Games - MommyMall.com

I've mentioned my ongoing obsession with recapturing my "old" gaming days by playing old board and arcade games before - yes I truly think it's become an obsession!

This month it's been EQEmulator. My wife and I played the original EverQuest off and on since its launch in 1999, finally wrapping things up for good in late 2004. Recently we've been searching to recapture that online experience again by returning to worlds we had left behind. Since EQ was the first MMO we played and the one in which we spent the most time, it was logical to seek out the world of Norrath once again. After checking up on the status of the current live game, I stumbled across something I had seen years ago - EQEmulator. Basically, it's an EverQuest server that's been developed from the ground up to 'emulate' a real, live EverQuest server housed at Sony. With the proper client package (the game you can buy in the store), you can connect to a server running EQEmu and play for free. Now, you still have to buy the game, but do not have to pay the monthly subscription charges.

If you just want to play on any of the "public" EQEmu servers, all you need is the Titanium Edition of the EverQuest client. You must have this version in its entirety - not the equivalent in expansions or Platinum editions. It must be this specific version of all the files. If you want to run your own server just to goof around (which I did, it's pretty neat to put yourself into the Plane of Time at level 1) you can get that here.

Here are some useful links to get you started:

EQEmulator Player's Guide
All the basics on how to set up your EQ client are here.

EQEmulator Server Discussion
This is the forum at EQEmulator where you can find the server that fits the playing style you're looking for.

Jest3 Emulator
This is currently my favorite server. Single group "raid" content (yes, dragons with 1 group), solo friendly zones (less "kill on sight" critters), and custom content (a ton of it). Also, Easter egg loot, meaning anything can drop anywhere.

Check this out and drop me a comment to let me know what you think!

For a long time I avoided checking out Xbox Live Arcade because I didn't want to get sucked into the nickel and dime game of buying content for my Xbox 360. I always thought the cost of Live Gold (now $60 a year) was steep enough. It's true there is a lot of free content for many games (bonus maps, themes, missions, etc) and occasionally Microsoft does release a full game. On the 360's second birthday last November, they release Carcasonne, one of my favorite board games, for free. This game is basically what turned me on to XBLA.

Looking through the library, there are some real classics in there. Many are ones you've seen in on other consoles, such as Galaga, Asteroids, Missile Command, Dig Dug, and Ms. Pac Man. Some I remember spending countless hours playing in the arcades of the 80's, like Gauntlet, Tron, the newly released Discs of Tron, Robotron, Time Pilot, and a bunch more. It's really awesome to also see Doom and Sonic the Hedgehog again. I was also excited to see Catan, another one of my favorite board games. You can also find some of the best, current Internet classics like Zuma, Hexic, Geometry Wars, and Bejewled.

You can play all of them in trial modes, which allow for a few levels of play, or play with certain restrictions. If you want to buy the full versions, they run around 800 points for most of them, which is $10. This isn't a bad deal, since may of the RealArcade games are $15 or $20, but they should release them in packs. $10 is a bit steep for truly ancient games like Asteroids. Some are priced a little cheaper, at 400 points (or $5) which isn't too bad, but many of those older ones simply won't hold your interest, no matter how much you loved them 30 years ago.

Yes.. Space Invaders is over 30 years old! Insane, isn't it... games have come such a long way. Luckily, XBLA keeps us feeling young as we can play all those old games as if they were new... sort of.