Lost Gems 5: Star Wars Dark Forces - PC - 1995

A long, long time ago in an office building far, far away…

A company named LucasArts ltd was working on their first “First Person” Star Wars game, Dark Forces. Long before Republic Commando and the Jedi Knight series was Dark Forces whiched helped make LucasArts who they are today. Dark Forces was released in the mid 90’s when pretty much every FPS released was considered a Doom Clone.

Dark Forces was a big risk that LucasArts took since it was their first venture into the FPS genre. The FPS market at the time was getting plagued with tons of doom knock offs and clones. Only a few have ever managed to stand out including Duke Nukem, Rise of the Triads, and Heretic. However in retrospect, Dark Forces ended up being more than a Doom clone due to some of its content.

Quick Rant. Gamers and Money.

Upon reading this article I knew I had to speak out. I find this insulting on so many levels. Major Leage Gaming is has managed to signed 5 gamers, 4 members of Team "Final Boss" and Tsquared to a six digit deal for playing exculisvely in their League. For those of you that do not know, the MLG is a professional league dedicated to competitive video gaming.

Let me say this. You guys are sellouts, tools, posers, morons. Gamers should not be paid to play. You must play to be paid. Win a tournament and earn that money, do beta testing for a company or be sponsored like Fatal1ty for using someones keyboard and mouse equipment. Those are the only ways I feel money should should end up in a gamers pocket. You guys are not professional atheletes who are paid to perform for their fans. You don't have fans. Hell you don't have dignity now either.

Don't get me wrong however I am impressed by their skill. They are ten times better than I will ever be in Halo. Yet by selling your soul to a multiyear contract just to play games is absurd. And I guarentee that you will slowly start to lose your competitive edge as the years go on. You will be sitting there losing a match to the heavy unfavored underdogs but it doesn't matter to you since you are still getting a paycheck in the mail.

Just like in all paid competitive sports except gaming isn't a sport. Its recreation that you can compete in.

I'm sorry, I' sorry, I'm so f*&%ing sorry!

As you can plainly see I have yet to work on my Lost Gems 5. That is mainly because I work nights and I have had only 1 day off the past 8 days. That day off was today and it was spent at a concert. I also onlyhave one day off this upcoming week. And again I will be at a concert as well. I work at night, I write my best at night but I am just to tired to write. Once my partner gets back from vacation then I can take it easy and actually knuckle down to write something.

Calling All Gamers!

I've got a new article in the works, and I need assistance from you, our loyal reader! The piece centers around game addiction. Not the normal kind, either (i.e. "Wow, have I really been playing for three hours?"). I'm talking about the damaging kind ("Fuck work. I'm so close to level 40"). It's looking to be very interesting, and I'd like to hear few opinions on the matter. Whether you've just got a unique outlook on the subject, or if you're dealing with/have recovered from game addiction (particularly in MMOs), I'd love to speak with you.

Shoot me an email if you're interested in being featured.

Thanks, guys.