Video Game Sandwich

Unfortunately my life isn’t a game. I’m not awarded achievement points for washing dishes, or cleaning the toilet. I can’t plummet from several stories and regenerate, as fresh as a daisy, outside the nearest hospital. And dammit, if you leave me idle for longer than 5 seconds I wont tap my wrist and shrug. The sooner I learnt to appreciate my unmistakable mortality the better, as I would get nowhere strafing left and right through my local mall and making plasma gun sound effects whilst pointing at hapless strangers. That would ensure me nothing short of an asylum stint, and a very shady social presence thereafter. Well, while my life isn’t a game, gaming is a big part of my life. And here are two glorious moments from both past and future that have punctuated my existence and inspiration as a gamer…

Old School

Gaming started relatively early in life for me. When I was four years-old my brother, then around fifteen, had managed to get his greasy, pubescent mitts on a ZX Spectrum. He’d traded half a packet of cigarettes for this system, with a shoe-box full of games (ah, the wonders of befriending stupidly rich idiots). I was in awe of this spectacle. This thing called video gaming. I would sit for hours at a time playing Batman in glorious, ultra-low definition (there were probably all of about 3 colours on screen at the same time, which, upon afterthought, was probably groundbreaking for a system whose games came on cassette). It was marvelous, and from then on the virus had caught hold. It had stolen me like some sort of glorious bodysnatcher, only, instead of deducting my personality, it reinforced it ten-fold. What kinda kid would one be without an irreverently encyclopedic knowledge of Sonic the Hedgehog, or Kid Chameleon. What disaster of a human life would I have become if I could not recite every part of the soundtrack from Super Mario Bros. 2 in all its midi glory?

Gaming ran through me like blood, but it was one fateful winter season when it became more than entertainment. It became a device of communication; a legitimate, inspiring medium of story-telling. The game was Final Fantasy VII, a piece of work that, to this day, remains my most favourite game of all-time. Every function of this game changed my perspective on the medium it had touched down and blessed. But the defining moment of this experience, when I knew just how effective the experience was, is when Ariel dies at the hands of Sephiroth. That sequence left me genuinely emotional, as if I’d lost some sort of virtual sister. For days after I would gaze out of the window at school, reminiscing on the times me and that buxom videogame-hottie spent together; my friends, understandably, were confused by this. Thanks to the wonders of pre-teen repression you didn’t often encounter melancholy 11 year-olds, let alone ones mourning the loss of a nonexistent Japanese girl. Fortunately I was not committed, but the experience left a mark on me. It revealed the sheer weight of impact gaming CAN have, and from then on it became less a pass time, and more an overwhelming passion.

New School

The emphasis I placed on story in that last article ties the loose ends between my old and new school gaming landmarks, for it is another plot device in this next-gen arena that left me in awe. Between Ariel’s departure from my virtual life, and present day I had done a lot of growing. I’d navigated those troublesome teen years with plenty of help from Sony and Nintendo, and while it’s easy to say I’m now a maladjusted head case with little or no perspective on life and responsibility, I’d much prefer to call myself… unique! Yes indeed, that’s a much nicer word than those other ones! Several consoles, and several years later I find myself with an XBOX 360 and very much loving it. I’ve played some fabulous games on this loud chunk of fun, many of which have sent me on a roller coaster of impressed noises; excessive oohhh’s and aaahhh’s were gasped indeed. But the one game that really tipped the balance and sent me back to that “Ariel’s dead?!” place I’d lived inside my head nine years prior is Bioshock. If you’ve played the game for long enough you KNOW the twist, but if you haven’t then to write it here would be doing you a great disservice. You shouldn’t even feel compelled to look for spoilers, because if you have any self-respect as a gamer you’ll want to experience this twist yourself. All I can say is that while the story of Bioshock, on a whole, far surpasses most tales you’ll find in modern cinema, its twist defines its creation. And in my eyes Bioshock is, narratively, the Citizen Kane of the gaming era; pushing so much, and asking so much of its player that you don’t control the experience, rather it controls you.

I Didn’t Go to School!

If you’ve been attentive enough up to this point you’ll know that that was some what of a little white lie, and I should feel awful bad for having said it. I just liked the way the subject sounded with it on the end, though! Damn these jigsaw-like sentence in all their splendor!(For reference it’s also a line from Jr. High Love on the Desert Sessions 3 album, the song of which rocks considerable posterior.)

Other Blog Banter brain spasms:
Boffman22’s Memorable Gaming Moments (Boom Stick Brigade)

I love you Intellivision! (Boom Stick Brigade)

Just how much fun LAN can be! (Cat’s Blog)

Memoirs of a Young Gamer (Gaming with Baby)

To Memory Lane and Back (Play Your Station)

Hit the Reset Button (Thoughts and Rants)

Memorable Gaming Moments (Zath Games Tech)

Becoming an Ace and Dealing With Minsc (Delayed Responsibility)

Old School, Middle School, New School (lukeshep.com)

My Favorite Gaming Memories (8 Bit Brigade)

Old School, New School… I Didn’t Go To School! (Video Game Sandwich)

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