LunarAura
[09] Warrior
I'm curious to see if you have any experiences in gaming that you'll remember because of its significance in your life. Here's a few of mine. (warning: LONG!)
- Original GameBoy packed in with Tetris: This was the good ol' days. My mom and dad both worked awful jobs for their meager wage. This Christmas present cost them $89.99 + tax back in 1989 (which is like $148.70 today money). Opening the box revealed the GameBoy, Tetris with a GAMEPAK CASE not some flimzy plastic baggie thing (holy shit amirite?), Stereo Headphones, FOUR MOTHERF*ING BATTERIES and maybe a leprechaun I don't really remember but it was awesome. I really wanted a NES for Christmas because it was on TV and color but they probably got me this instead so there wouldn't be fights over who got the one TV in the house. Thank goodness, because gaming anywhere and anytime beat the pants off of gaming in color if and when a TV was available.
- Secret of Mana: This was the first game I played during the first time I ever had a friend's house to go to after school. It felt badass playing together and the graphics/sound were and still are awesome. It's in my top 5 games of all time.
- Import Dreamcast: Any allowance I saved over the years went out the window March 1999 when I blew $430 on this (no modem), Marvel vs. Capcom, and the Agetec Arcade Stick. The closest thing to arcade perfect I ever got before this was Killer Instinct on the SNES. It felt nice to see MvC or MvC2 in the arcade and think "heh, I got that. Sweet". I imported MvC2, Soul Calibur, Code Veronica, and REZ just to name a few. Of note was the japanese Dreamcast magazine that came free. It had previews of Soul Calibur and DoA2 with a very non-pockmarked Tomonobu Itagaki without his shades. Has it already been 10 years? Wow...
- Xbox: Back in 2001, Microsoft held a 48-hour event called Xbox Unleashed to spread the brand around in LA and NY. Of course, I attended the LA one with my friend. Friend felt ill and had to call it quits after hour 20 I think. I kept on competing and by the end of the event landed 10th place on the giant screen and got to be in both the stage with the people who placed and the people who "also" stayed the whole event without getting any sleep (I say "also" because I saw a few of them catch some Z's in the Citywalk's movie theater). At hour 48, the event crew was giving stuff away and someone handed me a 30-pack bottles of SoBe. Seeing as my family was out of state and I had no ride home, I figured I'd have to call a cab. By luck, one of the MS event reps saw me and knew by my worn-out event bracelet or my pleasant eau de gamer scent that I wasn't going to drive home. He asked me if, on his expense, I wanted to take a cab home or stay at a hotel (umm, durr...). I left the SoBe and limped to the hotel (I don't remember if he handed me a card for the front desk or what, I was dead tired) where I just fainted. 13 hours later I get a wakeup call so I finally took a much needed shower (change of clothes courtesy of event swag) and headed down the lobby. Sunday was champagne brunch day and being so sick of chicken quesadillas I sneak my way in. I chat it up with a SoBe rep and he gave me 20 coupons for free SoBe (lol it's like the stash I left behind now in convenient coupon form). Come time to pay the bill I decide to push my luck and charge it to my room. After "checking to confirm", they allowed it. Where the hell am I getting with this? Because two weeks later they mail me an Xbox before the official launch and a card saying "Thanks for coming!" You kidding me? I should be thanking you! Months later I softmodded it and FTP'ed emulators and games.
- Okami: Previewed this at E3 '06 and just had to have it. One quote in particular struck my heart given my situation. "Life is all about resolve. Outcome is secondary. It is resolve that determines the value of your life." It was the last game I played through before going back to school and repairing my 0.6 GPA. It's now 3.6. Not saying that it means anything but at least I proved to myself that I could.