Role-Playing Games are the glue that ties my connections to people and virtual worlds. They’ve been a guiding light during my online experiences, and there’s a pretty clear point by point path from my introduction to the dice based hobby in the summer of ’92 to the finding myself sitting at my desk and writing this post. This one gets a little heavy at times so be prepared.
Check it out! The Dragonstrike VHS! Sweet.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was and is the go to system for fun and perfection in the gaming universe. These claims are colored entirely by nostalgia, a statement I will easily admit. The games were my baseboard for story, adventure, and fun. Having recently read the book Console Wars recently, my view on that world has shifted a bit but I still find that time probably my favorite time in gaming.
It’s a great read and I highly recommend it. I’m super biased as it covers a very dear time to me in my life, but the impact of corporate politics and how they drive the world of entertainment is a great reason to check it out.
The early days of personal computing were an interesting time for our family. Doom, Duke Nukem, Zork, and various other text adventure games setup my gaming roots on the PC. It’s a pity I didn’t get the programming love as early as my brother Lyle did, but we did spend a lot of time using the computer as a backup when the gaming specific boxes were taken up.
Whoa! DurisMUD is still around! (this is even true in 2024, when we’re reuploading this, wow!)
The original Nintendo in all it’s glory was the connecting glue between my brothers and me as a gamer and a gaming community. The experiences with Zelda, Samus Aran, Mario, and co helped me get a grasp on stories, group play, and fun with family. We probably went through 3-4 NES’s through the system’s life cycle, and I can’t tell you how many hours were wasted blowing dust off the connectors just to get a game working.
Yeah! Metroid!
My foundation in games comes from the broken remains of my father’s computer business during the 1980’s. We had scores of Atari games and a number of consoles just sitting around waiting to be played. These early games and the experience around them set the stage for me becoming a gamer and my life connecting to be in the virtual worlds.
I was wrong! The game wasn’t called Tank, it was called Combat:
Also, yay trade wars!
Welcome to the first episode of the 2014 Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge. This series is a 30 day event running from July 31, 2014 to August 29, 2014. For this year’s events I’m attempting a run at a theme I’ve been considering for some time, Virtual Realms and their effect on my life. I’ve been a gamer from as long as my hands could grab a joystick and slam a button, and while I haven’t played every system I’ve touched the keystones of what most “80’s Kids” would consider important. For the next 30 days I’ll be walking through the properties, machines, and communities that make up my life.
