So, this morning as my wife and I were getting dressed, I reflected on the spider walking across the ceiling.

I was trying to trace back in my mind the history of spiders in games. Tecktites in Zelda? Cave Spiders in H.E.R.O.? Grid Bugs in Tron? or the frantic spiders in Centipede?

Whatever their first appearance, I have never found a game that embodies the cold, calculating menace of spiders. The way they slink and sneak is a primary trait of their predatory nature. Games frequently show them as frantic and fast, leaping about, which is true to a certain degree. . . but they infrequently capture the surprise or the intimidation inherent in Arachnid behavior.