Imagine Games Network's PC editor, Jason Bates, knows a thing or two about PC games. He also spent a week working with Future Gamer. We didn't let the opportunity to pick his brains pass us by…

What games are tickling your fancy at the moment?
I’ve got a pile of games that I’ve been meaning to play and will as soon as I can: Railroad Tycoon 2, Baldur’s Gate, Thief: The Dark Project, and SimCity 3000. And at some point I’ll have to finish Might & Magic VI. As far as what I’m currently playing goes, it’s mainly two betas: All Star Baseball 2000 on the N64 and Sony’s EverQuest. I’ve also, rather sickly, been playing Master of Orion II instead of the many newer games lying around.

What was the first computer game you ever played?
I can’t remember off hand but I certainly remember the first one I ever bought - Wizardry: The Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. Just a few months ago I was cleaning out some stuff and I found my old maps to it and the manual, so I hung on to them. Sadly, the box is long gone, which is a shame, since it was in a good condition and would have been quite a collector’s item. I still have the disks somewhere as well, and an old Apple II to run them on, though the thing barely works.

Any particular favourites from yesteryear?
I don’t know how long ago you consider ‘yesteryear’, but X-COM: UFO Defense (or UFO: Enemy Unknown as I think it was called over here) is definitely a favourite. It just had a really solid mix - great tactical combat and challenging strategy. Spinning the globe around, figuring out where to put the next base, scrambling jets - it was just a well-balanced game all around. Of course I love great big, fiddly strategy games that while away the hours, so it was perfect.