How I Became a Gamer

Parsec (1982)

I've been playing PC games since my dad bought a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A computer back in the 80s. Granted those games were nothing like the PC games we have nowadays, nevertheless they were pretty decent at the time. I remember games like Alpine and Parsec, wow check out those graphics, amazing!

Alpiner (1982)

Lol, no really. That's all we had until my Dad got a Sega Master System then we had games like Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, California Games and one of my favorites Psycho Fox.

Phantasy Star (1987)

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986)

California Games (1987)

Psycho Fox (1989)

My brother and I have a lot of great memories playing those games. Some of them were even 2-player. None were cooperative though, that kind of play didn't come till a bit later. For Christmas one year in the early 90s my brother and I received a brand new Super Nintendo System with Super Mario World from our Uncle. Best gift ever! Super Mario World quickly became one of our favorite games, we both got many hours of play out of that game. Still to this day, I think fondly of Super Mario World. 

Super Mario World (1990)

The graphics still look pretty good. I guess I could always get an emulator and play it again. 

After our Super Nintendo we got into computer gaming. I remember going with my parents to a department store in a mall close to our home and buying an IBM. Our first "real" computer. Later on my Dad started building systems for us. All four of us ended up having one. The first real first-person shooter I played was Wolfenstein 3D. Wow I have to say those graphics are pretty horrible. After that I would watch my cousins play Quake when we visited them during the holidays. 

Wolfenstein 3d (1992) 

 Our first taste of great graphics came when my dad bought Myst from Compusa. We would sit next to him and watch him play what we thought at the time was the coolest game ever. Gadgets to click, puzzles to solve, beautiful landscapes to explore, what's not to like? 

Myst (1994)

Sure I had games like Carmen Sandiego and The Oregon Trail but those were child's play, literally. Games that really made us into gamers were ones like Fallout, Rainbow Six, Half-life, and Everquest.

Fallout (1997)

Rainbow Six (1997)

Half-Life (1998)

Everquest (1999)

That screenshot from Everquest is actually mine. For some reason I still have all my screenshots from EQ on my computer. That was my Barbarian Shaman named Bhreac Zudora. Aww, I have fond memories of fighting Hill Giants and ending up selecting myself instead of the giant and I rooted myself. I was so mad because I couldn't run away when I needed to. I remember all the corpse runs, that was fun. Because in that game if you died all your crap would be stuck on your corpse wherever you had died and you would have to run back from where you were bound and then you'd usually be naked trying to not get murdered by mobs on your way back to your corpse. Oh you'd also lose experience too every time you died, lame. But then again it was either Ultimate Online or Everquest and we chose Everquest. 

There's actually a butt load of more games in between everything that I listed that we played but they're way too numerous to list and it would take all day so I'm just going to highlight my favorites. 

With new graphic systems coming out on a regular basis, new genres were born which led to some great games. Fallout 2, Darkstone, The Longest Journey, System Shock 2, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Unreal Tournament, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Battlefield 1942 are just a few that come to mind. 

Fallout 2 (1998)

Darkstone (1999)

The Longest Journey (1999)

System Shock (1999)

Unreal Tournament (1999)

Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (2002)

Elder Scroll III: Morrowind (2002)

Battlefield 1942 (2002)

Wow, it looks like 1999 and 2002 were good years for computer games. In 2003 I met my future husband. We both worked in the same mall, I was downstairs he was upstairs at the same end. What hit it off was that we both had been playing Battlefield 1942 and we ended up talking about it. We started dating after that, we mostly played computer games together and watched movies. However nine and a half years later, after three kids, two cars and a mortgage, we're still playing games together. 

Since that time we've played all kinds of games, some were good, some were bad, some horrible. But I've had a great time playing each and every one and I'll still be playing them till I'm not able to. In my twenty-something years of gaming I don't regret the time spent playing all those games, I have a lot of awesome memories from them. Our oldest son who is four now has been playing pc games since he was three and he is pretty incredible. Our child prodigy. I know he has many years of great gaming ahead of him. 

Here's to the next generation of games and gamers, may your spawn times be short, your adds be few, your leveling be quick, your loot be plenty and may lag never get the best of your gaming experience.