I've been a die hard gamer since I could walk. I have fond childhood memories of dissociating in front of my PS1 and mindlessly shooting lasers at the aliens falling from the top of the screen.
My obession though began with a fateful trip to gamestop. Upon the counter was a purple handheld gaming device. I was not one to speak to strangers, but I had ran away from my mother to check out this store glowing in the shiny silver sheen of Y2K design. I anxiously asked the man behind the counter what this cool thing was with the "chess-like" game I just played as my mom pulls me out of the store.
He says "It's a Gameboy Advance!".
Gameboy...
Those words rang in my head like an iron church bell every minute of every day until the following Christmas. I combed every magazine at every store I could find for a taste of it. I would ask every person I knew what they knew about Gameboys. A game I could play anywhere. A literal dream come true, which today it still remains. I remember our family not being very well off, and the prices of videogames were still very expensive back then, especially for my family.
My mom came to ask me "Hey, so, mommy and daddy might not be able to get you any more presents if we get you this one. Are you sure that's what you want? It may be all we can get you this year." I gave the only answer a sensible child would give at the time.
There it was. It was mine, all mine. I had the included cartridge of Mario Kart Super Circuit, and I didnt need anything else. I hadn't been this excited since I sat on a train for the first time at Disney world and decimated both my mothers outfit and the train bench. As any child of parents knows, if a certain something is sure to make you happy, it will be the first thing to be taken away when in trouble. For a long time, my sole motivator for 'good' behavior was the ability to continue levelling pokemon, to keep trying for my best lap time, and to warp back onto the Biologic Space Laboratories (BSL) research station and stop the X parasite. Ever since then, it's been an uphill battle to pursue gaming, enjoy gaming, and learn what these experiences have to offer those of us who appreciate it as more than a piece of entertainment.
I've collected games ever since that first Christmas. I always found my way back, escaping into a world crafted just for me and others like me to enjoy. I owe my life to a lot of things, but firstly to the escape, the stories, and the worlds that exemplified the perseverance from the people that made them. Today I collect, play, review, and create the very thing that continually saved and saves my life.
I primary play games through Steam on PC. Check out my profile here to see what I've been playing!
I don't tend to respond to unknown accounts who make friend requests, but if you want to connect feel free to leave a profile comment or send a dm.
I get the Switch-itch when I see a new title come out I have interest in or when I hear the virtual console has more Nintendo sponsored ROMs on it. I'll post my friend code here in the future for any interested travellers.