Arr, as some of ye scurvy sea dogs out between em screensd know, today be a very important day fer all o us keepin a swash-buckling and ferocious pirate down yonder tis Talk Like a Pirate Day! This international holiday be celebrated throughout all o the world, where modern pirates o any culture an nationality unite to bark commands as watch it, ya bilge rat, or itll be the cat o nine tails fer ye! at random landlubbers passin by. Aye, tis a fine day to plunder the local food-pushers pursuin booty and grog. But ye mustnt think our pirate-y sides are only showin this day of the year they be always lumberin just down yonder, an tis a trick to keep from shoutin all year round. Fortunately, theyve had the chance to surface now an again, be it as a blond pirate wannabe or an experienced sea captain with full red beard and a peg leg.

Fer those of ye whove little experience in the field of piracy in gaming, lemme start out be tellin ye that its nothin te do with copies o any kind. Tis simply games dressed in em glory days o the 17th century, when men were men, women were women an foul-smellin, grog-drinkin pirates were foul-smellin, grog-drinkin pirates. One o the earliest games te peek at the genre was Sid Meiers early success, Pirates!, an it mixed role playin, RTS, arcade an strategy together te form one o the most innovatin games ever, as well as a firm foundin fer is future career. A few years back, he took up creatin a remake o is classic, an it was released fer the X-Box an PC.

Some years after Sid Meiers carrack hit the waters, LucasArts, back then renowned creators of pointnclick adventures, set about creatin a comical an modern take on the 1600-pirate, in their hilarious Secret of Monkey Island. Ye were in control o the pirate-in-trainin, Guybrush Threepwood, as ye went about savin bonny lasses, defeatin vile ghost pirates an figurin out a proper use fer a rubber chicken-with-a-pulley-in-the-middle. On yer way, ye were faced with such dreadful horrors as strokin a pirate, pickin flowers in a dark forest at ten o clock in the evenin an sneakin onboard ships full o skeletal minions of the ghost pirate LeChuck. As the game developed a huge fanbase that still exists, three sequels were released, all of them keepin the tone an atmosphere o the original masterpiece.

Fer more original pirate franchises o recent years, Disneys blockbuster Pirates o the Caribbean from 2003 springs to mind. Fer the usual game counterpart followin a hit movie, Disney ad Bethesda Softworks, developers o the legendary Elder Scrolls series craft em a game worthy o the movie. Bethesda simply renamed the sequel to their buccaneer tale Sea Dogs, threw in a few skeletal pirates an called it a day. Even though some might call that a recipe fer disaster, it appears to ave turned out well enough, an Bethesda kept the franchise fer a few more games, ruinin the last two attempts at digital piracy.

Another title deservin honourable mentiond be Nokias High Seize, developed fer their N-Gage game deck. A grim tale o much intrigue an ambiguity, High Seize continued the turn-based battle system first introduced in the Pathway to Glory franchise, an was released a few years back to much critical acclaim, an today it be one of the most played games in all o N-Gage Arena.

So, if ye only just heard o International Talk Like a Pirate Day now as the bellowin has quieted down an the singin is vanin, take a minute to be disappointed an frustrated. When ye be done, dont ye worry there be plenty o opportunity to dress up as a mighty corsair an swagger down the street with an ale o grog an a drunken grin, handin out black spots an promisin to keelhaul strangers. Just you wait til Capn Jacks latest adventures are thrown on one o em shiny discs and sold all oer the country. An if ye cant wait, let out yer inner pirate in the company o many a digitised swashbuckler as ye play through modern pirate culture. Arr, me hearties, arr!