I love Gaming.
You may be reading this and thinking 'Damn Hannah I love gaming too!' in which case 'GREAT!' You'll agree with me when I say that I absolutely love blowing off steam with a good game and letting the stress go whilst shooting someone online (It's a good feeling I promise.) That's why I want to talk a bit about why I love my PS3 so much and why I only really got into gaming at a later age even though I've played as long as I remember.
As a 90s kid the SEGA and Nintendo 64 ruled supreme. Looking back I remember playing Aladdin, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Lion King and Streets of Rage at after school clubs and at friends houses for hours on end without any regard for time or letting someone else have a shot (yeah I was one of those.) Whilst I was only about 8 years old and very much preocupied with Barbies and other girly things, there was something about playing games consoles that I just loved from the word go, not to mention my generation was somehow born knowing how to set up a games console into the TV so gaming just seemed to ring true to me.
Growing up the Gameboy was a staple for kids my age and a boss ass Pokemon save could guarantee you popularity at Golden Time on a Friday at school. Pokemon is probably the first memory I have of a 'cult game following' but Pokemon Yellow and it's subsequent releases seemed to rule the playground at my school. At 10 I found myself suddenly begging my parents for a Gameboy for my Birthday just so that I could get involved and low and behold my first ever Gameboy Advance complete with Pokemon Silver arrived on July 4th 2002, thanks Mum and Dad.Whilst I was late to the Pokemon party I was instantly hooked and I always have fond memories when I see Pokemon today. It was the first game I ever fully committed myself to and to this day I have a Pokemon emulator on my PC should I have a moment I find myself pining for the good old days.
Moving on through highschool I continued to try out all sorts of games and consoles. My Rayman phase came and went closely followed by Spyro and Crash Bandicoot and then a friend introduced me to what I still believe is one of the greatest games of all time. Final Fantasy 9.
To sum up my addiction to this game, I remember sitting in my 2nd year English class staring at the clock and dreaming of going home to play it. It's one of the only games I can say that I am almost a master at I've played it that many times but the first time I sat and watched my friend play it I remember thinking the graphics were out of this world. I'd also never played turned based RPG but to this day it's my favourite genre of game and I've not found one yet that I'm not in love with.
Final fantasy 9 and my newly acquired PS2 were now getting me seriously hooked on games. Moving on through the years and classics such as GTA San Andreas became staples in kids lives (I still have my copy) and I got immersed in Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. One Christmas when I was 17 I got my family a Wii to hopefully get them involved but it turned out to be a present that I pretty much bought myself and they continued to go on wondering what gaming was giving me that provided so much satisfaction.
The thing is, whilst what I've written previously tells a tale of a girl who gained serious enjoyment from hours spent levelling, battling and catching em all the truth is that this all pales in contrast to the gaming addiction I have now at the age of 23. I hold media platforms such as YouTube and Twitch responsible for the monster that I have become but at the same time it's opened my eyes to the opportunities gaming can offer.
I currently live in a day and age where DOTA competitions sell out arenas and earn spots on news broadcasts, online there are thousands of dedicated streamers who earn money for the work they put into speed running and providing us with enjoyable content. YouTubers endlessly put out walkthrough videos and Sim House builds that exceed everyones expectations in regards to creativity and I sit here infront of my computer at their mercy, totally soaking it all up and applying it to my own in game experiences.
You have to remember that when I was young you bought walkthrough books if you wanted to know the ins and outs of a game but now each new release comes with it's own dedicated YouTube channels and streamers who do all the hard work for you and then some. Everything you could want to read or watch on a game is more accessible than ever and I personally lap it up. If I can't be bothered physically playing a game I get great enjoyment out of watching a playthrough online or a Twitch streamer speedrunning. It's the things dreams are made of, these are people who are lucky enough to play games and get paid for it!
What I want you, the person reading this to take away from this post is that my love of gaming comes from the fact that it has constantly evolved with me as I have grown up. It's something that I feel has always been there and when I look at people online who also have such a great love of it the ages suggest that it's part of being a millenial. We are the kids who just got it's potential.
Today I may spend hours watching streamers and money on playstation store but gaming to me is just the perfect destresser (if that's a word) after whatever the days thrown at me. I have nothing but fond memories of the hours I've dedicated to grinding on FF10 and I'm definitely not sorry for the precious early teen years The Sims 2 stole from me (seriously, that shit was crazy addictive and robbed kids of hours outside in the sun.) The point in this blog post is that whilst I may love fashion and collect lipsticks an equal part of me actually loves sitting in jammies and playing a good game whilst simultaneously watching PewDiePie and that's awesome.
To round this up I guess I'd say that this particular post is just something different I wanted to write about and share with you all. Some of you may even be like me and find yourself in your work dreaming of getting infront of your games consoles when you get home so if you are feel free to share your memories of gaming growing up and if you still play becauseI'd love to hear it!
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