Analyzing why video games continue to be an appealing activity as I grow older.
Big days are ahead.
This is a big year for me. I turn the big three zero. I am starting to feel like I am getting up there now. Like this is supposed to be a big step in my life. Throughout the years I have changed in many ways. I used to watch wrestling; I don’t really anymore. I used to hate vegetables. Today, I love all sorts of salads and the like. It’s amazing how your world can evolve as you age. One thing that has not changed, however, is my undeniable love for video games.
Even before it was becoming socially acceptable for adults to play games, I had a feeling I was never going to grow out of it. With each year that went by and games got more complicated, I became even more entrenched. It all started on my 8th birthday, when my parents bought me a Nintendo Entertainment System. It came with a double cartridge; Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on the same unit. AND, it had a light gun. That was it my friends. From that point on I was going to be spending hours upon hours trying to get to the proverbial “end”.
Duck Hunt didn’t really connect with me that much. I mean, I loved the little dog that would grab all of the ducks for you. At that age though, my light gun skills were a bit questionable. So I naturally connected much more with the Super Mario game. Once I discovered the Video 99 around the corner from my house, cartridge rentals became the big craze. From there on I got to experience classics like the Megaman series, Blades of Steel, and Base Wars. It was all about experiencing something cool. I didn’t just get to play baseball. I got to do it as a robot. If I didn’t make it in time to the base, I wasn’t automatically ‘out’. I could battle my way to being safe by spamming my one wheeled robots main flip attack.
It was like playing with your imagination, only on the TV screen. That certainly makes sense for a youngster, but why did I choose to keep playing? I think the answer is really seen all over the articles I write now-a-days; some of the core reasons are ones that will never go away.
