Blog Banter: My Favorite Gaming Memories
Blog Banter is a series of topics tackled by several video game bloggers, with Hawty McBloggy as the ringleader. This is my take on this month’s topic.
My earliest video game memory is the Christmas that I received an Atari 2600 from my grandparents. It had to have been 1983 or 1984, but I am not sure which year. I would have been 4 or 5. It is one of my earliest Christmas memories, and I remember begging my parents to hook it up that night, on Christmas Eve. No dice.
Later I spent countless early mornings pounding away at Pac-Man, Combat, Atari Football, and Ghostbusters on that 2600. I loved to get up early before my parents so they wouldn’t kick me off my Atari – and in retrospect, I am sure they loved it when I didn’t wake them up at an ungodly hour.
It was just a few years later that my grandfather introduced me to the NES. It was the fall of 1985 when he told me about this new video game machine he was going to buy. I begged him to get a 2600 – we could share games, I told him. He laughed and told me that the NES would be better.
Later that year he took me to Toys R Us and we bought a NES Deluxe Pack with the Zapper, ROB, Duck Hunt and Gyromite. We also picked up the original Donkey Kong – my grandfather’s favorite.
I will never forget taking that NES back to my grandparents and being completely blown away by the NES. My father and uncles came over to play Duck Hunt for hours on end. I just couldn’t believe how awesome the NES was – and I hadn’t even played SMB yet! My grandfather later bought Pro Wrestling and some other classic games for that system. I had to wait until Christmas 1986 before I got my own system. The best part: he bought me The Legend of Zelda when it first came out. What a great guy.
The funny part of the story in retrospect is that my grandfather wasn’t a huge gamer. I would guess he had never been to an arcade. He just liked toys, I suppose. Anything for fun was his attitude, whether it was RC airplanes, billiards, poker, or video games. My father and uncle both generally hate video games - that one night of Duck Hunt excluded. I am not sure why my grandfather got so excited about the NES, but I am glad he did. I will always remember my grandfather as the person who got me into video games.
My favorite recent gaming memories are all based around my great clan, now known as 8-Bit Brigade. I will admit to being a little apprehensive about playing with strangers I found over at DVDTalk. It seemed like a stupid idea. Nevertheless, I got in my first game with Canis Firebrand the morning after Halo 2’s launch. It was a tie on Burial Grounds. Probably an omen of what was to come. Lots and lots of ties in BTB!
My other favorite recent gaming memory was our first clan meet. I didn’t take a rape whistle, although I definitely considered it. It was so incredibly strange to meet these people I had been gaming with every night for well over a year. Clan meets are now one of my favorite activities of the year, and I get pretty bummed out when I miss one (like this weekend).
There you have it – my favorite gaming memories. Make sure to check out these other bloggers for their takes on the topic!
Boffman22’s Memorable Gaming Moments (Boom Stick Brigade)
I love you Intellivision! (Boom Stick Brigade)
Just how much fun LAN can be! (Cat’s Blog)
Memoirs of a Young Gamer (Gaming with Baby)
To Memory Lane and Back (Play Your Station)
Hit the Reset Button (Thoughts and Rants)
Memorable Gaming Moments (Zath Games Tech)
Becoming an Ace and Dealing With Minsc (Delayed Responsibility)
Old School, Middle School, New School (lukeshep.com)
Hawty’s Memorable Gaming Moments
Feel free to discuss here.