It was 2001. I was 6 years old, in first grade. I was happy. I owned a PlayStation, and I was cool. I played games like Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoots and the sequels, Spyro, and most of the other Sony staples. I was devastated when my older sister and her friends one day destroyed it in the summer of 2002. At that age, I didn't understand what a brand was, or the idea of brand loyalty. All I understood was what I liked, and what I liked was MediEvil and Twisted Metal. So when my mom asked me how I wanted to replace my good old PS1, the only thing I could think of was a PS2. So that's what happened. I got a new matte black chunky PlayStation 2. And for years, that's all I knew.
For the next four or so years, I consistently had my family members buy me new PS2 games. I had all the Spider-man titles, Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2, Dragon Ball Z fighters, and so many more. It was like heaven. Even though I was aware the original Xbox existed, I was happy as a clam to just have my PlayStation. I was for all intents and purposes, raised a Sony boy. (I had a gameboy that I played some Pokemon on, then quickly discarded, but nothing outside of that.) When all my friends were getting new Nintendo DSs, I was happily playing away on my PSP. Sony had been good to me, and I had been a loyal consumer.
Everything changed once I set my 13 year old sights on the Nintendo Wii. In 2007, I was Bar Mitvah'ed. I was gifted money, and the title of an adult in the Jewish Community. For the first time in my life, I had the choice of what I could spend my money on. I did have an internal struggle between the Xbox 360 and the Wii, but it seemed the unreachable Wii was what I wanted. It took me about 8 months to find a store that carried the Wii. During that time, the Wii grew and grew hype in my mind. It was a system that could do no wrong, and for the first few months it didn't. I was amazed. But the gimmick of the motion controls, and the overall lack of quality multi platform games, I lost interest.
From 2008 to 2010, I made do with what I had. That time was a constant fight for an Xbox 360. I had forgotten about Sony. Even though the PS3 offered a lovely collection of games, and I would have likely felt more at home with their newest system, I had broken away. My PSP was gathering dust, and the chug of my PS2's fan rarely was heard. Then, a golden day came. About 4 weeks before Hanukah 2009 started, I grated away my mom's last reservation about me getting the newest generation system. As a 15 going on 16 year old in the beginning of 2010, I debuted in the modern gaming world. I had an Xbox 360, and so did all of my friends. Times were good. I got to play all the amazing games I had only read about in magazines. Bioshock, Dead Space, The Orange Box, Assassin's Creed, and others. Title after title poured into my life, and I started to develop new feelings of loyalty to Microsoft.
There was a 2 year period where I thought Microsoft was the bomb. I defended every choice the company made, got excited for every Press Conference, and read up on all the latest news. I was a fanboy. During this time, I have some of my fondest memories of playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with my friends until 5 or 6 in the morning, and yelping every time I saw a Witch in Left 4 Dead 2. But then life got in the way of playing video games. Where Microsoft once stood in my heart, girls, friends, and thinking about my future took up residence.
I had lost my interest in the brand. I still loved my Xbox, but I just wasn't feeling the love for Microsoft anymore. Once I started college, my roommate introduced me to the wonders of Steam. I jumped on the Steam boat during 2012's winter sale and loaded up my digital library. I played this way for about 5 or 6 months. This puts me at May 2013. I'm home for the summer from college. I'm not at school where playing on Steam was my safe haven from the stresses of life, and I don't feel comfortable with my Xbox any longer. May and June were a dry spell of gaming. The only way I knew what was happening in the gaming world was my due to my subscription to GameInformer magazine. At the beginning of July, I made a realization. There was still a system I had yet to conquer.
The PlayStation 3 had never really crossed my mind until this time. I spent days researching the system exclusives, and the benefits the system has over the others. During this time, I realized something. I realized that I missed my old games. Even though they were gathering dust in my drawers, I never had the urge to pull them out. Not until I got my PS3. In my PS3 library are many HD Collections of my favorite nostalgic gaming series. I urge to play through them, reliving my fondest PS2 memories. I'm back on the Sony bench.
Looking back, I don't regret leaving Sony in the first place. I had amazing experiences with my other systems. Even now, I'll play some Brawl, or Alan Wake, or Counter Strike. I feel like the past several years have made me a much better rounded gamer. I've had the best of all the gaming worlds, from casual to hardcore, single player and multiplayer. Now that the new systems are coming out, I'm torn between the Xbox One, PS4, and even the low-selling Wii U. I'm sure in due time, all of these systems will pass through my hands, but it's still hard to decide which one to jump into first. But for now, I'm just happy being back with a company that continually captures the wonder of my childhood gaming experience. And for that, Sony I thank you.
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