Way back in early August, I put together a list of the 10 Greatest MS-DOS Games of All Time for PC World to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the IBM PC. Everything was set to go, then my editor got into a doozy of a bicycle accident.

Thankfully, he's OK. He managed to edit the slideshow, which is up now, despite having a few broken ribs. Take a peek.

My original captions have been expertly truncated to more appropriately fit the slideshow format, so it may not contain as much of my reasoning for each game's inclusion as I had hoped. Still, it turned out very well, and I feel strongly about my picks. (I also love my intro slide, the crafting of which sometimes becomes my favorite part of making slideshows.)

Here is my inclusion and ranking criteria, from my original introduction from before it was shortened:

For this author, a combination of factors roll together to constitute Greatness: among them, innovation, influence, fun factor, and replay value with considerations for each game's contribution to the MS-DOS gaming culture thrown in. In the ranking, games that originated or most prominently thrived on non-DOS platforms were generally disqualified from consideration.

Whenever I do a slideshow like this, I like to remind people that my top 10 list is nothing more than a work of educated opinion. I'm typically not a fan of the format because the results are always subjective, but I still think it works because it stimulates public thought and gives me a good excuse to both entertain and educate on a subject I love.

So now I turn the spotlight to you, dear readers. If you were assembling a top 10 MS-DOS games list, what would be on it?

"Introducing 3DO Blaster — the ultimate game platform for your PC."

Of all the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer devices made in the 1990s, the Creative Labs 3DO Blaster was perhaps the most unique. Retailing for $399.95 in 1994, the full set contained an ISA expansion card for an IBM-PC Compatible computer, a special CD-ROM drive, a game pad, and a couple games.

With the 3DO Blaster, 3DO software didn't run on the PC's computing hardware itself (as would be the case with a software emulator). Instead, the Blaster's expansion board contained a nearly complete set of 3DO console circuitry that merely used its PC host for power, video output, and as an optical media reader with the included CD-ROM drive. To get sound, you had to have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster card already in your PC.

Once installed in your PC, you could use the 3DO blaster to play 3DO games loaded from official 3DO game CDs that displayed on your computer's monitor. 3DO Blaster supported a windowed graphics mode in Windows 3.1 and full-screen in MS-DOS.

The 3DO Blaster did not fare well in the marketplace due to its high price, impractical nature, and the fact that the 3DO platform never really took off. If you happen to own one of these, treat it kindly, as it is most assuredly a rare gaming artifact from the early 1990s.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever owned a 3DO console? What are your favorite games for the platform?

"Safety is a pilot's first and foremost concern."

The most defining cultural, political, and national moment of my generation happened ten years ago next Sunday. You know what it is. The pain from that day is still fresh enough in my mind that I barely want to talk about it.

I recently ran across this advertisement for Microsoft Flight Simulator 5.1 in a 1995 issue of ComputerLife magazine. It gave me chills when I first saw it — as almost anything involving airplanes and the World Trade Center does for most Americans. The ad encourages the reader to fly safely when navigating close to the Twin Towers.

The fact that Microsoft designed an ad like this means nothing, of course — I'm not implying any kind of supernatural foresight embedded into a 1995 computer game advertisement. It's just creepy in retrospect. The World Trade Center's stature as one of the world's tallest and most famous landmark buildings inevitably teased human minds to make dramatic juxtapositions like this — sometimes harmlessly, and sometimes — one time — with devastating results.

Discussion Topic of the Week: Where were you when you first heard about the September 11th, 2001 attacks? Did they change your computer or video game habits in any way?

As a commercial game download service, Good Old Games (GOG) has been bringing classic PC titles back to life for a few years now. Just today, GOG announced that the IBM PC version of Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar is now available as a free download over at their site.

Ultima IV has been available on the 'Net as an authorized free download off and on over the years, but it's always nice to have a trustworthy place to get it.

While you're over at GOG, check out the site's other offerings. I personally love GOG because they distribute original, full games without DRM. That is very important.

Up now on Technologizer.com is my recent interview with John Linnell of the tech-savvy rock band They Might Be Giants. Linnell and I discussed his personal computer and video game history, how he's integrated computers into his music career, a fierce Tetris addiction, and gruesome encounters with X-Acto knives. I hope you enjoy it.

By they way — Happy Birthday to Mr. Linnell, who turned 52 yesterday.

CYBERSPACE (echo, echo, echo…):

The future of mankind or an ingenious scheme to sell virtual furniture for real money?

It's been a while since I've done a slideshow where I attempted to quantify the unquantifiable and rank a series of things in order from least to greatest. I'm typically not a fan of the format because the results are always subjective, but I still think it works because it stimulates public thought and gives me a good excuse to both entertain and educate on a subject I love.

The subject, in this case, is online worlds, where people gather together in virtual space to buy/sell mouse-crafted Furry outfits, chat about LARPing, and construct entire worlds filled with simulated genitalia.

So without further ado, I present to you "The 11 Most Influential Virtual Worlds of All Time" over at PC World. I hope you enjoy it.

When you're done reading/pounding your fists, feel free to tell us about your favorite online worlds in the comments below.

California Games at the Kitchen Table (October 2010)

A scene from Benj's recent birthday party (April 2011)

They came out of the blue of the black sky.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What's your favorite 2D space shooter of all time?

"Now you too can play Pool 1.5″

I have fond memories of Pool 1.5 for the Atari 8-bit computer line. I remember finding a neglected copy of it in the back of our Atari disk box as a kid and playing it for hours. Despite it's age, I still enjoy playing Pool 1.5 more than any other billiards simulation.

The "1.5″ designation in the name is interesting and somewhat unusual for a game. I assume it's a version number, but I've never heard of, say, "Pool 1.0." Maybe it's a title that metaphorically suggests improvement on the real game of Pool, similar to how we say "Revolution 2.0″ today. Or maybe not.

If you get a chance, you should try it out. The game holds up surprisingly well.

Discussion Topic of the Week: What's your favorite pool/billiards video or computer game?