Video games. It's in our blood. Our generation grew up on this and future generations will surely as well. We played it then and we still play it now. If you were a kid in the late 80's or later then you grew up with video games. How did it all start for me?
When I was very young in the early 90's my parents didn't want me to get into video games because they thought that they would keep me inside the house too often and not go outside and play, "do kid stuff" like "normal kids." Apparently they didn't realise that video games was becoming the normality of kids!!! In 1996, Sony (a new company to the console scene) and Nintendo released the first ever 3-D game systems, the Playstation and the Nintendo 64. These systems were revolutionary. Kids all over were getting these systems yet not Justin (my brother) and I. But our neighbor, Robbie, who was a spoiled little brat (yah, like we were much better!) got the Nintendo 64 almost as soon as it came out. I remember when we first came over and played it on his family's big screen. I fell in love as I'm sure Justin did too. All kids did.
For over a full year following, Justin and I would obsess with going over to Robbie's to play his 64. In fact, it got so bad we would bank on him being home just to play that thing and eventually his parent's noticed and started to make us play outside and set time away from the system. It was already too late. We were hooked.
Later on during Christmas of 1997, it was to be our first Christmas without my grandma (dad's mom) for she died earlier that year. It was going to be different without her there, maybe a little wierd seeing grandpa all alone. Nope. It was the most legendary Christmas I ever had. Justin and I recieved a very special gift from our Grandpa that year... a Nintendo 64 of our own. Sweet!
So there we had it. Our first game system which brought countless hours of joy. Then my parents decided to actually go ahead and buy a family computer (we had one before but it was some piece of junk from the 80's... a true dinosaur.) and with the computer came the discovery of computer games (among other things as well ;P) Now I had it. The joy of console games and PC games. I remember plenty of Saturday mornings, waking up early not to watch cartoons but to play either the 64 or the computer. So how my childhood went.
In 2002, after the failure of Sega's Dreamcast thus ending their console making career, Nintendo and Sony decided to release their next generation systems, the Gamecube and the Playstation 2. Another contender entered in the mix. Microsoft brought it's X-Box. Along with it, the most legendary game of my life, Halo. Kids all over my school were getting these systems left and right, but not me. My parents didn't think it was right to get a new system if our old 64 still worked. At least at first. The three big name game consoles battled though it seemed X-Box and Playstation 2 were snuffing out Gamecube. Our cousin's Steve and Brian were really getting into Halo and X-Box. It looked amazing. Then as I graduated middle school in 2003, for a graduation present my parents gave in and bought Justin and I an X-Box! Even better yet, we soon went out and got Halo and gaming was forever changed. The console and PC gaming still continued.
With Halo brought the introduction the the famous Halo-Fests. This is where Steve would have us come over to his house, along with my other cousins and some friends and we would hook up X-Box's and play Halo all night (well at least aas long as we could.) It was awesome.
In 2005, my parents decided that my dad made enough money to buy a brand new house. We moved in and it sure was exciting. We not only had a brand new house but brand new everything including furniture! Justin and I finally got our own rooms and with that came our own TVs (fully hooked up satellite), our own computers (with internet) and Justin even got a new X-Box so we would both have our own! Gaming had hit it's finest pinnacle in my life. Around this time X-Box Live was born and though we already were used to playing with other players via internet on our computers, we could finally play via internet on our consoles! I didn't really care for it, I fell more into computer games around this time. Justin fell more into console gaming and loved it. That's how it went even though we both ultiamately played both.
In 2007, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo decided to go at it again and release their new systems which us gamers use today. The X-Box 360, followed by the mighty Playstation 3 and the highly anticipated Nintendo Wii. The 360 bolstered the greatest selection of games while the PS3 added a lot making it more of an all around entertainment system (which the 360 has recently also followed that path) while the Wii not able to contend graphically or entertainment-wise with those two bad boys decided to go a different route and use motion-control gaming thus appealing to all, not just the gaming hardcore.
Unfortunately for me, 2007 was a very bad year and everything went down hill in my personal life. I broke up with my first serious girlfriend of 2 years, my parents split up, we lost the house and I had to live with my mom which wasn't working out so well so I moved in with my friend and slept on the floor. On top of that I also dropped out of college because I had to work more. Getting a new game system was the last thing on my mind.
At least until Halo 3 came out. Now I never was one to miss out on Halo. Since the first one, I pre-ordered Halo 2 and remember staying up all night playing it when it first came out. Now with Halo 3 there was no way I was going to let it slip by. I recently discovered my grandma had left me some money (which I should have used for a car) and bought an X-Box 360 just for Halo 3. I also got a 32" HDTV to go along with it. It was awesome again. My buddy and I would play 360 all the time and have friends over and play it as well. Everyone loved Rock Band.
During this time I stopped PC gaming because my computer was starting to be out of date for the recent games so I just stuck with console gaming for a while.
The short lived joy didn't last and life continued to rear it's ugly head my way. Drama started with some friends and I soon found myself making only enough money to barely get me by. I wasn't even going to school! This was ridiculous. So I joined the Navy. I decided it was time to make a drastic change because the pickle I was in was consuming me. Gaming started to go on the backburner again in my life. I had to sell my TV for some rent money one time and I let my friend borrow my 360 which he broke. Gone, it was all gone. It was ok, I planned on starting fresh in December of last year (2008.)
And I did.
After boot camp I went to my rate training known as "A" school. I now had more money than I had ever in my life. I remember all through boot camp I kept telling myself I needed a laptop. So my first big purchase out once I hit "A" school was a new gaming/entertainment laptop. So I fell back in to the PC gaming scene casually. I even started playing WoW. I wasn't too interested in getting a new 360, it was still depressing that my old one died.
Now here at my first duty station, months later, I still play my PC here and there (mostly just for MMOs and RTS'.) I finally bought a new X-Box 360 Elite along with an upgraded TV to what I had before, a 37" LCD, 1080P instead of my old 720P :). I did this because Halo 3: ODST is out along with other games I'm excited for (Left for Dead 2, Forza 3, Assassin's Creed 2...)
So there it is. My gaming biography. The constant rise and fall of a hobby that honestly is in my blood for life. Sure, I'm not the most "hardcore" gamer out there but I still find myself investing in it time and time again. We all do. I'm sure video games have changed entertainment for the masses forever.
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