Chapter One

Chapter 1

     I have been playing video games off-and-on for a while. I do not feel like it has been a long time and I am a child at heart. Whenever I reminisce about the games I have played, it makes me think that I have become a relic of the gaming world. There is so much drama behind it whether you are the game player or behind the scenes of videogames.

     I never played from money and that’s what made it so much fun. The arguments that ensued were not fun. I always got chores and homework done, but it never seemed to be the time to play video games.

     When I was a child during the 80s, I occasionally encountered the Atari. I never liked Atari. There was something about the joystick that made it very aggravating. Personally, I preferred board games.

     I cannot play any Atari games. My family was a little poor so we never had one. Most of my friends or my parents’ friends or family had one.

     I think my Aunt Ellen had one. I don’t recall anyone playing it much. I know I had a chance to play Pac-Man and I hated it. It ticked me off so bad and I haven’t touched an Atari ever since. I watched other people play.

     I was the type of child who liked to play outside and go play with the children down the street. I liked writing, riding my bike, and swimming. Sometimes my friends and I trespassed to build forts or hunt ghosts. My brother and I tried to make a club, but I think people thought we were making a gang so it never happened.

     I always liked playing outside with or without friends. I would hand out with my brother and his friends until one day Nintendo was popular. This was about the time when I realized that my brother got everything. I wanted stuff like science lab kits and a telescope. No, couldn’t have any of that stuff. I couldn’t even have music lessons or be part of the entrepreneurial gang called the Girl Scouts. I did get Barbie’s, girl books, magazines, and cooking toys.

     During this Nintendo craze, we would stand in line with the noisy crowd at Toys “R” Us. My brother got a Nintendo. I had a chance to play Mario Brothers, Ice Hockey, and Duck Hunt. My brother mainly played since it was his. We spent so much time and possibly money buying more games for the Nintendo. I played Crystalis, but never made it to the end.

     What I found interesting was all the strategy guides and the Game Genie. I loved looking at the pictures of the games and other accessories you could get for the Nintendo. Screw all of that though.

     My brother wanted to get through the games at record speed and cheat to get to the end. I think that the fastest he got he could get to the end of Mario Brothers was roughly three minutes.

      We would enter various codes into the game Genie to beat every game. We could fly through every level or be in the coolest outfit. We would have infinity lives. We were unstoppable.

     My brother always had a drink sitting next to the entertainment center. One day he knocked his Kool-Aid onto the Nintendo and our parents had to get him another one. I guess the original Nintendo was not available because they bought him a different, smaller model. Then came the super Nintendo then came more games and more Mario.

    We continued to play games away from the house thanks to the Game Boy. When we went to grandma’s house, we would play with her Game Boy. My brother also had a Game Boy. We would connect the Game Boys together and play Tetris together. My parents never bought a gaming system of any kind for me.

     I’m not sure if it was because I struggled before Atari or if it was because I was a girl. I always played them so I can see why I never got them. Years later I got my brothers Nintendo, but eventually I give it back because I knew I wouldn’t have time or space for it.

 

Author's Note

This is a little fragmented