What Made Me into a Gamer

I started to play video games when I was four years old with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I had an NES for a while until it decided to not work for me one day. Mad, I decided to not get another Nintendo console and instead I went to Sega. While playing on my NES, I didn’t feel like I was a gamer. Yes, I was having fun, but at that age, I really didn’t know what being a gamer really meant. Once I got my Sega Genesis, I started to get more into gaming. I also started to go to Grand Prix, a once 24 hour gaming arcade. In a sense, this is what started to make me into a gamer. Not a single game but an arcade filled with different types of games.

I do recall several games that I would play the most of: Pac-Man, Virtual-On, Vitrua Fighter, Street Fighter, Tekken and so on. I really started to get into fighting games and I can’t recall a single game that got me into gaming. I started to play fighting games and I enjoyed it. I even remember when Vitrua Fighter 2 came out in the arcade and there was a line to play it. I finally got my chance and I was playing against guys older than me. I remember beating a good amount of them before I was finally beaten and the feelings that I was going through while playing and winning was indescribable.

As much as I try to remember, there isn’t a single game that made me into a gamer, it was simply going to the arcade and playing several different games. I would get this feeling of serenity when I wanted into Grand Prix, despite the loud noise. I actually loved the loud noise and felt like it surrounded me.

There was a time when I was around seventeen or eighteen when I told myself that I should grow up and stop playing these video games. So I threw out all of my systems and games. To this day I regret doing that and since then I’ve created a new collection of retro and new gaming systems and games.

A few months to a year later I met my would-be husband Chris and we started dating right away. One day at a friend’s house, he brought over his PsX and Final Fantasy VII. We would watch him play for hours. This started to me back into gaming and to the rank of gamer. I was really kicking myself for throwing out my old systems and so I had to start over with a PsX. At this time I was working at a movie theatre and I had just gotten promoted to projection manager, where I was up in the booth taking care of the movies. I was able to bring up a small TV and I would bring my Psx to work daily and play the heck out of Final Fantasy VI. RPGs had given me a new purpose to play video games and to be a gamer once again.

My short hiatus as a non-gamer was over. I remember when I was working at Wolfgang Puck Restaurant in the Sawgrass Mall. It was Black Friday and I was able to take a fast break and I went to GameStop to get a Ps2 and Final Fantasy X before the rush. Shortly after, I started to talk to the managers there and eventually they got me into the door and I was working at a GameStop.

Working at GameStop just made it even worse, or better depending on how you see it. I was in gamer heaven and eventually owned my own store. This enabled me to go to the GameStop conference in Texas and then twice in Vegas. Sure, we had to go to meetings about the company but the gaming aspect of it was amazing!

Today I no longer work for GameStop but I am more of a gamer than ever before. I’m finally writing about what I love and I have to wonder: what took me so long to do this? I’m making it my duty to collect old retro games and systems while keeping up on current and next generation. I can even (thanks to GameStop) tell you a what a game is by the description of its cover and visa-versa.

So what made me a gamer? What was the one game that did it? I would have to say it was certain events that paved the way for me as well as arcade games, the Sega Genesis, Saturn, Final Fantasy VII, VI and X. The feeling that I get when I talk or think about gaming is really hard to describe, but I’m glad that it’s there and I’m glad of who I am.

This post was part of Gamer Banter, a monthly video game discussion coordinated by Terry at Game Couch. If you’re interested in being part of this, please email him for details.

Other takes:

Aim for the Head: The Gamer I Am Today

carocat.co.uk: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Yuki-Pedia: A Tale of Two Games

gunthera1_gamer: Early Gaming Experience

Extra Guy: Ah yes, I remember it well

The Average Gamer: What Made Me a Gamer

Sivercublogger: Uncovering Lost Treasures

Master Kitty’s World: Gaming Through the Years

Gamer Unit: What was the game that made you a gamer?