My gaming life...so far

Well before I made my entry into the human world, video games already had already consumed countless hours of my siblings lives. They would always tell me of how they had a family computer (aka Famicom, aka NES) and how they spent their free time playing games like beewings and circus charlie. They also always tell me of how hard the games were back in the eighties, and how games nowadays are so much easier, so I'm not as hardcore as them.

Anyway, the Super Nintendo was pretty much my fourth sibling for a good part of my early life, and I was exposed to some true classics like Street Fighter II, Turtles in time and of course, Super Mario World. I've gotta give credit to my cousins though, as they were kind enough to offload all their SNES games to us when they got their Playstation 1 (or so my sister tells me). So during the early nineties it was SNES or nothing for me, and years later I can still remember those days of trying to perform a hadouken with ryu, only to perform a heavy punch. Boo! Oh, and my sister reciting the codes to unlock 'cool stuff', 'cooler stuff' and then 'scott stuff' on Mortal Kombat 3. Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, A, B, A

Then the Playstation 1 came along, and my earliest memory of it was when my brother popped in the demo disc that came with it, and started playing Abe's Oddysee. That game gave me the creeps back then, as I remember Abe beckoning the player to get him outta that factory, and the sight of him being shredded to pieces by that weird creature with the gun, just made me feel like an utter failure, I was unable to save him!

While our PS1 collection wasn't 'classic', I'd say they were definitely more fun than a Virtual Boy. Bust A Groove helped me develop a sense of beats, and bushido blade taught me that being hit by a broadsword won't reduce my life bar, but is definitely more likely to send my pixelated blood flying across the screen while I make my final death rattle. Soul Blade (or Soul Edge) also made my PS1 life enjoyable, but I was never allowed to try master mode, as my brother and sister thought I was a dangerous risk of saving over one of their save files. Along with Lemmings, Psychic Force amongst other titles, my PS1 life had been quite fulfilling.

Then the Playstation 2 came, and suddenly everything on the PS1 looked so primitive. Dynasty Warriors 2 was button mashing goodness, Metal Gear Solid 2 was amazingly deep (even though I was too young to realise) and Simpsons Skateboarding taught me a valuable lesson in licensed titles: they all suck. Purchasing an Xbox, Halo 1: Combat Evolved was my first real foray into the FPS Genre, and it was tonnes of fun.

As the years went by, my knowledge and thirst of video games grew and grew. Throughout the years, I began to realise that 'newer' didn't always mean 'better'. My brother came home with Metal Gear Solid 1 on the PS1 one day and although too young to realise at first, I found out that despite it's old status, it was really quite an enriching experience.

Which I guess brings me to the end of this decade. It's a good time to be a gamer at the moment, as developers are realising the ability video games have to amaze the audience, and consequently, are harnessing the untapped potential. As technology grows and grows, we can only expect people to take games more seriously, and who knows, maybe even one day this medium can stand side by side with film and music.

Throughout my short gaming life, I've played plenty of awesome games but the standout games would have to be Metal Gear Solid 4 and Silent Hill 2. Both games very very very deep, and really forces the player to think beyond what they play, and try to interpret the message that developers are trying to depict.

So there's my gaming life in a nutshell. Hope you enjoy this blog!