I wasn’t always a gamer. I have friends who have been gaming since coming out of the womb if that is even possible. My friends are hardcore gamers and they can talk about classic games from the good ‘ol days when we were growing up. Their eyes take on that far away look, you know that look they get when they have gone somewhere else and it takes some time to bring them back, as they reminisce about their first time playing Pac-Man or Mario with an overflow of childhood nostalgia.
When I see them get like that I know I can’t quite relate to them on that same level. I did play some of the classic games growing up, but that’s only because I have a cousin who has a gaming console. I would play his games whenever I was over his house. I never had a console as a kid, and I think part of the reason had to be my parents not liking the idea of me playing video games. It was about Barbies and the usual girly girl toys for me.
Then the Wii came out from Nintendo and the new console intrigued me. I liked the idea of using a motion sensor controller that didn’t need to be hooked up to the console. I also enjoyed Nintendo’s attempts to get gamers to be active while playing a game. Wii Sports is definitely fun to play when you don’t want to just sit on the couch to play a game.
I didn’t get the console immediately though. At the time the console came out, I had no money to buy one and I knew my parents wouldn’t get me one. I had friends who owned the Wii and I would play with them when I came over to their places. The more I played, the more I wanted the console. Eventually, I got a solid job post-college, saved enough money, and then went out to purchase the Wii.
Before the Wii purchase, I had bought a Nintendo DS Lite. One of my other friends sold me on buying the DS when I saw how great the graphics were for games. This same friend introduced me to the Ace Attorney games. What was even funnier was a few months after I bought my Wii, which was January of 2009, a friend of mine was awesome enough to surprise me with a Japanese import of the PSP 2000 for my birthday.
I always thought I would be content with just owning a Wii and a DS. As much as there were cooler games out there for other consoles or portables, I never thought I would watch my ownership of consoles and portables start to grow. After the PSP, I thought, “Okay, this should be it for me. I can be content with a Wii, DS, and PSP.” I came to realize I was wrong about this.
My friends thought I should take my gamer status to the next level. These same friends were convincing me to get an Xbox 360.
Friends: “We can play games together online!”
Me: “I don’t know…I’m pretty happy with what I have.”
Friends: “There are better games on the 360 than the Wii.”
Me: “I’m not sure if I even have the space for another console. I already have a problem finishing the games I currently own.”
I was a tough person to persuade to get a 360. Then there was that one friend, I’ll call her K, who recently bought a 360 because she wanted to play the Star Wars games for that system. In no time, she built a pretty good catalog of 360 games beyond Star Wars.
I come to K’s house pretty often. We usually take turns playing/showing off games we think the other person should try or own. K was trying to get me into her latest 360 games. We played Mortal Kombat and Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds together. I found those games fun, but not enough for me to want a 360 badly. Then K showed me the single player games like Fable, Assassin’s Creed, and the like. And it happened. The one game that finally sold me on getting my own 360 was Dragon Age Origins.
K showed me DAO one day when I hung out at her house. My first impression was that the graphics were good and the free roaming RPG capabilities in the game was impressive. As she played the game and I watched, I slowly found myself falling in love with the story and the characters. The writing for this game was incredible. I was hooked on wanting to find out more about the characters you meet, your creatable character’s story, and how your character’s decision affects the outcome of the game.
DAO is the game that did me in. Last month I bought an Xbox and the very first game I immediately bought for it was DAO. I already love the high replay value of this game and the many different outcomes you can get. It’s my new game addiction.
I never really thought I would buy another console. I thought I would be a one console plus portables kind of girl. Wrong obviously. I used to think it was silly to see my friends own all three consoles: Nintendo, Playstation, and Xbox 360. Now I know why it isn’t as crazy as it seems. I’m practically there myself. Moral of the story? Blame your friends for getting you into things. And of course, never say never.
simpleek 