Chris Richards, GiN Staff

Chris started playing video games back in the early 80's on an Atari 2600. His first PC was a Tandy 1000 (circa 1985) from Radio Shack and his first game was a little adventure game called Rogue. He is still addicted to it. And its all been down hill from there. He blew the dust off of his old 360K 5 1/4 floppies to provide you with a little bit of Game Industry History. Download a copy of Rogue compliments of the GiN staff.

Recent Posts

Pre-Order Works

I normally do not do editorials for GiN, but I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts on preordering a Microsoft Xbox gaming system. I did find a way to customize getting screwed, which at least made me less irritated by the end of this process. But I am jumping ahead of myself and will come to that in a few moments. Every time a new system appears on the radar of the gaming world, I think to myself that I will wait and buy it later on, even though there is one right there in the … Continue reading Pre-Order Works

Tropico Will Rule Your PC

We have all been dictators of a sort in simulation games before, but now is your chance to be a True Dictator. You have just been ‘elected’ President of Tropico, a small third world island nation. Will you be a kind ruler, someone the people love and respect, or a total despot, hated and feared by the people? Tropico is a welcome change from some of the games I have been playing lately. I knew from the moment I saw the box that I could not wait to play the game. And for once I was not disappointed by the … Continue reading Tropico Will Rule Your PC

Jetboat is no Hydro Thunder

My mother always told me that when you don’t have anything nice to say, then you should not say anything at all. Unfortunately when you are a product reviewer, its your job sometimes to say bad things about a title so people won’t waste their money on it. And sometimes it is your job to pick a title up and completely body slam it to the mat without mercy. Jetboat Racing is forcing me to do the later. As I have to say something about this game, I will just keep it short and simple. My favorite game at Dave … Continue reading Jetboat is no Hydro Thunder

It’s More Than AOK!

As the reviewer for Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, I was interested to see what improvements were made with the Conquerors Expansion pack and whether they were worth the cost. I will save you the trouble of reading any further. Once you install the expansion pack, the upgrades will be so seamless – and so helpful – that after 20 minutes you wont remember any of the improvements unless you go back and play the original. At that point you will miss them, and get very frustrated. So if your still playing AOE2 or even if you have … Continue reading It’s More Than AOK!

Earth 2150 is Ahead of its Time

When I saw this game displayed at E3. I knew this was a game where if the demo proved to be as good as the final version, I was going to enjoy this game. And I was not disappointed! The only real problem with this game is that if falls into the flooded ground combat real time strategy genre. Earth 2150 has some unique aspects that may help it rise above the pack, if people start to take notice. Obviously, the game is set in 2150. The Eurasian Dynasty (ED) used their stockpile of nuclear weapons to attack some United … Continue reading Earth 2150 is Ahead of its Time

Everybody needs a boomslang

When I arrived at E3 this year, I must admit I had never heard of a gaming mouse. Even if I had heard of one, my question would have been why would I need a gaming mouse? I already have a mouse. What’s the difference? I was walking along at the conference and this guy dragged me, willingly I admit, into his booth and asked me if I had ever tried the Razer. Well I had not, so he proceeded to set me up for a demo. Well, this baby rocks. I admit it takes a bit of getting used … Continue reading Everybody needs a boomslang

LegoLand Reality meets Lego Game

Ring…Ring…Hi! This is Jonathan Ablebody the LegoLand Duty Manager. Congratulations, you have just bean hired as the new LegoLand Trainee Park Manager. Lets meet the rest of your staff. There’s Professor Voltage the park scientist and inventor of new rides, JP the parks chief mechanic, Bob Longtree the parks chief landscaper, and who can forget Rosie Brickolini a cousin to Mama Brickolini from Lego Island and the master Chef of LegoLand. The objective of LegoLand is to build a working theme park using rides, attractions, restaurants and landscapes from four different themes including LegoLand, castle, wild west, and adventure themes. … Continue reading LegoLand Reality meets Lego Game

Messiah will become your religion

In this game you play Bob, a cherub thrown down from heaven by God. Yes that’s him, the little wimpy guy with the diaper on and a tiny pair of wings. And God says to Bob "…I brought you here, and it’s here you’ll stay until this hell is hell no more and then you can come home. But here you will be mortal, here you can die. And when an angel dies, he is forever lost to nothingness." Your only power is the ability to possess other people and animal’s souls and control their bodies. You start the game … Continue reading Messiah will become your religion

Opposing Force is a pleasant addition to a rocking game

Opposing Force is an expansion pack for the best game of 1998, Sierra’s Half-Life. This time you are Corporal Adrian Shephard, a member of an elite force sent into the Black Mesa Complex to kill Gordon Freeman, the star of Half-Life. In the fashion of all black ops, you don’t actually find all of this out right away. It’s interesting to note that there are at least 10 solid add-ons that you can get for free for use with your Half-Life game, including user-created scenarios, Team Fortress, the counterstrike module and a few others. Plus there must be 1,000 user-created … Continue reading Opposing Force is a pleasant addition to a rocking game

The Wheel of Time brings Jordan books to PCs

I don’t consider myself a purist, but I have some issues with Wheel of Time the game as it fits in with the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. To give you a little bit of my background with the series, I have read all eight books at least twice and I already know that the ninth book in the series comes out in the Fall of 2000, and I will be there the day it comes out to purchase a copy. Several other members of the GiN staff are also fans of the book and have been battling … Continue reading The Wheel of Time brings Jordan books to PCs