My Gaming History: Dan

I feel privileged when I think about my gaming history. Whilst I wasn’t there to see the start of it all, I’ve been about for some truly landmark times.  The Nintendo vs. SEGA wars; the rise and fall (then subsequent rise) of Nintendo; the death of SEGA consoles; the emergence of Sony and Microsoft as gaming giants, and the birth of motion gaming – it’s been amazing.

I started gaming at a fairly young age, and I’m pretty sure it was on my cousin’s Spectrum.  My first memory is playing a game that I think was Spyhunter, as well as a Thundercats title where you could move left, right, or swing a sword; that was witchcraft.

The NES is where everything changed for me though, and I never looked back.  My cousin (again) was given one as a gift so I spent as much time there as possible playing classics such as Duck Hunt, the various Mario games, Double Dragon, and Bayou Billy.  Looking back it was actually quite a unique bonding experience for my cousin and I, as we hand endless discussions on the walk to school with regards to tactics for getting past particularly tricky sections on games (do we use the ‘P’ power up now, or save it for the boss battle?).

Then, one Christmas morning, like a scene from a Disney movie I unwrapped my very own NES – a gift I’m sure my parents have regretted ever since.  I was a huge Nintendo fan back then, which is why I’m willing to cut them so much slack nowadays, and will always be one of the first to look for positives.  When they are on the ball the games they produce have no equal as far as I’m concerned.  My biggest gaming ‘damn!’ came from the purchase of SEGA’s ‘MultiMega’, essentially a Mega Drive and a Mega CD bolted into a frame the size of a personal Discman (remember them?).  I’ll be blunt, it was a £300+ epic fail and my dad ended up selling it for £15.  The price they are being bought for today?  £200 – £500.  God Damn…

It’s become a bit of a running joke within my family that I simply have to buy any new console that is released into the wild.  I wouldn’t say it’s an addiction (as Panorama would burn me), it’s more down to the fact that I have to experience it all; the idea that I miss out on an amazing game is simply unfathomable to me.  As of this moment, scattered around various places, I have a Commodore 64, a Wii, DS, DS Lite, DSi,, Gamecube, Game Boy Player, N64, SNES, Pocket Famicom, PS1, PS2, PS3, PSP 3000, PSPgo, Xbox, Xbox 360, Mega Drive, Mega Drive II, Master System, Game Gear, Saturn (with import key), Dreamcast, N-Gage (shame), iPod, iPad, and a NeoGeo Pocket Colour.

I refuse to sell them, as it would be like selling part of myself; to paraphrase a certain VP of awesome – I love gaming!  I love how it started, I love how it has evolved, and I can’t wait to see where it’s heading.  My next gaming target is the Nintendo 3DS; by hook or by crook I will get one.  She will be called Linda.