PixlBit

The first PC I bought for myself was a 2001 Dell Dimension 4300. It ran Win XP. It was a fine computer, but it was never a serious gaming rig. I got it mainly to support my transition from film to digital photography, but games did get played. Here are the ones I remember best.

MDK2 came with my new computer. It was really jaw dropping stuff when I first played it. It was a third-person shooter by Bioware with great graphics for the time.  

I got into a little tinkering with hardware upgrades and eventually networking. With the help of a network savvy family member, my friend and I were able to get Diablo II running so we could play it co-op. It worked for a hot minute. Networking was tricky back then, especially through a server, which we had. We also tried it with Baldur’s Gate. We had a cool setup at my friend’s place. I had multiple screens for my PC, The place looked like a game developer’s studio.  

Then there were the obligatory FPS games. Serious Sam was a very unapologetic run-and-gun shooter with no pretense about having an elaborate story or even finely detailed graphics. It was all about mowing down hordes of enemies with big guns. Painkiller was a dark fantasy FPS by People Can Fly, not unlike Quake. The standout memory I have of that is the Stakegun. You shot large wood stakes and impaled enemies on the environment. Giggles abounded.  

But mostly my friend and I were playing games on PopCap’s website like: Bookworm Adventures, Typer Shark, Bejeweled, Plants Vs Zombies, Peggle, Feeding Frenzy, Rocket Mania, and Zuma. Most of these got ports to the consoles.  

And finally, I did something productive by “playing” Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing and going through a series of MS Office tutorial programs I had. Touch typing has stayed with me all these years. It’s been a big help in many situations. 

TV Time! 1998 Dell 2400 commercial. I got my 4300 with a similar package including speakers and monitor. I also got a printer and camera.