About My Gaming Life

You might like to know what kind of gamer I am, what kind of things I like, so read on if you do.

My first home console was a Sega Genesis. I don't really remember touching any other kinds of games before then. My father was interested in new technology, so I think he might have been the one to pick it out for us. He never played, himself, which is something I deeply regret now that he's gone. My family wasn't in a great financial situation while I was growing up, so it was one and done, that is to say, one home console per generation and we almost always rented so unfortunately I don't have any hard copies of my early gaming memories. But things were a bit different where handheld consoles were concerned, I remember we had two Game Boy Pockets in the family and we got two Game Boy Colors. Though my parents bought us games for our handhelds less often than they rented games for us, we got to keep those games, explore them thoroughly, beat them. I think those experiences are what created my affinity for handheld gaming to this day. I'm so excited for the 3DS.

Like I said, we weren't wealthy growing up so it was just the one system per gen. I also wasn't very informed growing up, so when the family got a Genesis, I didn't know there was an alternative. When the family got an N64, I didn't know that the PlayStation was getting more games. When the family got a Game Boy Advance, I wasn't aware of any other handheld. GameCube was the first thing that I really chose to buy for myself, but I still wasn't informed; I was just a kid that loved many of the games he had played before, and happened to have loved them on Nintendo systems. I'd like to think that I'm not a fanboy, but I still have a great love and appreciation for what Nintendo stands for; the ideals of Nintendo, the games of Nintendo, and the games that Nintendo attracts to their system. This history of loving what I played in the past, with the hope that history would repeat itself led me to purchase my DS and Wii.

I'm in a much better financial situation now, but I'm still a fairly cheap gamer. On several occasions I've had the desire to jump in and purchase a PlayStation 2 (and access to PlayStation games), an Xbox 360, and a PSP.......but I also know that if I ever divide my attention and money between too many consoles I'll end up like so many sour gamers I see on message boards, only buying the highest rated things to come out, and missing out on so many great things.

So what's in the future? Well, I don't have any need for an iPhone, an iPad, or an iPod Touch at present (already have a perfect music player) and just as well, my brother has one so if another amazing iOS only game comes around I can at least try it. I don't enjoy the thought of trying to keep the hardware on a PC up to date to play games, and there's still some big things holding me back from getting a 360 or PS3. I'm very excited about the 3DS, but no attempt at getting a pre-order because for once I'd like to wait and not go after a system on day one (I know I'll be disappointed by waiting around for games to come), and I'd like to give PSP2 a chance to show me what it might offer. I'm not sure when a Wii2 might happen, but I presume it will be before we even hear whispers about the next PlayStation or next Xbox, and it really depends on what this Wii2 might be offering whether I get it or not.