My Game History

My Gaming History

 

            The first games I remember playing as a child were all on the Nintendo (NES).  Games like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pac-man, Burger Time, and Dr. Mario were given to me and my sister by our half-brothers.  My mother got the most use out of the NES and eventually she got us each our own brick, the Nintendo Game Boy.  Games like Super Mario Land II: Six Golden Coins, Tetris, Super Mario Land, Kirby Pinball and Kirby’s Dream Land were the first games that we played.  Overtime, we got all kinds of games.  I played with the Game Boy more than my sister and every year I would ask for a new game, but my sister would always get the new game or system, like the year I wanted a Game Boy Color so that I could play The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and she was the one who got the Game Boy Color.

            The first game that I really got into was Super Mario Land II: Six Golden Coins.  I remember beating that game on multiple occasions.  Really any Mario game is amazingly fun.  When my boyfriend and I are bored, we will bust out the Super Nintendo (SNES) and play either Super Mario Bros. 3 or Super Mario World.  Then next game that I really loved was Pokémon Red.  I knew that game in and out.  Beating the Elite Four over and over again, getting into the Pokémon Hall of Fame, catching, evolving, trading with friends, it was amazing.  Even today, I still play Pokémon games and if I feel like playing with some original Pokémon, I turn on my Nintendo Game Cube and plug in the Game Boy game adaptor and play it with the television screen instead of on the battery operated Game Boy.

            Eventually, I started playing other games.  While I have never owned a system that was not made by Nintendo (except the PSP which was a gift, more on that in a second), my best friend had a PlayStation.  She got me hooked on the best videos of all time, Final Fantasy; the first one I had ever seen was Final Fantasy VII.  I would watch her play for hours on end.  When she was gone for whatever reason and I was there by myself, I would play my own save file.  That story drew me in so deep.  Eventually she got other games.  She got Chocobo’s Dungeon II and Chocobo Racing.  Can you see a theme?  Square Soft (now Square Enix) games were our favorite.  We played for hours and would unlock everything.  When she got her GameCube, one of the first games that she got was Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.  These games are what influenced my love for games and my love for RPGs.  We also were really into the MMO Asherons’ Call.

            Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was the reason why I scraped and saved for the GameCube.  I only have five or so games for it but the number of hours of game play, the time searching for the right materials and crafting of weapons and armor that is where the purchase paid off.  I can go through any dungeon in that game and know exactly where I need to go and what to do.  My second big purchase for the GameCube was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  While I still have never completed the game (honestly I am terrified to try to pick it up again, because I do not think I will remember what to do next), I have tried playing every Zelda game, whether or not I have ever completed them.  I do not think that I have ever fully completed a Zelda game now that I think about it.

            The Kingdom Hearts series of games (again with the Square Enix games) I have either watched my friends complete or I have mostly completed myself.  Over the years, I have found myself becoming more of a video game observer than a video game player.  Still never owning a Sony or Microsoft game console, I have played and borrowed them from friends, until 2008.  Final Fantasy: Crisis Core came out exclusively for the Sony PSP.  As a present from a friend, I was finally able to play my own game.  That same year I bought my Nintendo DS and I try to pick that thing up every day.  Currently my games of choice are Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, Pokémon Platinum, and Chrono Trigger.  I am still working on the later two.  I really like playing random games on the Xbox 360, when I get the opportunity at my boyfriend’s house that is.  I really do not own a lot of games, nor have a played a lot of games, but I play my games until there is not anything left to do, except for Zelda for some reason.

I always wanted to play Kingdom Hearts but I was always worried about how I would do so I spent a lot of my time watching my friends playing it on my PlayStation 2. This was during my down time from gaming systems. I use to be the observer of games for quite some time and now that I'm back playing again, I can't help but want to yank the controler from someone's hand and play the game in front of me. Usually because I feel they just suck and I've spent too much time since November learning how to play Xbox360 games. I really like your gaming history and remember these games. To be young again and have the time to play, wouldn't that be great? -Meredith Haddock 9/17/09 12:05 PM 

Meredith, As I've noted in responses to the gaming histories of others, I find it interesting how our devotions play out, causing more adherence to the actual games over the consoles. For myself, the majority of the games I'm interested in are on the 360, so that's what I have. With Chrono Trigger re-released for the DS, I soon had one in my possession. Having glimpsed the potential of Little Big Planet, I did what I could to acquire a PS3. Significant interest in a continuing series of games (or something that appears new, interesting or revolutionary) is what dominates my own gaming and I appreciate seeing that to some degree in your own gaming history, too. Thanks for sharing! -James Schirmer 9/19/09 3:59 PM