Last time, I touched briefly on my first gaming experiences via Lode Runner and Choplifter on the Apple IIe. While those played an important role in getting me into gaming, another Apple IIe game played a larger role in my life. Sure Choplifter and Lode Runner got me interested in games, but I never considered becoming an Apache helicopter pilot or a raider of lost tombs and temples. Not even the might Sim City could convince me to become a city planner or architect. Only one game would have a lasting impact on my future and very nearly led me to major in geography over journalism: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?



Of course, the basic point of the game was to try and disrupt the inner-workings of the organization known as V.I.L.E. by bringing down Carmen Sandiego. But 99% of the time, you weren’t actually tracking down the title character. Instead, your job was to trek around the world to uncover clues and find the nefarious V.I.L.E. henchmen that had stolen something important. On top of that, you were always on the clock, and if you ran out of time, it was game over for you. Only when you caught everyone else did you get your shot at Carmen herself, and she was the hardest to track down.



But there was another wrench that was thrown into the game play. On top of finding the right locales to search for, you had to wring out important clues about the criminal you were chasing and get a warrant for their arrest before you nabbed them. Otherwise, they were innocent in court and you got nothing. It also didn’t help you move up in rank to get to the tougher cases, and probably got you mocked on every newsgroup on Usenet.



What made Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? so interesting wasn’t the fact it was a game or the TV show on PBS or even Rockapella. No, fellow Dtoiders, what made it so interesting was that here I was, sitting in my basement on a computer that had long become obsolete, learning more about the outside world than I ever could have possibly imagined. It sparked an interest in geography and other cultures. Soon, I was reading maps and atlases and copies of National Geographic. Yes, even the ones with the big-breasted women from New Guinea. I’d found something I enjoyed and, quite frankly, kicked the other kids’ asses at when I was in school. For a little kid who got picked on because he wore glasses or looked funny, it was almost a badge of honor.



And then there was the sense of achievement that came through the rank system. I desperately wanted to get myself into the hall of fame, so I worked and worked my ass off, moving from rookie to sleuth to private eye to investigator to ace detective until one day, I finally accomplished my goal. I caught Carmen Sandiego and saw my name entered in the hall of fame in all of its 8-bit glory. It might not seem like a lot now, but there was little cooler when I was young than seeing my name at the top of the hall of fame.



Years later, when my family ended up jumping to the “wonderful” Apple PowerMac, Carmen Sandiego went along with the deluxe edition. It was pretty much the same thing as before, but just more polished and prettier.

But the love of geography I had went on push me into the National Geography Bee State Finals for two straight years. It also helped me get good grades and a high ACT score, which got me a scholarship offer from Bowling Green State University. That offer pretty much sealed my fate as to where I was going to school. Going there forced me to buy a new PC, the same PC I used one day to find Destructoid and join the site. So, perhaps in a small way, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? helped me get here to where I am today. And I’m sure, off in his underground lair somewhere, Anthony is reading this with a little tear of joy in his eye.