December 25th, 1989.  One chilly Christmas morning, who would have thought I would be waking up to a day that would change my world, for the rest of my life.  I placed my bare feet onto warm, carpeted bedroom floor of my families new apartment.  I was only five years old, and you've ever been a five year old, you should know how big of a deal Christmas morning is.  I crept down the hallway steps, and to my surprise, under the brightly lit Christmas tree, a brand new Nintendo Entertainment System.  I'm sure all of you reading this right now have experiences this magical moment.  It was as if time stood still, as I gazed at the neatly wrapped package, pretty and shiny, topped off with a big red bow.  As I quickly drifted back into reality, I darted toward the tree, at full sprint, and clung to that box as if my life depended on it.  Those were the days.

That was the day that my entire life changed, and I found myself in a whole new world.  A world of plumbers that saved the day, princess kidnapping apes, and warriors of might and magic.  My first Nintendo.  I remember it like it were yesterday.  There are very few moments in my life that can live up to the day I ripped open that box.  As pathetic as that may sound, it's very true!  I'd probably place it right up there with my first real kiss, and my ... many other firsts in my lifetime.  Those days, it was all we needed after a long day of reading and writing.

A few years later, we were introuduced to a new generation of video games.  Ah, the wonderful Super Nintendo -- but wait, what's this?  Sege Genesis, you say?  Well that sounds amazing!  It was a welcomed competition.  I, myself, had the Super Nintendo.  No reason, it was just what I was familiar with.  My friend Christopher down the street, he had his Sega.  There was never any problem.  We played all of our favorite games, we laugh, we had goodtimes.

I've rambled on enough here.  The point I'm trying to make here is, what happened to the gaming world?  Where did the fun go?  These days, youc an't enjoy a good game anymore, because everything has turned into a gigantic competition.  It's not even about the games anymore, it's about who can push the most units, and I am getting tired of it.  It's taking the fun right out of video games.  Back then, we didn't have to worry about who had which system.  The games were ported onto all the popular systems, and there were never any arguments.  Today, everything has become a war.  And what bothers me the most is, so many of these so called 'hardcore gamers', have actually chosen sides.  How ridiculous is that?

Am I the only person alive who just wants to sit back, and enjoy a good video game?  These days, I have to be a millionaire just to be able to play my favorite games.  And not only that, but I have to deal with lip from these, as the gaming community refers to them, fanboys, who don't know what they're are going on and on about half the time.  What has gaming turned into?

Will we ever see a return to the good old days, where it was just about having a good time, playing a good game, and escaping from reality for a couple hours out of the day?  Becasue right now, it's all not even worth it.  I applaud the handful of people and companies out there, that still believe in the spirit of gaming.  It's people like you, that keep this industry interesting. 

Just play the games, and shut up.  We've got a good thing going, here.  Atleast we did.  Don't ruin it any further.  Stand up, and let good gaming take over, again.