Video Games

Growing up in the rural area of a small town during the AOL era, I didn’t have internet at my house. So I was raised up as a retro Nintendo girl for the most part. I got a Classic Nintendo for my birthday one year and it was amazing. I used to play Super Nintendo at my cousin’s house, and I remember wasting a whole summer playing GameCube at my grandma’s house with her after that. Around that time I also had a Nintendo 64, PlayStation 2, and after that came the Nintendo DS and the Wii, and later the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch.

My mom still had a Gameboy from the 80’s when I was growing up, so I wasted lots of time playing old school Tetris and Pokemon. Some old and treasured favorites of mine are Super Mario 3, Tetris, and some ambiguous surfing/skateboarding game that I wasn’t even good at and that got on Mom’s nerves that I just adored. My cousin and I loved Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, and The Jungle Book, and one of my fondest memories is no-lifing Animal Crossing on GameCube with her. Among other favorites were Sonic Heroes, Super Smash Bros, and Mario Kart: Double Dash, and in regards to the last two, I can say with confidence that those are still the best versions of those games. I also had a game called Namco Museum, which had an array of classic arcade games on it, including new versions of the games. I also forgot to mention that the only game I ever owned on Nintendo 64 was Super Mario 64, and in high school I ended up selling the console to a friend for $10.

I also got a Gameboy Color when I was young, and on any long car ride I would bring it along with Frogger, Croc 2, and Tom & Jerry. I even had that attachable magnifier/light so that I could play at night. I beat Frogger and even Tom & Jerry eventually, but I never saw the end of Croc 2. I just remember the funny sound the crocodile made when he fell. I also played Pokemon on there too. I only had the red version, until the day that I found a silver version on the ground outside at recess one day at school. Yes, I took it home. 

I only had two games on PlayStation 2: American Idol and Bass Fishing Pro. That was my favorite bass fishing game on the planet before someone borrowed it and scratched it up beyond playability. That was a really sad day for me. Luckily around this time I’d been introduced to Guitar Hero by my cousin and later another cousin’s boyfriend when he brought his Xbox over. That started a brand new obsession for me, and by the end of it I could play “I Love Rock n Roll” without even looking at the screen or the buttons. It was amazing. 

When I was in middle school, everyone I knew had a Nintendo DS. My childhood best friend and I lived so close that we could almost Pictochat back and forth from our houses, but not quite unfortunately. So we’d just Pictochat sitting right next to each other when we had sleepovers instead, and we would play Nintendogs like there was no tomorrow. I want to take this time to say R.I.P. to all the poor dogs that are filthy, famished and parched right now.

I also had Animal Crossing: Wild World, and of course I had Super Mario 3 on my DS, including a retro Atari game and also Super Monkey Ball and all that. Oh, and Guitar Hero, where I learned to play on expert for the first time since it required one less button to push. When I went back to the console version I strummed the guitar with my forearm as I pushed the fifth button with my index finger. It was a sight to behold before I learned how to move my left hand across the buttons the right way.

I would also have a DS Lite before I stopped playing the handheld. I played a lot of Brain Age on that one. There wasn’t a slot for the guitar extension for Guitar Hero though. Sigh. I also got the coolest Nintendo 2DS in college. I saved up my money from Home Depot for it, and it was red but it was clear so you could see the parts inside. Of course I played Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and I even got into Pokemon too.  

I also learned about the Xbox 360 from my childhood best friend. Her brother had one, and that’s when I discovered Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution. We would always take turns dancing and singing on those. This would inspire me to get Just Sing and Disney Dance Dance Revolution for my PS2 later one. If you need a pitchy performance of “This is Me” by Demi Lovato from Camp Rock, I got you. 

I got the Wii/Mario Kart bundle on my sixteenth birthday. Steering wheel and everything. But I still loved the GameCube Mario Kart the best. Even so, the Wii would awaken an era filled with all-nighters with my friends playing Super Mario Wii and the Just Dance games. I lost count after 1-3 I think. A light fixture got broken in my room as a result of the dancing games. But we always had a great time. I also discovered Rayman: Origins later on and I loved that so much. 

The Wii U didn’t last all that long, seeing as it felt the same as the Wii for me, but I did enjoy Super Mario Maker for a while. I’d have to say that the Nintendo Switch captured and still holds my attention even now. From Animal Crossing: New Horizons to Stardew Valley, Pokemon Go: Eevee, Ori and the Blind Forest, Mario Odyssey, Overcooked 2, and so many others, The Switch is still something I play often. I played Animal Crossing every day for probably a year or more when it came out, and after a ridiculous amount of hours in game, I got my island the way I wanted, completed the museum, and I’m even a millionaire. Too bad I can’t cash that money out in real life. I still play Mario Kart 8 as well, still trying to beat 200cc and beat the time trial ghosts so I can get my gold wheels to match my gold Mario and my gold kart and glider. As of now I’m convinced it’s never going to happen.

It wouldn’t be until Caleb and I got together that I started to learn about online games. There was literally a time where I didn’t understand that people would live stream themselves playing games. It just didn’t compute, considering I only played old games that required no internet and all I ever played on AOL was PopCap and Disney games. Say what you want, but the early days of these sites were the best. I still play Typer Shark and Insaniquarium on my PC. Anyway, it’s been a lot of years, but I think one of the first games Caleb got me into was Minecraft. I got it on my Mac in college, and I’m pretty sure that world is lost now somewhere in the ether. But I wasted so many hours playing that game on my laptop and on the Xbox with Caleb, with friends, and solo. One of my early memories of hanging at Caleb’s house was staying up until 3AM watching him play Portal, Forza, or some other game I didn’t understand at the time. Those were the days. 

Over the years, I would learn about so many other games, including Halo 5 (my first online multiplayer experience) and Call of Duty: WW2 (I know there’s multiple versions of this, but all I remember is that I played the one that came out around 2017). I also influenced Caleb with all my Nintendo expertise, so we spent a lot of time revisiting Mario classics and the like. We played games like Rayman: Legends and Overcooked 2 together, and nowadays we play Rocket League, Guild Wars 2, and Civilization VI together. He’s been trying to get me into World of Warcraft for years, but I haven’t bitten that bullet quiet yet. We used to waste days playing our respective games, and sometimes we still do when our adult lives gives us an opportunity. Sometimes we enjoy playing our own games right next to each other, and this is still a blast. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite game of my adult life: Baldur’s Gate 3. We always had friends in college that said they wanted to play D&D but we would always get together and drink and goof off instead. Ever since my first semi-taste of the tabletop game, I’ve been itching to play it for real with a group of people that takes it seriously. I guess I finally found that in BG3, and I literally cried at the end of my first playthrough because I thought it was so amazing. That’s all I did when the game came out, and before I left Dallas for Colorado, I pulled an all-nighter to finish the game before the big move. I was still in my desk chair at 7AM the next day, but as Caleb walked into the room the credits rolled on the screen, and I felt so accomplished and sad and happy all at once. That’s probably my favorite gaming memory in my adult life still. I’m currently playing through my Dark Urge playthrough, so stay tuned to hear about how diabolical I become. 

All in all, games have shaped my life, and I’m 100% a nerd. I’m looking forward to playing more and hopefully finding an IRL D&D group I can play with. If I could do that, finish watching all of Critical Role’s campaigns and finish my Dark Urge campaign, I think I would be pretty happy. But seeing as I’m stuck at the end of Act 2 in my Dark Urge run, and that I’m only on the Vox Machina campaign still, I guess I’ll have to keep you posted. But just know I’m enjoying every second of it.