Monday, January 14, 2013

Allow me to introduce myself

Hello there, my name is James and I am a gamer.  I have been for most of my life in fact.  When I came into the world there was already a Nintendo Entertainment system in my house and that's where it all started for me.  I was very young when I first started playing video games.  Although NES games made up my first experiences in gaming the NES era didn't leave much of an impression on me.  Perhaps I was too young and hadn't reached that impressionable stage every child goes through.  Although with the games I had for NES it's no small wonder that it didn't leave an impression.  Sure, I had the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt/World Class Track Meet cartridge but anyone who owned a NES owned that.  I suppose I did have some good games including; Super Mario Bros. 3, Battle Toads, Double Dragon 2 & 3, Willow and Excitebike.  Perhaps my young mind couldn't handle their complexity or difficulty.  That said I also had several bad games including Back to the Future, Fester's Quest, Dance Aerobics, and The Mafat Conspiracy(I'd like to go into detail about this rare little gem later) which all left much to be desired.  Although the NES era didn't leave much of an impression on me it did make up my first experiences in gaming and left me with some nostalgic memories.  Unfortunately for me I pretty much missed out on the 16 bit era as I had no console other than a NES.  Everything changed for me when the Nintendo 64 came into the picture though.

The first time I saw an N64 was at a friend's house.  This was fairly recently after the launch though and not many games were out but I was very interested in getting my hands on one and the only game I knew at the time Super Mario 64.  For my next birthday I happily received both an N64 console and Super Mario 64.  I sunk my claws into Super Mario 64 and didn't let go.  You see my birthday is just at the beginning of the summer and all I can remember from that summer was playing Super Mario 64.  Looking back on it, it seems rather odd that I spent such a long time on that game considering it doesn't really warrant that kind of time.  Then again it was all I had and it was my first major experience with a game of that caliber.  I suppose there was a bit of a learning curve as well, I'm sure it must have taken me some time to master the controls and figure out where all the stars were.  Certain things that seem obvious now must have seemed quite enigmatic back then.  I was still a kid after all with so much to learn still.  Super Mario 64 did a lot for me as both a person and as a gamer.  It opened up a whole new world of possibilities and paved the way for the coming years of pure gaming bliss.

I did not start this blog to tell my life story as a gamer but I merely felt I should provide some insight into my origins as a gamer.  This period in my life helped to shape me into the person and gamer I am today.  I'm sure my own story is not unique.  There must be thousands out there who share an experience similar to my own.  We were truly blessed to grow up in such a time.  We were granted with the opportunity to experience such works of art at an age where our childlike sense of wonder and impressionability were at their peak.  It was truly a wonderful time for us all.

I decided to start this blog for my love of games.  Gaming is more than just a hobby for me, it's a passion.  Lately though I just don't feel satisfied just playing a game.  I want to write about the games that I'm playing and the games that I've already played.  I've been trying to think about games on an intellectual level and I feel I need some sort of outlet for my thoughts.  The internet is a place where we can open up a discussion and share our thoughts.  I'd like to start asking the important questions and answering them to the best of my ability.  I'd like to talk about what makes a game good and what makes a bad game.  Reasons why I enjoy a game or reasons why I dislike it.  What works?  What doesn't work?  Of course that's not all, I'd share any knowledge about a game I that I think is worth sharing.

I have so many things I wish to write about.  I'd like to take a little time to explain my initial plans for my writing.  I plan on using this blog as a personal one, likely most posts will be about games that I'm currently playing or my thoughts about upcoming games.  I also plan on making a separate blog for a game I've played a lot over the past year, Skyrim.  Any game or series of games I plan on making numerous posts about I will dedicate a separate blog to, while continuing to write this main blog.  Ideally I would like to end each post with a question for discussion by the readers, including this post of course.  I would like to end it with the following question.

What kind of gamer are you?  No, I don't mean hard-core or casual.  Those categories are to broad and non-specific for me.  Maybe you're an online gamer, someone who spends most of their time playing games online improving your skills by going up against other players.  Do you do it for the sport, for the fun or just for the satisfaction of putting some noobs in their place?  When you play a game do you play it for the sole enjoyment of it or is there something more driving you to play?  Do you stop playing if you're not enjoying it?  Maybe you press on for the promise of a challenge or maybe you keep playing in an attempt to preserve the experience the game is giving you.  Are you a social gamer or a lone gamer?  Do you enjoy playing with friends in the traditional multi-player sense or do you just feel that others hold you back?  Maybe you really enjoy playing games on nontraditional platforms like flash games, facebook games or phone app games.  Are you a fanboy who primarily sticks to one console or do you own them all?  Adventure?  RPG?  Strategy?  MMO?  Platform?  First-person shooter?  Racing?  Puzzle?  Sports?  Does the genre matter to you or not?  Are you a completionist?  Someone who refuses to put a game down until you've completed it 100%.  When you're done with a game do you hold onto it as a reminder of the good times you had playing it and so that you can relive the experience again someday?  Maybe you decide to sell it or trade it in even though you had such a good time with it so you can play new games and have new experiences.   There are so many different aspects of gaming and as gamers we are all just as varied.  We all have different preferences for games and we all have developed different habits.

Personally, I tend to play games by myself.  I do enjoy the occasional online session now and again but I try to avoid getting sucked into playing too many hours as I would rather put my time towards another game.  It's for this reason I generally avoid MMOs.  I don't want to get sucked into a long term engagement when I can spend the time playing more games or spending time playing games I enjoy.  I do enjoy playing mutli-player games a lot; it can completely change the experience when you're playing with friends.  I suppose that ever since I first got 120 stars in Super Mario 64 I've been a completionist.  Lately though I feel like my completionist nature has developed to an unhealthy level.  Sometimes I find that I will continue playing a game I don't enjoy just for the sake of getting 100% completion.  I'm trying to break away from this ideology of perfectionism and try to play a game for the sake of the enjoyment and challenge that it offers.  How would you describe yourself as a gamer?  Is it important to identify yourself as belonging to one group of gamers or another?

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