What A Character

I went to the Scott Air Show at Scott AFB with Signgirl and D. We were treated to a rare display of a grounded B-2 Stealth Bomber from Whiteman AFB. The bomber is seldom seen outside of its home base and is even more rarely seen grounded. We also toured a massive C-5. We climbed the ladder to the cockpit and checked out the cramped sleeping quarters up there. In spite of the heat D played in a bouncy castle. We had a good time. I highly recommend the show especially for parents with children interested in airplanes.

Today we went to the Saint Louis Science Center. They had a special exhibit with Marvel Superheroes that D enjoyed. They had several Playstation 2s set up for kids to play Marvel-based video games. This got me thinking of a question: who is your favorite video game character?

My favorite video game character is the space ship. I really enjoyed playing space shooters such as Wing Commander and FreeSpace 2. It is a shame that there has not been any innovation in this genre since FreeSpace 2's massive capital ships and foggy plasma clouds. Graphical hardware and CPU horsepower has improved to the point that it would be possible to have battles with massive ships and have it highlighted with dramatic interaction with your teammates.

Recent history has shown that a smart company can breathe new life into a underappreciated genre. Role playing games had been given mediocre treatment for years when BioWare came along and blew everybody away with Baldur's Gate. The company breathed new life into the genre and continued rolling out successful titles for years afterwards. They gave us these gems: Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic.

I would love to see some company buck the trend of Resident Evil clones and Grand Theft Auto knock-offs. Making a space shooter is a risky proposition but could be profitable for somebody willing to take the risk.

Posted at 9:55 PM