35 Years of Gaming

The first time I remember picking up a gaming controller it seemed like such a foreign concept at the time. I was used to going outside and playing with friends and putting all our action figures together to have them fight wars, participate in heroic clashes against some of the most villainous characters, and that would create such epic battles only in my head. When I held that controller I did not have to imagine what the battle looked like because it was being transmitted to the television in front of me.

The game I can first recall playing was a game that had been released many years before this was written, November 29, 1972 to be exact; a game that was so simplistic in nature but could be played for hours with many different outcomes. Pong may have been the first game I remember playing but it was most certainly not the most intriguing of games, intrigue would come later on. Now I did not actually play these games until the age of 5, or thereabouts, and at the time there had already been a release of a much more powerful gaming console, the Atari 2600, a console that would bring home many of the favorite arcade games of the time such as Pac-Man, Pitfall, Centipede and Donkey Kong (the list could go on and on). The ability to play these arcade games in the comfort of my own home allowed me the chance to escape the mundane afternoon of being stuck inside on a snow day in Colorado, and having to ask my mom if I could have a friend over.

Over time this concept of playing games with friends became important to me as I grew up and moved to different locations across the country. Letting other kids know that I liked games was an easier way for me to make new friends when starting a new school. Throughout my school years there were many afternoons spent playing all the consoles that came out over the late eighties and into the late nineties. As I found friends to play games with my circle of friends would grow as I was introduced to more of their friends.

Fast forward a couple years and my wife and I bought our first computer together, and one of the first games we bought for the system was Emperor: Battle for Dune, a real time strategy game, much like other games in this genre you control an army that you build using resources that are gathered across a map. I loved this game and enjoyed it very much, until my wife beat the game. The real change came in 2003 when a guy I worked with introduced me to Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, a first person shooter, and I was introduced to my first clan and group of people that I hung around with on almost a daily basis. From there the games became more engaging and had a depth that I had never seen before.

The biggest jump in social gaming for me was playing World of Warcraft, shortly after its release; and while I had heard of MMO style games before, I would often give my brother a hard time for paying a monthly fee to play a game, but there I was paying for a game that gave me exploration, a sense of wonder, interaction with numerous people when played, and the ability to be sociable with my guild in game. There were many guilds over my time in World of Warcraft but more importantly there were many friends that I made along the way. Over a decade later I am happy to say that many of the chance meetings​ in that game led to what I call “forever friends” and for this I am grateful.

Being associated with the folks in Non-Toxic Gaming has allowed me to gain even more “forever friends” because of the ideals that we all share, the varied interests that overlap, everything from cosplay, anime, movies, music, and the many aspects of pop and video game culture.

Gaming to me is that social experience that I crave in life because I am that anxiety filled, nervous nelly that has trouble interacting with people. An idealized avatar allows me to interact with people while visiting alien and fantasy landscapes. These interactions  make me feel comfortable and at ease with those I am gaming with and I hope that we will one day meet in one of these worlds and that we can share a journey together.

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