To whom it may concern; Board games.

[TEKTORO]

The game you are talking about Tektoro is most likely Fireball Island:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1768/fireball-island

I had THAT!!wow going for $220 new sheesh.Thanks for the time looking that up.

Little off topic but I also had this awesome light gun game from the 80s too.
The light Gun itself was a spaceship/jet craft with a grip & trigger (I think it makes zapper noise too) and you played through an VHS anime as the pilot in 1st person cockpit style swithing between hyper action and cutscenes.Super sick will never remember the name but I must buy it again.

[fastbilly1]

Thats called Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future:

Every episode is on Youtube - I am missing tape 1. This is alot cheaper than Fireball Island

I loved Fireball Island as a kid. I paid $5 for it at a yardsale in the 80s. It is at my cousins house somewhere. I need to go get it.

[TEKTORO]

Thats called Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future:

Name sounds familiar,just not recognizing the youtube clip.Im thinking more cartoon anime style than CGI for some reason.I lived in NY back then,chances I could be thinking of some obsure non official chinatown bootleg toy/game.Crap and at that age maybe I could of imagined the movie was playing to my toy?I know the ship took batteries,wish I could find a image of that lightgun/ship controller.

Every episode is on Youtube - I am missing tape 1. This is alot cheaper than Fireball Island

I loved Fireball Island as a kid. I paid $5 for it at a yardsale in the 80s. It is at my cousins house somewhere. I need to go get it.

awesome you liked it too,I thought someone would know of it.Fun stuff

[Key-Glyph]

I grew up playing board games mostly with my mother, but my older brother played with us sometimes too. He's four and a half years older than me though, so I didn't have a chance back then on strategy games like Clue or Mastermind. I used to watch him and my mother play speed Connect Four and it boggled my preschool brain!

Probably because of that dynamic I developed a taste for games the involved a bit of chance (Scrabble, Probe, Mexican Train) or games were more of a ridiculous experience than a point-counting exercise (Taboo, Apples to Apples, Mao, and silly themed games like Thin Ice and Kung Fu Fighting). Taboo may actually be my favorite board game of all time.

I'm surprised there isn't as much cross-over between video game players and board game players as you're suggesting. In college I was part of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, and every Friday night the club rented out a floor of one of the academic buildings for "Game Night." Each separate room had something going on in it, and although those were usually video games projected on a giant screen (which could be anything from Guild Wars to Scene It?), the open lobby space was usually packed with board games like Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Ticket to Ride, and even the occasional Pretty Pretty Princess and Candy Land. People floated around from activity to activity pretty freely, with only a few people sticking to Soul Calibur through to midnight.

In the nonfiction book American Nerd: The Story of My People, the author Benjamin Nugent discusses the social aspect of video games in an interesting way. He attends a Halo tournament and notes how the players and the audience there tend to be self-contained because, he postulates, they're generally used to playing in a room by themselves with headsets on and haven't developed a physical group dynamic. Then he mentions a small cluster of players in a corner going at Smash Brothers and how much of a ruckus they and their smallish audience make, yelling at each other, "WOOAHH"ing and whooping at particularly good moves and "AWWW"ing bad ones, in an infectious collective excitement that he thinks was fostered by having to physically gather together in your friend's basement to play.

I definitely have a tendency to turn my video game experiences into something collective, either by playing through something while someone else watches and helps (or vice-versa), or picking endlessly multiplayer-friendly titles like Puzzle Bobble. I loved Smash Bros. for N64, and half the fun was definitely cramming myself on a couch with my three best friends, being loud, and spilling popcorn all over the floor. Maybe that's because I grew up with board games? Or do we think a certain type of person is simply drawn to that sort of gameplay in board games and video games equally?

[alienjesus]

My tastes in boardgames extends as far as Scrabble and maybe Trivial Pursuit. I've tried a few other games, but I dunno, boardgames always seem too slow paced for my liking.

You don't say?

Seriously, Trivial Pursuit may as well be the epitome of slow. Which begs the question: What games have you played? There are real time games if that suits your fancy (anything but slow), plenty of games that can be played in 15-30 minutes to an hour, and there are even games with narrative, as well as some that even play similar to video games. The diversity of board games is enormous, as billy and my own tastes should make clear. I'm much more into Euro games with deep strategy than ameritrash. Though I do own a Crokinole board, so clearly I'm not a stranger to dexterity games.

TEKTORO: Any other clues? My guess too would be Fireball Island, since it was pretty mainstream accessible.

What can I say, they're exceptions to a rule. Even then, I don't like to play them often.

As for games I've played, thats a tricky one, I'll definitely admit I probably haven't played a whole bunch of the ones that probably prove popular with enthusiasts. I do like my Board games to be simple though, I'm not one for keeping track of loads of different factors when there's nothing helping do it for you like with a video game.

I definitely have a tendency to turn my video game experiences into something collective, either by playing through something while someone else watches and helps (or vice-versa), or picking endlessly multiplayer-friendly titles like Puzzle Bobble. I loved Smash Bros. for N64, and half the fun was definitely cramming myself on a couch with my three best friends, being loud, and spilling popcorn all over the floor. Maybe that's because I grew up with board games? Or do we think a certain type of person is simply drawn to that sort of gameplay in board games and video games equally?

I would say that there's not necessarily a crossover there. I hate that sort of loud, disorganised play and whatnot in boardgames, I dunno why but I find it really irritating. On the other hand, I firmly believe thats how multiplayer videogames should be played, and I'm not a big fan of online games at all. Smash bros, mario kart, warioware, all that sort of stuff though? Love it, and the louder the volume, the more chaotic the game, the smaller the space everyones had to cram into, the better. That counts for local co-op multiplayer too - Four Swords and Crystal Chronicles have proven brilliant fun lately (although four swords is competitive too, but switching alliances constantly like that is why it's so good).

[Lone Wanderer]

I like Axis & Allies, although I haven't played in a while. I used to be quite obsessed with heroclix, although that's a 'miniatures' game.

EDIT: I forgot about Feudal! Amazing board game, me and my friends would play it during free time in sixth grade. We were always last in line for lunch, but it was totally worth it!

[Nintendork666]

I don't know much about board games, and haven't played one respectively in years. However, the best one I've ever played was Key to the Kingdom. I've always been meaning to pick up my own copy, but nearly every one I see online is pricey, and missing pieces.

[Key-Glyph]

I would say that there's not necessarily a crossover there. I hate that sort of loud, disorganised play and whatnot in boardgames, I dunno why but I find it really irritating. On the other hand, I firmly believe thats how multiplayer videogames should be played, and I'm not a big fan of online games at all

That's so interesting! I would have assumed the two play styles would be related, since my Smash Bros. friends and I were also all chaotic board game players. Thanks for your input.

[crux]

I'm surprised there isn't as much cross-over between video game players and board game players as you're suggesting.

I should make clear that I'm not suggesting that video gamers and board game players shouldn't cross paths, but simply that they very often don't. There is a lot of crossover, however, and I think there's room for a lot more if only more people were given the chance. Despite a very healthy amount of releases for board games (thanks to he low cost of entry), compared to the video game industry it's very much a niche market. The average video gamer probably hasn't heard of much beyond Settlers of Catan, if they've even noticed it on the shelf among Clue and Monopoly and Apples to Apples. As for why more board gamers don't game... it's hard to say. Could be the social aspect lacking in so many video games. All I know is that I think more could enjoy both than do, especially among video gamers.

I very much agree with your latter point. I generally can't stand online games (erm, outside of a certain MMO I played for eight years), as I simply prefer to play with friends. Aside from Dreamcast in my late teens, every console I played growing up only offered offline multiplayer, which is how I prefer it today. Even discounting all the idiots a person can find in an online game, it's harder yet to find anyone with a personality. Even with friends, it's just a different atmosphere when they're in-person. Since multiple players are required by default for most board games, it's a lot easier to find people to play with than it is with video games. For that same reason, though, the opportunity to play board games at all is a lot more difficult.

I think the important thing for any potential board gamer is just to try more stuff. Some board games require very strategic thinking, while others require fast hands, and others precise dexterity. Settlers or Puerto Rico may not be for everyone, but perhaps a card game like Dominion or Thunderstone might be, or something more abstract like Blokus or The Climbers, or something fast like JAB: Realtime Boxing, or something ridiculous like Cas$ 'n Gun$, or a dexterity game like PitchCar. There's a lot out there, so hopefully there's no stigma attached to people that have passed on board games entirely.

[Key-Glyph]

I should make clear that I'm not suggesting that video gamers and board game players shouldn't cross paths...

Oh, I didn't think that's what you meant. I'm just saying I'm surprised to find out that video gamers aren't necessarily board gamers and vice-versa, since among my friends they always have been. Most of us enjoy tabletop RPGs, too, even though I think of that as being a different beast.