_Aarix_

Trainee
CRank: 5Score: 26670

How I Became A Gamer

This is just a little reading for gamer enthusiasts to let people know how gaming impacted my life greatly. But first I want to talk about my parents. My dad has been gaming since the launch of the nintendo during the 80's and 90's whenever he was fairly young he bought a nes with a little hard work and an allowence. dozens and dozens of games have been bought by him, he spend hundreds and arguably thousands of hours into it. It was his passion and he loved it.

He was all about Final Fantasy and Mario along with wasting his weekends with zelda back then. He also told me about times he kept playing even when his hands were bleeding cause he was so into it. It was hard finding friends that gamed, he used to tell me, all his friends were all sports (not that he didn't like baseball) and television. Around the same time my mom was also a very avid gamer, there wasn't really any female gamers where she lived and she always told me storys about how guys were rude to her about her playing games. She preservered and shrugged them off. She was an all out retro gamer with an ample supply of games in her supply but she was all about sega. She bought every game console with the sega brand and wasn't afraid to admit she was a gamer. Its not that she didn't like nintendo its just she had it in for the collection of sega games and she coukdn't afford much else. She loved Rocketnight adventures and Phantasy Star. She played quite a few games ranging from the genesis to the CD and the Saturn. In fact, they married out of their love for gaming.

When they moved in they did nothing but game and work because they had so much fun together. But they still kept their social life intact (barely). A combination of a sega and a super nintendo was the best experience they told me. Once I was born, my parents turned me into gaming when I was 4, I understand that was a little young but I was a smart lad who loved the music and colors. The most engaging music to touch my young ears was from the first croc and added with crash bandicoot since they got me a playstation one a few years later. My mom taught me to play rocketknight adventures, sonic and golden axe in the mean time. I fell in love with it and never wanted to do anything else. I could barely read but when they got me Final Fantasy 7 they helped me with words and the gameplay that was more effective than anything else I tried. I loved my entire childhood. Mom and Dad always spent alot of times with me playing games.

I also loved legend of dragoon, my dad spent hours helping me there. It was good bonding. Around the same time I got a gameboy color I loved to take with me when they drove (except at night when I hath to wait for stop lights to make the screen visable). Then from 9-15 it was gamecube and dreamcast time.

I still vaguely remember being in elementary school and a group of kids would bash either n64 or the ps1. I had full access to both and was too young to understand the "features and graphics". I just loved the games.
Long story short, gaming influenced my life, taught me to read, made 2 people fall in love and made my childhood fun.

Kran5054d ago

Perfect! And here are my 2 approvals ;)

BiggCMan5054d ago

This story rocks! I wish Fox News could read this and understand that video games aren't a bad thing, or some nonsense toys. Awesome story man, god bless your parents.

Dramscus5054d ago

Well I liked your story. The part where they were helping you learn to read with final fantasy was great. Almost heart touching to an avid gamer.
Though I would recommend, if you want to get approved by the snobs, to take that idea of heart touching moments in a gamer family and really expand on it.
I'm sure there are other touching memories that involve gaming.

See thats a great thing you have there. Most people's parents hated games, or were at list misinformed to the point of finding it distasteful.
The number of gamers I know who's parents would have preferred them to be watching tv instead. Just awful.

Anyway yeah, heart touching moments, go there. It could be anything some family occasion christmas or something playing games together. Maybe some shared moments with new games. If it's a good memory and it's got gaming in it thats the one.

Toodles.

mastiffchild5054d ago

Amazing to see such a similar story to my own but I'm the dad! My wife and I hjave always been gamers and bonded heavily(though not solely) through this shared passion and SHE is a sega nut who still does Sonic2 speedruns to this day. Funny thing is all three of our kids game and I also say that games have helped with their education with JRPGs a great way to get kids wanting to learn to read for themselves and the stats and HP numbers etc get them doing mental maths too-as well as games honing hand/eye coordination in general.

Lovely to see another game loving , and loving, family out there using gaming for the good things in life-just had an afternoon bonding with the kids as it was raining(still get them playing their sports!)with the missus playing Zelda with our nine year old while me and our thirteen year old lad bonded over creating levels in LBP2 as my dad with me over Lego and, later, Astro Wars and Asteroids in the family pub!

Great posts and great story from the OP and touching to me as it's so similar to my own little family! People usually look at me like I'm mad when I insist games have helped my kids with everything from maths to spelling to communicating and physics! Hopefully this shows there's plenty of us types about that don't just use games as a babysitter. Great stuff, I'm a bit teary eyed.

zerocrossing5054d ago (Edited 5054d ago )

A heart warming and and touching story, You must have had a great childhood. It goes to show that games can do so much more than just entertain us.

Reading the article, it makes me proud to be a gamer enthusiast =)

_Aarix_5054d ago

Thanks for the feedback. I made it somewhat longer for you guys after doing some more flashbacks.

zerocrossing5054d ago

Your welcome! (+ Bubble for you)

Im sure so many of us have had our lives affected in similar positive ways, Maybe if we all put our own experiences in article form, got together and had it featured on a news or other information broadcast program in an attempt to correct the ignorant and enlighten the misinformed... Though I somehow doubt such a think will happen... ^^;;

5054d ago
LightofDarkness5054d ago

Ha, gaming just about taught me to read as well. I HAD to be able to read all the news and articles in Nintendo Power and EGM. Every time I came across words I didn't understand, I'd consult a dictionary. Any idioms I didn't quite grasp, I would defer to mom & dad.

I excelled at English and languages. I scored the highest marks possible across the board in aptitude tests in language skills, and in my final exams (called the Leaving Certificate here). My English teacher once asked "Your son is clearly well-read and imaginative, what does he tend to read?" to which my parents responded: "I don't know, he just seems to read videogame magazines all the time..."

Not surprisingly, my teacher was taken aback somewhat by this :p

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