Wednesday, April 6, 2011

It Starts With One

For as far back as i can remember, I cannot recall a time in my life when I was not enamored with digital entertainment.  I have vague memories of sitting with my dad and watching him play our old Atari 2600 and Commodore 64 computer and just being amazed at the pixels and sound being controlled on the screen by our own hands.  I have a vague recollection of being at a friends house who had a Nintendo and holding my first game controller, I was too young to have any idea what I was doing or even care but I loved it.  When I finally got my very own NES it was impossible to keep me away from it, any chance I got to pop in the Mario Bros./Duckhunt/Track Meet cartridge (you know the one I'm talking about *wink* ) and play I would take it.  Birthdays and Christmas' every year I presented my family with a list of different long forgotten toys and belongings that I wanted but topping every list in big bold letter were the games I wanted, and had I got nothing else for those holidays but the games I would be happy.  As life carried on into the High School teenage years and for many people the whole "video game thing" because a happy memory of childhood and were content to simply "grow out of it" my fire was fueled even more.  The days of awkward adolescences were soothed by claiming my right as the champion of the digital world as I escaped into the land of the Final Fantasy series,  my aggression and teenage angst being relieved by blasting demons back to hell playing Quake, and my growing mind being teased and strengthen by nerve wracking platformers like Super Mario 64.  Upon entering the adult world of work, toil and sweat my passion for gaming instead of fizzling out grew and matured much like a college student who once choked down cheap malt liquor moving up to the taste of fine scotch whiskey, my taste for games became more refined and I discovered the MMORPG.  What started innocently playing Diablo 2 online with friends grew into a 6 year love affair with World of Warcraft which I shared with many friends a long the way including my wife.  Some of those friends play WoW to this day, others like myself have taken a much needed hiatus.  Since pulling away from the World of Warcraft I've started to discover what I've missed in gaming over the years,  when the tunnel vision of WoW clears up you see how much good stuff is out there that may have slipped through the cracks.  As I start this newest chapter in my gaming life I have decided to share it with the world or at least anyone who cares to stumble onto my blog.  To call me a seasoned gamer would be an understand, to say that I have played it all would be an even bigger untruth.  So if you would be so kind to indulge me, I invite all-comers to follow me through my digital adventures on those days when gaming is truly greater than life. 

9 comments:

  1. Spittoon's comment doesn't count cause its lame... next!

    ReplyDelete
  2. BOO!! It is the first ever comment on this blog, but who cares.
    My earliest memories of "gaming" I couldn't have been much older than 3 if I was even that old. We were still living in Coast Guard housing down in Eureka and some of our family friends kids came over to play on our new Nintendo, probably before it was abbreviated to NES, the game they were playing or maybe it was my Dad was "Mach Rider".
    You know really grinds my gears, was that a few years back Target was selling t-shirts that had a picture of the NES with a controller on it and it read "classicly trained", they were selling them in children's sizes, kids back then weren't old enough to remember that "saving" your game meant leaving the system on and hoping that your parents wouldn't see it and think you had just forgotten to turn it off. They didn't even experience 2D graphics, unless they were playing a game to make it look 2D (viewtiful Joe).
    that's all

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you Spittoon! an excellent comment :) well now you have the first REAL comment on the blog. and I completely agree about those classically trained shirts... they should only be sold in Adult XL plus lol because if you're old enough to have grown up on Nintendo you aren't wearing children's sizes...

    ReplyDelete
  4. AWESOME BRA!!! Ok first off, let me say that the site so far looks awesome! The background is sweet, the color scheme is great, the banner at the top is FREAKING awesome and most importantly you are using your profile pic from your comic character :)

    I got my first Nintendo when I was 3 years old for Christmas from my grandpa. It was the basic package with mario/duckhunt and that was it. When I took it out of the box I really didn't know what to think but what I remember most is that my grandpa wouldn't let me hold the gun for duckhunt right up to the tv to blast those dumb birds... he made me stand at max distance and try and actually aim to hit my targets. I actually believe that this was my first level of training for future video games. While other kids cheated and took the easy route, I held my gun with the controller cord taught and played my little 3 year old heart out. From that point on, me and video games were like peas and carrots. :) I am excited to see what you end up doing with the blog and I will try and bring in some audience to help fuel the comments and keep them coming!

    AWESOME BRA!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AWESOME BRA!!! Yeah the Banner is awesome I agree :) I remember adults telling me the same thing about duck hunt lol "you need to stand back from the TV and play it the way you're supposed to". Butters actually made the banner for me :) Its fantastic, every character has impacted my gaming life. Mario, Link and Mega Man of course, Thrall from WoW :) Cloud and Vivi from the final fantasy series, and Samus actually i've never been HUGE into Metroid but Butters said Samus would add good color to the banner so I didn't object lol

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh and the Background is actually temporary, butters made me a custom one but I'm having issues getting it applied to the site... work in progress i suppose :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ummmm, my husband is so handsome and I had fun making the banner and background. K thanks

    ReplyDelete