They say age is nothing, but a number. And when it comes to playing video games, they couldn't be more right. I am 35 years old with a wife and 2 kids and I still play video games. For as long as I can still breathe, I will continue to play video games.
Most of my life, I have played video games. It was a part of how I grew up and influenced the way I have become. I remember the days of playing games like Pong or Adventure on the Atari 2600, the one with the fake wood paneling. It was so revolutionary to interact with the television. Granted, it was primitive in comparison to today's standards. You were controlling nothing more than a block of color that interacted with other blocks. It evolved to a blocky car or plane or block person. But playing countless hours of video games developed my hand-eye coordination and other physical skills.
Later, it was game playing with the Commodore 64 with more improved graphics and sounds. Ultima III and IV were great games on this platform. The non-linear game play with a lot of searching for items, problem solving, and tactics developed my imagination and mental skills. Playing games on the Commodore, helped me gain computer skills and peaked my interests in technology.
Besides playing at home, I went to the arcades in the malls to play games with my brothers or friends. How can one not like playing Gauntlet with their three brothers at the same time? I get to hang out with people and socialize at the arcades. If it wasn't for arcades, I would have joined a gang. I am just kidding, but you never know. But times has changed as game consoles evolved phasing out the arcades to obscurity or the local Chuck E. Cheese.
I strayed from most gamers in that I never owned a PC. I played games on my older brother's Apple Macintosh Classic II back when when Macintoshes were shunned. That is how I became a Mac user. I am a still playing games on an Apple Macintosh to this day.
I went through a dark period when I was at college where I didn't play much video games since I didn't own a computer or console while away. But once I graduated I went back to gaming and it got better when my brother got a Sega Genesis. Then later it was the Nintendo 64 with GoldenEye when my brothers and I can duke it out with each other with guns, mines, and grenades. Years went on with the Nintendo GameCube. We played for hours in the basement. My brothers and I grew very close from playing games together. To this day, I still play games with my brothers online or when I visit them at their homes. Since we now live apart, we bond on games like Halo or Nintendo Smash Brothers when we have a gathering.
I am impressed how games had evolved since when I was young. I am always staying current with technology and games give me a way to do that. People think that video games are a waste of time. I agree to an extent if you play games most of your waking hours and some of your sleeping hours as well. But it helps me deal with the stress of the real world. I have to deal with bills, a mortgage, caring for my kid's needs, a job where I am most likely never going to get promoted, and a wife that spends too much money. Just for an hour or two, I can forget all that. I can forget that I am an office drone who matters to nobody, and be a hero to a village attacked by orcs or zombies. Let me enjoy a fantasy for a short while.
Anyway, I have to go as I have to kick some Rogue Jedi's butt on my Wii.