This is the third entry into a series about great moments from my gaming past. These wrinkles in time refuse to go away in my conscience, and I want to get them down before all the details are lost. The events are not in chronological order.
This wrinkle deals with the hours and hours I've spent playing GoldenEye 007 for the N64. It was Halo before there was Halo, and this game was the first to really show me that playing with others was fun.
My first year of college saw me play some games - and even systems - I never had before (a baseball game for the Sega Saturn comes to mind). But what kept me up at night, what kept me late for (or even missing) lectures was multiplayer on GoldenEye.
With a list of great and varied maps, fun weapons (I enjoyed the Moonraker laser), and cool modes (no guns, just a hand slap to the back of the head!), the game had everything needed to keep half the guys on the top floor of the dorm playing all day.
Whoever won the match got the pick the map and weapon, and everyone had their specialties - whether proxies, rocket launchers, etc. In GoldenEye, as in Halo today, I still vote for the bigger stuff - evens the playing field a little bit.
Believe me, I needed all the help I could get - those guys were merciless, and I rarely found myself at the top of the heap. Losing is an art, one I'd like to think I've mastered.
Still, while I occasionally got sick of being pummeled, it wouldn't take long before I was back for more - the game was just that good.
And now, a shameless Bond reference in closing:
"For the record, I enjoy my GoldenEye shaken, not stirred."