Computer Games

Where did this start? It would almost certainly have been with Asteroids or something similar. Much of my student grant would have been squandered on these coin-op games - at 10p a game. I managed to avoid the "Pong" games of yore.

But it really took off with Quake. I did get some shareware DOOM bundled with the first PC that I bought but have to admit that its, so called, 3D control left me feeling a bit conned.

Anyway, Quake is where my liking started. This is one of those "shooters". Of the First Person variety. You have a gun of sorts and run around killing stuff. The amount of gore in this game is minimal. A good game to get into with some frightening moments. An odd type of game - Monsters, Knights, Marines.....Being a bit brown was its only drawback. Imagine 3 hours of the above, sprinkled with a bit of red, purple and white.  Yes, the colour palette was somewhat limited. 

To get it at its best you have to play it in the dark with headphones on. Then you get the real atmosphere - it is unreal. Think you're a hard man? Why not take on the monsters by creeping up on them and punching or kicking them rather than take them on at it is a distance with a rocket launcher?

Quake led on to Quake 2, now there's a title! About the same time came out Unreal and Half-Life. Unreal scored with colour, a long way better than Quake. Weapons a bit of a let down, you never really thought you were firing a real gun, more like a pea-shooter. Not like the sexy noise made by Q2's grenade launcher.

Half-Life is easily the best of the bunch for single player games - it has everything from the intro through the game proper to the ending. The sequels/add-ons are also good, if somewhat short. The original Half Life has been through several mods but now we have a HD version and the visuals are stunning. Just check out.

The whole 3+ hours of it. But that intro is a piece of class.

Multiplayer Unreal Tournament (in any of its guises) can't be bettered IMO. I prefer it to the Quake version easily. I know some would say the military shooters (Call of Duty et al) and better but, as I have no friends, I prefer just me and the bots.

Quake is up to version 4, UT was up to number 3 and HL was up to 2 plus the episodes.  All cracking games on the PC - I haven't tried them out on consoles yet, if ever. I just cannot get to grips with the console controllers.

There are other shooters out there that have, at some point or other, been on my computer and I have enjoyed them all in general. Bioshock had a truly amazing setting - Art Deco underwater. HALO, Crysis, Mortyr, Wolfenstein, Serious Sam  and others were there too. I'm not trying o sell you these or provide any critical review. You can choose whatever one you fancy. That's what the comments at the end are all about.

Those are the shooters that I like and there is only one other type of game I spend any time on - the sub sims. Now some of these early ones are quite poor as you can see if you watch the following:

The shooters at the top are all about running around killing stuff. The SubSims are in a different league especially if you have realism set up on high. You can't just point and shoot. A bit more thought is required. These are all about stealth and patience. Sail on the surface and you'll be sunk. You have to plan where you want to be and make sure you are there waiting for the enemy.

My Musical Alphabet : C

NB: I do not hold copyright on any of this stuff. It has all be pulled from Youtube.

If the link breaks, drop name a message and I'll find another one. Or you could do it yourself - after all, it's what your right hand for.

Anyway, back to the alphabet.

C is for Crap.

Only in the literal sense, you understand. You have to remember that I've been a quo fan for many, many years and I've heard all the insults. Water off a duck's back to an old codger like me.

In all seriousness, my musical Cs start here. I probably have one of the women in this house to blame for this one. Either via a shared iTunes library or some stuff, they have used their spending allowance on. Definitely not something/someone I would have bought.

Anyway, I'm sure I've heard versions edited for radio with the lyrics removed. In any case, this performance combines my liking for a pretty girl, some American swing and some dodgy lyrics. Christina Aguilera has all three as you can see/hear:

BTW this is a "C" - either for the artist or the song or some other spurious link.

I don't mind admitting that I have a soft core and I quite enjoy some "lurve" songs. Like this C from China. OK, it might be Taiwan. Different for a western ear but in no way crap. Different in that it is a western tune sung in Mandarin (I think). C is also for many things Chinese and I'll continue with the following offering from the late Teresa Teng:

My third link for the Cs is this offering from the Corrs:

 

Another song featuring pretty women - see the theme here?

Again, I'm not really sure where this was first heard or seen but I do like it and it does feature a nice bit of slide guitar.

My musical alphabet wouldn't be complete without the late Chuck Berry. Here he is on stage with someone else who may pop up elsewhere. Again, loads to choose from and there are some who have done his stuff better than him. Just think of all those Johnny B Good covers...

China Girl by the late Mr. Bowie is up next. He passed me by in the 70s. Some school mates thought he was great but the closest I got to that greatness was when I got myself a Bowie haircut. Close but no cigar as I wouldn't have been allowed into school with orange hair.

Did you know that this is from the album, "Let's Dance" featuring Stevie Ray, from the Bs earlier? Well, there you go, some useless information that links much of the stuff in this alphabet.

If you've followed this musical journey, the following Country stuff won't offend. Another dead artist, I'm afraid. The late John Denver. I like it and it was one of my mum's favourites :

My Cs will finish off with this. My bucket list contains a trip back to Paris to see this done live. It is, of course, the Can-Can. I wonder if Offenbach is doing high kicks, cartwheels and splits in his grave?

 As is usual, feel free to add any comments to this or ask any questions. And a reminder  - if you find any 12-bar, guitar-heavy, yodels then please point me in the direction. I'm still looking. Ta.