Just today I discovered Lord of Ultima, a web browser based game. Besides the fact that it has really nothing to do with the original Ultima game series (other than it’s namesake), but it’s still kind of a neat game concept. It plays a bit like a simplified version of Age of Empires with players building cities across a large singular continent (I can see this becoming a problem in the future) and fighting with one another or creating alliances. What surprises me is that it doesn’t seem to use Adobe Flash or require any kind of proprietary plug-ins, it just seems to be some kind of glorified JavaScript/Ajax application. This might not be a new an all new Ultima role-playing game, but it could be a really cool game in itself.

Since, I built my first new computer in nearly seven years this Summer, I’ve been trying to catch up on a long list of computer games that I’ve been dying to check out. At the top of the list was Bioshock, which turned out to be a pretty awesome game in nearly every aspect. The story and setting was hauntingly brilliant, as to how low can mankind can sink. Though, I can’t help think that the upcoming sequel won’t live up to the original.

Mass Effect was another game on my short list. It was pretty cool for the same reasons I liked Bioshock. The story and setting was well crafted, even though the game felt a little short and combat was a little goofy, but it was a good set up for future installments.

The last one was Oblivion, which improved upon many of the glaring short-comings of Morrowind, but still, the game is missing something. I just can’t quite put my finger on it. Either way it’s still a pretty fun game.

After that, I still need to pick up Half-life 2 and Crysis, plus some of the games coming out this Winter look to be worth checking out.

I just picked up World of Goo with the “pay whatever you want” sale (similar to what Radiohead did a few years back). I didn’t drop as much money on it as I should have, since I try and watch my spending. But it’s well worth it for this sleek little game. The indie game market is really picking up in the last couple of years.

I went to Gen Con every year through the 90′s up until it was moved out of Milwaukee. I miss it even though I admittedly never took part in the actual gaming that went on there. I did, however, enjoy exploring the exhibit hall and gazing at all the hard-to-find stuff that you couldn’t get anywhere else. I especially liked witnessing some of the upcoming computer games, with some becoming vaporware never to be anything more than a presentation reel. Oh, and the free stuff! I still have a bunch of old FASA posters and trinkets from Gen Con’s of yore.

That was before the Internet came around. Now with video games being announced a year or two in advance accompanied by a website with screen shots and video; seeing these same things live just doesn’t do anything for me anymore. And with the plethora of online stores and eBay, hard-to-find stuff is somewhat less difficult.

If Gen Con can stays afloat, it will be because of the people who go to game with other like minded individuals.

To me, it was a great way to kill a Saturday afternoon.