Play The Bill®: A History In Gaming

What do I do now, daddy?

It must have been around 1984 when my father brought home a Commodore 64 home from the local electronics store. Since I was only 4 years old at the time, I don't remember much of the unit, but I remember it being plugged into a 10 inch black and white television set. The only real game I remember playing was some sort of counting game that my father always had me play. And I also remember a game that was fairly similiar to Pitfall. And I definitely remember playing Donkey Kong. I preparation of writing this entry, I called my father to inquire of the whereabouts of the system. He told me that he gave it to my uncle in the late 80's.

This controller kinda looks like a phone.....

My parents divorced in the winter of 1985. The following year, my mother moved in with her new boyfriend. His boyfriend had two kids. And his kids had an Intellivision. After having already played on my father's Atari 2600 at his house (of which I very rarely played as he only had Pong and one other game for the system), I was very taken aback by the Intellivision's controller design. I remember having a great time playing Bowling, Frogger, and other games that we had on hand. But my favorite of all was Burgertime. I played that game for hours on end until the system eventually died in early 1990.

Warping to NES

It wasn't until 1988 that the Nintendo Entertainment System would be introduced into my household. My step-brother had recieved it as a gift from his grandparents for his 9th birthday. I remember being almost more excited than he was when he opened the huge box (or what seemed huge to a eight year old) that the system came in. The console came with two controllers and one cartridge; that cartridge being Super Mario Brothers/Duckhunt. Shortly after, my mother had discovered a store called Funcoland (which we now know as GameStop/EB Games) where we could buy used games for a much cheaper price. We saved all of our allowance money to buy games at that store. We must have had at least 35 in our collection. I got Mike Tyson's Punch Out! for Christmas that same year and I was hooked from the first opening bout with Glass Joe. My step-father was the person who introduced me to The Legend of Zelda that same year. But it wouldn't be until around 1993 that I would be a complete Zelda freak. My step-brother traded the Nintendo in 1992 for a skateboard, which prompted me to buy my own NES which is still with me, in perfect working order, to this day.

Nothing too super about the 90's

For some reason, and to this day I couldn't tell you why exactly, I decided to purchase a Sega Genesis in 1993. Since my parents didn't like to buy me anything having to do with video games, I had to purchase it with my own money. Being only 12 years old at the time, jobs were hard to come by. So I saved up every penny I had and bought a Sega Genesis which came with Sonic The Hedgehog 2. Along with the system, I bought X-Men, which was really a horrible game now that I think about it. I had some other titles by that Christmas, but around that time, I had already gotten fairly decent at guitar and video games just weren't my thing anymore. I had borrowed my friend's Super Nintendo just so I could play The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past in 1994. But after I returned the system, it would be some time before the world of video games and I could reunite. My mother sold the Sega Genesis at one of her garage sales about 2 years ago for $20.

A hero of time reintroduces me to my past

Late 1997 found me without a band, without a girlfriend, and really, really bored. After hanging out at a friend's house playing Super Mario 64 on his Nintendo 64, I decided that having a video game system may be just what I needed to pass the time. So I revisited the local Funcoland, the same one I went to as a child, to buy myself a reburbished N64 along with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. I played that game so much over the years that the game eventually stopped working. I only owned a handful of games for the system since it was only a passing hobby, really. But that same system is now sitting beside me in my office, working just fine with my second copy of OoT. In 1998, I graduated high school and found a new band, got a steady girlfriend, and once again put video games behind me.

2001 and Beyond: Where'd my money go?

In 2001, just before the terrorist attack in , I once again found myself without a band, single, and longing once more for digital entertainment in the form of video games. I purchased the following in this order:

Nintendo Gamecube

Bought this in 2001 solely to play The Legend Of Zelda: Windwaker. Also played a lot of Animal Crossing and some of the Resident Evil titles. Sold the unit last month shortly after I purchased the Xbox 360.

Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP

This was a complete impulse buy. I got bored one day in 2003 and decided to go to GameStop in search of a Gamecube game and saw one of these guys on display. After I learned that it could also play Gameboy and Gameboy Color titles, I knew I had to have it. There were, of course, Zelda games that I had no yet played that were released for Gameboy. I had a lot of fun with that little guy. I traded it in toward my original Xbox.

Xbox

The ads that Microsoft was running for Fable had me hooked. So I bought the system in early 2005. Along with Fable, I also played Star Wars Knights of the I & II. I traded in the Xbox along with the Gamecube last month.

Nintendo Dual Screen (DS) Lite

I picked up this little guy on launch day this year. I've bought a slew of games for it; DS and GBA games alike. Still keeps me entertained.

Xbox 360

Bought my X360 a bit over a year ago now. Still enjoying it, obviously.

You may notice that I make no mention here to the Sony Playstation. There is a good reason for that. It's simply that I never owned a Playstation. I didn't like anything the PS1 had to offer and honestly, I hated the controller and still do to this day. Before you shun me or tell me why it's such a great controller, let me ask you to just save your finger strengh. It's just not for me. And believe me, I tried to like it. I played The Godfather: The Game on my girlfriend's PS2, but that's it for me. I will avoid the PS2 at all costs.

(EDIT: Shortly after writing this, I fell into what you could call a "gaming drought" and purchased both Kingdom Hearts games. They have become two of my all time favorites. But I still hate the Playstation controller layout and feel. Sorry.)