I?ve pretty much grown up with a controller in my hands. I can?t even remember a time when I?wasn?t?playing some sort of video game and gaming has been an incredibly huge part of my life.
You know how certain songs often remind people of specific events or feelings from your life? Well, that?happens?to me all the time, but instead of songs it?s with video games.
When I think of?Final Fantasy III?for the?Super Nintendo, I remember being in middle school, not having a care in the world and being totally engrossed in that game?s epic story. Really, who could forget when the world ended? (If you haven?t, watch the scene in the video below) Sure, maybe it seems a little outdated today, but back then Final Fantasy III opened up a new world of video gaming?for me.
It taught me that games have the ability to emotionally affect a person. I actually cared what happened to the game?s main characters and I didn?t want them to die. Their strange personalities slowly grew on me.
Then I think about the original?Halo?and remember playing it for the first time almost 10 years ago at my brother?s apartment.?I?haven?t really felt that incredible feeling of?excitement?since that weekend all those years ago. I was playing an?Xbox, an actual Xbox. I was also playing the game I?d read so much about and constantly dreamed about playing,?Halo: Combat Evolved. I will always cherish that weekend my brother and I spent exploring that game. These are only two of the many video games that have deeply affected my life. ?I have many other fond gaming-related life?memories.
I picked this copy of Micro Machines, the first video game I ever owned, off eBay a few weeks ago.
I come from a family that?doesn?t?really talk very much, even less now that we all live in different cities. But there has always been a constant common ground that brings us together (mostly me and my older bothers): Video games. Before Xbox Live even existed, my two older brothers and I would system link Halo in my parent?s house. We?d string wires all over the house in order to have our own individual screens and play for countless hours.
Eventually, they grew tired of the fact that I dominated them in the game and we stopped playing together. I had an unfair advantage, I was much younger and had no real responsibilities. Playing Halo was the main focus of my life. My brothers ?had jobs and post-secondary education to worry about. They?didn?t?have as much time to play the game as I did. Still, I?ll always remember destroying them in Blood Gultch (it?s still my favourite first-person shooter multiplayer map today).
Looking a little further back in my life, ?some of my earliest video game related memories involve me watching my older bothers and my dad playing games. The original Mario for the NES was insanely captivating for some reason and I?d constantly bug my brothers to play with them. In order to appease me, they?d often hand me a controller and say, ?Here, you can be the bad guys.? Of course, I believed them; I was not only thrilled to actually be playing Mario but also ecstatic that my brothers were allowing me to play the game with them.
I actually thought I was playing as the game?s enemies.
It?didn?t?take long for me to realize that I?wasn?t?actually playing as a Koopa and a feeling of utter?disappointment?slowly washed across my face. Still, even though this?isn?t?exactly a very positive?memory,?it still makes me laugh. I probably played for two or three hours before my 4-year-old self actually realized that I had no control over the game?s enemies.
I also remember watching my brothers play other video games like the then ultra violent Doom (much to my mother?s dismay) or even taking turns playing the original?Sonic The Hedgehog?when my dad bought a Sega?Genesis.
Then there were the summers trapped at my parent?s cottage with no internet access or game consoles. In?hindsight,?this was probably the happiest time of my life. I didn?t have a care in the world and sense of absolute freedom resonated with me during these summers. This is also when I discovered the wonders of portable gaming. Games like?The Legend Of Zelda: Link?s Awakening?and Wario Land, killed time during those boring evenings.
It took me ages to finish Link?s Awakening and I struggled through every second of it. There were times when I?d get stuck in certain dungeons for days, sometimes even weeks. Finally solving that puzzle or beating that impossible boss, always felt like an?monumental?accomplishment. I did it on my own with no hint guides, no internet access and no help from my friends; I finished the game with my own sheer wit.
Today I?m?lazy?and the?video games I play essentially complete themselves. If I get stuck there are in-game hint systems and guides all over the internet. I just don?t have the self control or the time to not read them.
Recently, I?ve tried to hunt down and purchase many of the video games I owned as a child. At one time, I had a massive video game collection that spanned almost every major console release of the last 25 years, but when I moved out of my parent?s house, I sold everything. I just didn?t have the space at the time.
While not the largest collection, collectors will probably notice a few extremely expensive titles in this pile of SNES games.
I regret this decision today because many of those games?are worth hundreds of dollars now and purchasing these games again is rather expensive sometimes.
Then there were the Nintendo Power and?Electronic Gaming Monthly?magazines I painstakingly read cover to cover multiple times. I idolized the authors, hanging on their every word and valued their reviews, choosing my Christmas presents on their review scores. Although it?s been years since I last read Nintendo Power, it was painful to see the magazine finally cease publication.
Although I haven?t read Nintendo Power in years, I was still sad to see the magazine end.
Reputable video game journalists and prominent Electronic Gaming Monthly?personalities at the time like Dan Hsu, Che Chou and Demian Linn were my idols. I hoped that one day, I too could have a job so utterly cool and amazing. These guys get paid to play video games? I literally?couldn?t?believe it.
Writing about video games and technology has been my dream for as long as I can remember and was actually the entire reason I?pursued?a degree in journalism.
Today, writing about video games is a large part of my job here at Canada.com and I?m thankful for every story that makes its way up onto the site.
Follow me on Twitter:?@Patrick_ORourke.
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Source: http://o.canada.com/2013/01/16/growing-up-gaming/
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