Well, I originally wrote this as an editorial hoping to have it read and discussed by the many minions of GameSpot. However, some evil office jackal undoubtedly found it unworthy of their "esteemed" soapbox selection and I was left with an essay that was about to go unread! This simply wouldn't do! So I've decided to post it here, though it is a bit long, I do hope in generates some discussion. Anyhow, for those who shun away from anything remotely long, or those with short attention spans, I offer the readers digest version of the discussion I was hoping to generate:
1) What was the first moment in gaming that kept you gaming? The moment you realized there was something fun, amazing, addicting, or just special about gaming?
2) What moments in gaming stick out for you? Those moments that cause you to take a step back in utter awe and will keep you gaming for years and years to come?
Anyhow, below is the essay that talks a bit about those moments and my own particular moments in gaming. Enjoy!
The Editorial:
Ever have those gaming moments that transcend the realm of just another day in pixilated paradise? One of those moments that literally stops you in your button mashing glory and causes reactions of dropped jaw stupidity, wild eyed frenzied celebration, or a surge of emotion so powerful it could bring the mightiest men among us to a state of infantile sobbing and blubbering? Or a moment so powerful that the dormant inner child within couldn't lay silent a moment longer and burst out like a massive solar flare to the shocked surprised of the stiff saps around you?
As a lifelong gamer I won't deny that there's been a few (yes, even the sobbing and blubbering) moments that have defined what gaming is to me today. Those moments, though few and far between, have kept me gaming for years with a hope and excitement for a better tomorrow deeply instilled within my gaming soul. Those moments are why I get my game on, why I pay the continually rising cost to game, and why I'll pay for subscriptions like LIVE now and in the future. Those are the moments that hook us. Those are the moments when we realize that there's something a little more to games than toadstools and headshots. It's why we sit sleepless caffeinated hours on end. It's why we play.
For me, good old Saigo, my first recollection of one of those moments pre-dates this next gen generation of fancy graphics and motion mayhem and takes us down memory lane to a place called the Old School. Anyone remember a title simply called, "Mario 3"? I remember seeing a preview of that game the first time my mom took me to see, "The Wizard" back when we lived in Phoenix. I was blown away. Literally. I sat there with my kids size coke shaking in utter amazement, spilling popcorn all over myself and my disgruntled parents. Oh, but then to actually play a copy! Raccoon suits!? Flying?! Slipping behind the white blocks to find the hidden exit and the secret warp whistles?! I actually remember thinking how cool it was to go backwards in a side scroller and explore different opportunities in a game riddled with secrets, alternative routes, and challenges that have kept it golden even by today's standards.
Next, we move ahead a few console generations to the legendary Playstation 1. I remember working at the theatre and saving my 5.00 dollar an hour wages for weeks on end 
to finally purchase a system and a single title that revolutionized what I thought a game could be, "Final Fantasy VII." Cut scenes a plenty with graphics I'd only imagined in a fevered stupor, a story that stuck with you longer than that childhood stalker, and characters with more depth than a death match between Aristotle and Socrates! What days of splendor and what nights filled with endless rapture! But what really got me, what literally stopped me in my rampaging boss killing battle frenzy, was when I left Midgar for the first time. In my childhood naivety I honestly believed the whole game took place in that single location. I had no idea there was such a thing as a world map with tons of locations as big, or bigger, than Midgar as my confusions about having 3 cds in a box were answered. Yet, travelling on foot was only the beginning. Airships, submarines, and chocobos oh my! Final Fantasty VII truly was a fantasy that kept on giving and giving with exploration, story, music, and depth for hours on end. Yup, I logged over a hundred guilt free hours of pure Sephiroth pwnage in a title that swept the bounds of gaming right out from beneath me.
So then, shall we venture forth to the moment of moments? A moment so profound it caused red rimmed eyes and pitiless sobbing from yours truly?! A moment so exquisite, so pure, and so very pinnacle it would forever remain etched in the eternities of the
hallowed halls of gaming as a moment for the ages? Years after the days of the original Playstation's glory had been sapped and surpassed, with another gap in consoles and on a platform that downright lacked RPG's, there came a godsend: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic on the original Xbox. With Bioware at the helm, KOTOR blended action with story flawlessly, introduced the gaming world to the "Old Republic" era of the Star Wars universe all while creating a standalone masterpiece in the process. The dialogue options were witty and unique while generating rational responses that made each choice of the vernacular personal and oddly gratifying. Yet the story remained fluid and viable regardless of the decisions I made and I'd often find myself letting loose a shrill laugh that would have made good old Palpatine proud. Oh, but the moment itself? It came through a culmination of choices made manifest amidst the hum and sizzle of lightsabers clashing on the grandest stage amidst the stars. The ending of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was one that touched me beyond the physical senses and remains a standard in video game story telling unmatched. KOTOR was, and is, my favorite game ever because of it.
Yet games, like individuals, differ in flare and personality and all of us have those moments that define us. We've all had a moment that caught us and remain having those moments that keep us. Here's to games and game developers who strive to obtain those ever shifting and elusive moments of game play, plot, or creativity that transcend the vaulted ceilings of their predecessors rather than developing purely for profit. You are the heart and soul of those very moments we cherish.
Saigo out.
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