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I actually tried to submit this entry twice, but experienced errors involving visibility. Perhaps third time’s the charm.
Nonetheless, I have a number of things that help me escape mentally. I may visit my gym, put in my headphones and become one with the day’s workout routine. I can sit down with a book, whether it involves a graphic novel or self-help perspective.
The list can go on of course, but I want to focus my attention today on video games. Similar to music and film, video games allow people from different backgrounds to come together as one.
This sounds utopian, but competitive gamers tend not to focus on the extent of your passion due to your height, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, gender, etc.
If you are a 45-year-old lesbian who weighs 18 stone, with a height of only 70cm, but is capable of accumulating the most head shots in a Call of Duty online match, your skills will be the focus.
The focus is not about your height, sexual preference, weight, age, etc. In other words, they do not negatively influence your actual skills.
There was a negative stigma surrounding the gaming culture during its origin, which seems to persist even today. In the conclusion of noncompetitive gamers, a gamer is usually…
A virgin
Someone who lives in the basement of a parent’s residence
Someone who is antisocial
Usually a Caucasian male
Nonetheless, video games, like all other competitive elements in life are about winning, and gaining the upper hand against someone else.
If you want to taunt someone, simply reference something physical (appearance) or perhaps a behavioral trait. The goal is to take their attention away from the current objective, which is winning.
I was recently introduced to Man Crates and their Super Retro Game Crate, which delivers an assortment of items inside a crate to its recipient. I then thought back to the nostalgia of my marathon gaming sessions.
I can speak on my origin with video games, because I have owned perhaps eight different consoles such as Nintendo, Super NES, PlayStation 3, TurboGrafx-16, Atari Jaguar, etc.
However, I do not want to focus on that aspect. Instead, I want to explain the moment I fell in love all over again, with one of my favorite pastimes.
In 2009, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was released. Though many gamers believe the series is regurgitated one after the other, with no changes in actual gameplay, I love the franchise.
I admire the storyline; I enjoy the connection you have with characters throughout the campaign, graphics, etc.
Upon the release of a new game in the Call of Duty franchise, my focus is to gain as many achievements, which will add to my overall Xbox Live Gamerscore. In fact, my goal is to gain all achievements in each game played.
The Gamerscore on Xbox Live is an achievements point accumulation system, which reflects the number of achievements accumulated by a user on Xbox Live, through the displaying of the amount of points accumulated.
These achievement points are awarded for the completion of game-specific challenges, such as beating a level or amassing a specified number of wins against other players in online matches, and other various in-game challenges.
For instance, if you play a fighting game like Street Fighter IV, the user can receive 25 achievement points, if they are able to complete a specific tournament on the most difficult setting.
Your Gamerscore separates good gamers from great gamers, and great gamers from exceptional gamers. After all, this is a competition.
Before getting married, we lived in separate locations. At times when she would call, the background noise of explosions, gunfire and other effects echoed into the phone.
We would then discuss the current mission and its difficulty. As mentioned above, I love Call of Duty, but my admiration enhanced the moment I bought my wife the Xbox 360. Upon purchasing her first Call of Duty game, she was hooked.
Instead of listening to my stories regarding difficult missions, I was now watching her play the same levels. One evening, she was excited about completing a current level, which took me quite some time to complete.
Me: Big Whoop. You beat a level on Normal. (Sinister Laugh)
Her: What do you mean Normal?
Me: The game is locked into an easy setting when you first begin. I always change the setting on Call of Duty to Veteran. Playing on Normal is far too easy. That’s why you beat the level so quickly…and why you suck. (Sinister Laugh)
She was actually quite far in the game’s campaign, but in an instant, she reset the game and changed the setting to Veteran.
That was incredibly sexy.
She did not want to feel satisfied with a handicap of any sort, which is of course completing the game on such an easy setting. She would not let me live down her accomplishment, so she was determined to play on the hardest setting from the beginning.
That was incredibly sexy.
Watching her react with each new mission was priceless. It was invaluable, as I observed her different reactions, on specific difficult sections of a mission.
Wait, how the heck did he kill me?
That’s cheating.
Oh my gosh! Why is he running so slowly?
This is what I love most about gaming now. Instead of talking about different missions to my wife, I get to watch her complete them.
Not only does she play each game on the most difficult setting, she seeks to gain all of the achievements. In fact, we would often compete on who has the most achievements in a game, and who received them first.
She became so good at shooting games like Call of Duty; she started playing online battles with my friends. Regardless of their differences, her gaming skills are what matter.
Watching her play games like Call of Duty, made me fall in love with gaming and her all over again.
Though we have not played competitive console games in a few years due to timing, she now has a new addiction on her iPad—Injustice: Gods Among Us.
This tablet based fighting game is truly awesome. She does not have a good track record with fighting games, but she is quite good here.
Gaming brings together people from different walks of life, which is why video games will always remain a favorite pastime of ours. It reminds me of my childhood, where we all got together and played for the sake of playing.
This is how I fell in love with one of my favorite pastimes, but I am more interested in learning more about you. How did you fall in love with yours?
One Gentleman's Perspective 
Alright. Back when Atari was cool, my parents bought a ColecoVision and I played it a bit. But it wasn’t until purchasing my NES system back in 1986 that I really started enjoying games. Super Mario Bros? Still one of the all time greatest games.
I played a lot of NES, switched to Genesis for the 16 bit era, then came back to Nintendo for the N64. A few months after my wife and I met, Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released. The game was highly anticipated, and badly delayed. I had been a long time Zelda fan, so I was anticipating the release.
I had just started playing it, and my wife came by my apartment. I was in the middle of a dungeon, so she watched while I finished it. She expressed interest in it, and told me to keep playing while she watched. After about an hour, I was informed that she didn’t want me playing it without her, as she was hooked on the game.
Within a few months she was living at the apartment with me most nights, and we would trade off the controller at times. In the game, one of the “collectibles” was golden spiders hidden throughout the game world. There were 100 of them.
One day I came home to find her sitting on the couch, controller in hand. She had spent the day hunting gold skultulas, and was on the verge of getting the last one.
The next few years we found cooperative play games that we played together, and it was great.
Over the years (and after kids) she stopped gaming with me. I still play once in a while, and doubt I will ever stop completely. But yeah, those early years of gaming with my wife are some of my fondest memories in gaming.
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Do you still own your old consoles, or did you get rid of them? I honestly smiled after reading your comment, because it’s a similar energy to mine. Whenever I sit back and watch her play games, I find myself enjoying the moment.
You know, I did not own the N64. I believe this was around the fifth generation of consoles, which means systems like the Sega Saturn and PlayStation 1 were competing against each other.
I was more of observer for the Zelda franchise. I played of course, but I was more of an observer. Of all the consoles you’ve owned, does anyone stand out among the rest? For me, even today, I think it comes down to the PlayStation 2 or SNES.
Does she still watch you play today?
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Sadly, I got rid of the early ones. Back then I needed the money from them to put towards any of the new ones. But from the N64 on, I’ve kept all the consoles I’ve owned (and have them boxed up in a closet in the basement).
I’m not sure if I have a favorite among consoles. From each era there were a handful of standout games from each console. I think the SNES/Genesis era is somewhat timeless. The graphics of that era still stand up fairly well – unlike the early forays into the 3d world (seriously, look at old ps1 games – *shudder*).
I haven’t made the leap to the new generation, but I still play the 360 regularly.
These days my wife has no interest in gaming. Some people see it as something you should “grow out of” as you get older, but I see it as a diversion that is really no different from watching TV or movies.
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Do you ever find yourself playing any of the older consoles? I do recall watching a trailer last year of Altered Beast, via YouTube. I think they were pushing for a sequel on the Xbox 360, but it obviously did not work out. On the 360, my favorite game has to be Assassin’s Creed. The entire concept attracts me, such as the amount of hours you had to put into the game, in order to attain all achievements. Final Fantasy is another franchise that I will never get tired of playing.
I understand where you are coming from. I hear often than you grow out of it, but I wonder why. Why should I grow out of it, when there’s enough content to suit any age? I can pick up a horror related mature game like Resident Evil, where it seems you are watching a zombie based film. I can play an action adventure game like Uncharted, where the cinematic sequences are on par with films like National Treasure. Even though I am not playing at the moment, it’s not because I grew out of it. I never will.
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