As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
We're funding a new Acquisitions Incorporated series on Kickstarter right now! Check it out at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pennyarcade/acquisitions-incorporated-the-series-2
[Nostalgia], Childhood and the Power of Gaming
21stCentury
Call me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered User regular
Call me Pixel, or Pix for short![They/Them]Registered User regular
Video Games, we play them, and we likely have played them for years now. if you're like me, you've been playing video games for a while now, likely since childhood. it's obvious, you're posting on a board called "Games and Technology", after all. But what is it that makes gaming so compelling for so many of us? Why does Video Gaming bring people together, knowing it's mostly something people can do by themselves? It is 2015. Video gaming as we know it, the first generation, was arguably started with pong machines in late 1972. That is about 42 years ago. And things have changed in 42 years, things have changed a lot.
I am turning 26 in 3 weeks. Coincidentally, that will mark the 20th anniversary of my game collection. About 20 years ago, i was given the gift of my very own Super Nintendo Entertainment System bundle, along with two games: Donkey Kong Country and Mario Paint. i had played video games before that point, of course. I had played them at friends, I had played them even at home, as we had advanced Cable TV terminals with games back then. But Donkey Kong Country and Mario Paint were mine, they were the first video games i owned. They were my entry point into the hobby.
Since then, i acquired more and more games. As of June 27th 2015, i own 925 games on various platforms. i own physical games and digital games. i own retro games and recent games. i own large, triple-A titles and indie games. i own games in every conceivable genre. Gaming is still very much a big part of my life. Obviously, when something is a hobby for 20 years, it becomes more than just a way to pass the time. It takes a different color.
This thread is all about nostalgia and video gaming memories. This thread is for posting stories from your childhood, teenage, adulthood. This is about good memories and bad. This is about how you discovered gaming and how you're making others discover it. This is about you beating Contra on the NES for the first time and playing Wii Sports and discovering the power of gaming.
I'll start with a short story about a game that really affected me as a child...
it's a game most of you probably know and have played. a game made by a dream team on a scale that was unheard of at the time.
A game called Chrono Trigger.
Chrono Trigger was not my first video game, by the time i played it, I was acquainted with the medium. Chrono Trigger was not my first RPG, either. Nor was it the first game i beat or a milestone in my gaming career. No, Chrono Trigger is important to me because it's the game that truly showed me the power of gaming. At the time, when I first played it, i did not speak nor read English fluently. I was not particularly good at video games. I would rent a video game every friday for the week-end. it was cheaper than buying them, it allowed me a nice selection from the corner video store and it allowed me to play a lot of different games, games i'll talk about in this thread later. Before I start delving deeper, i would like you to watch the intro video to Chrono Trigger, a cutscene that could be called an "attract mode" at the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqTZfknDVesThat cutscene blew my mind. I was about 7 or 8 by then, but it showed me so much. It was the thing that really introduced me to the Power of Gaming. It filled me with such a sense of adventure, because it showed me what i would be doing by playing this game. Visiting exotic locales, fighting monsters using special techniques, saving the world... but it was so gorgeously presented that it actually made me realize that gaming was not just a waste of time. it taught me that gaming can make you feel things. Like a tremendous sense of adventure and awe.
it took me many, many years before I finally managed to beat the game, by the time where i finalyl beat it, i was more fluent in the English language, enough to understand the story. Beating Chrono Trigger was quite a milestone for me. it was not the first RPG i beat (That's a story for another day), but it was the first RPG i beat fully understanding the story. Enough to explain it to someone.
Everything about Chrono Trigger evokes a tremendous feeling of nostalgia to me today. I use the main theme as my ringtone and i bought the soundtrack album off iTunes and listen to it almost weekly. if you ask me what I picture myself doing if you say the words "Video Games", it's still playing Chrono Trigger. That's the impact this game had on me. Even today, while it may not be my number one game of all time, it still is such a tremendously important game to me that i credit my lifelong obsession with gaming with it.
Even today, I made a pixel art piece inspired by the game that i'm particularly proud of.
it's interesting how many games have personal stories attached to them and i would like to hear yours. I'm sure I'm not the only one who believes in Nostalgia, Childhood and the Power of Gaming.
+2
Posts
YouTube playlist, "25 Games for my Son". It's an ongoing series where a dude talks about events in his life and the games he played during them in the form of video letters to his infant son.
Scroll down to issue #110 to read the old preview. The second half is posted before the first half.
http://readingegm.tumblr.com/tagged/metal-gear-solid