Video Games - My Dad Was Right

 I do not remember exactly how old I was when I got my first computer. It was somewhere between 4 and 7 years old, and I feel like it was closer to 4. I know I could read fairly well, but I started reading long before kindergarten so that does not provide me a frame of reference. I remember my first computer vividly though. My Dad gave me a Tandy 1000. 

This dream machine ran on a DOS operating system from a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk. Two drives were in place so you could boot on one and run programs from the other. I vividly remember playing Robot Wars, Marble Madness, and King's Quest from those floppies. I also remember learning how to program in BASIC and the big softcover books full of thousands of lines of code which allowed me to write my own text adventure games. I was hooked on The Vampire Wakes at Midnight even though the text scared me to death. It is probably where I came to appreciate imagination driven gaming. I think Dad expected me to have an edge in life with an early ability to type, operate a PC, and program. Little did he know he was paving the way for me to love role playing games. Parenting is full of unintended consequences. 

Long before I was modding my next PC and really getting into building and fixing old dusty machines, Nintendo and Sega began the first real console wars. That is my perception. I am sure Atari was fighting for market share when the NES hit the scene. I had an Atari (or really my parents did) connected to the living room TV, but Pitfall and Pac Man just did not capture my attention the war Mario did. I wanted a Nintendo Entertainment System. 

If you look back at commercials and ads from around the release of the NES it comes as no surprise that my young mind was sold. 

I remember my Dad hating the idea of the Nintendo. We were sitting in my bedroom when I asked for it, and he said the prophetic words," Stick with your computer. Eventually, all of those games will be available on the computer." I was a spoiled kid and was not sold on the idea. I had a joystick for my Tandy 1000 though I don't recall any games that it worked with. I continued to campaign for a Nintendo. 

My parents caved and eventually bought me a Sega Master System for my birthday. Looking back now, the Sega was the much cooler system with a variety of 3rd party games that I still have great memories of. Hang on, Safari Hunt, Choplifter, and Spy vs Spy all saw a lot of play. I put hundreds if not thousands of hours into Shinobi even though I never could get past the third boss back then. I loved my Sega Master System and built quite a library of those white plastic cases. 

My friends had the NES. I wanted one too, and eventually I got together birthday money which I am sure my parents added to to allow me to buy my own NES. It became the driving force in my life for a long time. Every good report card could yield a trip to Toys R' Us and the gift of a new Nintendo game. Ninja Gaiden and its sequels, Contra, and all of the Super Mario Bros. games kept me entertained for years. 

In fact, Nintendo was so integral a part of my growing up it was the catalyst behind forming one of the longest lasting friendships of my life. After changing schools mid year in sixth grade I found myself at a new school and like any kid I wanted to fit in and make friends. Maybe I was more successful than I felt at the time, but it seemed like a struggle. I certainly have good memories of that time in my life. The best looking back is how Dwight and I formed a friendship. 

We struck up a conversation in class. I think it was science and somehow got talking about Nintendo games. It was a popular topic in 1990. We formed a plan to walk to my house after school and Dwight would show me Final Fantasy. I had not played it, and I was always hungry for new games. 

The problem with this plan was that I completely forgot about the fact that my mother drove me to and from school every day. The bell rang. Dwight and I walked out the side door of the school and headed up the three or four blocks from the school to my house. My Mom sat in the car line completely unaware of my plans. Dwight and I got about 30 minutes to an hour of time on the NES before Mom decided to look for me at home. She was understandably in a complete panic because her idiot son had not bothered to include her in any of my plans. 

I am sure that Mom imagined me kidnapped or killed. I am also she considered murdering me herself when she came in and found us engrossed in video games. She politely sent Dwight home. I am fairly certain I was grounded from the Nintendo for a week even though Dwight loaned me Final Fantasy.  I eventually would spend thousands of hours on the original Final Fantasy game. Dwight would become my best friend and for the rest of 6th and 7th grade we rode to school together and played lots of video games including several Final Fantasy sequels. 

What got me thinking about Final Fantasy and computers? On July 28th Square Enix released the first six Final Fantasy games on Steam. They are revisions of the original with updated names for spells, weapons, and other consistency issues such as Gold being called Gil in line with the official currency of later Final Fantasy games. Thirty-One years after I first sat in front of an old CRT TV and walked into the 8 bit walls of Corelia I am still a huge fan of Final Fantasy. Those games I played then still draw me in now. In some ways I prefer them to their modern sequels. 

My Dad was right. I can play MOST of the games I love on my computer. That was my justification of spending around two grand on a high end gaming PC. I have enjoyed my laptop for gaming even though I really bought it for video and audio editing. Playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on the same machine where I blog, play Magic, edit videos for my YouTube Channel, watch videos, and listen to endless songs on iTunes is pretty cool. It got much cooler when I could play a (not emulator based) version of Final Fantasy. 

The funny thing is now I am having trouble justifying buying into a new console. I have a PS4 and a Nintendo Switch. The PS4 is not even hooked up. The Switch is gathering dust even though I bought the remastered version of Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. I have trouble being excited about much of anything for the Switch except for Mario or Zelda titles. The only exception to this are games that I can get in multiplayer adventures with the family like Diablo 3, Castle Crashers, or the Borderlands Games. 

Meanwhile, I have played through Saint's Row 2 & 3, Skyrim, Fieldrunners, Plants vs. Zombies, Chronotrigger, Dungeons and Dragons: Dark Alliance, Portal, and Strider on the laptop. Time will tell if I invest in a PS5 to play the next God of War game. It feels less than desirable to drop $600 to play one exclusive title. I am also keeping my eye on where Final Fantasy XVI lands on exclusivity. Right now it shows as a PS5 exclusive. Will I have to wait a year or longer to see it on PC or potentially Xbox Series X. 

Xbox having so much to offer my gaming machine on Game Pass is certainly attractive. Being able to boot up first Saint's Row game has to happen on Xbox 360 or one of its predecessors since it is a system exclusive title. I also look for now-Xbox-owned Bethesda to take full advantage for releases of Starfield and Elder Scrolls VI. Why wouldn't they? 

There was a time in life where I had all but abandoned video gaming for the more social role-playing games, CCGs, and board games. Between the current fears of COVID-19 variants, a lack of a social circle, and a lack of free time I limit those games to close friends and family. Sessions are few and far between. I really miss it, but I can consol myself without a console and still enjoy my Warrior, Red Magic, White Mage, and Black Mage bringing light back to the crystals. I don't even mind pressing WASD while I am doing it.