon, Dig Dug, Frogger, Q-Bert, Missile Command, Defender, Space Invaders, Asteroids, Combat, Joust, Donkey Kong, Pac Man, Berzerk, Galaga, Kung Fu, Haunted House, The Legend of Zelda, Adventure Island, Tetris, Castlevania etc etc etc.

Nice list of old Atari games!

I played the old Atari system a little bit with my kids when they were first getting into the video games and I played a few NES games with them but have not played anything in the last 25-30 years.

Frogger was my favorite game.

Missile Command!

Pitfall!

Pitfall rules!!!

new god of war is going to be sick!

Eric X wrote:new god of war is going to be sick!

That does look really cool. I wish I had more time to play video games.

I'm on board with the Atari stuff that Dave posted. Last time I played a video game was probably around 1995 and it was the SuperNES.

I plan on getting a ps4 once I get caught up on bills, but if anyone is on the ps3 network, send me a PM with your user name.

here is a link to a new? game that is going to have a zodiac killer charactor

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/watch-dogs-2-gets-special-editions-zodiac-killer-p/1100-6440578/

note I was for a time, a celeb for being the best at a video game in 72? ( got calls from a TV reporter , wanting an interview )
I will post it later

What game was it that you were the best at?

I am working on posting it
It had to do with the apollo 11
it was a MIT grad that made this rudamentry video game ,I think it was called Luner Lander or Moon Lander . It was not by Atari or other big vid game makers, although one of those copied this game later because this game was a phenomenom back east Boston , NYNY, Philly , and Chicago ...this was in late 72 or early 73

Was it Moon Patrol?

This is my story of being the best in the country at a popular video game in either 72-73 or possibly 73-74.
and an important video game .

In 71 I was 12 I met a boy my age named Mike that lived only 2 houses from me that I had not known of and we became good friends mostly playing baseball at a close by ball field and just hanging out . With cold weather we did not do much ,I was hoping to eat with him at Jr high but he ate when I did not.

That fall having not really talked to him much he called to my house and wanted me to go to a big video arcade
we did with his 8-9 year old sister . The deal was his Dad and Mom wanted so alone time and he could not play a game and keep close enough tabs on his adorable 8 or 9 yr old sis, that's where I came in. I had to hold her hand while he played so someone didn't snatcher up ,she developed a crush on me .

this arcade was the biggest in K C as I recall back then it had like 30? video games PacMan ,Asteroids ,Space Invaders, Sub Commander a bunch of others pinball and pool tables too .
I was not that much of a gamer ,OK I was a wantaby.I did have a great couple of games on Asteroids after I broke out of the center a crowd started watching me.

About the second time we went which was usually Saturday around noon. As we walked in the place looking at all the games ,there was a new one ,it was weird it looked like some guy made it in his basement ,it was a 17” TV in a plywood stand case made to look like the other professionally done games I think the name was called Lunar Lander , I don't think it even had live graphics displayed showing what it was just the ad on the cabinet.

After playing some other games Mike was playing Space Invaders and this game was behind us . He was done so it was my turn so I said I'm going to play this thing ,no one had or was playing it , The Lunar Lander It was hard

This game was of course a simulation of the Apollo LEM, landing on the Moon It had a variable vertical lever for the main rocket engine , on the right and 2 momentary buttons on the left for the retro rockets that kept it level and just a toggle switch like you can still buy at any hardware store as the start switch .

It was 35 cents to play and you only got 1 chance ,if you lost it ,game over, that was why IMO almost no one played it . The first thing you saw was the Command module and the LEM together at the top of the screen in orbit around the moon ,but there was no view of the moon as you were way above it , the screen a med. gray and the LEM outlined in white . It showed a long Paragraph in small type telling you how to achieve the goal ,but you had to read quick as it started 30 seconds later after you flipped the toggle start switch.

Very quickly after starting ,using the retro rockets I had it tumbling and it fell fast to the moon game over ,I wanted to forget this game ,but Mike put in the 35 cents and he tried, finding the LEM would stay level unless you hit the retro rockets and he made it down some ,but did not fire the main engine soon enough and it crashed hard . I tried it again and mike was telling me when to fire the rocket and slow the craft down but gave it too much and running out of fuel , then free falling crashing
We played some other games , we were there for around 3-31/2 hours so we had to conserve our money we got a hot dog and chips ,coke about midway at the snack bar there. We were waiting for the ride home and I played the game again this time Mike and I worked as a team , It was hard to get the time to fire and how much throttle to give the main engine , there was a small gauge of sorts as to altitude and at the bottom a radar as to the terrain . I thought if you fired the engine Max. at /near the surface it would work but it could not slow it enough .crashing . But we made it farther than before .
The next Sat. we went as we walked in two college looking men late twenties or early 30's smartly dressed ( sport coats ) they had the look of a professor were playing this machine and only it ,but it seemed not much luck but they were plunking down the 35 cents over and over. A few kids had gathered to watch them play as we did . After they were not playing it Mike and I together would try and again a crowd of 7-10 watched , There was a very quickly displayed message over on the right at 50,000 ft up to engage the main engine , the gravity came on stronger as you got closer to the surface
So I barely gave throttle to it and more as it got closer it appeared as I was going to land it , when at the surface the screen became very bright from the reflection of the moon distracting you , I saw almost at the moon that I was landing on the side of a hill moved it some with the retro rockets and crashed, but gently . A bunch of the crowd watching let out a “Oh”
that was when we learned you had to fire the retro rockets to move it away from the hills and use the radar to see a place where it could land level.
I had a knack for gittering the first two fingers of my left hand on the two buttons , back and forth to move but still keep the LEM up right , it was very taxing on my fingers and hand mussels . Mike tried but could not do it . If I wasn't feeling it, in the zone with the fingers I was terrible with the game . Later we tried several times flying the LEM sideways as you had to, with improving but still bad results . It was very hard to barely angle it to the right or left and apply a burst of main engine then not only straighten it back up with out going to far the other way ,but also stopping the side ways movement completely when it was positioned in a good landing spot .
BTW on this game the LEM would leave the screen on the left or right ,I thought at first you had to keep it in , but it came back in on the left side after 1.5 seconds and Mike noticed that the landscape gauge was different . This was a major factor in I /us being able to land the LEM ,You had to fly the LEM to the 3rd screen going Right or you would never have success because of no flat level spot to land .
From then on when we went to the arcade I had a crowd of 7,10 or more at least by the end of the game around me watching intently.

The third time we went the 2nd game with a big crowd around us I flew it to the spot to the right and it seemed to get away from me some but sat it down just not flat enough spot the onlookers excited saying YES! But it fell over after landing ,but a screen came up that this was a high score and to use the vertical lever to put my name in ,which I put Don _ and last initial , I had the high score on this machine .

The next time when we arrived ,the kids and young adult regulars took a long look at me , just entering a 6 or 7 year old cute boy, there with his brother about my age 13 or so said excitedly to him “there's that guy ...that plays that moon game ..do you think he will play it ? ….I bet he plays it ...I hope he plays it before we leave ...do you think he will ?… I sure hope he does .

Mike and I looked at each other and smiled I said come on to Mike and went right to Lunar Lander , and half the players quit there game in progress to get a good viewing of us .
I was nervous with the crowds my new found fame attracted ,I didn't want to suck mostly . The first time with Mike softly calling out the altitude and saying farther someone noticed and said “oh this guy is helping” yeah he was.
That game I came close to landing it but didn't have it stopped from moving sideways , when the game ended the high score screen came up my name had been displaced by someone using initials and listed as Boston as the location, I had thought my best score was just on this machine ,but somehow ,by a modem or being called in all the machines were linked , so I had ...had the best score in the country , now 2nd best .
Mike ,his sister and I all took turns at games ,so I was going to let him or her play a game ,but the young manager of this place like 25 ( I think was the owner son) stepped up from the crowd and put the money in the game to play again , I did worse a bit but the crowd had gathered in so close somebody bumped my arm once and it was getting hot with all the body's so close the manager gave another comp and told people to back up . This time it went very well , I had the perfect side travel and decent we thought ,as it neared the surface to much sideways ,I got it to straighten up and had a bit of trouble setting it down , the ground effect came in , which was a whole new factor , play with it I ran out of gas and it fell 30 ft but landed up right people cheered a bit as it was on the surface , but I got to put my name in the high score again the manager wanted me to put my whole name but I kept it as it was and he wanted Independence as the location instead of KC
I quit for a break and there was a 5-7 person line on the machine immediately , most of them walking away from it quickly in disgust .

I remember wanting to not play the machine again that day because I had the crowd satisfied ,yeah I was more worried about them not revering me than doing well on the game . Mike would call his parents and say to come get us and sometimes they would immediately ,other times it was a hour later .
He had called them and we were waiting near the door , some of groupies ( I'll call them ) thought I was going to play it again . After waiting about a half an hour I did , twice . the first time I lost it with the LEM in between screens and wasn't going to play again but I had most of the players in the arcade back watching me and the manager put in the coins / Note the other game I liked was Sub Commander , Mike was way better at it than I but I was improving ,this manager had the high score on it and about this time when I played it ,it would lock up or shut off for a second I think he was shutting it off to keep the high score and wanted to learn how I did it on Lunar Lander to have it too.
This 2nd time playing it every thing clicked , I quickly had the sideways travel and decent was good, half the battle, on the 3rd screen if I could manage the variable main thrust and stop it sideways it would be close , one problem was when I came close to the surface the shine from the surface lit up the previous dark screen , some of the smaller kids would be noisy ,talk and it distracted me. But this time I was there 3 “ above the landing spot trying to gently set it down , not an easy task, the ground effect issue came in ( in space the rocket engine has just thrust to fly the LEM ,but when the thrust has ground to press against it is much more powerful) ,
it was kind of clumsie but with not much fuel left I set it down , a big roar from behind me erupted , I spun around every one smiling and got a bunch of pats on the back, I looked at Mike he was reading the screen , it said you have successfully landed on the moon , but without enough fuel to return to earth . This game had the high scores names ,but above that it had successful landings ,which had no names . But I was atop the high scores ,I had 3 of the 4 listed.
As we were waiting for the pickup kids were coming up wanting to ask questions about the game .

Back home the phone rings and it's Mikes Mom wanting to talk to my Mom, I thought I was in trouble some how, but Mikes sister had told her Mom that Don is the best player in the U S at a video game and Mike confirmed it . So Mom was excited about it ,I thought it was pretty cool ,but not much else .
Sunday, the next day, Dad took me to the arcade and wanted to see this ,with out Mike calling out the altitude ,I struggled
I had only 1 game that I came close , a few of the players knew me and spread it around that I sucked then .

A few days later another call was from a TV station here I think CBS ,a woman reporter wanting to know about me and asked when I went to the arcade

The next Saturday at the arcade the manager came up to me wanting to know my name and I gave it to him writing it down , he said a TV reporter wanted to come to the place and shoot a story of us playing the game ,also he gave me 3 coupons for hot dogs chips and drinks ,we always got, and said when I played the Lunar Lander let him know and he would pay the fee. That was assume !

The next Sat. at the arcade were swamped by players and parents too ,must have been 40-50 watching me play
I was not afraid to fail just was with with a huge crowd watching, judging .
I played a game and didn't get close ,I did not see how I could do any better that the time I got top H score
but the low fuel issue lummed. I had tried going left from the start , but saw no available landing spot any closer than going Right , then Mike said there is a blip just after moving left at the start . There was a tiny spot you could land safely making it much easier.
About the 3rd -4th time attempting it I landed again int his spot and got the same cheering from the mass of people gathered around ,this time I had the fuel to leave ,so I had done it , or so I thought
I thought I only had to take off and go up , half way mike reads a note “you must make orbit by curving the assent , I had trouble doing it smoothly and failed to get a successful landing register ,BTW they were kept as the first , second to do it every one wanted to be the first .
I believe I was able one more time to try again and made a better ascent but still it was not good enough , but I did get high score again , before we had to leave the arcade .

That Sunday Mike's mom calls up and told Mom to turn TV to some channel quickly, I think it was for the 60 Minutes show . The last segment was about the phenomenon surrounding this Lunar Lander game mostly back east , it showed the lines to play in arcades or bars in Boston , NYC, other places

A woman reporter was the Journalist ...Leslie Stall ? The creator of this game was a late twenties man of Indian /Asian decent from M.I.T. The game was his computer science major final Thesis . This last segment of the show and was to be a light piece , with the main point of it to be how quickly it became an overnight sensation.
Then She asked jokingly “but why did you make it so hard and only give 1 try ?”
He responded “ I just used the data from NASA about the LEM and the moon to make a accurate 3rd person simulator” she said sort of laughing “ so it would be this hard to land for real?” he said yes
She had a ..ought oh, kind of look on her face , BTW this show was live back then .

Note if you took a big 70's Chevy suburban and put a 18.000 lb thrust rocket under the middle then had 4 retro rockets on the corners controlled by a gimbal stick and had a way to lay flat across the seat backs your head out over the the body to see below you would have here on Earth what Armstrong had to land the real LEM up there .There were no gyro stabilization on the LEM … one retro was a V retro to try to stop any spinning of the craft , that engineers were afraid of getting out of control … this game did not have that simulation .

How did the game end for me ? I think we did not go there the next weekend , but the following . we found someone had success in landing it ,had their name as no1 , I was able to finally land and escape and got the #2 or maybe 3 spot but putting my name on the game either a unknown person quickly toggled the on /off switch , then running away or the power was cut and it quit the screen , I went to the arcade 2 more times but the machine was gone , mike said he saw it in the back room .

Great story. I don't recall a game called Lunar Lander. I will look it up tomorrow and see if I can refresh my memory. Too drunk and lazy to look it up now lol. I miss old school arcade games though. Really takes me back to when life was much simpler!

I have searched online images and did not find it I think there was one called that like lunar lander by atari  and it was a knock off of it gave 3 tries.
It was like many didnt want it solved
THEY WANTED TO SOLVE IT...sound familiar?

One other thing ,looking at the zodiac cipher blogs I found a guy in England discussing aspects of the 340 ,he was the developer of many 80s and up video games 50_70 of them .

Don Pseuym wrote:One other thing ,looking at the zodiac cipher blogs I found a guy in England discussing aspects of the 340 ,he was the developer of many 80s and up video games 50_70 of them .

Do you have a link? I would like to read up on this.

I did have it on favorites but looks like I deleated it I think I emailed him too so I will check on it he is a pretty big deal over there , bet welsh chappie or richard knows who I'm talking of

wait i think this is him , but the look of the site has changed
http://blog.jgc.org/ he's a coder mostly