My love for Video Games 1

 

I still remember when I ran to my dad when he came home after court, not to greet him, but to get his phone so that I can play games. Holding that B&W visual Nokia handset (I don’t remember the model), I spent a lot of time enjoying playing Snake, the most popular cell phone game of that era. With the introduction of colour vision in the cell phone industry, I was introduced to the most well-known game of that time – Bounce and an upgraded version of Snake, called Snake Xenzia. The interesting thing is that all these games were made by Nokia and were exclusive to their handsets. Even though other brands had their own set of games, they were not as popular or successful as Bounce. Later, they launched an advanced version of Bounce, called ‘Bounce Tales’, which was more of a story-driven game but wasn’t received well.

               It took a long time for computers and laptops to be used in the common households in India compared to other countries such as the U.S.A, England, Japan, etc. When we talk about the early era of computer video games, the ones that quickly come to our minds are Solitaire, Pinball, Minesweeper & Need for Speed. With the advancement in technology, the video games produced also became advanced through the use of better gaming engines, software programming, graphics processors gaming drivers, etc. and they required a much-advanced level of hardware. With this, many game creators/companies came into the arena, where the major players were Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Activision, Bethesda, Microsoft Studios, Rocksteady and they started the trend of game franchises. Electronic Arts made popular franchises like Need for Speed, FIFA, Star Wars, Battlefield, etc. Ubisoft was well-known for successful franchises such as Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, and most importantly, Assassin’s Creed. Activision was pretty famous for Call of Duty, a third-person perspective shooting game, whereas Microsoft Studios was known for the Age of Empire franchise and Forza franchise and Bethesda was popular because of Fallout franchise and the Doom franchise, which is a hardcore, first-person perspective action game.

               I grew up playing computer video games such as Need for Speed, Far Cry, Call of Duty, Watch Dogs, Battlefield, Assassin’s Creed, and Prototype. Then certain games are not just games, but an emotion to gamers across the world, including me. Need for Speed: Most Wanted, launched in the late 2005 tops this category and is still revisited by many among the gaming community. Being a game with a great story, characters with depth, and a vast number of cars, Need for Speed: Most Wanted was one hell of a racing game that delivered a lot of fun and kept its quality through its successor, Need for Speed: Carbon, whose story picked up after the events of Most Wanted. When it comes to shooting games, we can’t miss out on the Call of Duty franchise as it is visited by the majority of the gaming community. The best ones in this franchise was the Modern Warfare trilogy, whose storylines were connected to each other, narrated by multiple characters. Playing this trilogy is like going through a roller coaster ride. Other games to mention are Far Cry 3, still considered the best in the franchise by many because of a better story, characters, and most importantly multiple endings. When it comes to the Assassins’ Creed franchise, the Ezio Trilogy will always be my favourite. The Ezio Trilogy included Assassins’ Creed 2, Assassins’ Creed Brotherhood, and Assassins’ Creed Revelations. The reason why I consider this as the best in the franchise is that out of all the instalments, the Ezio Trilogy had the best storyline, well-written characters, and was quite historically accurate. Out of all the protagonists in the Assassins’ Creed franchise, Ezio is the most loved character and because of this many gamers, including me, still, revisit this trilogy to enjoy and realise how good it is.

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