I've been playing video games since I can remember. The very first was this little paddle game my grandma had to keep my cousin Tony and I out of her hair. Yellow with black knobs. I think it was tennis, but I am still not sure. We were the almost oldest cousins. I say that because the oldest ones were girls and since she was old fashioned, they got to help in the kitchen. A few months later, she got an atari with the corded joystick paddles for us and we fell in love with that! The second game I ever played though, was a game called 'Number Munchers' on the old green screens in our school's computer lab. I was hooked, I had finally found something that keep up with my brain.
The Console Evolution
Video Games have come a long way since I was a kid. Before my parents bought me a home console, all I played were computer games and since I was one of those brainiac types...I had quite a bit more time in our new computer lab than most. Looking back, I should've become a hacker, but all the coding was boring and I just wanted to have fun. Oregon Trail was another of those I played on the green screen before the Macs came out, then Pool of Radiance just blew my mind. It was like Dungeons and Dragons but without all the paperwork. In this post though,
I want to focus on the home consoles. We can get into PC, arcade and handhelds another time.
Pre-MMO
Video games have always been a release for me and probably always will be. The very first home console I ever got was when I was 10. My parents bought my brother and I the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) for Christmas. It came with 2 games and were on the same cartridge. Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. It was the coolest thing ever. I played hours upon hours of both of them. Got a new game every month. I remember one of my friends birthday parties that next year, and he got Final Fantasy. That was, by far, the best game that ever hit the NES save Tecmo Bowl. I followed that game around from console to console. But the speed on Sonic the Hedgehog...I had to get a Genesis. Final Fantasy came to another console a few years later called Playstation...and that's where I met Diablo. I played that so many times, mainly because I could customize different characters. And then, the online PC world blended with the console community...
Online Gaming
When Playstation 2 came out, I didn't care about gaming online. I just wanted to play my Final Fantasy series'. Then one day, my brother said, "I just bought this game on Xbox, you have to come play with me. It was called Baulder's Gate. We played that for 2 days straight, no sleep, beating it 3 times with the characters they gave us and unlocked the hidden one after the highest difficulty. From then on, it was all Xbox and to this day, it's still my favorite. Especially after my beloved Elder Scrolls transferred to the platform. Yes, I like RPG's.
Believe it or not, it was my son about 6 years ago that actually got me into the MMOs. He just loved the shooter games. Borderlands had just come out on 360 and he was like Dad, you gotta play this with me. We've played every one since and I liked it so much, I signed up for Xbox Live and played with people around the world. Another game he introduced me to was Fallout and Call of Duty. Been a fan of both ever since. If anyone out there is like me, they are probably waiting to play COD: WWII, where we go back to boots on the ground! I like them all, so that's not a major issue for me, but I played the beta and the graphics were tits! You see my gamer tag up there in that first picture. If you wanna get stomped on by the clan I head up - Bi0Digital - (Bi0) then come find us tonight!