Confessions of a Gaming Junkie: Part 1

I’ve played video games for most of my life. As a kid my brother and I played Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on our Nintendo, and later Sonic, Street Fighter, and Earthworm Jim on the Sega Genesis. Ahh the old days when games were simple and extremely hard to beat.  In high school we had a PlayStation, and oh the joy of playing Oddworld, Tomb Raider and Metal Gear Solid… When I graduated from high school and moved out on my own I bought a PlayStation 2 to use as a DVD player–and to kick some booty on NCAA 2002 (featuring FSU’s own Chris Weinke) and Tekken 4.  A few years after that I got a used GameCube and after some prodding I came around again to Nintendo and Mario–especially Mario Kart (and other Nintendo classic remakes like Metroid Prime).  Most recently I’ve become quasi-obsessed with the Xbox 360 and to a much lesser extent the Nintendo Wii.

I’ve always considered myself a “casual” gamer. But looking back, the amount of time I spend playing games has really ramped up over the past year. Two years ago the only game I played through was Ultimate Spider-Man on the GameCube, and that was great. A year ago I played through Tomb Raider: Legend on the GameCube–that was also fun and just fine. This year I’ve played and beat something like ten games, each averaging at least ten hours to play to completion. How did this happen? Quite simply, my road to hardcore gaming began with a gateway system: the Nintendo Wii.

The details of how I got turned on to the Wii and (wonder of wonders) found one to buy aren’t clear–my memory is too hazy from the year-ago combined shock of playing (and enjoying) Halo 2 on a friend’s Xbox and nearly simultaneously learning that my beloved Metroid Prime is in fact one of the feared first-person-shooters (FPS for the hardcore/lazy).  Foggy memories aside, I can tell you that I beat Halo 2’s campaign on co-op and I did not like the fact that there weren’t any decent shooters on the Wii (Metroid aside).

At this point I feel obligated to admit that the Wii is not really my true gateway to hardcore gaming, at least not in itself. But the Wii was what made me realize I just wasn’t entertained by the cutesy “Wii-mote” waggling most of its games require. I love Mario Kart. I love Metroid. But I do not love the Wii. For me, the Wii was like the girlfriend who doesn’t love you back, and yet you tough it out until one day you finally realize (after that long talk with mom and maybe baby brother) that you want and deserve something more. Or in philosophical terms “the shadow proves the sun” and for me the Wii was the shadow.  So what was that something-more casting the shadow on the Wii?

For me it was the Xbox 360 (not to diss my wife by way of analogy, since she is totally the Xbox 360 of girls in my life…or God, since that whole shadow/sun thing is a Switchfoot reference).  But to the point, I picked up a 360 the week Halo 3 came out (it was a mild and humid afternoon in late September).  For a good three months Halo 3 was the only game I owned and the only game I wanted to play.

Halo 3 is without a doubt one of the best games I’ve ever played. The campaign is great, with well balanced enemy AI and pacing, plus an incredible multi-player experience. And as an added bonus I think Halo 3 may have saved my sanity during the stress of law school and final exams.

After Halo 3 the rest is a downward spiral. In December a friend loaned me Gears of War. For Christmas my wife gave me Mass Effect, and her parents got me Call of Duty 4. Later I bought a copy of Bioshock. The horror. The horror.  From January to August I’ve played Assassin’s Creed, Army of Two, Lego Star Wars, Madden NFL 2008, Burnout Paradise, Lost: Via Domus, GTA IV, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Rock Band, The Orange Box, DragonBall Z: Burst Limit, Scene It, and Elder Scrolls IV. And that’s not to mention the XBL Arcade titles. Oh the humanity.

Admittedly I haven’t beaten most of these games (and quite a few were loaners/rentals in case you’re wondering). In fact I’ve played most of these games only long enough to decide they weren’t my cup of tea.  Over the past few months I’ve studied a whoooole lot for the Florida Bar Exam and over the past few weeks I’ve played a lot of games during my free time (call it making up for self-inflicted academic abuse). I can tell you right now that I love FPS games, and RPG-action games like Mass Effect or Elder Scrolls, and I hated GTA IV’s everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink free roaming gameplay. If you’re gonna do something, do what your like right? I guess…

Ultimately I think I’m okay with whatever stigma might go along with being a “hardcore” a gamer, and more than that I think I have pretty good standards/taste in entertainment generally and games specifically (subjective good taste, but self-aware if nothing else). And I will warn all you Wii owners and “casual” gamers out there–watch out for the seduction of the Master Chief. He may look heroic and could quite possibly be a Christ figure for all of mankind and the Covenant of the future, but beware. Once you get the urge to pwn, the Wii just won’t do.  Booya!