My friend Noe.V asked his readers to write up a blog stating why we/I love games.  It is a somewhat difficult topic to tackle as I have never given it much thought. I just do.  But that sort of answer is a cop out and inferior to anything I could come up with if I gave it true thought. So here we go.

My first memory that I can recall of video games is a bit of a mish mash.  I remember arcade games.  Arcade games in Western Beef on Metropolitan Ave, Arcade games at every local pizza shop, arcade games in every Pizza Hut I went to when on vacation in Puerto Rico.

The usual names spring to mind. Pole Position, Donkey Kong, Spy Hunter, and Star Wars.  I think I had a love for Pole Position mainly because it was one of the few games I could play somewhat on my own with out having someone HOLD me up to the controls.

I will freely admit, my brother and I were super spoiled (still are, thanks Mom and Dad and Wives).  Name a GI Joe toy/vehicle, we had it. Same for Transformers and Ninja Turtles. So it went without saying that we would have an Atari system. Which would then turn into a Caleco Vision with the Atari adaptor. I recall using the numeric keypad and hitting the number 4 I think paused the game. This blew my brother's and I away. We could actually pause a game, eat dinner and CONTINUE? WOW! Progress.

Back in 1986 we received the greatest video game console of all time..that's right...THE SEGA MASTER SYSTEM! It included the mega cartridge of Hang On and Safari Hunt. Both of these games were drastic upgrades to the blocky square we played with in Adventure. Hang On was just as fun at home as it was in the arcade.  While many of our friends were rocking the NES, my brother and I loved and I guess started our brand loyalty to a certain extent with Sega.  Sadly, Sega did not keep our hearts for to long. Expensive peripherals in order to play certain games (ball controller to play Ice Hockey) and Nintendo's amazing commercials featuring Blades of Steel, Mario Bros and Duck Hunt finally grabbed us.

I recall the first game we got with the Nintendo (besides Mario/Duck Hunt) was Metroid. I did not understand the game. I ran, I shot..I jumped..but..where was the end of the level? Never beat it..was way beyond my concept of a game. (I still have it). Though Cyborg Hunter on the Master System was one game I almost beat that shared a similar game play style.

The Nintendo really opened up to me what games could be.  Not just Double Dragon beatemups with an end level and tacked on story. But evolving characters with different powers and goals. I played Metal Gear on the NES (also still have it) and it was so hard I never beat it (this will be an ongoing theme with the majority of my games). 

While I continued to enjoy the NES and even the Game Gear, the 16 bit era NEVER happened for my brother and I. I think around this time we had gotten a PC in the house. It was a Packard Bell. Huge by today's standards. Windows 3.0 I think.  That was where i discovered PC gaming.  A friend of ours who was an NYPD officer got us set up with Kings Quest IV and Wolfenst ein 3D.  My brother and first played these games with Midi sound. At least until my bro picked up a sound blaster. Holy crap was the chain gun loud in Wolfenstein.  While my friends played Wolfenstein 3d on the SNES years after, I was already playing Doom 2, Dark Forces, and B17 Flying Fortress (got 15 missions in before my bomber and crew died).

It was not until I went over my best friends house back in 1994 I think. He had this wierd machine called a PlayStation. And it came with a game Battle Arena Toshinden and he had another...Twisted Metal 2. Oh my god. I was blown away. I had never had so much fun playing a game with a friends.  We rented Jet Moto, Teken and whatever else the video store had.  I had to ask my parents for one.  Thankfully, they bought me one and Christmas has never been the same.  Parappa the Rapper, Final Fantasy 7 (my first, and probably only RPG I ever beat).  I LOVED the PS1. And when my friend came over with boot leg Japanese games, I loved it even more. 

It was shortly after owning a PS1 that my friend who still owned a SNES was showing me Zelda, a Link to the Past.  I fell in love and had to get this. Only problem is that the SNES is not anywhere in stores anymore. Luckily, a close friend of mine came to the rescue. I bought his SNES (orginal box and all) along with Zelda: A Link to the Past. Again, another game I never beat.  Around this time I picked up a Genesis 3 for $20 bucks at Toysrus and bought a few used games like Comix Zone, Vector Man etc.

MY friend who had sold me the SNES also owned a Sega Saturn.  My friends and I would most weekends take the Path train to Jersey and stay over my aunts big house and play games all night and eat junk food. There we played Panzer Dragoon Saga, Burning Rangers, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Tenchu, One, Bushido Blade and so much more. These are my fondest memories of playing video games.  We would meet up in lower Manhattan under the WTC and hit up the Hudson News stand. I would always pick up the newest OPM with demo discs (still have the first few issues, Ghost in the Shell demo was awesome). Load up on some candy and soda. When we got to my Aunts place, there was always some awesome Spanish food waiting for us. Arroz con Pollo o gandules.  We always made a trip to he Path-mark by foot and picked up more junk food and crap for the night. Most weekends we would not sleep till 2-3 in the morning or even later.

Pretty much by the time I had a PS1, I was fully invested in gaming. Keeping up with whats new, whos makign what etc. I bought those older consoles and still own them as more of a collector myself.  The Dreamcast came out and my friends and I went nuts over Soul Calibur and so many other great games. I did contribute to its loss of money. I was in college, and had easy access to download boot legs of the games. So sorry for that. Though I did Import Shenmue 2 and use the internet to transfer my save from Part 1 which I bought to make use of in part 2. Awesome. But again, Got all the way to the third disc, did some quick time event chasing up a building and fell when I was almost done, never turned it back on because I was so angry.

I chose an Xbox over a Ps2 in the beginning because I felt MS had something special to offer. I was very nervous at first, at least until Xbox Live came out. Then my friends and I were hooked on NFL 2k5 and Mechassault.

After all this, picking up a Ps2, an Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS were all natural. Though the PS2 is the only system I saved up money for to buy. The rest were birthday or Christmas gifts. I even got back into PC gaming because a friend in college showed me how to build my own system.  Love me some Team Fortress and Counter Strike.

I still have many systems and the games with them. Heck, I even got a neo-geo pocket color because my first one was stolen in college.  While many games go unbeaten or only half played, I love them regardless.  If not for completing a game, at least for a brief respite from the stresses of life is why I continue to buy them and play them, and SOMETIMES beat them.