Final Fantasy 9 – The story behind FFIX is in my opinion the best in the series. For the first time, I really connected with the emotions and drive of each if the characters. While many consider FFVII to be the ultimate story that has been told in the series, I very much disagree. The characters in 7 were just not as believable and the tired anti-hero cliche that is Cloud just doesn’t stand up to the zealous buccaneer that Zidane portrays so well. Further the interpersonal relationships that happen in 9 are much more grounded and believable. I could never figure out why Aeris and Cloud dated, but totally understood Zidane and Daggers flirting. From a gameplay perspective, I found the grind festiveness of FFIX to be less than that of 7,and the graphics still feel palatable even ten years later.

World of Warcraft – a close second. Few games can boast the number of life destroyed as World of Warcraft. All said and done in spend the better part of 4 years playing WOW, and throughout most of that time, I raided nightly and led a fantastic guild (http://www.thegla.com). It wasn’t the gameplay ghat drew me back though, it was the people. I am proud to say that I have many friends that to this day am very close to due in part to WOW.

Final Fantasy Tactics (Really the whole damn series) – This series has held it’s talons in me since day one, the comedy is that I am unable to actually finish the first game in the series. I’ve owned every release of the game to date yet never gotten past Act two. I’m not sure why, it’s not for lack of trying or enjoyment, just other stuff comes up every time. I hope someday that I’ll hurry up and finish it, as the genre is sorely lacking in today’s market, and good tactical strategy games are few and very very far between.

EVE Online – I’m not sure if it’s the beauty of this MMO or the depth or the spreadsheet nature of it that gets me and keeps me. As new father my play time is greatly limited, yet I still manage to squeeze in not only enough time to play EVE but enough time to manage three characters. I do this because there are so many areas of the game that I want to experience and see but cant unless I specialize in many things. Also CCP is a pinnacle in the industry as far as customer relations and support, they have been dutifully maintaining this fantastic piece of art for over six years now. Finally the community is also fantastic, which helps draw me back in when ever I get bored of being mostly a solo player in a multiplayer game.

Halo – This game turned me from a PC gamer into a console gamer, nothing has ever matched the fun of going to the theater with 15 of my buddies and playing system linked Halo. From then on each release of Halo has seen me line up in front of the local game shop at midnight to be a part of the the firsts to play. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting a bunch of bungie guys on a number of occasions. I can safely say that from now on all bungie games will have me dutifully swiping my credit card for regardless of the title.

I’d love to know your favorites or why you don’t agree with me!

Jess

- Posted from my iPad

Location:112 St NW,Edmonton,Canada

My beautiful daughter sleeping. As usual she is as cute as can be!

This is a little taste for Liz and Robin. This was out about 2 hours into the Mohave Desert ( gtez.com/url/d30189 )

… Well Erica does and Paris just happened to be where we were

A great candid of poor Erica as we were getting the last of our stuff packed and I decided to bust out the camera