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I don’t know why but it seems that I can’t develop a good strategy for Blizzard’s Warcraft III. Every time I practice on my computer, the result will be either I will die fast or I will win the first wave. However, the first wave will be insufficient to take my opponent’s entire base down to earth. Moreover, immediately after that, I will be very much incapable to receive a counterattack. Sad.

It might sounds like I am a noob to Warcraft III. Well, I admit it. I am noob but certainly not to RTS (Real-Time Strategy for non-gamer readers) game. I proudly can say that I am the one of the first to embrace computer games as my religion. To back up my claim, I played Dune II, a revolutionary RTS back in the early 90’s. Shortly, Command & Conquer came out and I played that too. Even when the first Warcraft came out, I was one of the first to get my hand on that game.

However, I usually lose interest on a sequel of game. For instance, there were lots C&C follow-ups but that game simply failed to capture my interest. Dune: Emperor also was introduced in year 2000 or so but I simply shoved it off from my mind.

RTS is cool but my obsession has always been with turn-based strategy (for the non-gamers again, no, it is not called TBS regardless what the reason is). The classic is Sid Meier’s Civilization. It was one of the most addictive games ever. Its addictiveness had me bought its entire sequels, namely Civilization II and the latest installment, Civilization III save Civilization: Call to Power, which was a “gay” addition to the royal trilogy.

Another classic is Master of Orion (known as MOO), another one of Sid Meier successful brands. Most Civilization addicts would have played this game. MOO II was successful too and MOO III, which has already made a blasting entry to the gaming market, is simply amazing.

Lastly, Alpha Centauri. Now Alpha Centauri is annoying but its addictiveness is unbelievable. To turn-based strategy gamers, they (including me) would think that this game is the continuation of Civilization series. Although that is not official, the storyline between both games fits perfectly like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. In Civilization, one of the game possible endings is sending a spacecraft to Alpha Centauri, which in the latter game, starts with the destruction of United Nation Spacecraft Unity over a habitable planet orbiting the Alpha Centauri’s star.

These two genres had monopolized my gaming habit until Half-life came out. I was glued to Half-Life rather late compare to the hardcore gamers. Nevertheless, Half-life changed my perception to first-person shooter game (third-person shooter, I think it is the same as first-person).

Of course, again, I am no noob to first person game. I played Wolfenstein 3D (yes! The grandfather of first person shooter) and finished it with the help of my cousin!) when nobody knows anything about computer game other than Chip or Solitaire. The next best thing was Doom, Duke Nukem, Jedi Knight I and lots of others until I lost my interest in this genre. I would say that Half-life just reinstituted my interest for first-person shooter genre.

My interest in this genre continues to grow as the internet grows. Counter-strike was a magnificent game. It is a cool game save the cheaters. The next in line is Soldier of Fortune II. As I had mentioned before, I was a regular player on redcoat.net and dontsleep.org. I logged on almost everyday until I made some friends.
Finally, my favorite is Jedi Knight II. Here, HERE, I could brag that I am good! My reputation even surpasses my ability. Prove – the |AP| clan somehow recognizes my nick (Thrawn). I also maintain an account on Corruptiveminds.com, a clan although I am not a member.

Lastly, a “genreless” game. Yeah, you named it – Championship Manager (CM by SI Games). To be honest, I was one of the staunchiest criticizers of this game. When the game first came out, I would belittle CM fans’ obsession. I mean, how stupid would you get! Sitting in front of the screen staring at names and stats running all over the monitor; that is just dim-witted.

Well, I learned how stupid that statement is 4 years after the release of the game first version. Now, I am one of those “stupid gamers” whom sit on a chair and stare for hours at the screen, skipping lunch and sleep. I can’t say that I am proud of it though.

Hmm…

Nevertheless, I still don’t consider myself as a gamer. Odd but check out these links: Warcraft Series, Civilization Series, MOO III, Alpha Centauri, CS, JK2, SoF2 and CM