Growing Up with Games

A few days ago I had Dan from Gameolio ask me about my gaming life and how it has evolved. I wrote out a lengthy blurb about how I got started and how it has changed. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how my gaming life has changed over time. So I am posting what I wrote for all to see. (How did your gaming life change over time?)

My gaming life has evolved dating back to my Atari 2600. Video games have always been a part of my life growing up with the tabletops, Atari, Coleco, Vectrex, those horrible little handhelds that you had to wind up to make them work.

That was the beginning for me. Of course I stayed with video games after that as well, playing with the NES, Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, N64 and then for a long time sticking with the PS1. It was during the time of the PS1 that I really dropped off from playing games.

I was a little older and my priorities changed from gaming to being a more social butterfly. I was more concerned with where the next party was at and University then what game was coming out next.

I guess after that got outta my system the PS2 and Xbox was out for a couple of years. I didn't know anything about the Xbox so I went with what I knew, which was the playstation.

I really enjoyed my PS2 with my first 3 titles being Twisted Metal Black, Tekkan Tag and Batman. I really loved all those games and it really invigorated my love for video games again. I didn't play hardcore, just efficient.

My Family had a rule when I was younger, I wasn't allowed to get a new game until I had finished the one that I was playing. I mean my family didn't have lots of money to blow 50-60 dollars on a game every time I got bored with the one I was playing. So I had to show them when I got towards the end of a game, "look mom, come watch me beat Castlevania."

Because of this strict regime, I played the hell outta the game that I was currently playing. I knew every trick that could be done, where every item could be found, what dungeon to take, and I enjoyed doing all this. THIS is what translates to my gameplay today.

Today with Trophies/achievements, because I have that built in need to finish the game to 100%, to have done everything there is to do in a game, it is satisfying to now have an award to go along with that. I mean I was doing it all along anyway, so now its just nice to be awarded.

So even today at 32, I still don't buy a new game till I've finished the one that I am currently playing. Although I am not has strict on myself has when I was a kid. There are games that I have finished like Street Fighter 4 but I can't do the "Moves" trials. My fingers just can't move fast enough to pull off those well timed combos.

So today I don't feel compelled to play the next hot game this week or month. I still haven't bought modern warfare 2 and I just now picked up fallout 3 and last month I just finished playing the first uncharted the same week that the 2nd one came out. Mainly due to I don't mind waiting for prices to drop or I am busy with another game and I have another one that I want to play before that. There are just so many games coming out that my play style doesn't allow for playing a game has fast has I can so I can beat it and move on to the next one.

My biggest gripe is with Killzone 2 trophies, or the last 2 for me I should say. The last 2 are," get within the top 3%-1% of the leader boards for that week." I went online to find out what are the numbers I have to do to accomplish this. It comes out to playing 8 hrs a day 12-15 hrs on the weekends for that week to make the 1%. I don't have that kind of time. I'm lucky if I play 2 hrs every second or 3rd night. I just have other things I do with family and work.


So that one really bothers me because it is set up to be gotten only by people with no lives and do nothing but play with no responsibilities. That eeks me! I know I could do it, cause I was pretty kick ass in Killzone 2 always coming in the top 3 for that round. I just don't have the time to invest into that achievement.

Unlike the Resistance 2 trophy of getting 10,000 kills online. That may seem impossible, but there's no time constraint on it. It took me over a year to get 10,000 kills playing a little here and there. But it is doable.

So overall for now, I play when I get the time and I play hard cause I don't know when I am going to play again.