Why Gearhead and Gamer? Part 1: Gamer

This probably should have been part of the first entry of this blog, but I figured that this entry would be better late than never.

With that said, why is this blog about cars and video games? Well, cars and video games happen to be the two things I am most interested in right now, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.

So to get things started, I'll start off with what I became interested in first: video games.

When I was a little kid, my parents had a Nintendo Entertainment System. I remember watching my dad play it a lot. I was very entertained, to say the least. However, I did not play it that much. It wasn't until later in 1994 when my parents decided to get a Super Nintendo for my older brother and I. From that point, my video gaming hobby kicked off.


Super Mario World on Super Nintendo (image from IGN)

My older brother and I played Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Mario Kart, and others for hours on end. I remember one morning specifically when we played Donkey Kong Country for 3-4 hours straight which got us grounded for playing so much in one sitting.

Fast forward a bit and the Nintendo 64 came out in 1996. My brother and I had been subscribers to Nintendo Power for quite a while at this point and we were both really excited about the N64, because games weren't just 2-D like they were on SNES. They decided to add another dimension and make the games 3-D! The first game we had on that system was Mario Kart 64 and that game today, is still one of the best games there ever was, as is Goldeneye on N64 (if you disagree, then you must be from the 'newer generation' of gamers, which is too bad ;) ).


Final Fantasy VII combat screenshot (found using Google image search)

One year goes by and it's now 1997 and my brother and I had since picked up some computer games here and there. My brother and I tried out Red Alert on the PC and enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, we both thought it comical when infantry would be electrocuted by the tesla coils simply because the little electrified skeleton animation seemed humorous at the time (we're not sadistic people, I assure you). But then Final Fantasy VII came out for the PC. Aside from playing a bit Earthbound and Mario RPG, I had not had much exposure to the role-playing game (RPG) genre. Final Fantasy VII though, made me a true fan of the genre. It was also around this time that my brother and I picked up Final Fantasy III (FF VI in Japan) on SNES. From this point, I was a huge fan of the Final Fantasy series, and it has not disappointed me thus far with the exception of Final Fantasy XI as it unfortunately went the way of pay-to-play massively multiplayer online games.

Then in 1998 something big happened. Up until this point, my experience as a gamer had only been steadily growing. However, it was in this year I downloaded a demo for Starcraft at my aunt's apartment (she had access to Indiana University's broadband connection, back when broadband internet wasn't something everyone had. Crazy, right?). The demo had a few levels and I was instantly hooked. Soon after trying the demo I begged my parents to buy me the full copy of the game. I played through the campaign rather quickly and with that out of the way, I began to play Starcraft online.


Starcraft box art (found using Google image search)

Starcraft was the first game I ever played online with other people. The experience was so different and it was a lot of fun. Playing games online is what really got things going for me as a gamer. It was what made me learn about computer hardware and how computers worked, because all I wanted to do was figure out ways to make my computer run games better, to give me the competitive edge online against other players.

With that said, the next big game after Starcraft came along in 2000 when my older brother introduced me to Counter-Strike, the Half-Life modification. I started playing when CS was still in beta 6, back when the M4 still had a zoom and had an non-removable silencer on it. For all the new-generation gamers, you probably all still think I'm speaking gibberish. Anyway, Counter-Strike, aside from Starcraft, became my biggest distraction in online gameplay and was yet another game I spent playing online for hours on end. It was primarily with Counter-Strike that I found myself trying to tweak and upgrade my computer, as Starcraft didn't require too much computing power to run really well.

Since then, I played Team Fortress Classic online a lot in addition to CS, but then things were essentially steady from there, with a lot of games here and there. It was mostly TFC, CS, and Starcraft. And now all of those games (with the exception of Starcraft) have come out with sequels or updated versions with updated graphics. I've become much more knowledgeable about computer hardware and software since then and am even pursuing a college degree which focuses on information technology, all because of games like Starcraft and Counter-Strike.


Tribes 2 (found using Google image search)

I should mention though, that I did play Starsiege: Tribes a LOT. When Tribes 2 came out, my computer would barely run it. I played the Tribes games a lot and I wish they were still being played more today. These games were simply awesome. You played as a soldier with plenty of weapons and explosives and you had a jetpack! Does it get much better than that? The Tribes games are the ones I probably miss the most, simply because no one really seems to play them anymore (at least not nearly as much as they used to).

Right now, I primarily play Day of Defeat: Source and Left 4 Dead. On the side though, I play Final Fantasy (VII, IX, X, and XII), Red Alert 3, Gears of War 2, and of course Starcraft (and its expansion, Brood War).

So there you have it, some history of how I became a gamer and why I'm even in to gaming at all. The next big thing I'm looking most forward to is, surprise, Starcraft II. The first Starcraft really set the stage for me when it came to playing games online and learning about computers (and it's just an awesome game, that I still play sometimes), so naturally I'm excited to play the second game too.

Aside from Starcraft II, I'm very excited for Diablo III and Final Fantasy XIII and the PS3 exclusive Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Overall, my all-time favorite games (not in order of preference):
-Starcraft
-Final Fantasy VI
-Final Fantasy VII
-Final Fantasy IX
-Final Fantasy X
-Goldeneye on N64
-Mario Kart 64

Next time for part 2, I'll discuss how I became so interested in cars. Classes start tomorrow, so I'm not sure when that will come along. Once I figure out what's going on in my classes I'll be able to figure out an actual schedule for updating this blog.

-G&G Allen

And Still coming (who knows when):
-Comments on Edmunds.com InsideLine's comparison test between the BMW 135i and Nissan 370Z.
-Is Honda going the way of Toyota?
-Fanboys and their belief that they all have the best thing since sliced bread. Who's right?