Video Games & Me Pt. 1

Video Games & Me

In this post I'm writing about my experiences with gaming, and my passion for them. Games have become an integral part of my life of close to twenty years. I was a late bloomer due in large part by both a lack of disposable income and living circumstances.

My first real introduction to video games wasn't in the 90s but in the mid 1980s with a game called Pong, then the Atari 2600 system was my real exposures with the concept of a dedicated console for  'playable game'. Games like Pac-Man, Chopper Command, Missile Command, Grand Prix, Frogger, Kaboom!, Pitfall, and Crackpots.

When I was in elementary I would have the chance to partake in what were home board games. Dungeons & Dragons, Risk, Monopoly, Sorry, and others took over my curious mind. I have to say the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game threw me for a loop. Magic spells, crazy die, all around the perception of imagination. I was totally unprepared for the experience.

As the 80's wore on I missed out on the Sega revolution as I had no connection to it. I was acutely aware of the system with the many commercials around at the time. I remember many visuals about Sonic The Hedgehog series. I wouldn't play this game until much much later, and to be frank I cannot really keep up with all of the spastic overload.

By the late 80's and the early 90's I would have a brief exposures to the TurboGrafx-16 system, and the Nintendo Entertainment System. Playing Bonks Adventure, Super Mario Bros., Contra, Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Punch Out!!, and Paperboy. Then I would have intermittent periods with arcades playing titles like Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat, Robocop Vs. The Terminator, Pole Position, and Spy Hunter. Arcades in their own right were a very different access point with needing that always elusive aspect of prized coinage which I didn't always have.

By the mid the 90's a couple friends I knew were already involved in the Personal Computer gaming experience. I got to witness the first foray of Mist, Warcraft, Star Wars, Doom, Duke Nukem, Command & Conquer, Wing Commander, and various beta testing games which never saw full time production. I so badly wanted play but I had no means to enjoy them without having sacrifice food, and bills. Which in all basic sense gave me a very distorted outlook on life. To be honest? I am not a PC gamer, never had an interest in it due in large part lack of funds and I don't have the 'skills' to control keyboard hotkeys, joystick, and mice at the same time. I like it simple. 

Before long I was introduced to the Playstation system in 1998 and everything changed.


B.