How many computer games do you know that let you play against fellow opponents on the same computer? Think hard, it's not easy. Why? Because there are barely any, that's why. On any TV console, support for multiplayer mode on the same system is a must-have, and I have no doubt it plays a big role in the increasing popularity of such systems, whereas computers are falling behind. It's come to a point where people get a separate console just to play with friends, but I'd rather use my computer for everything, even this one (you may consider) trivial task.

I'm so used to the keyboard controls, the screen, the speakers & knowing that I can play virtually ANY game on this system, regardless of the console or OS. If people don't like keyboard controls, you can still plug in a gamepad or joystick. There's a great variety and potential for customization and virtually no downsides to this magical console!

But I didn't write this post to debate which console is not just a personal favorite but the absolute best (PC, of course). I wrote this post to serve a list of games I've played that I know support multiple players on the same computer (and I don't mean via LAN - that's NOT the same computer). I'll update it occasionally with new titles.

RT stands for Real Time (meaning both players play at the same time). TB stands for Turn Based (meaning you take turns playing). Of course most games can be played based on turns if you really want to, for example one user can race; then the next can try beating their score: the games I list differ in that they are meant to be played by multiple players, and keep track of players, turns, etc accordingly. Enjoy!

PC Games

(crappy games, like the 3D releases of the Worms franchise, are overlined)

Colin McRae Rally (RT)
Colin McRae Rally 2.0 (RT)
Colin McRae Rally 3 (RT)
Colin McRae Rally 04 (RT)
Colin McRae Rally 2005 (RT)
Liero (RT) (download)
Micro Machines V4 (RT)
Moto Racer 2 (RT)
Open Liero X (RT) (download)
TrackMania (TB)
TrackMania Sunrise (TB)
TrackMania Original (TB)
TrackMania Nations United Forever (TB)
TrackMania 2: Canyon (TB)
TrackMania 2: Stadium (TB)
TrackMania 2: Valley (TB)
Worms (TB)
Worms 2 (TB)
Worms 3D (TB)
Worms 4: Mayhem (TB)
Worms Armageddon (TB)
Worms Reloaded (TB)
Worms Revolution (TB)
Worms World Party (TB)

Flash Games

later

For a more extensive list, you might want to check out this.

So lately my connection speed is maxing out around 300kbps instead of the traditional 800kbps and obviously I wonder why. I checked BakaBT's blog for the first time in a long time and finally got to see some pictures of the people who work there. Seems like an interesting staff. I've learned that a Muai Thai fighter has the strength to kick through both Ash and Maple baseball bats and that soccer/football players do not. I've been watching Parkour vids until I just have to run.

It's never too early to shop Christmas presents, so I went yesterday, we had guests over later the same day, I'm on my way to a Halloween party in a few minutes, my sister's birthday is coming up the day after tomorrow, I have an assignment deadline on Monday, I was going to draw a card but I wonder if I'll make it and a fake support representative from Microsoft tried to scam me two days back. I've been working on getting this site nice and tidy but I'm not getting anywhere.

Prices on hard-drives are rising drastically due to the flood in Thailand, I saw the perfect computer on sale but it was sold out, Yahoo is offering disposable email addresses along with their paid plan and I'm tempted to upgrade, I bought a new cellphone for 1SEK (no subscription) that I'll probably never use and today the sun is shining so intensely I can walk around bare-skinned without even a chill. Keep in mind that the snow is usually piling at this time of the year.

So currently such is life. Later.

I've been suffering the consequences of waaaay too much computer stress today. Bad headache.

I tried getting rid of it using all means available (except painkillers, I never use those) but it didn't take. So I've spent at least ten hours in bed and though I haven't been able to sleep at all I bobbed in and out of almost pleasant daydreams and it eventually faded away. As is always the case at times like these I'm wondering why these headaches always wait till nightfall before they decide to disappear? And is it the same for people all around the globe or is it just me?

Happy it's gone though. I just ate eight pancakes and after I post this I'm heading out for a late night walk before stumbling back to bed to probably not get any sleep at all. How can you possibly sleep after spending all day in bed anyway? Anyway, good night, and if you still have that suspense left you'll have to keep waiting a while, this week is so hectic things may need to be postponed a bit.

SECOND YEAR DUDES. WONDER IF THE FOUNDERS OF THIS GREAT EVENT STILL REMEMBER THEY FOUNDED IT? I FOUND IT AND CLOWN AROUND WITH THE FIND I FOUND. YEAH. ALL HAIL CAPS.

It's a special day, not just emails birthday (which I've been posting posts for for about... eh... 6 years) but an anniversary! So I decided to kick it up a notch with some email history. It won't bore you, promise. Let's skip really quickly through the years. So, how did it start?

Well, back in the dawn of hellishly expensive electronical apparature, MIT graduate Ray Tomlinson was working with ARPANET (a military network) and was assigned to modify a program named SNDMSG, used to send messages between users on the same computer. It took a while, but in October 1971 he cracked it! The first email ever sent traveled a distance of one meter between two separate computers. One small step for a message, one giant leap for mankind. He also invented the @ character, to separate the recipient/network.

Since then email's been used intensely within ARPANET, but it wasn't until the 1990s and the introduction of the World Wide Web that the entire populace were allowed to embraced this great technology. Along came Hotmail, the first well-known free email provider. They offered a service nobody else did, and their servers were soon so flooded and overloaded it kept their email service from evolving or expanding for more than a decade.

During this time the alternatives started popping up, among them Yahoo, one who has managed to stay alive throughout a decade while all the other bright hopes died down and either disappeared or were lost in the shadows. Sure a few big ones like Mail and AOL still live on, but it's no longer the email heyday and it seems they've had to settle for the sidelines. As the competition increased, so did the need for a change with Hotmail, and they have changed (though maybe a bit late) to the better, expanding their available space per account to match the competition; with a sleek design to move into web 2.0.

Not too long ago Gmail popped up, and instantly things changed for the better, not just with Gmail (which is IMHO the best email client ever) but with all others who tried to stay in the game. A few notable mentions that could've revolutionized the platform were Flash-based Goowy nd others with insane file-size limits upto 1GB or more, but for the moment there are three giant providers that you can rely on. Hotmail (AKA Live), Yahoo & Gmail. Mail & Hush are a pair of survivors with not so great service, but with unique features that grant them a special fanbase; place in this list.

Despite the growth of text messaging, email doesn't seem to be slowing down at all! Back in 2001 31 billion emails were sent daily; in 2008 it was up at 171 billion per day. In 2010, it was 291 billion! And I'm sure that number will only continue to increase. Happy Birthday E-mail!

If any of you checked in on the site about fifteen minutes back you probably noticed the Suspended Account message that decorated the front page... and all pages for that matter. I contacted my host as soon as I found out about it (since they hadn't sent me any email) and it turns out it was just a mistake. So, that's a relief. Site is back up since about fifteen minutes, hope the downtime didn't bother you too much. Like, if you were in the process of reading through a blog just before the site was suspended and suddenly without reason decided to refresh the page and therefore missed the latter extremely interesting part of the blogpost. That would be bothersome. Just imagine if that happened just after you had reached the 'hope the downtime didn't bother you line'... wouldn't that be insanely aggravating? Well oki dokey then, I'm just happy it's all sorted out. If you still want to feel the suspense, just keep right on, because there should be some nice updates to the site tomorrow afternoon. I'll speak again then.