Why game?

• Gaming is a great way to motivate kids to use computers. (Steve started learning computers by programming his own basic games in 1980.)
• Gaming teaches teamwork. (MPRPG are a metaphor for teamwork, according to Joi Ito [chair 6apart Japan, International VP technorati].)
• Gaming is a great way to learn about computers. (Gamers need bleeding edge hardware and drivers, and just to get their games running well end up with a sysadmin's knowledge, ready to go to work building and maintaining other's PCs.)
• Think of the children! (Even if you don't game, you'll need to learn enough to buy games for your children and other kids in your life.)
• Gaming is better than TV. (Gaming uses your brain, unlike mindless TV.)

How to pick gaming hardware: Read online reviews. Especially video cards can be hard to understand just from reading the model number off the box: Research them very carefully. When building a PC, Jeff made an excel spreadsheet to track the model, cost, resolution, and speed of his candidate cards. Video card brands: Buy nVidia or Radeon; avoid the other crap.

How to pick game software:

• Read reviews. Alex recommends gameFAQ's imdb-like reviews.
• Try demo first. (Personal preference is huge.)
• Half Life is a great FPS engine. Its downloadable "steam" games require no atoms (CDs, boxes). Download and use for free for two weeks, then use your email and password as a purchase key.
• WoW with 8m users, is the most popular MMOG