gamesgamesgames part 1 (consoles)

The Consoles

I’d say I have a history of playing games…video games of course. I must have been around 7 or 10 years old. It all started (or at least this is the earliest I remember) with Mario Bros on NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). I was an expert, timing my jumps perfectly, throwing fireballs like no other. Then other games came along, Duck Hunt, Karate Kid, Ninja Turtles…many more for that first console. I wasn’t obsessed with always playing, and I don’t think I really argued my brother over who gets to play first. Maybe it was because I was so young, and playing outside fascinated me.

I would visit my cousin and watch him play his Sega Genesis thinking Sonic had the most amazing graphics. My other cousin played the computer game “Ultima Online”, I was uninterested due to the fact that it seemed very very complicated. And it was, only when comparing it to consoles at the time.

My first time experiencing a real multiplayer game was on the Nintendo 64. I remember only playing two games on that: Starfox 64, and Goldeneye. Even though we didn’t own one, we had family friends who would frequently visit, and they always brought the goods. That was the first time I remember feeling like I could play these games forever. It was a truly engaging experience, mostly because you get to play with 3 other people beside you. We had lots of good times with those games.

That was all in California, before moving to Vegas.

The next console that my brother and I conned our parents into getting us was the Playstation. It was revolutionary. It seemed so futuristic. The first system to sell over 100 million units. This console would be what really got me into games. The first one my brother and I played was Rampage. You select a monster and run around town destroying buildings and eating people out of the windows of their apartments. Silly yes, but fun nonetheless. I don’t remember playing many other games, until Christmas of 1998. I remember watching a commercial (http://bit.ly/aZ6KEB <— thats it right there haha) that got me excited. It’s the first video game commercial I can recall. I begged my parents for it, but they said no. It was rated M for Mature, and they weren’t sure if I was ready.

I remember being at my aunts house for Christmas in California, wearing an itchy sweater of course, wondering what my present would be. We waited till 12am, still no sign of the present. I wanted to be able to determine or at least guess its contents based on its size. When my parents revealed the small, square, double cd-sized box, I ripped it open, knowing exactly what it was. Seriously one of the best presents ever. Metal Gear Solid, white background with shiny red letters. I exploded with joy, but it soon faded when I realized I was in California, away from my trusty Playstation. Alas, I could not play it yet. I really, really, really couldn’t wait to go home.

I’ll try not to linger too much on this game, however let me just say that it remains as my favorite of all time. It had a very engaging storyline, not to mention it was so different. Every other game at the time was concerned with fighting your way through enemies to reach your goal, this one concentrated on using stealth, only fighting when necessary. One of the funniest moments in video game history (for me at least) was when I acquired a cardboard box in the game, you were able to hide underneath it and dash around the area to avoid enemies. Here’s a clip of the box in action: http://bit.ly/9V2HFn Truly awesome.

Later on the Playstation 2 came out (Still the best-selling console TO DATE). These suckers were hard to find. Yet somehow, my parents were able to get us one for Christmas, (when asking my mom how we got the PS1 and PS2, she said, in Spanish: “yes, we got you guys the newest one for each Christmas it came out. Yeah we made those mistakes.”) This was the console that I used the longest. Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 came out, Grand Theft Auto…etc. Many big games that I spent lots of time playing. I bought my first TV for the sole purpose of keeping this sucker in my room.

Then of course, The Playstation 3. I suppose it wasn’t too long ago that it came out. I didn’t care much for the Xbox, but this was total nerdgasm for me. I wanted one of these but just like its predecessor, it was impossible to find one. I, however, was lucky.

I was at Bestbuy with my very first and newly dubbed girlfriend. Needless to say I was still somewhat nervous just being around her. The PS3 had just come out, we wanted to just browse the store. We walked by the empty shelves that were for the PS3, I said, “jeez, if there was a PS3 sitting there I’d pee my pants. I’d tackle it and buy it.” I kid you not, a MINUTE later, I saw an employee emerge from a backdoor, and approach me with what I saw as the Holy Grail. Time slowed down, I had tunnel vision, total Wayne’s World ‘Dreamweaver” moment (http://bit.ly/cQj3YP). As she walked toward me, people stopped and looked at what she was carrying (I’m totally serious), oh yeah, they knew that she was carrying gold. I thought, ‘no fucking way, there has to be someone who pre-ordered it and is just now picking it up’. I’ll never forget what she said: “A customer just returned this PS3, do you want to buy it?”. The answer in my mind took less than a nano-second to process. People were looking at me, seemingly in disbelief of my glorious luck. I almost forgot I was holding hands with my first girlfriend. I couldn’t stop smiling for a very long time after that…and no I didn’t pee my pants, but I was close.

I still have that PS3 and I’ve only had to send it to Sony for repairs once (I had a heart attack when it froze). The thing about PS3s is that there are different models. The first models that came out (the kind I was lucky enough to get) were ‘backward-compatible’, meaning it was still able to play PS1 and PS2 games. Due to production costs later on, they removed the hardware component that allowed compatibility with previous console games. I got some nerd cred.

Later on I reluctantly bought an Xbox 360. I was a total Playstation fanboy (I still kind of am), however after some time I admitted that Xbox 360 was a better console for online gaming. There was a lot going on when these two consoles were battling it out, and they still are in ways. Which one has better graphics? Which one has better games? What format will win, Bluray or HDDVD (haha suckaaas, BLURAY) I think the real focus has been somewhat lost. It seems like creativity and innovation is harder to find in games nowadays. Now it’s all about FPS (first-person shooters) and war games. I must say that these are getting boring, and downloadable map-packs that they release after the game has already come out are ridiculous. Many people don’t realize this, but they don’t really release the full game when you buy it for $60. They release ‘downloadable content’ about a month or two after the game comes out. This includes more maps for you to run around and shoot people on, new outfits and gear, etc. It’s another way for them to screw people over, but at the same time it’s the players fault for giving in and buying overpriced content. It’s frustrating, but I’ve decided to refuse purchasing any of that content UNLESS it’s reasonably priced…anyway, I’ll get off my soapbox, that isn’t what this post is about.

part 2 will come tomorrow, it’ll be much shorter. I promise.

About Me
My blogs have no particular direction, unless you're using a graph. In which case you will notice it has a downward trend with no change in sight.

I love Arsenal FC, Metal Gear Solid, Harvest Moon, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and many other games and movies.

and my blackberry.