I'm willing to take on arguments but I'll go on record that I think the greatest computer game is Tetris. Simple and addictive, Tetris is a game that stands the test of time without any artificial 'retro' appeal and has been played by an extraordinarily wide variety of players. A few weeks ago I came across a link to a documentary on the early history of Tetris from the BBC, now available on Google Video and over the weekend had enough time to watch it.
I had no idea, back when I was playing what was surely a pirated version of it in my college apartment, the history of how Tetris was made and how it made it out of Russia to become the hit it was then. After I watched the documentary I scoured the bottom of my closet to try to find the only video game system I've ever purchased - the bright yellow original Gameboy with Tetris cartridge. Alas, I couldn't find it. I hope I do have it somewhere. Some fresh batteries and my obsession with getting rid of those lines at the bottom will begin again!
It was hard to ignore the hype around the recent release of the Sony Playstation 3, especially here in San Francisco. I suspect many people will be making the tough Christmas decision between that and the Nintendo Wii. Or will you get both? I have no opinion and will probably get neither but do really wonder if those photos of the damage to someone's TV from accidentally throwing the Wii remote are true. That's some serious gameplaying.
In the CCS, gaming comes in under a few different categories. You can find reviews about games and gaming under:
Computing Methologies (I) > Artificial Intelligence (I.2) > Applications and Expert Systems (I.2.1) > Games
Computing Milieux (K) > Personal Computing (K.8) > General (K.8.0) > Games
Computing Methologies (I) > Simulation and Modelling (I.6) > Types of Simulation (I.6.8) > Gaming
More links:
Tetris is hard
Play Tetris online
Cognitive research on Tetris
The Tetris Effect
The end of the BBC doc doesn't end the dramatic story around Tetris
