Games

Cementing it's place in history as the ultimate example of vaporware, Duke Nukem Forever will never be completed because 3D Realms just went belly up.

This game has been in development since 1996. Personally I felt that all 3D Realms was doing for the past 13 years was inventing screen shots to impress venture capitalists with. They probably blew all the money on wild parties, sports cars and drug addictions.

I would not be surprised to see many lawsuits and investigations as a result of this. Hundreds of millions were pumped into this project, with nothing to show. I also think this will have far reaching effects with the whole video game industry. You may see an end to the irresponsible spending sprees that infest these companies like a plague.

It's a strange bit of coincidence that the same week that my nephew may be introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, that the man who created the game would pass away. Gary Gygax, the father of modern roleplaying games, died last night. He was as influential to the fantasy genre as J. R. R. Tolkien. Without his creations my life may have been very different.

My niece and nephew are going to be staying with us next weekend. It's sometimes hard to find activities for a 9 and 11 year old. For my nephew, I will try to introduce him to Dungeons & Dragons. He's 11 now, and has plenty of geeky characteristics. He enjoys playing a miniatures game called Heroscape, and I think it's a good time for him to learn about more advanced games.

The problem with introducing a kid to D&D these days is that there isn't a real introductory product anymore. When I first learned how to play it was with the red book basic D&D set. You could expand that with the blue book expert set, and then at some point move up to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Today they have the 3.5 edition of AD&D, and the rules are just too complex for a 11 year old to understand.

I managed to find an original red book basic set at my local game store, hidden away in the used book section. It's in nearly mint condition. The previous owner probably never opened it up. So this week in my spare time I need to re-read the game book, and come up with a simple dungeon crawl. Maybe I'll be able to get my niece and wife to join in on the fun too.

I've been in need of a distraction lately, so I've turned to some old school NES games. Tough video games without the advantages of saved games. These games are incredibly difficult by todays standards. Even Halo on nightmare level is trivial compared to Supra Contra or the original Metal Gear. It's humbling to realize that you used to spend days playing just one game before you managed to get to the second level. Without save points, you'd have to dedicate a good hour or more just to beat a game.

I remember having all-night Super Mario tournaments. Who could get the furthest without warping, who could get the most points with only one life, etc. I'm willing to throw down to my friends and family. Above is a screen capture of my best score on Super Mario Brothers. If you can submit a screen capture of a higher score before March 20th (1 month from now, and coincidentally my birthday), you will win the 1st Annual Muzzy Video Game Invitational Trophy.

We'll be on the honor system that you won't be using any cheats. If two or more people can beat the score, the prize will be awarded to the highest overall score. In the event of a tie, the highest level will win. If that also is a tie, then the first to submit the entry will win.

Good luck!