Gaming Woodworkers

[Fergal]

I've worked in the console games industry for more than 20 years. Like many I started off self-taught on the BBC Micro, worked in various software jobs and ended up in games development. I used to be an avid gamer, but then family, kids, house renovations etc came along and I'm not really interested any more.

I do have a PS4 and play on it occasionally (Horizon is a nice-looking game, but I find the game play a bit awkward). I find that I only play games now that I can play for short bursts, rather than devoting hours/days/weeks like I used to. If I play something for more than an hour or so, I find myself thinking I should be doing something more useful really. Maybe I've outgrown it, but my kids do appreciate my large game collection, there are currently 6 consoles installed under the TV at the moment!

Fergal

 

[LancsRick]

Pc and ps4 here. Great fun in an evening, but don't give the lasting sense of achievement I get from making something

 

[Bm101]

All the gamers coming out of the... woodwork.
Don't game much these days. Used to. Got the pc, 2 graphics cards all that. Used to be an clan player on battlefield. Mostly for the craic of playing with people you knew rather than randoms. I always enjoyed it but I find I don't have the time or the patience for it now mostly. Some great nights on teamspeak. I used to admin servers and got sick of the general level of idiocy and trying to police all the hate. When the kids came along it was a good alternative to going down the boozer for a laugh with mates when you couldn't get away but had some free time in the evening.
I met some good people over the years and most nights I will say hello on the skype channel, funny enough that's how I met my knife making afficianado mate and others, these days the ones that are left mostly chat about making tools and such. We have a meet up occasionally. I hold these few in the same regard as my real life mates.
About the only game i play regularly now (but for very short periods) is left for dead 2. Hop on, hop off sort of a game. Give it 15 minutes shooting zombies before bed.

I've done most stuff from Jet Set Willying to Fus do Rah and chasing the Wild Hunt. Not really for me now but I've made some good mates along the way....
Maybe we should set up a UKW steam group. Have online battles on the odd occasion.

 

[Nelsun]

Maybe we should set up a UKW steam group. Have online battles on the odd occasion.

Or just start a new sharpening thread. Quicker and easier

 

[dynax]

my favourite pc game is The Settlers, but since my vista laptop went funny and i switched to ubuntu, i can't play anymore until i get hold of another windows machine,

 

[lanemaux]

The better half is playing Skyrim as I type. She also likes Tom Clancy games and the Gears of war series. As a family we have gamed on Commodore 64 , Atari , Nintendo (all of them) , X-box (all of them), PS's (all of them) and the corresponding hand-held games as they came out. I , myself, had a near brush with obsession with The Legend of Zelda (NES) in the 80's and just play PC mahjongg now. Still and all , I can navigate quickly through any dungeon in Skyrim quickly and efficiently . At least they don't watch hockey.

 

[Droogs]

Been plaing PC based games since Horace goes skiing on my spectrum. Now mostly play Arma or the mil grade version VBS. Still like a damn good RPG such as Elder Scrolls - Morrowind and Skyrim and bioshock and of course GTA

 

[Doug71]

I used to enjoy my gaming up until a few years, once you have kids it's hard to find the time without feeling guilty.

My eldest boy (7yr old) uses my ps3, like every other kid he loves Minecraft, we do have fun making stuff together on that but I do get a bit grumpy if he damages the castle I have spent ages building! He is addicted to Terarria at the moment which is like 2D Minecraft, it looks really retro, I don't see the attraction but he would play it all day if I let him.

Doug

 

[bugbear]

I used to work with games back in the Atari "Pong" through to Williams "Defender" era. Games were my introduction to programming - the first games I worked with were just big PCBs covered in (mainly) 7400 series logic gates, then after a while they started to use microprocessors. Spent a lot of time playing "Breakout" and "Asteroids" in the company games showroom. That was over 30 years ago, and I've never really been interested since.
I did get to hang out with the likes of Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcorn from Atari, though, which was nice.

Well, I'm impressed by that, even if no one else is.

=D> =D> =D>
=D> =D> =D>
=D> =D> =D>

BugBear

 

[BluegillUK]

I used to enjoy my gaming up until a few years, once you have kids it's hard to find the time without feeling guilty.

My eldest boy (7yr old) uses my ps3, like every other kid he loves Minecraft, we do have fun making stuff together on that but I do get a bit grumpy if he damages the castle I have spent ages building! He is addicted to Terarria at the moment which is like 2D Minecraft, it looks really retro, I don't see the attraction but he would play it all day if I let him.

Doug

Terraria is an absolutely fantastic game- sunk many hours in to that game. It's cheap, pretty and damn fun! I've got a plan when my littlest is young enough, he will inherit my SNES, with upgrades to N64, GC and Wii respectively. Got to climb the ladder!

 

[mailee]

A friend of mine used to be into games in a big way and got me into medal of Honour many years ago. I played it for one session and got fed up, never had the urge to play another....total waste of valuable time IMHO. My son who is a software engineer is a big gamer and spends hours on the computer playing one of the monster/wizards type of games. He told me there can be thousands of pounds to be won in prize money nowadays too! Who would have thought such a waste of time could earn you a living! :shock:

 

[bugbear]

A friend of mine used to be into games in a big way and got me into medal of Honour many years ago. I played it for one session and got fed up, never had the urge to play another....total waste of valuable time IMHO. My son who is a software engineer is a big gamer and spends hours on the computer playing one of the monster/wizards type of games. He told me there can be thousands of pounds to be won in prize money nowadays too! Who would have thought such a waste of time could earn you a living! :shock:

See also golf, darts, bowls...

BugBear

 

[cutting42]

I am not a gamer but my son (15) is pretty addicted to Dota 2 and there are prize funds into the millions for the premium competitions.

 

[BluegillUK]

I am not a gamer but my son (15) is pretty addicted to Dota 2 and there are prize funds into the millions for the premium competitions.

Better get that boy trained to make you some serious cash!!!


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[Grawschbags]

Another gamer here... PS4 for me.

My rule is the PS4 doesn't get touched when the clocks go forward for summer. Then it can go back on again with the dark nights. But rules are made to be broken, right? [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Currently weighing up whether to go and buy Horizon or not.

Recently played Fallout and MGS to death.

Shadow of Mordor is the only game I've ever played to 100% completion, in reference to one of the early posts...

 

[BluegillUK]

Another gamer here... PS4 for me.

My rule is the PS4 doesn't get touched when the clocks go forward for summer. Then it can go back on again with the dark nights. But rules are made to be broken, right? [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Currently weighing up whether to go and buy Horizon or not.

Recently played Fallout and MGS to death.

Shadow of Mordor is the only game I've ever played to 100% completion, in reference to one of the early posts...

Horizon by far one of the best games I've ever played. The lighting engine alone is phenomenal and a really well written story. It's so fun!


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[morfa]

transatlantic - what sims? I do a lot flight simming.

Mainly eve-online. I also do flightsimming, eg X-Plane 11 and P3D. But I also have a PS3 (looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2). My wife is/was a big gamer, but she mainly does RPGs and platformers. We've got a full collection of NES/SNES/MasterSystem/MegaDrive consoles. Don't have time for as much as I'd like to do, but there we go, such is life.

 

[transatlantic]

transatlantic - what sims? I do a lot flight simming.

Mainly eve-online. I also do flightsimming, eg X-Plane 11 and P3D. But I also have a PS3 (looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2). My wife is/was a big gamer, but she mainly does RPGs and platformers. We've got a full collection of NES/SNES/MasterSystem/MegaDrive consoles. Don't have time for as much as I'd like to do, but there we go, such is life.

Have you heard of Elite Dangerous?

 

[whiskywill]

Have you heard of Elite Dangerous?

Have you heard of real life. There's a whole wide world of real people, real places, real things. More than enough for me. :roll:

 

[transatlantic]

Have you heard of Elite Dangerous?

Have you heard of real life. There's a whole wide world of real people, real places, real things. More than enough for me. :roll:

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that?

Gaming is just another hobby. Would you ask the same question to a woodworker? Why spend hours in your workshop or online forums when there's a whole wide world of real people, real places, real things?