Yes, that's right, i just realized that 2008 marks only my 3rd year as what most of us consider a "hardcore gamer". It marks about my 12th year as a gamer in general, as i was a casual gamer for all the years before 2005. It's time to reminisce into the past yet again, inspired by the blog of lightwarrior179 and my own second blog on Gamespot.
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1995-
Oh man this is what i call a blurr!! Playing my first video game ever at the age of 5 years old, what is the game? I think it's pretty obvious, Super Mario Bros. of course!!! I vaguely remember holding my cousins rectangular NES gamepad in my hands, intrigued my the game's simplistic addictiveness. At this point i still had no thoughts of owning my own game console, but it was very fun playing the game. From that point forward, i new who Mario was, and was introduced into this world of gaming, as a casual.
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1996-
So now my cousin's had moved on to the SNES. I remember playing games like Super Mario World, The Lion King, and i few others that i just cant remember. Now playing video games became a relugar thing to do at their house, along with playing with toys. Little did i know that that SNES would become mine in the future...
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1997-
Can you say N64? Wha? No way!? Yes! This is the system that i have the most memories of playing in the 90's although the SNES remained my favorite, and pretty much still is. My cousin's got the N64 and it was pure awesomeness for the next few years. I mean, LoZ:OoT, SM64, Goldeneye007, DK64, MarioKart64, i mean times were good back then!! I still played SNES at a friends house during these years as well which is when i experienced short bursts of games like Chrono Trigger, Street Fighter, Super Mario All Stars, Mortal Combat, and MarioKart. I also at some point played Gameboy for the first time, with non other than the famous Pokemon series of course. I also tried the PS1 for the first time at my neighbors house, and i was petrified to death by Resident Evil, need i say more? Yet, i was still a casual only playing games maybe once a week if i was lucky. Still no systems that i actually owned sadly.
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1999-
Lets skip 98 cuz everything stayed the same gaming-wise that year. So here we go, 1999, a HUGE turning point, though i still remained "casual". I moved that year, so as a goodbye gift, my cousins with the N64 gave me their SNES, which i was more than happy to receive. Finally, my own game console!! My most played games on it were Super Mario World, Street Fighter II, Donkey Kong Country, and Megaman X2. Good times indeed, until around the end of the year, my SNES broke, never to work ever again...Luckily for me my new neighbor had a SNES as well, and i still played some of my games over at his house, as well as sweet multiplayer action with MarioKart and Street Fighter. Although i did own a system that year, i still consider that i was casual at the time, since i had no power to actually buy games myself, and i was behind 2 whole generations.
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2000-
After the whole Y2K BS was over with, there were games. This time in an unexpected form, the PC. PC gaming was a strange thing with me, i had a relatively crappy PC, and i played random games (mostly those games that come in like packs of 10 games for like $20). So yea, not many memorable games but one--> Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 3!! This is one of my most beloved games because it is what i did almost everyday for 1 hour (i was only allowed 1 hour of playing time on school days) and man was it fun. There was still teh SNES at my neighbors house but i cant be there all day, so NFS was my savior from much boredom. Of course there were...umm...other not-so-legally acquired games through the PC if you catch my drift. But yea, good times.
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2002-
Well it's time to be introduced to the new generation!! I got to play the PS2 and GC both equally. PS2 at my friend's and GC at my cousin's. They were both tons of fun to play although i admit at the time GC was alot funner, especially multiplayer. I remember playing games like Tenchu, Soul Caliber 2, and NFS on PS2, and games like Super Smash, 007, and Metroid on GC. This is when i really started to become jealous of gamers with consoles, i was still playing on my PC but it really wasn't enough. I needed more!! Still casual though...
Everytime i saw a gamer with a current gen console i felt like i was looking at something like this.
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2003-
Somewhere in here there was the introduction to the Xbox and Dreamcast. I remember Shenmue on both the Xbox and Dreamcast, as well as Sonic. And of course, i remember the Halo craze, and seeing it for the first time at a friend's party. I really found it to be a weird game when i first saw it, and i didn't have fun with it. And so, i forever suck at Halo. That was the last i saw of the Dreamcast fro quite some time, and the Xbox continued to rear it's ugly shell. I mean, come on, the system was pretty ugly. Also game boy advance, almost forgot, i played that somewhere around here as well. Pretty slow year, still being a casual.
2004-
Yes, we have reached the final year as a casual gamer, it is almost over, or just beginning? I grew impatient, tired, and most importantly, bored as ****!! So around october, near my birthday, i convinced my mom to buy me a very influencial system, a PS1. To be honest i went to the game store looking for an N64, but as fate would have it, they were sold out, and there was one PS1 left. I remember my skool friends talking about some "Final Fantasy" game series and how it was the greatest thing ever conceived by man, and well, i was interested. So that day that i bought the PS1, i looked up at the games behind the glass counter, and looked hard for something with the name "Final" in it...and there it was, the most influential game of my life, Final Fantasy VII. The game seriously had some sort of crazy aura when i looked at it, it pretty much stood out from the rest of the games. So i told the cashier i wanted that game, and i also picked up Megaman X4 since i loved megaman games at that time. And so i went home proudly, finally bringing home my first brand new console. Being that it was a generation behind, and i bought no more games for the system, lets consider me casual still.
I seriously had no idea what i was getting into, i knew absolutely nothing about the game, not even that it was an RPG, which made the whole thing that much sweeter.
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2005-
WHOA!! I just finished having one of the most mind blowing experiences ever when i finished FFVII!! It was jaw dropping holy hell i couldn't contain myself! I really was going crazy, i even started wacthing channels like G4TV and going on the web to gain more and more knowledge about the gaming world. This is when i was actually interested in getting more games, because once i played FFVII, i wondered..."What if there are even better games?". And that led me to getting a GameCube at the beginning of the year, as it was the cheapest console around at $99. It came with MarioKart Double Dash and i bought Metroid Prime 2 not long after. Both of these games blew me away in the level of sheer fun, and i couldn't be happier. I played games like LoZWW, SSBM, RE4, the works!! The thing is, everywhere i looked, there were PS2 ads, all my friends had PS2, and everyone was always criticising the poor little Cube. But i couldn't give in, so i just continued playing my Cube. But then later on in my birthday that year, i got a PS2!! I was like WOAH!! 2 Current gen systems!!!! A was so very happy, and played games like MGS2, FFX, Socom, and more. Gaming finally became a real hobbie that year, finally i was keeping track of gaming news and buying my own games, finally, i was a "hardcore" gamer. This was year 1 of official gaming, there was alot of catching up to do.
Ok wait wait...NOT THAT HARDCORE!!! :P
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2006-
Oh say looky here, the year i joined GameSpot!! So why join GS you ask? Well, i used to site alot before, just for gaming updates and a few things here and there, like to look at the "top rated" list that GS has. (Thank God i dont use that list anymore today). But yea, i eventually gave in around December time, and made an account. I remember at first, it was so funny, i used to make the most inexperienced posts, and useless comments. But i was busy gaming that year, still catching up, and learning the ways of gaming. No new systems, just pure gaming at its finest. I admit i pretty much ignored the GC this year, it was a huge PS2 year for me, with so many games at cheap prices, i couldn't resist!! Oh and yea, i played the 360...at the same cousin's house that had the N64 and GC :P
Yea...i joined this place :|
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2007-
Year 3 of hardcore gaming begins!! And you guys were along for the ride. You guys know what games i played but quick re-cap. I got a PSP and DS this year, my first real portables (my bro had GBA before), ever increasing my hardcoreness :x. Played my 2nd favorite game of all time--> God of War II. I spent this year pondering about "next gen" more than anything, and you all know how that turned out. Probably my greatest year in gaming now that i think about it, even though thats only out of 3 years :P I wish there was more to say but you guys practically were there for the ride. Oh, right, my official return into PC gaming with my new PC!!!! Games include Battlefield 2 and CSS, and many more in the future!! :D
And so the evolution continues...GoW FTW!!
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2008-
So we are finally here, 2008. I went through so much in what seems like 3 short years. To have played through the GC, PS2, introduce myself to the PSP, DS, and PC again...it was alot to do. Always being dragged away from what was "current gen". But finally, i have a Wii, im happy with it, yes i do consider it in the same league with 360 and PS3 (in terms of generation). I just still cant believe its only been 3 years...only 3, that I've considered gaming a true part of my everyday life. It's pretty funny actually. Me talking to people, recommending games, writing 44 reviews, and with relatively so little experience compared to everyone else. It's been very fun to say the least, and i hope it continues for many years to come. The years already gotten to a great start, with mainly 3 great games--> MarioKart DS, Super Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime 3 (yes i was tough in my review but i still consider it a good game). My big Nintendo-concentrated year has begun, time to see where it goes.
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The Double Meaning-
And so, to those who actually stuck around to read all that, or those who skipped down here ( :evil: ) I have something to say. The double meaning of the name "finalfan". Many of you associate it with the final fantasy games. What many people dont realize is that i dont have much experience with the series, other than VII, X, X-2, and DoC. Sure, i get the name mainly from my favorite game ever, Final Fantasy VII, but, did anyone ever look deeper than that? Well let's just say that i pretty much consider myself the "final" "fan" of video games. It took me so long to finally get into them after so many years of being denied them from my parents, and the fact that i had no money of my own. So i am the final fanatic of video games, as well as a fan of final fantasy.
Double Meanings Rock 8)
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