Inspired by LuckyWanderDude I decided to write a blog about the different times in my gaming past. Not going to overdo anything, just broad strokes.
Epoch 1 - Too damn poor (1984-1989)
Ever since my parents first held me up to an arcade machine around 1984 I've been hopelessly addicted to videogames. The glow of the phosphors and little beeps and blops quickly annihilated any common sense I had and replaced it with an empty shell for companies to fill with videogame related advertising. I don't remember playing my first game, but I remember later years, when I was 8 or 9, being too poor to own a NES, and rarely getting a chance to play any games in arcades. I would lurk behind other gamers playing games in arcades, just watching. Marble Madness and Rampage had a special place in my heart. I remember feeling really intimidated by games that looked challenging. I did have crappy handheld game devices (before Gameboy), and a TI994a (computer from the late 1970's). I programmed my first very basic text adventure by the age of 6.
Epoch 2 - Nintendo fanboy (1989-1994)
I finally got my NES in 1990. Boy was that great. Sadly SNES was already looming up around the corner, and I knew about it because I read Nintendo Power. Sega pissed me off so much with their advertising campaign. I HATED Sega. Those bastards. HATE HATE HA... *cough*... Anyways, Gameboy and NES were tons of fun. What more can you say? Enjoying 5+ years of backlogged NES games. Wishing beyond hope that I'd get a SNES for Christmas. I finally did in Christmas of 92 (that is, late 92, not to be confused with the Christmas that came BEFORE 1992). Probably my best singular game related memory, in addition to playing the SNES for several weeks afterward with friends. I actually got an Atari Lynx before a SNES, which was a great system too. However, as time passed I had the opportunity to get a Genesis and IBM PC, and the next era was about to begin.
Epoch 3 - Diversification (1994-1996)
With the new experiences of Doom, Tie Fighter, Wing Commander, Sonic 2 & 3, and building into stuff like Rise of the Triad, Descent, Contra Hard Corps, and many more games, I was feeling like I had missed out on a lot of awesome games on platforms that I hadn't owned. I got heavily into cheap shareware disks I bought at Wal Mart, computer shows, and other outlet stores. I got a lot of older PC games for very cheap, and I was absolutely obsessed with PC gaming. Got a Sound Blaster 16, got a Quad speed CD ROM drive, got a Pentium. I never had the best PC, and one of my special problems was I didn't have a good videocard for DOS. I learned a lot more computer technology, and learned to diagnose my own problems. I worked inside my PC as well, installing and changing components. I still enjoyed Nintendo games during this time as well.
The Playstation really changed things for me. For the first time I felt Nintendo was starting to lose touch with me. Amazing games like Toshinden, WipEout, and Resident Evil even made me give up PC gaming for a while. For a short while I was actually a Playstation fanboy, before my Playstation developed the skipping audio/FMV problem. Soon though, I would get on the net, and my gaming maturity would develop further.
Epoch 4 - The net (1996-1999)
Finally the ability to discuss games with people beyond my local friends. Finally getting the latest gaming news more or less as it happened, instead of getting months late news in gaming magazines. Finally playing videogames competatively against people who wouldn't cry or give up. During this period I also got a N64 and Sega Saturn. I had all the gaming platforms. As soon as I got my first 3dfx card I was more or less a PC gamer. Playing Quakeworld on the net was amazing. I had a bad internet connection, even for the time. I never even got a 28.8k connection with a 56k modem. I NEVER had a ping below 300MS, and often times excessive packet loss completely ruined all online gaming experiences. Everquest was managable and tons of fun (actually had an opportunity to try the beta, but I turned it down). I upgraded my PC regularly, and only really played console games for hits like Metal Gear Solid, Pokemon (on Gameboy Color), and Zelda 64. The innovation of the net didn't take long to wear off, but it changed gaming forever.
Epoch 5 - A failure to conserve (1997-2005)
One major development dominated the following years of gaming for me. Trade-ins. Pathological trade-ins. Psychotically insane waste of money trade-ins. Sure I got some good deals over the years, but I made ridiculous dumb-headded mistakes as well. Getting a Gamecube at launch and trading it in for an Xbox at the Xbox launch? Few have experienced madness like I have. Gaming overall continued more or less as it had. I imported a Dreamcast AND bought a US region Dreamcast. I got a Playstation 2 (5 times). The sickness was buying systems and games, then proceeding to trade ALL of them in for OTHER systems and games. At one point I had a Playstation 2, Gamecube, and Xbox, but I foolishly traded them all in for PC games. Then I traded the PC games in for just one of those systems.
I played a lot of games, had my only moments of wavering interest in games, but this era was mostly marked by how poorly I managed value. It lead me to swear to at least make more intelligent money decisions in the future.
Epoch 6 - Modern era (2005-now)
Only during the 5th era did my interest in games ever wane. Today I am as interested in games as I ever was. I own all the major platforms, but my PC is getting a bit old. There's nothing especially noteworthy about this time in my gaming life except a few years ago I became extremely fed up with PC gaming after a period of very buggy months. Noteworty is this is the only era where I've had the money to build any PC I could ever want, and the only era where I didn't. I've learned to spend my money more wisely, but I guess I'll see how wise I've become as the economy tightens further.
I feel like I may be enjoying games more than ever. I actually think the achievement system on Xbox 360 has taught me how to enjoy games more. I don't buy games for achievements, I don't chase them excessively. However, it has taught me the enjoyment of truly mastering games. The enjoyment of finding nearly every secret. In the past I felt like it was a waste of time, but now with select games I ENJOY fully exploiting the game for what it is. Additionally for the last 5 years I've had broadband internet, finally able to dump my 26400 baud connection (hopefully never to return). So I am finally able to fully enjoy online competative gaming. Consoles more and more deliver what I really enjoyed out of PC gaming, and are starting to deliver the ultimate combination I wished for in earlier years.
Anyways, I wrote a whole lot more than I originally intended, but I enjoy writing, so whatever. I hope someone finds something they can relate to or enjoy in my story. Blog out.
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