[General Discussion] Warm Fuzzy Gaming Memories

When I was little, playing video games was a rare treat. This was pre-NES (which I didn't get until middle school anyway), so a trip to the arcade was necessary for any gaming activities. Not an easy thing to do when you live in a small town with no arcade, and your mom thinks video games are a waste of time.

The games that strike the fondest memories are Dig Dug and Galaga. My first exposure to a Dig Dug machine was when I was 5-6 years old on a trip to Myrtle Beach. I was always looking for more bang for my buck (i.e., not dying within 10 seconds), and the appeal of Dig Dug is obvious; who doesn't enjoy inflating monsters and making them explode? I don't remember much else about that trip, but I remember playing Dig Dug, and for many years, that arcade at the beach was the only place I got the chance to play that game.

Galaga was a much more common machine, but I remember it most vividly because our local grocery store (Food Town, later Food Lion) had a cabinet. I've got no idea why a grocery store would put in an arcade machine, as I almost never saw anyone playing it, but every time we'd go shopping, I'd pester my mom for a quarter so I could play. The machine disappeared and the store closed a few years later, but I still remember why I used to enjoy grocery shopping when I was little.

Anyone else have fond memories of gaming when you were little? I'm not talking about when you hosed some n00bs in Halo last week or the first time you played your PSP; the kind of memories I'm refering to are when you were young enough not to take gaming for granted.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Similarly, I always looked forward to playing the X-Men and Simpsons beat-em ups every time I went on vacation. Not quite the same on an emulator...You have to be there.

For about 4 years, I would spend every weekend night at the local arcade with a bunch of friends playing Marvel vs Capcom 1, and then 2. They had shit for a selection (outside of Hydro Thunder), so it was about 10 of us, all scrunched up and playing or watching the screen. Then new ownership bought the place and immediately shut it down. About a year later, I actually spoke to the owner and flipped him the bird to his face in the middle of the store he opened in place of the arcade...Very satisfying to call someone like that an asshole to their face.

For home games, it was always about the rentals (especially SNES). Friday night meant a trip to the video store, an hour of seeing what was available (to my dad's chagrin) and 2 days (and nights!) of playing said games afterwards. I know I rented Megaman 7, Simcity, Kendo Rage, Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Lufia 2 and Chrono Trigger multiple times and ones like Darius Twin, Plok and Sporting News Baseball (a surprisingly fun game) I remembered long after trying them out. For the longest time (until prices came down), I probably owned a total of 6 SNES games. In fact, I remember digging for coins to cough up the money to buy FF3 new, since I had to have it after playing most of the dark world scenarios (I managed to score Chrono Trigger for $20 at a blockbuster liquidation sale, thankfully...FF3 tapped me out)

And I actually remember the first time playing an NES...My parents were in talks with a couple about buying a piano, while their kids had an NES hooked up. I had been used to joysticks (arcade and Atari), so I distinctly remember dying at the first goomba because of the pad. Then I remember being in total awe of seeing one of the kids there make it to *gasp* level 1-3! That level is still something of a miniature holy grail because of that. I don't think we ever used the damn piano, but I definitely remember the NES part. I also remember Metroid was the first NES cartridge I bought and I actually didn't like it, since I couldn't figure out where to go. That's changed....

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Arcades were an extreme luxury fun time event for me too. We lived in the middle of nowhere, our town didn't have a cinema or a McDonalds, let alone an arcade. All the cool kids hung out at the general store/fish and chip joint, seriously, because it was basically the only thing around. So pretty much every weekend a bunch of us would get together, flaunt our pocket money and take the bus (WHICH WAS AN EXCITING THING!) to the next town over, which had things. Like a cinema, a McDonalds, an arcade, a mall for them all to sit in, a beach of some sort, chewing gum on the sidewalks. And we'd have a blast pissing away our money on stuff like Street Fighter, Hard Drivin' (this was amazing fun even though you'd be lucky to last a minute), co-op heaven games like Turtles, Total Carnage, Simpsons, an awesome selection of pinball machines, the LEGENDARY Daytona USA in link-up mode. <3 We'd all turn into hyperactive ultra nerd twits when they got a new machine in. Like seriously we'd walk in and one of us would instantly spot something new and WHOOOOA JESUS FUCKING CHRIST I CAN'T OPEN MY WALLET FAST ENOUGH.

Before this sort of chaos went on, warm fuzzy memories involve some new kids moving in down the road, which was unheard of for such an area, and they had a Master System. That was mind blowing stuff, because I only had a 2600 at that time. Games with music in them! Games that scrolled! Sleep overs a plenty. The obsession was born!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I remember first being exposed to video games through my cousin. He didn't live too far from me and my brother and myself loved watching him play whenever we would come over. He owned an NES and several games, one notable one was Super Mario Bros. 3. he was He was pretty good at it and because of him, I learned the majority of the warps available in the game that would come to good use in my later years of gaming.

Years would pass and gaming would evolve. My last memory of him before he went M.I.A. against our family was buying me and my brother Dreamcast games. Two good ones in particular, Soul Calibur and Sonic Adventure. After that, a good majority of my family members didn't see him... It wasn't until earlier this year that he got into an accident and was forced to face the family he had been avoiding these many years. It was almost 7 years that he had avoided us... I never did find out why though.

Minus that last part, I do consider it a fuzzy gaming moment of mine. Because of him, I was introduced into the world of video games. And he bought me Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast. It can't get much better than that.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?