Aaron

Bioshock 2, Bayonetta, and LAN parties of Halo 3 with the 'mates on three HDTV's, one that my friend just bought. 46 inch Sony, mm mmm.

They named the dog Indiana.

Space cowboy name: Bucky Goldstein, lover extraordinaire to the cosmos.

I pleasure nympho nurses who have a thing for cowboys, hassidic jews, and zero g lovin'.

My room mate wearing a gas mask and coming at me with a pick axe. He was on LSD and thought I was a zombie. Good guy.

I game in gym shorts and baggy old band T-shirts, my favorite is my Marilyn Manson shirt from 1997. Oh how the years have weathered him...

I am currently entangled in Arkham Asylum, and I'm probably going to get Diabolical Box as a reward for my studious nature in this the year of our lord and saviour semester 2009.

And then it's a game known as "flip the pages, read the words, pray to past the test."

Sadly, I never got to own a Genesis until I was starting up my game collecting hobby at the age of 19. But I knew I had to own one the day I sat down with it; I remember it fondly:

My uncle had a Genesis because his family was the type to have what ever was hip and happening with out really appreciating what they had (I know, I'm bitter about it, but only because they had a PSX on launch day and never beat ANY of their games... that was my job). I sat down in his family's dark, well decorated basement and drooled over the cartridge of Jurassic Park. I plugged it into the old 28 in. (or was it 32?) CRT with wood cabinet (yeah, the stuff that memories are made out of) and had a ball playing Dr. Grant. I could only get to the second level because my little brain was still developing AND I had such a blast enjoying those lush, green jungle colors. Plus, throwing grenades at the dinosaurs was too much fun.

Over subsequent visits to my uncle's house, I played more and more games (I knew that his family was getting the impression that I was only coming over for their video games and that I wasn't doing enough "socialising" with the family, but who the fuck cared when you have a plethora of games compared to the lack there of at my own home). I took a shine to the Disney games, i.e. Lion King and Jungle Book, and would trade off controllers with my cousin to get past certain areas. Suffice to say, I was tasting gaming bliss.

Family visits to me were an excuse to exploit my uncle for Sega. Family reunions were spent in that dark basement, trying very hard to beat the final incarnation of Dr. Eggman, only emerging to the surface for food and the forced mingling of the rest of the family. The Genesis proved to be a corner stone in the foundation that would later erect itself into a full blown hobby/obsession. It began what will probably never end.

The culmination of these play sessions eventually led my parents, probably because they felt embarrassed that their son was being the "anit-social" one of the breed, to offer me a deal. If I come up with half the money over the summer of '96, my parents would front the other half for me to have my very own video game console. I had my heart set on a Genesis, Vector man just looked awesome; but that cold, rainy day spent walking the isles of my local Toys 'r' Us led me to the demo kiosk of a Playstation. I stood in awe at the graphics. The textures. The smoothness of the polygons on screen. The very fact that it was in FULL 3-D! I fell in love and was a purchase that I never regretted, even though I had easily shrugged off the beauty of old that nurtured me for something new and unknown, a more competent friend that pushed my gaming even further than what I thought I could imagine.

The rest, they say, is history. When I look back now on those days of old, with all those hours trying my best to beat Sonic 1,2, and 3 (and Knuckles), I laugh at it. I laugh because it was innocence, and I laugh because of how dead-set I was on playing those games over sharing memories with the fam. I eventually bought my very own, at the age of 19, but it didn't have the flair I remember it having. It came in a cellophane wrapping, the controller and cords pushed up against the console like a person pushed up against the wall in a cramped subway car. Compared to the Xbox 360 and Wii and all the other gaming consoles I have amassed over the years, it was just a reminder of what I thought was golden, but now is led.

I still play it from time to time, but most, if not all, of my attention goes to 360, Wii, DS, PSP, GC, PS2, XBOX, etc., but I'll never forget those memories, deep in the dank living room of my uncle's basement, playing games, feeling happiness within myself while the rest of the world kept itself busy with out me.

The End.

I agree with Saria the Cat. I feel EA has gone a little too far with some of the ways they have been promoting Dante's Inferno. So much so now that it has soiled the good name of the poem by associating it with shallow sex appeal and demeaning of people's morals.

I WAS going to play Bioshock again as a refresher, but since Bioshock 2 got pushed back I'm playing other games to bring me up to speed on what I'm buying this holiday. The first three Splinter Cell games (in preparation for Badass: The Game), Assassin's Creed, and Modern Warfare. Not going to tackle all of that in one weekend, but I sure as hell can try. Most likely I'll just play the first SC with a lite helping of Bioshock.

Lemmings. That is my default game for my PSP. But a close second is portal, followed by tetris, and Braid rounding it all out.