The concept of a hollow earth is based on a Victorian idea that there were entrances to this hollow earth at the poles. Inside was this lost world. Edgar Rice Burroughs and other authors explored the concept.

But PONG rules - seriously though i think we all get defensive over games that we love. If you are not a big RTS game player or do not enjoy SF then you are not going to think Starcraft is superb. Now i never really got into Warcraft two , i am sure it is a wonderful game but i found it very mediocre ( at this point try to resist the urge todraw firearms or sharp objects all Warcraft fans).

The point still remains though that in a gaming world where thing fade into obscurity in 6 months Starcraft has managed to maintain a loyal fan base for 10 years. I the world of pc games that is an incredible achievement and spaeks volume for the game.

The fact that an almost 10 year old game generates this much discussion should tell you a lot about the game. Starcraft captures the same inherent quality of games like chess and go. It takes minutes to learn to play but years to play well. Yes the graphics are dated but in the world of gaming 10 years equates to comparing a 1940's automobile to a 2007 Mazda RX8.

What Starcraft captures is absolute balanced gameplay , it really is "may the best player win" . Of course there are newer , prettier and more advanced RTS games but from a playability and balance level Starcraft is still more than their equal. The question to ask is whether your game experience is defined by how pretty the game is or whether the gameplay itself is important?

Wing Commander - it's about time we had an immersive space combat simulation again. Might even buy another joystick.

It's simple marketing - the bulk of the population are not going to build a pc from scratch , whereas a console is easy , nicely packaged , etc. Now i love my pc and i feel it is a totally different experience to console gaming , but i can guarentee the console sales will alway be larger than the pc games sales. As a gamer you must decide where your passion lies , are you a get home from work , kick off the shoes and sit in front of the tv playing a racing/fighting game for a few hours or are you a 40 hrs on Oblivion / WOW gamer.

How far back do we go - first computer game was on the ZX Spectrum (Manic Miner , Time Pilot , etc. )