Most of these are entertainment-related. If you're looking for "useful" stuff, check out my Links Page. More stuff about me and some related links can also be found on my Interests Page.

Video Games

Video game programming and theory has always been close to my heart, and creating them remains my primary hobby to this day. I feel that computer games are relatively unappreciated as a medium and regarded as "lower" forms of entertainment, and unjustly so. Some video games feature stunning art, excellent music, and story lines on par with great novels. Like opera, they require a masterful blending of many different mediums, and so I have great respect for those capable of creating such pieces and for the works themselves.

You'll notice that all of these games are "old." In my opinion, the video game industry has not been able to keep up with the rapidly growing technology industry. That might sound like a strange statement, considering video games have driven many of the advances in computer hardware, but too many recent games have focused on super-realistic 3D graphics or similarly "cutting edge" features and have forgotten to be good games. Too many companies have gotten trigger happy and as a result their games have lost a lot of the classic flare that these old games had and still have to this day. You'll find that most people still consider these games that I have listed here to be extremely fun, despite being "outdated." These are the classics that will endure.

Recently, the game industry has started to catch back up, and games are getting better rather than just more advanced. The big three companies out there right now (for me) are Nintendo, Lucas Arts, and Blizzard.

It's really not possible for me to rank these in order of most to least favorite, so I'll just list them grouped by genera.

Adventure Games

The Secret of Monkey Island

The young Guybrush Threepwood sets out on a quest to become a pirate, and hilarity ensues. Along with great humor there are also many challenging situational puzzles in this game, the overall setting created by this game is second only to...

Loom

A game that immerses you in one of the most enchanting fantasy worlds ever created. Solve puzzles by casting spells made of musical notes, and uncover the mysterious ways of the Guild of Weavers. Mysterious and spooky, yet charming.

The Neverhood

This required over 3 tons of modeling clay. The strange clay world is the possibly most unique game setting ever devised. It is like playing a Dr. Seuss book, and the soundtrack is as zany and original as the graphics. Full of challenging and clever puzzles, this game is an instant classic.

Role-Playing Games

Pokèmon (Red, Blue, Gold, Silver)

This game was simple in its design and its graphics and its story, but it was also probably the most addictive game I have ever played. Collect and train pocket monsters to do battle with other trainers. Even these days I still enjoy playing it occasionally. If you played this game when you were a kid, you know what I am talking about.

Chrono Trigger

Travel through time and master the forces of might and magic to prevent the grim apocalypse foreseen for Earth. The game's style of battle and premise are rather unique, and the soundtrack is wonderful. One of the few RPG's that really kept me glued to my seat.

The Secret of Mana

The three main characters of the game find themselves thrust into a fateful quest to reforge the Mana Sword and restore the world to its rightful balance. This game is truly epic in scope, with beautiful sprite art and a great soundtrack.

Action Games

X-Wing (original MS DOS version)

A goal-oriented flight simulator. This game came out back when 3D graphics were a new thing, so its graphics are very simple, though plenty adequate to make it clear what was happening in the (often very fast-paced) game. There is more to this game than going from point A to point B or dogfighting with the enemy: complex missions are being carried out in space, and you are a part of a team working to complete them.

Megaman X

My favorite side-scroller of all time. The premise is simple: you are a robot warrior on a quest to destroy other rogue robots. The game play is very intuitive, and high-powered. Something about this game just makes you want to play it over and over again (and I do!).

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

You play as a member of the elite international Counter-Terrorism team Rainbow Six. Plan out your missions using interactive maps and then play the missions with gun in hand. This game combined the fun and challenge of strategy with the thrill of a first-person shooter.

Movies

My (rather large) movie collection has a definite theme to it. It is organized into the following sections: Fantasy, Karate, Swords and Sorcery, Swords, Sorcery, Sci-Fi, High-Tech Crime, and "Other." Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

The Lord of the Rings
Star Wars Trilogy
Kill Bill I & II
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged
Harvey
Lucky Number Slevin
The Thomas Crown Affair
Underworld

TV Shows

X-Men (90's series)
Evangellion
Dragonball Z
Scrubs

On the Internet

These are the websites that I frequent for fun and entertainment. I hope you will find them as great as I do! If you're looking for useful stuff, check out my Links Page.

Web Comics

Order of the Stick

Stick figures running through a hilariously funny Dungeons and Dragons campaign. You won't get a lot of the jokes if you don't play D&D, but this is still very worth reading. Usually updates a few times a week.

Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire

A very enjoyable story-based comic set in an original and creative fantasy world. Very well-developed and lovable cast. Updates daily.

XKCD

Intelligent humor dealing with computer science, math, and other various realms of geekdom. The author is obvsiouly very brilliant. Updates irregularly.

Questionable Content

Funny and really addictive. The cast is great and the story, while simpler than a lot of comics, is one of my favorites. Updates Monday through Friday.

The Perry Bible Fellowship

Rude, uncouth, and very off-color humor, but probably one of the funniest and cleverist web comics ever written. Usually updates once a week.

Cyanide and Happiness

Off-color, but very witty humor. Updates daily.

Comedity

This is me in web comic form. Half of the cast are the parts of the main character's mind, and it almost perfectly reflects the way my mind works. Usually updates once a week.

Sluggy Freelance

A very old and very classic web comic that has been updating daily for years. Very story-oriented with a great cast.

Penny Arcade

The classic gamer's comic. Very avant-garde for it's time, and still funny today. Updates every few days. Each comics is stand-alone.

Ctrl+Alt+Del

A gamer's comic that has really come into its own in the past few years. More story-oriented than Penny Arcade and with better character development. Updates every few days.

PVP - Player vs. Player

Another classic gamer's comic. Has a stable cast, but most comics are stand-alone. Updates daily.

Dilbert

Very witty business humor; updates daily.

Zits

A comic about teenage life that really hits home. It's uncanny how similar this comic is to my life. Daily.

Gunnerkrig Court

The adventures of girl going to a very unusual high school. By very unusual, I mean full of monsters and all sorts of other strange fantasy creatures. Very creative mythology. Updates a few times a week.