Aug
28
Well, before I get into the details of why I chose this class, it is important to understand how I became what I consider myself to be: an avid gamer. As cliché as it may sound, I’ve been playing games ever since I was old enough to hold a controller in my hands. Although I wasn’t lucky enough to have grown up with the “first generation” of gamers in the Pong or Atari era, and thus wasn’t able to embrace the beginnings of what would quickly become one of the most revolutionary and influential industries of all time, I still consider myself fortunate for having the pleasure of playing videogames when the industry as a whole was booming.
I was born three years after Nintendo saved the gaming industry in 1985 with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment console after lackluster movie to game adaptations (Looking at you E.T.) on the Atari 2600 left a bad taste in the public’s mouth and resulted in what videogame historian Steven L. Kent describes as “The Crash of the Gaming Industry.” Having been born in 1989, and turning four years old by 1993, I was alive during what I personally believe was the golden age of gaming. My first system was a Sega Genesis which introduced me to the dynamic world of gaming. As my username indicates, one of my favorite gaming mascots of all time is Sonic the Hedgehog who was as inspirational to me as Pac-Man was to gamers in the 1980s. This introduction to video games got me excited and interested in all aspects of video gaming on every level. At a young age, I dedicated much of my time on sites that focused on gaming and tried to read and soak up as much information from the nation’s best critics (improving my writing skills along the way…no thanks to school. Just kidding…to an extent). I naturally wanted all the latest and greatest consoles as they became available: Super Nintendo, Playstation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Xbox, etc. Perhaps, if I didn’t spend all my inheritance on those systems and their games, I’d actually have enough money to be a residential student as opposed to a commuter. But even if I did have enough money to live on campus, would I leave all my beautiful videogame consoles all by themselves without a player to attend to their every need? I don’t think so.
Now, the answer to the question in my title is plain and simple: my strong penchant for playing videogames has manifested into a desire to learn the culture, history, and in the future, development of Videogames as a career.
I love your blog. It is entertaining and has great factual information. As I said in class I had the original Atari and this was my peaking interesting in gaming. It made me excited to see that the brought back retro Atari last year and now I have one that my kids love to play. What comes around once always comes back again.