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Unread postby El Chaos » 26 Jan 2009 20:58

Not much to say at the moment, only that English isn't my mother language either. I'll probably come back and edit this in order to properly introduce myself, I think...
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Joined: 26 Jan 2009 20:34
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Unread postby Duke » 18 Feb 2009 10:32

I've been into arcade games for a few years now. I have a fairly daunting amount of Dreamcast, Saturn, and JPS2 games that I haven't cleared on a credit yet, so I probably won't be up-to-date with consoles for awhile.

Contact me if you'd like me to hand you your ass in Streetfighter Alpha 3. The game is a personal favorite despite its numerous flaws...
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Joined: 18 Feb 2009 10:21

Did not see this before I had posted

Unread postby Japhei » 23 Feb 2009 20:04

Hi my name is Japhei and I am new to this site.

I am inspired by this site and others to follow and report arcade game news on my blog:

www.japhei.blogspot.com

I am a huge fan of the arcade scene and have a arcade in my home although small. Video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_o5cSlc ... annel_page

I look forward to discussing about arcade games with all of you in the future. Have a great day!
Just a Couple More Shots!
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Joined: 23 Feb 2009 19:46
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Unread postby taub » 03 Mar 2009 02:27

Hi, I'm German, and I like to read about videogames. I also like discussions about politics.
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Joined: 12 Dec 2008 05:42

Unread postby Mathis » 05 Mar 2009 10:09

Hello, you guys have a nice place here. I'm from Saint Louis, English being my sole language so far.

I don't have too much to say of my gaming experience here that you couldn't have already guessed, as I have been mostly playing console games my entire life, but not exactly by choice. I basically tried to play the best of what was around at the time, and now the internet has given me knowledge of and access to such a wide variety of noteworthy and celebrated games I (and other gaming publications) have missed, so it's like rediscovering things all over again. After seeing icycalm on actionbutton.net, the only logical thing for me to do was to come here.

Hope my stay here is a long one!
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Joined: 03 Mar 2009 07:10

Unread postby Nervicide » 08 Mar 2009 15:43

Hey there,

I'm from Bucharest and as it would be expected english is not my native language. I've been lurking around this place for the past few months, mostly hovering around the theory section.

As far as games go I have a tendency to prefer ones that are experienced from a first person view, be they mech sims, fuck'em zombies up sims, tactical pwn the terrorist sims, get lost in an industrial police state sims, realistic aircraft sims, fictional aircraft sims, fictional aircraft sims with a strategy twist, and you get the idea I reckon. I enjoy mostly any game that somehow makes my sponge-like cerebrum spark, no matter how horrendously crippled or annoyingly polished it may be, I can get over a lot if there's something yummy there.

Even though this may not be of particular interest to many here's a little bit of history...
I've finished a crap art highschool and aquired a crap scenography diploma in the process, all this two years ago; prior to that I did three years of "general artfaggotry elementary school" in the same place, studying shit like how to model clay in shapes of shit and how to draw static nature in shapes of shit and how to draw the human figure in shapes of shit, knowing very little about my future making entire shit set designs out of shit.

I am currently a first year undergrad in the country's so-called best crap industrial design college where I am studying how to make shit out of shit in shapes of shit. In the long-run I'm hellbent on grabbing a crap automotive design diploma to put alongside my crap scenography diploma, hoping to make not only even more shit, but shit that rolls down the street with you in it.

This being said, I would like to congratulate the active members of this community for doing such a solid job of bitch-slapping every other game-ish forum out there into an intellectual awakening or an aneurysm of the hivemind. Godspeed.
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Joined: 08 Mar 2009 11:43

Unread postby Adjudicator » 12 Mar 2009 14:05

Greetings and salutations to the community.

I have decided to join as a member of this forums ever since I discovered this site from a link from the GameFAQs forums back in late December 2007.

I was and still am amazed by the content and the articles contained in this site.

My history:

I was introduced to gaming when I was six years old, via the NES and the Nintendo Game Boy, with a collection of "simple" games like Tetris, Galaga, etc.

Eventually, I moved on to the PC as my gaming platform of choice, which is still my primary gaming medium to this day.

The first PC I played on was a 386 handed down from my parents' office when they upgraded to a 486, and my first PC game I played was the 3D action shooter Doom.

Eventually, I moved on to a large variety of PC games like Dune II, Command and Conquer, Might and Magic series, SimCity, and various other games.
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Unread postby Matt » 12 Mar 2009 15:23

Hi

My name is Matteo, I am of Italian origin but live in UK.

I read Insomnia a few times before, but today I noticed the essay on expertise and really enjoyed it, so I decided to sign up to show my support. I need more time to read, but right now I'm working so it's a bit difficult.

BTW, I like games a lot and am really looking forward to play RE5 tomorrow. When I'm not playing RE I am usually on Xbox live hosting player matches on VF5. My GT is: ses1mf1

If you see me online and enjoy a friendly round of VF, please feel free to join my games!

Matt
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Joined: 12 Mar 2009 15:16

Unread postby mothmanspirit » 18 Mar 2009 00:17

I figured since this is one of the only websites where there are regularly, like, intelligent discussions I should come here. I sometimes post on selectbutton.net, but you know how Select Button and intelligent discussion go together (not at all, usually).

I'm 15 years old, and I reckon I'm a quite a bit more enlightened than most teenagers. I'm also a native English speaker.

I've been around games all my life. The earliest ones I remember are Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario World, which I played with my mother and father.

Every time we went to Chuckie Cheese's, I credit fed through the Star Wars arcade game. But I got good enough to 1cc it.

I got a Gamecube and a PS2 for Christmas in 2001. My favorite games were (some still are!) Pikmin, Viewtiful Joe, Katamari Damacy, Metroid Prime and Super Smash Bros. Melee. I always played as Marth. This got me all excited about Fire Emblem. I had no idea what it was, but I wanted it. I told everyone about how awesome it must be. If I taught myself Japanese she said she'd order a Super Famicom and Fire Emblem: Thracia 776. I didn't and she didn't, though eventually they released the seventh game in America. It was every bit as great as I'd hoped it'd be.

I stopped playing awesome games, though, because I ran away from home when I was ten and when my parents found me (it took them thirty minutes) they grounded me for the next three years. So the next awesome game I played was Shadow of the Colossus. I never wanked over that game, not even once, not even a little bit.

I discovered SNES emulation and played Contra Spirits. Then I started reading Action Button Dot Net, then I started reading this site. I check the front page when I wake up and again before I go to bed.

These days I'm playing Gun Valkyrie, Killer 7, Civilization II and Panzer Dragoon Zwei.

I'd list my favorite games, but that'd be boring and ruin the suspense.
Last edited by mothmanspirit on 03 Apr 2009 01:53, edited 4 times in total.
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Unread postby KarlCarlson3 » 18 Mar 2009 08:23

I've been thinking what exactly to write here. I don't want to ramble on and bore anyone, so I thought the best way was to basically copy raphael. I chose the games based on what I remember liking the most at the time and tried to list them based on when I played them, but in some cases I can't quite remember.

Although I separated this by the consoles I owned, I've always played a small amount of PC games which is why there are some mixed in.

SNES

Super Mario World
Yoshi's Island
Super Mario Kart
Contra III
StarFox
Donkey Kong Country 3
Mortal Kombat/Mortal Kombat II
Wolfenstein 3D (PC)
Doom (PC)
Duke Nukem 3D

PS1
I had a GBC for a short period of time.

Twisted Metal
Battle Arena Toshinden 3
Metal Gear Solid
Tekken 3
Curse of Monkey Island
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Pokemon Silver
Mario Tennis

PS2
I only had a chance to play GameCube and Xbox games at a friend's house. I also played a lot of NES and SNES games on emulators.

Twisted Metal: Black
Metal Gear Solid 2
Contra: Shattered Soldier
Halo
Soul Calibur II
Ikaruga
Amplitude
Disgaea
ICO
Metal Gear Solid 3
Viewtiful Joe/Viewtiful Joe 2
Final Fantasy X
Psychonauts
God of War
Shadow of the Colossus
Katamari Damacy
Guitar Hero
Rez
Gitaroo-Man
MGS3: Subsistence (played a ton of the online mode)

This brings me to when I started getting into MAME and Dreamcast (got one for free) games. Under Defeat and Radirgy were new at the time, so I started with those, then downloaded whatever looked good. MAME I mainly used for fighters, but this is when I finally started playing SNK games (KOF98 and Garou: MotW being my favorites).

My interest in shmups increased as I started playing more indie/doujin games (Touhou series, Kenta Cho games, Cho Ren Sha). While trying to find more, someone recommended I should try Progear, which is how I found out about Cave and what led me to explore the genre more.

Now I own all the current consoles which is what most of my attention is focused on, but I still do a lot of emulation and play indie games.

Just to give an idea of what I like now, here's some games I've enjoyed recently:

Braid
Metal Gear Solid 4 (online more than the single player)
Guru Logic Champ
Bionic Commando Rearmed
Left 4 Dead
Valkyria Chronicles
Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
Dodonpachi Daioujou (I've only been playing JP PS2 games for a few months)
Espgaluda
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Unread postby nloth » 21 Mar 2009 21:59

I'm a swedish lurker who come here by way of mediocrity (forums with a taste for the artsy variety of gaming). I was searching for suggestions on my next shmup import and Insomnia's Arcade Culture article came up in the search window - I have been making frequent visits since then.

I played Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. in my early years and moved onto Super NES shortly after. I didn't have any significant reference during this period so I played anything I could get my hands on including all the average junk you can think of, I'm sure. Anyway, Super Probotector (the European release of Contra Spirits) was the high point and certainly worth the EA sports titles and Final Fantasies I traded in for it!

That lasted me a few years as I got caught up in PC technology around 1996, but my time spent on it was dominated by the multiplayer components of Quake and StarCraft.

I would later get back into consoles circa 2001, a time when I was very impressionable, and subjected myself to a bunch of nonsense. I frequented neogaf and bought into this idea that "games are x and y lol" and proceeded to amass a collection of titles that held the number one spot on various top 10 lists.

I discovered I could barely tolerate any of them, and so moved on and I now enjoy quality reporting such as this (and its affiliates) and the genre the Japanese call "shooting games".
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Unread postby Timic83 » 29 Mar 2009 21:40

15, from Australia, English is my native tongue.

Not much to say, been gaming since I was 2 on old computers, playing Doom 2 and stuff, but loved to play Mario AllStars and Yoshi Island.
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Unread postby keelhaul » 06 Apr 2009 17:09

Hello.

As far as my gaming history, I started in the early nineties, popping into arcades and playing vicariously through the systems of friends, eventually getting a few for myself. I’m interested in most any type of game. Off the top of my head, games that implement simulation characteristics interest me little.

I don’t join many websites, but this site being the bastion for intelligent discussion it is, it only feels natural. It certainly isn’t often I come across a site about gaming and not reach for the Johnny Walker or ibuprofen.
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Unread postby Deku Scrub » 13 Apr 2009 09:14

Hey everyone,

I guess that my first gaming experience was a Sega Game Gear that my grandmother bought for me when I was 6 years old. Apparently (according to my mother), I cried and complained when I started out because I could not beat any of the games; then, after about two weeks, I figured them out, and I've been playing video games ever since.

My top 5 video games are (in no order):
- Majora's Mask (it's better than Ocarina of Time, and I will fight you if you think otherwise (just kidding, I am a nice person))
- Kirby Superstar (I am an unabashed Kirby fan, and am probably one of five people who actually enjoyed Air Ride)
- Donkey Kong Country 2 (with the best music of any video game)
- Super Mario 64 (mostly for the memories)
- Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden (the only game to make me laugh until I cried)
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Unread postby another Riposte » 13 Apr 2009 12:14

Hi. I should start by saying I enjoy your site a lot. Your commentaries really helped me shaped stray thoughts I had, but could never express because I lacked experience and understanding. The stuff about artfags, RPGs, and the word gameplay really stuck out. After things started to take shape, I found myself agreeing with everything else I was able to understand.

I don't intend on posting too much. I have some questions and I will have some more questions later. I'll wait a bit before I ask them.

My gaming history began very limited. Until I hit my mid teens it included very little arcade and no PC. I started with the NES and continued collecting all consoles but the Sega ones. I eventually did get the Dreamcast. I didn't realize how limited my selection was until I embraced PC gaming. Appreciation for the arcades I missed out on followed this. Now I am trying to obtain as much information as possible and play many different games to shape a better outlook.

In no specific order my present favorite games would be: (Using US release names)

Deus Ex
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Yakuza 2
Godhand
Mother 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (with lots and lots of mods, if that counts)
Planescape: Torment

I am not sure if it is relevant, but I also have a strong interest in table top Role Playing Games. My favorite system is the d20 system / DnD 3e, but I am not very picky.

English is my one and only language. I am 20.
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Unread postby warken » 13 Apr 2009 21:36

Hello, I'm glad I discovered this site! Your work is much appreciated, and the discussion here is consistently smart.

I had zero experience with real arcade games until just a few years ago when I found a bargain on an R-Type cab for 200 bucks thanks to craigslist-- bright, crisp monitor with original marquee and controls, still fully functional. I printed out the operator's manual, learned a lot about how arcade games work and about this particular machine's history (it was originally a Donkey Kong cab). I still play the hell out of it; my favorite game by far.

Traveling to Tokyo and, specifically, Akihabara is a trip I'll never forget. I learned the layout pretty quick and made sure to duck into HEY, Sega Gigo and Club Sega ("Wow, just like in Virtua Fighter 4's Quest mode!" I thought). HEY changed my perspective on video games for good. I must have spent 5000¥ plunking 1 credit into each machine that caught my attention. Despite the cancerous clouds of smoke and ear shattering volume, I've never enjoyed playing games quite so much. Seeing phenomenal players flawlessly cut through bullet patterns and then me proceeding to suck miserably at the same game with the crowd still lingering behind was an awesome experience (I was too entranced to be morbidly embarrassed).

Nothing else notable. Like most, I started playing games at an early age, received an NES at age 4. I own every current console and handheld but, hilariously (depressingly) enough, I hardly play them these days.

Some favorites:
Devil May Cry
R-Type
Tatsujin
Resident Evil
Star Ocean The Second Story
Mother 3
Castlevania III
Super Metroid
Battle Garegga
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Unread postby Arthur'sDog » 13 Apr 2009 22:18

Everybody is doing it! I see this site as more of an interactive blog than forum in the normal sense, which is just fine by me but I suppose I'll introduce how I came to be here.

I actually found the site by searching for Schopenhauer material (the essays gave a hit) but I also have an interest in games. Imagine my surprise to find the two intersect in a manner that made sense.

My experience with game sites before this have been of 3 distinct types. First, the enthusiast/marketing forums that consist of very stupid people arguing about which game company they like to fellate. Second, a new generation of college graduates desperate to find "meaning" in a media that's suddenly socially acceptable because they're grandmother owns a Wii. Third, a small realm of experts that have a lot to say about what makes games good but not much to say about why because they're often a pretty focused group with narrow interests.

I think icycalm is a nice corrective to all 3, and a variation to the third type because he has a more comprehensive view of pertinent theory while still catering to the expert gamers. That's interesting.

I'm looking forward to more essays and especially in reading icycalm's book. I hope it's soon forthcoming.

I'm not sure my gaming history is too relevant as it's been slipshod and I'm not an expert in any of the varied genres I dabble in. If anything, reading some deeper thought about gaming here has made me feel that I need to push my own abilities and experience further if I want to gain some deeper satisfaction from playing games.

I never want to read someone square off with another dolt about some console marketing bullshit again, or about how "Flower" is one of the deepest emotional experiences they've ever had. I feel like I need not worry about that here outside the lol section.
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Joined: 12 Apr 2009 21:46
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Unread postby mhf » 24 Apr 2009 06:30

Hi. I've been following this forum for several months now, but only registered recently. I've played video games consistently since the Atari 2600 days, and lately I've been getting back into 2d shooters.

Most of my (scarce) time in front of the TV is spent on Raiden IV, with a smattering of Persona 4 and Espgaluda. The memories of scouring eBay for import shooters and paying through the nose has resulted in paranoid shopping habits when it comes to new releases. These games are sitting on my shelf, waiting to be played:

Shikigami no Shiro III
Raiden Fighters Aces
Shooting Love 200X
DDP Daioujou Black Label
Death Smiles (in a few days)

My Saturn is still in the closet until I get my hands on an appropriate display. I tried playing Soukyugurentai on my LCD TV and it looked so bad that I turned it off after five minutes.

So there's post #1. Post #2 will come whenever I am sure I have something worthwhile to say. Great site, icy.
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Location: Berkeley, California USA

Unread postby milkycha » 25 Apr 2009 09:59

I've been reading this site for a couple of years now. While I dont contribute to many forum discussions, I read pretty much everything Insomnia has to offer.

I grew up in Sydney, Australia, and started playing games twenty years ago. Most of my youth was spent in arcades playing Street Fighter II; no doubt the catalyst for my love of arcade games, which has remained unchanged. I suppose I'm lucky in this regard -- Sydney sports a huge Asian population and, while I hear most arcades in the US(and indeed, the world) have closed, there has always been a market here for fighting games. Shmup pickings are pretty slim here, though we did have an Ibara cab (for maybe 3 weeks), and even a Deathsmiles cab (now gone as well).

I play Tekken and 3rd Strike at a tournament level, and really enjoy the King Of Fighters series (waiting for XII with bated breath!). Other favourites include Mushihimesama, Ibara, and Raiden Fighters. I'd also be playing the 360 port of Deathsmiles now if I wasn't so broke.
Last edited by milkycha on 29 Oct 2009 09:37, edited 1 time in total.
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Unread postby Demitri » 30 Apr 2009 16:16

Hi, i'm Demitri, I live in Spain and my native language is Spanish, sorry if I speak english not so very well.

I play games since I have no memory. Asides my coin-op life where Capcom and Konami beat'em up fills the most part of my time, in my home I had friends of mine like an ugly Spectrum 48+, a sweet Super Famicom, a weird Mega Drive, an electrifying Sega Saturn, an "almighty" PlayStation, a powerful Dreamcast, an "almighty +" PlayStation 2, a curious Game Boy, a strange Game Gear, a double curious Game Boy Advance, and a double strange DS.

I enjoy to analyze games after I played thoroughly.

And... I like very much this culture, seriously. Thanks for this site, icycalm.

Regards.
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Unread postby Choking » 04 Jun 2009 11:25

Hi, I'm Choking, and English isn't my native language. I've been lurking for a while, but I'm fed up with all of the stupidity about video games.

I can be found at a local arcade playing whatever decent fighting game is available (Capcom fighters, usually), or at home playing a shooting game or Gears of War 2 online. I try to keep up with current big releases, just for the sake of having something shitty to complain about (personality flaw). The latest piece of shit I played was Velvet Assassin, a game I do not even recommend buying to laugh at. I probably deserved it, though.

Cheers.
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Joined: 04 Jun 2009 11:06

Unread postby KAI » 05 Jun 2009 21:46

Hi, I'm KAI, and I'm from Argentina. I've been a big fan of Arcade games since I was a child.

I love Cave and Taito shooters, SNK/Capcom/ArcSys fighting games, Beatmania and game related music.

I've been reading this site for the last two years, and I really admire what icycalm has been doing. It's a pleasure to be here, nice to meet you all.
Come to visit my DeviantArt
http://kai-a-secas.deviantart.com
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Unread postby Taylor » 16 Jun 2009 05:49

My main language is English.

I mainly grew up with Sonic, Mario, and Mega Man. Then, sometime after that, I started to get into JRPGs such Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy.

Then, I came across this site, after reading a few articles here, I've started to grow an interest in arcade games such as Metal Slug, Contra, Galaga, etc. I bought Metal Slug Anthology and downloaded Galaga for the Virtual Console. Both are pretty fun games.
Taylor
 
Joined: 16 Jun 2009 05:29

Unread postby NighAligned » 30 Jun 2009 10:21

Hello everyone,

I started gaming as a kid in the late 1980's with the NES and arcade, and have been hooked ever since. Right now, I am mainly a console gamer. The consoles that I have played the most games on are the PS2 and the Xbox 360, but I have owned or played on almost every major console since the NES.

I like a wide variety of genres but especially fighters, turn-based strategy, and stealth action games. Some of my favorite games are Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, Virtua Fighter 4, Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, Civilization IV, Final Fantasy X-2, Persona 4, and Gears of War. The genres I avoid are sports, racing and MMORPGs.

Outside of games, I am interested in philosophy and science — and literature to a smaller extent. My knowledge on those subjects is pretty scattered and superficial at the moment, but I'm working on it. Anyway, this website has been a very pleasant surprise for me and hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to contribute in the near future. Also, English is my first language.
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Unread postby ulmep » 30 Jun 2009 13:32

Hi. Not much introduction I can do, other than liking videogames. Oh, and my favorite genre is WRPGs.
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Joined: 30 Jun 2009 13:29

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