The lights are on
I love the Gameinformer Online Community. Its so amazing hearing all of your guy's experience with classic video games. Were all gamers. But I find that I'm not as great of a gamer as I think I am. I'm actually quite a phony. I was never able to save a princes, or do a barrel roll.
My parents never raised me on video games, even though they grew up on the stuff themselves. My mom and dad met by Super Mario Brothers. My mom was stuck on a level at this party, my dad swooped in and showed her how to get passed it. But my parents never bought me a NES to show me what they played as a kid. My brother had a N64, but I was to young to play. He always gave me a dead controller and I pretended to play his game. Sometime around 2004, my parents bought an original Xbox. My brother played it all the time with his friends. Halo was pretty much all he played. I usually was lucky when I had a turn to play on it. I only played the Tony Hawk games. To this day I still don't know why, but I just loved those games. Well, fast forward to when the Xbox 360 came out, my parents never bought us one. We just stuck with the original. Then, maybe in 2008, we finally bought a Wii. We got to play Wii sports, Guitar Hero... And that's about it. We played that until it got boring. Then it just sat there collecting dust.
In 2009, I went over a friends house. He had an Xbox 360. He showed me Halo 3, Left 4 Dead, GTA, it was amazing! I asked my parents for one, since Christmas was coming up. They said no promises, but they'll try. During Christmas, they couldn't afford a 360, so they got me Skis. I ski alot, so that was cool. I understood why I didn't get the Xbox 360, and I just enjoyed the skis. But my birthday was in February, and all I wanted was an Xbox 360. So I had a party, and some friends showed up. As we were hanging out in the basement, my parents brought down a Gamestop bag, with a big box in it. I grabbed the bag and opened it up. It was my very first Xbox 360. I hooked everything up, and was ready to go.
So pretty much what I'm trying to say here, is that I didn't start gaming until February 2010. I was only 13. I was clueless about video games. I never knew anything about cartridges, or joysticks. But thank god I found Gameinformer. I learned so much about the history of video games because of you guys, and mostly Replays. If I wasn't on gameinformer, and I saw the original Zelda for the first time, I would probably be sick to my stomach. I would be talking crap about how the graphics suck, and how there's no awesome action going on. But here on Gameinformer, I get to hear all of your guy's story's and understand why 8, 16, and 64-bit is awesome. But the only problem is I never experienced the awesomeness of these games myself. Everything up to 2009, I don't have a clue about. I still don't know much about video games. You could call me a late bloomer of video games. I wish I could go back and play all of NES, to N64, but I don't have enough time. Playing all of my current games is hard enough as it is.
The main problems with me becoming new to all of this, is,
1. My knowledge of video games is small.
2. I play these games, trying to play professionally... But I just stink. I'm not good at video games, whatsoever. I was able to buy SMB 3 on the Wii, and I can't even get past the first world. Its sad, really.
So, for future references, if you get in an argument about video games with me, stop me. I don't know what I am talking about half the time, and I'll probably make an ass out of myself. Also, when I say I'm a gamer, I'm lying. I'm a phony, a fraud! All I'm good for is editing audio, and occasionally drawing something. I play video games, sure. But I don't know what I'm doing half of the time. You could say I'm a n00b.
So just know, you guys might respect me, you guys might love me, you guys might hate me... But it doesn't matter. I have nothing to contribute to you all. I'll just sit in the background, enjoy some Replay, edit podcasts, talk nonsense on Twitter, and occasionally comment "That looks cool" on posts. But its nice that even though I'm not much of a gamer, you guys still accept me. That's why I love this community. That's why Gameinformer Online will be my home forever.
I want to thank you all for reading my poorly written blog (which was written at 4 in the morning, on my Windows Phone 7) and to thank you for making a this community amazing.
I enjoyed your article and commend you on your honesty. An easy way to play older games is to get an emulator for your computer. But even if you don't it's nice to see someone your age take an interest in the past that helped build the gaming industry into what it is today. Well done.
Well, gamers on gamers. Notice how none of us say we're 'good gamers' as I get pummeled so much in games. Notice how we don't always say 'long-time gamers' as there are many here who haven't been brought up with a controller in their hand.
However, all of us here have a love and respect for gaming, and that's what makes us gamers. From what I've read, you do to... Therefore, you are just as elligble as any of us to be here.
Still, good blog and good job being honest to us.
Im just like you buddy. Just like you
Wow I feel so old. I didn't realize you were such a baby Koob! I was raised on Atari, NES and hit my stride when I played A link to The Past on SNES and Dark Forces on the PC. That was when I knew I would be a gamer for life. I loved this blog. You have a talent with words and you seem like a very level headed person. Keep it up and just keep gaming. Some day you wont feel like a phony anymore. Not that you should even feel like one now. Oh and GIO is the best gaming community online. I agree.
Way to take a stand, man. You fully admit that you are a noob and you are proud of it. That, my friend, is a quality of a gamer.
Everyone is a noob to some degree, whether it is gaming in general, not knowing how to play on a certain console, or not knowing how to play a certain genre. Personally, I'm a noob when it comes to PC games. I got a computer in 2007 and found out that my PC cannot play games like Warhammer or anything else other than Mahjong or Solitaire. I have been playing a free-to-play game lately it is a very new experience for me, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it.
Whether we have been playing games since the Atari or we didn't know what a joy stick was until a week ago, we are all gamers.
Koob, your a gamer, whether you started when you were 13 a year ago or not. As survivor girl put it, a gamer is someone who plays games. Your not a phony.
I'm only 16, not much older than yourself, but luckily I was able to get a Gameboy Color at the age of 4 or five. My first game was pokemon yellow and I loved it. I was given my cousin's 64 and SNES and I played the heck out of those, but if it wasn't for them, I would be in your situation.
A lot of us here didn't grow up on NES games, but that's the great thing about things like the virtual console and constant remakes. You can experience these classics again.
As for a "poorly written blog," your kidding yourself. This is on par with all of the greats of the website, and the fact you did it on a phone makes it even better. Your a great writer Koob and a gamer just as much as anyone else on this website, Gamebeast said it himself, we don't say we are "good gamers" for many of us aren't, or "long-time gamers" for many of us only got into gaming recently.
We are all just gamers.
I didn't get to grow up with the genesis, atari, nes, or snes. My first console was an N64 because the gamecube was too expensive for my parents. The console was in its waning days so games were hard to come bye. I never got to "do a barrel roll" or save the princess, or jam along to the beat in DKC... the only reason I had my gaming renissance is because my friends hooked me on Call of Duty, so I picked up a PS3 and and remembered how awesome gaming was
... reminds me of a story, where somebody had magic through scrolls and not actual magic... can't remember the story, but it pretty much had the same outcome your getting now, everyone being friendly and what not. anyways, it doesn't matter how green in the ways of ye olde gaming.
The same thing hapen to me. i didnt get my ps3 until christmas 2009 cause of money issues.....but enough of that. Wow you didnt start gaming until last year?? i kinda feel sorry for you :( you missed alot of good games through out the years. back when I was a kid I use to go to the dry cleaners, cause the arcade turned into a furniture store, and play the small arcade games like golden ax, pac-man, street rage, and a old pinball game.....ahhhhh mermories lol
It doesn't matter when you start, just that you start. I've been playing since the NES days, but there's still so much I've missed out on through the years. Over the past few years, I've made it my mission to play every great game ever released, but since there is new ones coming out every week, that's a pretty difficult goal to accomplish. Don't worry about not being considered a gamer, because you just started last year. You play games and you love them, that's a gamer in my book.
You show a passion for the industry; that alone (speaking only for myself here) garners more respect than if you were for instance just some guy who is awesome at Halo or whatever. You're a good kid, don't get all caught up in labels or feeling the need to adhere to some invisible set of standards.