# What were the best uses of your gaming dollars? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 18, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867 "2009-05-18T16:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/61 "2009-05-20T16:35:55Z")
> [@Pithy\_Moniker](#): > > Yes! The Sega Channel was awesome. I really got into the Jungle Strike and Desert Strike helicopter games because of it. Oh heck yeah, that Strike Series was a blast! ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/62 "2009-05-20T18:34:10Z")
FO3 ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/63 "2009-05-20T20:39:37Z")
System Shock 2. I’ve probably beaten it 5 times. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/64 "2009-05-20T22:46:17Z")
**Guild Wars** , no monthly fee, and I’ve enjoyed hundreds of hours **Alpha Centauri** , still the best of the Civ games, and the only one I still play **Oblivion** , never have I sworn off a game then reinstalled it so often **Soul Calibur** , played all of them to death, and SC4 online winning against smack-talking D00DZorZ is the best after-work stress relief **Baldur’s Gate** , I think I’m going to name one of my kids Imoen. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/65 "2009-05-20T22:51:47Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Zelda 1 > > Archon > > Archon Ultra Wait Wait Wait. I skimmed this before, and thought nothing of it, other than: Oh yeah, that chess-like game with the frosted flake shape changer piece. Great game. But, now, I see Archon Ultra, below it? You mean to tell me, they made a Sequel to the Chess game with the corn flake shape shifter in it ?! ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/66 "2009-05-20T22:52:43Z")
I just realized I forgot to include the Shin Megami Tensei games! Nocturne is my favorite, but Persona 3 and 4 are everything a JRPG should be. The older games in the series and the other PS2 ones are pretty fun, but just didn’t give me the same sense of, “I am a savvy consumer!” ETA-I notice yet another reference to Alpha Centauri, and while its a great game, I don’t get how people can put it ahead of the Civs. Explanations? ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/67 "2009-05-21T09:29:58Z")
Valves Orange Box is, quite easily, the best value ever. For one $50 price tag(now $30), you get: Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. 30-40 hours of one of the best FPSs ever made, One of the greatest multiplayer games ever, and a rather short but brilliant(as in, serious contender for best game ever) puzzle/logic/adventure fps. Other good buys for me… Crysis, Homeworld 1&2, Tie Fighter, Independence war 2. ---
**Author:** ![Knightrunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7c8e57/32.png) [@Knightrunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knightrunner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/68 "2009-05-21T10:28:24Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Which are you talking about? Are you talking the AD&D DM Guide, that came out in about 1980? Hardcover and we had to wait what seemed like an ETERNITY after the Monster Manual was out to get the DM Guide? > > Because that wasn’t the first DM guide, if you count the third paperback book in the OLD boxed set (the ORIGINAL D&D) as a DM Guide, which was certainly its purpose. That thing is lucky it’s still readible! 🆒 Oops! You are entirely correct; I should have said AD&D. :smack: I actually wasn’t allowed to touch the boxed set (belonging to my sister) after I accidently damaged the box. I think I sat on it (I don’t remember; I was pretty small). She had an older yellowing (it was probably once white) manual with a unicorn on the cover, which I always thought was the \*original \*DMG. Was this part of the original box set? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/69 "2009-05-21T11:18:16Z")
All the Civ games (_ALL_ of them, including _Alpha Centauri, Colonisation,_ and those other two Civilisation Games that weren’t made by Sid Meier but were still pretty fun all the same), all three _Fallout_ games, _Jagged Alliance 2_ (which I still play), _Deus Ex_, and _Railroad Tycoon 3_, I’d have to say- all excellent games that have given me thousands of hours of pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/70 "2009-05-21T13:36:59Z")
I just realized I never got around to playing HL2 Episode 2. How is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/71 "2009-05-21T14:40:32Z")
Jagged Alliance 2. I bought it when it first came out in '99 and I _still_ play it every so often, and it’s still a blast. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/72 "2009-05-21T16:14:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I just realized I never got around to playing HL2 Episode 2. How is that possible? I did the same thing and disliked it. The controls are stale and I don’t like the pacing. Portal is much better. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/73 "2009-05-21T16:23:13Z")
I loved the main game and Episode 1, though. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/74 "2009-05-21T16:27:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I loved the main game and Episode 1, though. To each their own. I disliked it and still haven’t finished it. Stupid Mudskipper. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/75 "2009-05-21T16:30:34Z")
Heh. I thought the pacing was perfect… just the right mix of unhurried exploration and blinding terror. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/76 "2009-05-21T16:51:05Z")
There are a few games which would compete – as Close Combat and Baldur’s Gate for the PC, Forza Motorsport for the XBox – if it wasn’t for the **Civ** series, which I played very much from 1995 to 2005 (Civ IV didn’t do it for me, and haven’t gone back to Civ since playing that version some.) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/77 "2009-05-21T17:33:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Heh. I thought the pacing was perfect… just the right mix of unhurried exploration and blinding terror. I got no blinding terror, but I haven’t finished it either. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/78 "2009-05-21T17:39:53Z")
I tend to get really “into” games, which makes intense games scary and scary games terrifying. It’s most pronounced with FPSs, but occasionally it happens with totally non-scary games- _Icewind Dale_, for example (go figure). In general, HL2 isn’t really a horror game, but there are horrifying parts- Ravenholm and the part in Episode 1 where the lights go out while you’re underground, in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/79 "2009-05-21T19:10:02Z")
_Warcraft 3_ (and the expansion, _The Frozen Throne_). I own a PS3 with nearly thirty games, but you’ll still find me playing WC3 custom maps for a few hours a week. It’s hard to believe that game is almost seven years old. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867/80 "2009-05-21T21:08:15Z")
For me it is \*\*Sid Meyer’s Pirates \*\*for PC, followed by **WOW** and **Battlefield 1942**. I also, have to give props to **Privateer** and \*\*Star Wars Rebellion \*\*even though I can not get them to run on my current PC. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-best-uses-of-your-gaming-dollars/496867.md?page=5)