My copy did all those things.
I am a pretty hard core gamer,but my tastes are a bit different…I suck at FPS and have yet to find an RPG for the PC that I really like(although Dragon Age has got me pretty interested)
So,here are my picks…games I have played and loved in the last 10 years…
The Sims 1,2 and 3…3 is my pick for the best iteration of the franchise
Civilization IV with Beyond the Sword and the Warlords expansions
Sim City 4
Age of Empires I,II and III
Worlds of Billy-God I miss that trippy game
Caesar III-screw Caesar IV,I couldn’t get it to run on my computer,even though it exceeds the system requirements
Emperor:Rise of the Middle Kingdom
Roller Coaster Tycoon 3
Sim City-the original
Which ones have you tried? I’m sure lots of people here (including myself) would be only too happy to offer you some suggestions.
I remember playing that in Primary School, so we’re talking early '90s at least (The game itself dates to 1989, so it’s definitely Old School).
Age I dates from 1997, also well outside the OP’s timeframe. I preferred Command & Conquer anyway. 
starcraft should be on this list somewhere. RTS so strategy section. Starcraft 2 will be coming out soon too.
Starcraft came out in 1999 (or maybe even 1998?). Starcraft 2 will have come out in 2010. It just missed this decade, on either end.
Interesting responses. Do you guys feel like putting this to a vote, by category? I can tally them up at the end.
Of course, then we’d have to figure out what the categories are. How about:
**FPS - Singleplayer
FPS - Multiplayer
FPS - RPG **(since it seems to be such a growing trend)
RPG - Singleplayer
RPG - Multiplayer (includes MMORPGs and Neverwinter Nights, which also qualifies for single)
Adventure
Action-RPG (Diablo, Torchlight, Zelda, etc.)
Action/Platformer (Mario or similar style games, so long as it’s not primarily focused on first-person shooting)
Strategy - Turn-Based
Strategy - Real-Time
Puzzle - Turn Based
Puzzle - Twitch/Real-time
Sports - Team (baseball, basketball, soccer, etc.)
Sports - First Person (driving, skateboarding, etc.)
What do you think?
Had to have been 1998 and early in the year, because I bought it when I was still in college, and I graduated 1998.
We’re getting old guys. 
Simulation - Silent Hunter
Hmm…
FPS - Singleplayer - Bioshock
FPS - Multiplayer - I avoid this genre
FPS - RPG - Hmm… Deus Ex is just under 10 years old.
RPG - Singleplayer - The Witcher
RPG - Multiplayer - Must play? I guess WoW although the public quests in WAR were fantastic (now empty) and EVE has the best community.
Adventure - I can’t think of any.
Action-RPG - Diablo 2.
Action/Platformer - Can’t think of any.
Strategy - Turn-Based - As HoMM3 is too old, it has to go to Space Empires IV. Civ4 is close.
Strategy - Real-Time - Age of Empires II: Conquerors.
Special mention to Sins of a Solar Empire, Arcanum, Divine Divinity, Plants vs Zombies, Supreme Commander, Football Manager 2010, X3 Reunion, Mount and Blade, SimCity 4, Civilization 4, Colonization, Pirates!, Evil Genius, Dragon Age Origins, Morrowind, The Sims 3…
Great, I already have trouble sticking to one game at a time, now I want to play them all!
No love for Galactic Civilizations 2?
I’d like something that doesn’t have to be played online…and most of the ones I have seen seem to require it. I am a slow,methodical player and I think I would annoy the shit out of anyone attempting to play an RPG with me.
I used to play Might and Magic and that appealed to me,I liked the fantasy element and I enjoy turn based games,but a combination RTS/RPG would be pretty cool as well. I have played through all of the Playstation versions of Final Fantasy and loved every last one of them. I know there are PC Final Fantasy games,but aren’t they all online games? If they made a FF I could play offline,I’d be all over that.
I am looking for something that has some degree of complexity,but not enough that it becomes more work than fun. I like the console versions of FF because it’s just enough complexity to keep me challenged,but not enough to make me not to play it anymore. I have found plenty to like on the consoles,but not many on the PCs,because as I said before,I’m not that interested in on-line gaming.
It also has to be fairly recent,since I have Windows 7 and it’s hit or miss with old stuff.
Ideas would be more than welcome:)Thanks Martini!
Open RPG - Oblivion
Plotted RPG - Dragon Age (Planescape misses by a year)
4x Strategy - Civ 4
Grand Strategy - EU3
City Building - Zeus (Pharaoh misses by a year)
So apparently I’m massively behind the times 
Zeus was da bomb. I loved the cartoony graphics. Unfortunately,I cannot get it to run in Windows 7,even in compatibility mode:(
There is a beta version out now that a few pople were lucky enough to get!
Try Fallout 3, Oblivion, and Deus Ex. They’re all must-play brilliant and are single player with complex plots. Fallout 3 and Oblivion have, when you add all the expansion packs in the Game Of The Year Editions, something like 100+ hours of gameplay in each game, plus there’s an insane amount of exploring and side-quests to do, and they have good stories.
I don’t want to appear rude, so don’t take this as a personal criticism, but describing yourself as a “Hardcore Gamer” and then thinking that the only RPGs available on PC are either MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games like World of Warcraft or Eve Online) or the Final Fantasy series… doesn’t really let you call yourself a “Hardcore Gamer” in most places. Just a friendly heads-up so you don’t end up getting flamed elsewhere by less understanding gaming types. 
PC’s have been the home of great, story-driven, deep, interesting RPG’s sine time immemorial. It’s a legacy that consoles only recently got to enjoy with games like Oblivion and Morrowind, Fallout 3, Dragon Age and Mass Effect.
BTW, all of those are must haves on the PC.
If you don’t mind a bit dated graphics I’d also strongly recommend Neverwinter Nights 1. It’s never ending. There’s hundreds upon hundreds of hours of excellent community made adventures for you to play through. The sequel is not bad either.
I wish they’d do a remake of Zork.
Honestly, as much as I enjoyed the Baldur’s Gate series, Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 both left me cold. The NWN expansion, Mask of the Betrayer or something (the one that starts at level 14 exploring the madman’s dungeon), was pretty great, I admit–but I didn’t like the basic storylines for either game. In fact, I played NWN2 up to what I think was the final series of encounters, an area with no sleeping allowed, and given my choice of a wizard for my main character got so annoyed that I quit.
It’s heyday is pre-10 years ago, but the best MMOG I ever played was Ultima Online. I can’t recommend it because it’s alien from what it used to be when I played, but damn do I bemoan that the level treadmill of Everquest was the adopted inspiration for MMOGs over UO’s mix and match skill system.