I think a lot of people who were born in the 90s grew up playing a lot of video games. It’s not really a unique trait of mine, although I think my sustained passion for video games as an adult might be a little bit more “my own”. The 2000s was a really exciting spot in history to watch technology develop. Seeing the generational leaps back then was a trip and since things like TechTV/G4 were on TV and E3 was still around, video games felt really special. Video games still feel special. I never “grew out of it” in any way, not even for a second. I don’t think I ever will. Video games are a lovely way to spend time.
I’m 100% certain that the first video game console I had unrestricted access to was an original fat Gameboy. And I only point out how certain I was because I am never certain of anything. I have extremely poor memory. But I know that my mom had this Gameboy.
Over the course of this console’s lifespan and that of the green GameBoy Pocket that followed it had the following games: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Killer Instinct, Yoshi’s Cookies, Ninja Gaiden Shadow… What else… Ah. This was awhile ago.
I have an extremely precious and vivid memory of coming home from school one day to the mind-obliterating world-shattering surprise that my mom had somehow obtained not only a PlayStation, but a small CRT to go with it. She was sitting in the floor playing Spyro. And that TV and PlayStation eventually ended up in my room, which only further obliterated and shattered my mind and world respectively. I ended up looping Monty Python and the Holy Grail on that thing for like… Weeks non-stop. It helped me sleep. I still like to fall asleep watching or listening to something. I never got the whole “electronics before bed keeps you awake” thing. Electronics don’t keep my awake. My brain keeps me awake. Anyway uh.
A PlayStation is a really fantastic thing to have. When I was a kid I think the main things that saw playtime were Digimon: Digital Card Battle, Digimon Rumble Arena, Megaman Legends, Spyro 1 and 3, Crash Bandicoot 1 and 3… Why didn’t we get the second games in series? Weird. I had this game called uh… Assault: Retribution. That one kicked ass. And even in 2026, I’m still playing PlayStation games. Finally getting around to finishing Final Fantasy VII.
I don’t remember where on the timeline I got my hands on a Gameboy Advance but that was another heavy hitter. Pokémon Ruby, Red Rescue Team, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland, Metroid Zero Mission. The Gameboy Advance was also the first console I really dug into when I figured out how emulation worked.
I had a GameCube around the same time I have the GBA, and a Link Cable to match. I never really “got” what the Tingle Tuner did (I have moments of genuinely astonishing ignorance) but I liked how Sonic Adventure 2 let you load a Chao into your GBA’s RAM and take it on a little day trip.
I had the original Nintendo DS followed by the blue and black DS Lite, ended up skipping the DSi and didn’t get a 3DS until pretty late in its lifespan. I remember playing a lot of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on that badboy during the one year I went to college. I majored in Sound Engineering.
I built my first computer while I was in college, I think I was given the money to build it as an “advance” for my first serious writing job. An extremely generous sign-on bonus from my boss at the time, a man who would continue to be extremely kind and generous to me over a span of many years. I guess I spent a few years being a die-hard PC gaming advocate after that but as things stand now I think consoles have an important place. I like that when I buy a game on console I don’t have to mess with the settings, I tend to mess with settings a bit more than I should. And it seems like things “break” a lot more often on PC. Drivers are annoying. And parts are expensive.
I spent a few years very excited about Nintendo. I’m less excited about them now. I’ve been pretty excited about Sony for the last few years, but that’s waning a bit too. These days I’m primarily concerned with catching up on the decades of JRPGs that I neglected to play growing up.
There are a lot of other series and games that are worth mentioning that I’m not sure where to put. As a little kid there were two separate friends I would visit regularly that each had a Nintendo 64 so I was exposed to Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, Mario 64, Pokemon Stadium, Goldeneye, and Mario Party as a kid. I always really loved Guitar Hero and Rock Band. I especially loved Guitar Hero Live, a video game that literally no one has ever spoken kindly of on the internet. The 6-button controller was a huge deal for me. I remember accidentally sitting right on one of those controllers once at a party and snapped that thing clean in half. I had to go to the other room for a second to quietly have a meltdown before rejoining the festivities.
I’ve played a lot of the various competitive multiplayer games over the years, almost exclusively at the lowest possible rank. I’ve been hardstuck in Bronze in Overwatch for a literal decade. There are fewer people in my rank than there are in Grandmaster. Imagine how bad I was playing Amumu in League of Legends. I’m actually alright at Rocket League. I can consistently wipe out entire Fortnite lobbies in No Build because that game is available on many devices that should not be used to play video games and is played by many people who either cannot or choose not to fire any of the electric in their brains that makes their thumbs shoot me.
I’ve enjoyed many FromSoftware games thanks to the patience and guidance of my friend Arron. I’ve completed several JRPGs. I’ve played a lot of Pokémon, now I mainly just play romhacks of the GBA games. I like racing games, particularly Wipeout. I enjoy Guilty Gear but I am too incompetent to really play it in any capacity. Faust is my guy. I’ve played a few dozen hours of all of the various high-polish AAA gacha games that have been popping up since Genshin Impact hit it off, those are always fun until the progression slows way down. I wish there were more games like that with proper co-op. I wish there were a lot more co-op RPGs in general, although calling all of these gacha games RPGs is… Not correct. I think maybe one or two of them are actually RPGs in any way.
I’ve played many Kingdom Hearts games. I’ve played a lot of Gundam games. I enjoy some strategy games, both real-time and tactical, but I struggle with both. I’m most at home in the “free play” modes. I enjoy horror games but I’m not great with environmental puzzle solving so I get stuck a lot. I love Doom II. I played a lot of jank shareware as a kit. I unironically love Five Nights at Freddy’s. Half Life 2 is an undeniable masterpiece. SUPERHOT kicks ass. Sean Murray lied so much during the marketing push for No Man’s Sky. I’m proud of what the game is now but jesus he told so many lies. Beat Hazard is cool as hell. I like Cave Story. BIT.TRIP is a good series. F.E.A.R. and its sequel have aged like I imagine wine ages (I have never had wine that anyone claimed to have been aged and I don’t read labels). I’m completely disinterested in Grand Theft Auto VI. Death Stranding 2 is possibly my favorite single video game. It’s hard to say. Warframe might actually be my favorite video game. I really like Warframe. You should go play Warframe right now.
Today I decided to try out the new indie game Denshattack! and ended up glued to it on stream for four hours. This blog will probably concern itself primarily with older video games, but I think I might have a lot to say about Denshattack! once I’ve spent my time with it. I’m also looking forward to talking a little bit about Final Fantasy VII and its remake later on this year. Thanks for reading. Check back soon. If you read this far it really only makes sense to bookmark this page, follow me on Twitch, and join my Discord. I would gladly make posts answering any questions people might have and I think Discord is likely the best place to reach me. Thanks again.