Now that I have some time, and a bit of biased views off to the side (
) I think it's time for my story.
You'll be suprised to learn I started out as an avid Arcade goer and hardcore Apple 2c-er. My parents went to arcades during the whole nineties and they would take me with them, when I was a baby. I grew up in the arcade environment. When I was old enough to understand what was going on, maybe about 3, they were mean and held me up to the demos that were playing. I thought I was playing the game at that point. Lol. Eventually they payed for me and I played great games like Outrun and whatnot.
My dad made his own computers beforehand (got a degree in Comp Science in University). The Apple 2c wasn't really meant for gaming but they were a nice addon. I think maybe 1990 they went to a garage sale here in BC, (we had just moved from Ontario) and found a lot of games for it. My parents weened me on games like Lemonade Stand, a Donkey Kong port, and other stuff like that.
Well, pretty soon, I got to be pretty good. My parents and grandmother both chipped in and got us a Super Nintendo. I was thrilled. We got it for christmas, and I got Super Mario World, Super Tennis, and Super Mario Kart. I was treated very well on the Super Nintendo. I got Super Scope. I got Mario Paint. I got every hot game whenever it hit the shelf. It ended up being my system.
During that time, I also had access to a Turbo-Graphx 16. My uncle owned one, and I remember playing one of the funnest titles ever: Bonk. I also slightly remember a racing game of some sort but it's really fuzzy. NES was in the picture. My first glimpse of it was my best friend's (who introduced me to Chrono Trigger and stuff) who had Marble Madness and other games for it. I would go over to his house to play it sometimes. Eventually he sold it for a Super Nintendo. And finally.. Genesis. I remember when I first saw it, I thought it was pretty cool. I never really played it much, but cool things like the lighted Game Gear, and Genesis were really.. cool.
My second console was a second-hand 1989 game boy, and I got it about halfway through SNES's life. I got Super Mario Land, Castlevania, and othe great titles. Soon I discovered Pokemon, and well, you know the rest.
In the mid-ninties I was pretty closed-minded. I only had a super nintendo and that was good enough for me. If the playstation would have come out for it, I would have had it in a jiffy. But nope, they called it off. Anyways a good friend moved in next door, and he had tons of Sega stuff. I truly discovered what I missed in Sega then and there, and his older brother (he was 8, his bro was 23. yeah, age gap) owned a Virtual Boy. Then I discovered what bad was. Lol.
I discovered N64 with my other best friend who moved away from me when I was young. When I went to visit him, he had an N64. He also had every single Nintendo Power from '95 to the N64 launch, so I filled myself in. And oh my ****ing god, I was born the first time I played Goldeneye. Other games like Super Mario 64 were cool and we also payed Quest 64. It didn't hold our interest long because we wanted to play Goldeneye every breathable moment.
When I got back, some time passed, and my Sega friend got an N64 with goldeneye. Well, it happened again... I spent every day I could over at his house. From time to time we would play some other games, but Goldeneye.. heh. The bomb. Eventually my parents got me AND my brother one. Then I had to learn to share.
Well I played Zelda and stuff on it. The only Playstation I knew of was FF7 and Resident Evil. All I knew about them was that they stole Square and I wasn't too happy about that at all.
Somewhere in the lifespan of N64 I subscribed to Nintendo Power. I was never really hardcore into gaming at all at any point, but I started regarding it as more of a hobby when I played Goldeneye, and after Pokemon, when there was nothing to do, I learned how to be hardcore. So I expanded my knowledge and, through many trial and error, turned "hardcore" gaming. Pretty soon I learned my best friend (NES chrono trigger guy) buddy got Smash Bros, and it wasn't exactly a Goldeneye, but it was an experience of it's own. Unfortunately, after a while, he sold all of his stuff for a playstation and FF7. I was devastated. From then on I had only known Sega, Nintendo, and NEC. I remember seeing a couple ads for Sega Saturn and thinking my parents would never buy me one. I also looked at Dreamcast and went.. "sports only. Meh." Didn't even know of Sonic Adventure. Lol, showed you how open I was allowed to be.
And well, I think you know the Gamecube/Playstation2 ways.. well.. it's obvious... Bought GBA first. Held in with Majora's Mask during the PS2 launch. After the PS2 launch, I did something really naughty. I bought a Sega Game Gear for $5 at some secondhand shop, which totally went against my Nintendo ethics. Soon I bought a PSone for ff9 (my favourite non-nintendo game), and was so hyped my parents got me a PS2. Well, knock knock. Disappointment.
No Goldeneye, no final fantasy (yet), and no fun. I tried GT3 but I thought it was slow. I blamed games like Onimusha for making up the poor PS2 lineup. Unfortunately, and maybe luckily for me, the thing broke. We tried to phone Sony Reps but they praised nasty words into our ears. My parents almost filed a complaint to Sony. We had a broken $500 piece of plastic/metal, and it just sat there. Eventually I sacrificed it.. well.. threw it in the garbage.
Instead of replacing or repairing it, we saved money for Gamecube, which I thought we lead us to bliss. Now I've been buying titles, and about the summer of 2001 I got really bored. During the beginning I checked out Dreamcast for real cheap, and I discovered Shenmue. Once again, I was born. This time, I had been baptised a hardcore multi-platform gamer. Finally I had spread my wings to the fullest. I forced myself to find Shenmue 2, because I was really into it. Unfortunately it was really expensive. Luckily though I had some cash, and bought Xbox. I tried Halo, but it was no Goldeneye, unfortunately. Fun for a while. I never bought it, and still haven't.
So I've been playing games here and there for 2002/2003. Here I am. About to start Grade 12. This summer I'm going to give PS2 another chance and buy it. I guess I've missed a lot.
Anyways, that's my story. I left a lot out so I wouldn't bore you more than I already have.