in-memoriam
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MIT officer slain in Boston Marathon bombing remembered as gamer
MIT Police Officer Sean Collier was killed on April 18, 2013, his life allegedly taken by the suspected Boston Marathon bombers. Collier was memorialized by his classmates and colleagues as an exemplary officer, but longtime friend Brandon Kelly remembers him for his passion for video games and eSports. onGamers' Rod "Slasher" Breslau interviewed Kelly about the two men's experience growing up with video games as a major part of their life, an experience Kelly called "a major influence on who I am and continue to grow to be." Kelly recalled gaming with Collier throughout their history together, moving from Mortal Kombat to StarCraft to Counter-Strike to World of Warcraft as they grew up together. Collier's dream was to become a city police officer, but Kelly saw another side to him: "Sean had a natural talent for any video games and would instantly develop skills that were superior to above average gamers with absolutely no effort at all. This was how he was with computers, HTML and graphic design. Even though I knew he had wanted to become a police officer all of his life, I really thought he was going to pursue web design or graphic design." "Sean loved to do many things and went through many phases in life but, no matter where he went or what he did in life, he always kept gaming close to his heart," Kelly said. By keeping gaming a part of his life, he maintained a friendship that Kelly described more like kinship, calling Collier his brother. Sometimes it's nice to remember that video games can bring us together more than they break us apart. [Image: Ingfbruno/Wikimedia Commons]
Our games are built on paper and dice
As a tip of the hat to the passing of a tabletop gaming icon, I thought it worthwhile to link back to a great article Allen Varney wrote for the Escapist website in 2005. Entitled "Our Games Are Built On Paper", it outlines the incredible impact that people like Gary Gygax and Dave Arenson have had on videogames in general and Massively Multiplayer games in specific. The piece notes the numerous PnP designers that have made the jump to videogame development; a reminder of the numerous people who have worked on City of Heroes and City of Villains that originated in the pen and paper world. It concludes by noting the advances of a more recent generation of tabletop designers, and fittingly begins with words that ring very true today:IN THE BEGINNING - which is to say, 1974 - there were E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, two tabletop miniatures gamers in Wisconsin who begat Dungeons & Dragons. And D&D begat an orc-horde of paper-and-dice imitators and emulators. And it was good.
