Growing up I used video games to escape and from there on out it became an addiction.
Each video game for me has a meaning and story behind it.
I will start from the beginning and work my way up to seven years of age.
- 3 years old: I just started playing video games thanks to a friend of my moms. He sat me down in front of the TV and the first game I played was Super Mario Bros for the SNES. I spent countless hours upon hours just playing and tearing my way through the game. I even remember getting so far that he asked me to get him through a part of the game. It was a game I could just lose all reality and be sucked in by.
Another one of my favorites from three years of age is: LOZ: A Link To The Past. I remember spending a lot of my time on this game after I almost pretty much beat Super Mario World. This one for me, was a little more tricky at times. But, I was a persistent little shit. Unfortunately, I never got to finish this game and to this day am looking forward to it.
- 4 years old: When I was four, my dad started taking over in the gaming department. His choice was definitely different than my moms friend. My dad did a lot of PC gaming and considering the time, it should come to no ones surprise when I say Quake III Arena was the shit. Some might think putting a child on such a "violent" game is ridiculous but it helped with a lot of things I needed to deal with and was another way for me to escape. I could spend hours just shooting and would get better and better and sometimes would even demand the computer from my family just to escape and do my thing. I was dead set on finding any hiding areas, trying all the weapons, getting quad every freaking time it popped up, and figuratively speaking, putting it in peoples butts. All while working my way up to NIGHTMARE.
Another favorite from four years is: Unreal Tournament. Yet another game my father had and I loved to bits. I loved the voice overs, the animals, the strange 90s pixelated gore, the adventure it took you on. I am not gonna lie, there were somethings and creatures that would spook the SHIT out of me as a child. Especially because I would often times play in the dark when I was advised otherwise. But the mystery is really what drew me into that game. I have only finished it once, I believe when I was five years old. I still played off and on after that, as it was just this magical thing to me at the time.
For awhile afterwards, I continued to play my dad and uncle's video games. There were a few I favored, but unfortunately cannot remember the name to. But, definitely plan on discussing it with my father. So on that note, skipping ahead.
- 7 years old: At the age of seven, I finally got a console. The PS2 came out three years before and both dad and I were itching to play. It is so hard to give a list of all the video games I loved and favored at seven years old because we were constantly at Block Buster. I would rent game after game, as long as I shared, however. My first game on that console was Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness. MAN OH MAN, this game was the biggest pain in my ass and I stand by this to this day. At least until I get another shot at playing it. I loved/love Lara Croft so much because she was always the bad ass I wanted to be. So no surprise when I freaked the freak out upon receiving the game. Unfortunately, however, I never got passed the first little bit. You know, where Lara is trying to escape that one place in the beginning after being chased by dogs? Yeah, as pathetic as is sounds, I just never got the shimming and jumping down. I actually remember at one point in time, I had to have my dad and uncle attempt to help me get passed that part. Safe to say, it was stressful on all of us. But, still a favorite because it was a) my first ps2 game and b) one of the first games to REALLY, REALLY challenge me.
Now for the super embarrassing game. Scooby Doo: Night of 100 Frights was the next game I got. It combined my love for Scooby Doo, video games, and Don Knotts. I should just come out and say it, every time I rented or bought a new game, I played it like crazy. Day in and day out, just focused on one thing and one thing only and that would be that game at the time. This game was NO exception. For awhile it was pretty good, then right around the middle ish/end, when you have most of the professors inventions, that's when it started getting difficult for me. I needed to collect all the Scooby snacks and monster tokens. As if I didn't try to as is, there turned out to be places I never thought to look and in the end, the reason this is a favorite is because it made me think. It made me really good at searching for things and is probably why, to this day, I can't just stop searching when I lose something. It's like a super difficult monster token, haha.
I should also mention I was a child that loved sports. Well, mostly hockey and golf. Which is also why my dad bought Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004.THIS WAS THE SHIT. I was a strange child who had a character who looked like me and a character who looked like Jessica Rabbit, if you know what I mean. But, aside from the awesome customization at the time, I loved the challenges. My dad and I would go head to head ALL THE TIME. It was definitely a fun party game and even just a fun game to play alone. I was dead set on being the best I could be but that's pretty hard when your father is just as competitive as you and you both try your asses off. This game showed me, it's probably not best to throw controllers and trash talk family... Even though I did it constantly. It also taught me you win some, you lose some. Even though my family is a bunch of poo-heads, hah.
Well, that's my list all the way up until I was seven. I would've went to a higher age but I figured the list would be too long. But, anyway, have any of y'all played these games? If so, did you like them or were they "meh"? Thank you all for reading <3
Love,
Frags
