Tag: King’s Quest

Gamer for Life

On By Michel McDonaldIn Computer, Games, PS Vita, PS4, PSPLeave a comment

Video Games over the years

When I was going through the garage in December to bring the Christmas boxes in the house, I came across our old Atari 2600, so I brought it in and sat it on our dining room table. I brought it in because I wanted to see if it actually worked, and naturally, I couldn’t find the power plug, so that’s a no. So I dusted it off so I could take a picture so I could tell you this story.

I was born in 1970, and the Atari 2600 came out in the late 70’s. My step father bought one, but kept it attached to the living room TV and wouldn’t let anyone play with it, so it sat there doing nothing. We would go to our cousins who had an Atari 5200, which in my opinion was way superior. Eventually in 1983 my step father put it in my bedroom, which was a walk in closet. Being “in the closet” took on a whole new literal meaning.

That was a decision I bet my parents would regret because I became unhealthily addicted to Pac-Man. Every level was the same exact level, the grid never changed. Here is how the game looked and sounded.

Moving right along…

We moved away from our apartment in 1984 to my aunts house in Simi Valley, and my beloved Atari was put in storage and I never saw it again. My cousins would eventually get a Nintendo Entertainment System, and they were 3 kids who all fought over it, and I wasn’t about to get into that fight because it was THEIR system, not mine. I decided that I didn’t really want to have anything more to do with video games until we were stable, so I didn’t want to play. They invited me to play Popeye, and I tried it once, but I didn’t care to invest my energy because I never knew if/when we would move away and I would have it taken away from me.

We did move away and into trailer parks where I played video games at their consoles in game rooms with quarters. I also had a little digital game that could fit into my pocket called Epoch Man that I enjoyed. I also had a Pac-Man watch with a joystick, so as far as I was concerned, I was set.

When I was 22 years old I got a Sega Game Gear with my 2nd boyfriend. We both bought them and we each had our own games. When he eventually broke up with me and I had to leave my apartment because I lost my job and didn’t even have money for food, I sold it at a pawn shop for a measly $20 for the entire package, including a case, several games and a TV tuner. That’s why I don’t have a picture.

When I was 24 years old I got a Nintendo Game Boy, which I still have with 1 game. We were always too broke for food and cigarettes for me, so every time we needed money, one game had to make a sacrifice, which is probably why I hoard games now lol. The Game Boy in its case along with a external battery that clips on to your belt as well as a cleaner disk is pictured above.

Some time in the early 2000’s, I had a website from a hosting company that gave me the option of selling web hosting to people. People would pay me the full price, and I would make a small profit every month. One of the hosting customers asked me if he could pay me for his hosting by selling me his Nintendo 64, and I said yes because I had always wanted one of those. I had a couple of games, but I did eventually sell it several years ago on eBay because I needed the money. It was fun playing it though.

I had played computer video games on my Apple //e in 1990-1992 when I had to sell that system. The one game I really had was King’s Quest 4 The Perils of Rosella. When I bought my computer in 1997, I found several Sierra game collections and bought them. I also played The Sims in 2000 and then in 2002 I started playing EverQuest and I played that for 6 years until 2008, which brings me to the PlayStation years.

In 2007 I bought a PlayStation Portable, aka PSP. I bought and still have 32 physical game UMD’s, and I don’t even know how many game downloads. I played that game so much that the power button barely turns it on anymore, and when it does turn on, the stick doesn’t work because when I try to go right, my character says “F you! I’m going left.”

In 2015 my partner bought me a PlayStation 4 for Christmas. I had asked for a PlayStation 3 because I thought it would be less expensive, but he insisted that if he was going to buy me a game system, he was going to buy brand new, not used, and it might as well be the most current system. Hey, I’m OK with pre-owned at Game Stop. Then I broke my leg in December 2016 and couldn’t play with my PS4  because I couldn’t sit straight up, so he took me to Game Stop in my wheelchair to buy me a PS Vita, which they had to order for me to be delivered to our house via UPS. I haven’t played with the PS Vita as much as I played with my PSP, but I do still play with it when I am not in my bedroom, which is where I play with my PS4 daily.

So that’s about it. That is my video game history. I have always been a gamer since I was a kid, and I will always be a gamer until the day I die.

By the way, the Atari 2600 you see in the picture above is NOT the same one from my childhood. My partner had that when we met.

Also note that I have also played video games on my smart phones over the years as well as my Nook HD+.

King’s Quest for PS4

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, PS4Leave a comment

King's Quest

I am SOOOOO excited right now. I saw a post on Facebook earlier this year that King’s Quest is coming back to life. The person who posted it was one of the people who was working on the game who works for The Odd Gentlemen. They said it would be out later this year, but couldn’t give me a date. I was under the assumption it would be late in the year, like around Christmas time, but I’m excited that it’s going to be THIS MONTH in July instead.

For those who have no clue what King’s Quest is, I urge you to buy the original PC collection which can be found on Amazon. The original PC collection works with XP, but I’m sure it will work in Windows 8, but I don’t know that for a fact. I have the earlier version that only worked on Windows 95/98 and wouldn’t work on XP at all. I had to find a program which I blogged about that has Sierra installers to allow the games to install and run. So if you have trouble installing the XP version, try the installers. If not then awesome, but you should really play the old versions. My first King’s Quest game was King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella.

Anyway, the game is going to be out in 26 days and I will count the days like it’s my birthday lol.

PlayStation 4

On By Michel McDonaldIn GamesLeave a comment

Yesterday was a complete shock to me. My partner came in the bedroom as I was browsing my Amazon PS3 wish list to see if the price of the Lego Batman and Sly Copter bundle I wanted was still at $259 or if it had gone up or down. It was at $289. I didn’t expect him to say let’s go buy you a PlayStation.

I begged him not to do it because I honestly didn’t want him to spend that kind of money on me. I mean, it is a lot of money, why should he buy it? What have I done to deserve such a generous man in my life?

I told him that to be able to get the exact bundle I wanted, we would have to do research to make sure the store we go to has it so we don’t waste gas driving all over Bakersfield looking for something that doesn’t exist. He called GameStop and Best Buy and Best Buy had it, but Game Stop didn’t. I mean, 1 location did, but that was very far away from the house.

While we were driving to Best Buy, my partner told me that it doesn’t do you any good to buy the previous model just because it’s cheaper and because it connects with your PSP. In a year when they come out with the PS5, they will probably stop selling the PS3 games and you won’t be able to buy new games. I don’t know if that will happen, but it is a good point, and originally I wanted the PS4, but decided on the PS3 because of the price and the fact that it connects to my PSP. But I would have liked the PS4 instead, so that’s what he bought me.

IMAG0824-1

The PS4 that I got wasn’t a specific bundle. They had 4 games on the box, and I assumed I got all 4 games, but it said 4 games pick one. I couldn’t decide because I don’t normally play the games they offered. The choices were Destiny, FarCry 4, NBA2K14 and Little Big Planet 3. I don’t mind Little Big Planet, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t really get into it, meaning I’d probably fall asleep. I asked a gaymer Facebook group I am in and they couldn’t give me a straight answer, and it wasn’t just because they were all gay gamers lol. Some said Destiny, some said Far Cry 4 and some said Little Big Planet. I watched some gameplay videos on YouTube before I asked for Destiny and Far Cry 4 and they both seemed to be the same style of game, shooter, which I don’t really care for, but I decided on Destiny because it’s like a future space game, which I love.

I was looking at the PlayStation store and found Lego The Hobbit and saw that it was only $39.95. Well, I already had $9 in my PlayStation wallet and they gave me $10 in the box, so it only cost me $20 out-of-pocket. I also bought 2 add-ons and 2 bundles for $1.99 each.

The final game that I got was DC Universe Online. I have played that game on my PC and loved it, so I knew I would love it on my PS4. I actually love it more on my PS4 because of the game controller as opposed to using my mouse and keyboard to play. I created a “flash” type of character and was zipping around the game so fast.

So I finally have my game console, and I am so happy that it is a new one instead of an old one. I love it and I will have fun with it.

Games I am hoping to play on this is the new EverQuest Landmark and the new King’s Quest when that comes out. I read that EQ would be coming to PS4 in 2015 and I also read that King’s Quest is coming back and I saw some of the graphics and they look amazing. I’m not sure if KQ will be computer only or if it will be computer and console, I want to buy it either way.

I have a PS4 Wish List on Amazon with some games I would love to buy and some hardware like a camera. I hope to be able to buy the camera soon so I can use it for exercise.