My childhood basically plays as a timeline of the games I played, when I look back. My dad bought an NES the year I was born so he could have an excuse to own something my mom considered a toy, so I grew up with Nintendo and then Sony consoles every year of my life. Gamer dads are awesome.Â
It's cliché as all hell, but Ocarina of Time was my formative game. I was honestly far too young to appreciate the earlier Zelda titles. Ocarina of Time was the first game that made me cry. It had themes about the bittersweetness and loss of growing up that I still get chills about looking back. I still get choked up when I think about seeing Saria again as an adult--I dunno why it hit me in the feels so much, but it did. The technical and thematic sophistication of that game really stood out to me for the first time as a kid the same way my favorite books and movies did.Â
Other than that, my formative gaming memories are social ones from elementary school and with my dad--trading Pokémon with buddies at school, inviting friends over after school to play Rogue Squadron or Mario Kart on the 64... Trying to get 120 stars before my dad did on his save file in Mario 64... And then the more solitary memories of the PS1 and PS2 RPGs and horror games that I came to love but didn't have anyone to share them with (somehow all my friends became Counterstrike and Halo zombies in middle school).
Growing up with video games is awesome. It's really like having a whole vast array of beautiful places to explore and play in as a child. If my husband and I ever decide to have kids, I'm definitely following my dad's example. : )
It's cliché as all hell, but Ocarina of Time was my formative game. I was honestly far too young to appreciate the earlier Zelda titles. Ocarina of Time was the first game that made me cry. It had themes about the bittersweetness and loss of growing up that I still get chills about looking back. I still get choked up when I think about seeing Saria again as an adult--I dunno why it hit me in the feels so much, but it did. The technical and thematic sophistication of that game really stood out to me for the first time as a kid the same way my favorite books and movies did.Â
Other than that, my formative gaming memories are social ones from elementary school and with my dad--trading Pokémon with buddies at school, inviting friends over after school to play Rogue Squadron or Mario Kart on the 64... Trying to get 120 stars before my dad did on his save file in Mario 64... And then the more solitary memories of the PS1 and PS2 RPGs and horror games that I came to love but didn't have anyone to share them with (somehow all my friends became Counterstrike and Halo zombies in middle school).
Growing up with video games is awesome. It's really like having a whole vast array of beautiful places to explore and play in as a child. If my husband and I ever decide to have kids, I'm definitely following my dad's example. : )
