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About Me

I am the Everyday Legend, and I am a male, 28-year old, Florida native and videogame addict (and soon-to-be father!).

Now, that's not an addict in the sense that some people are addicted to drugs, gambling or World Of Warcraft. I'm an addict from the standpoint that I am a dyed-in-the-wool controller jockey, and to back that up, I can honestly say that I own all systems that have had an American release save for six: Magnavox Odyssey, ColecoVision, Atari Jaguar, Philips CD-i, Panasonic 3DO and the SNK Neo-Geo (the last of which is the only one I'd consider punching a baby in the face to own). Every home console system outside of those six I physically own at the present time - NES (original and toploader), Sega Master System, SNES, Sega Genesis (with Sega CD and 32X addons), Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Gamecube, Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft XBOX, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft XBOX 360, and Sony PlayStation 3 - all of which can be powered on and played at will, and they are all played very regularly. I even own an original 1977 Atari 2600, the fabled "Heavy-Sixer" model built in beautiful Sunnyvale, California.

I consider myself an accomplished connoisseur of videogames, which is a really nothing more than a fancy way of saying that I'll play just about anything I can get my damn hands on. However, I do refer to my collection of assorted titles with a fair amount of pride, as while I might own a lot of things purely for their collectible value, I only spend dedicated time playing the gems of a particular console's library.

I got into gaming when I was 5, and my Aunt and Uncle had an NES that they had bought because they thought it was the coolest thing ever. As a matter of fact, they weren't too far off of the mark. I was introduced to Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt (naturally), and soon followed up with the very first Zelda. I remember the very first game I beat - Megaman 2, in 1988. I was 6, and by the time I had achieved that monumental feat, I was already leagues beyond the other kids I grew up with in terms of sheer skill with a D-Pad. I was getting phone calls in the late afternoons/early evenings to come over to a friend's house to help older siblings get past certain parts of games. I remember one time in particular - it was a Friday night in late 1990, so I had no school the next day, and one of my best friends called me up to come over and help his 14-year-old brother beat something. I went over to see what was going on, thinking that it would be a quick thing to learn and get through. The trouble was, he was playing Final Fantasy on the NES, and he was running into WarMech on the bridge to fight Tiamat late in the game. Long story short, it wasn't a quick cut-and-dry process - I ended up staying the entire weekend trying to level grind his characters and beat WarMech, only to not have him show up the next time we tried to cross the bridge, 20-25 levels of progress later (it wasn't until later that I found out that there was only a 1/250 or so chance of fighting him on that bridge).

Shortly after that, I played Street Fighter II for the first time in a local skating rink and was hooked. Bad. Like, crack-habit bad.

I remember playing against the college kids that would come in there to hang out and chill - there was a lounge connected to the place that you had to be 18 to get in - and a lot of these guys used to come in and spend a ton of time and money on playing SFII. I learned how to play from these guys, and within a year, I had become just as good as they were. I was hanging out with people almost twice my age, and conversing with them on their level about a mutual passion - and that's where I've been ever since.

Videogames don't make up my entire life: I cook, I paint, I write, I sing (now just for fun, but I have been in 4 different bands), I have a full-time job and am still attending college. Oh, and I drink when I can - nothing beats a good trip to a good bar where they serve good beer and have a good selection of good tunes. Also, chilled Junmai Ginjo (unfiltered) sake is the nectar of the gods, in case you weren't aware.

Oh, and I really, really love sushi. I can put away amounts of that stuff that some may label as borderline criminal.

But, videogames and my personal history with the medium does comprise a lot of who I am intrinsically, and what I have yet to become. The header image that is there above the blog now is of the Megaman 1-Up head - the same 8-bit image that is tattooed into the entirety of my left shoulder blade. If I ever have the good fortune to meet Keiji Inafune, I'm going to apologize for my behavior just before I give him the biggest, warmest hug I could ever give another man. Then, I'll buy him his drink of choice, and I'll spend however much time he's willing to give talking to him about life and his view of it, and how it shaped his creations - because his creations definitely helped shaped me.

As for tastes, this is what I consider to be the short-short, Cliff's Notes version of my must-play list:

Chrono Trigger
Megaman 2
Metal Gear Solid
Final Fantasy IV and VI (fuck VII and VIII)
The Guardian Legend
Crystalis
Contra
Okami (for the love of whatever god you choose to serve, play this game)
Viewtiful Joe
God Hand (not the best game, but it had serious potential)
Any Street Fighter-related game (from Capcom - accept no substitutes, except...)
Mark Of The Wolves (SNK's finest hour)
Samurai Shodown
Rival Schools/Project Justice
Rez (if you haven't played it, you're pathetic, because you really have no excuse)
Virtual ON
Guardian Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
ActRaiser
Soul Blazer
Onimusha
Toejam & Earl
Super Turrican
Gradius
Ikaruga
Axelay (Mode 7 was f'n sweet)
Sin And Punishment
Panzer Dragoon (especially Saga, oh, and Orta)
Radiant Silvergun
StarTropics
Samurai Warriors 2 (a guilty pleasure)
Tech Romancer (for the Mecha Anime buff in me)
F-Zero
Gran Turismo
Lumines
Dr. Mario
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Yoshi (the puzzle game)
Puyo Puyo
Motherfucking Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, Motherfucker
Mr. Driller
Star Wars Arcade
Star Wars: KOTOR
Ninja Gaiden
Any Capcom game with "Versus" in the title



The list could and should go on for longer, but I'll let you slide on that one. Boredom can be fatal.

So, that's it for now. That's all I have to say, and if you want to hit me up, my XBL gamertag is Everyday Legend, my PSN ID is Everyday_Legend. I'm always down to play.

See you out there.

- EL

Gamer Profile

3DS friend code:
Steam:
Battle:
PSN: Everyday_Legend
Mii:
Gamertag: Everyday Legend

Following (28)

The Curious Conundrum Of Online Douchery Everyday Legend | 11:23 AM on 05.01.2010 18 comments

I don't know what it is about the internet that makes people show their alpha-base nature. I guess it has to do with the shell of anonymity that encapsulates us all when going online, a shield made of fake names and pictures that represent some sort of aspiration or side of your real self. It allows us to reveal our most honest nature unabashedly, without fear of repercussion or consequence because, well, who's going to be able to do anything about it? It's not like they know your real name, it's not like they know where you live right down to the mailbox and two lopsided trees in the front yard. Why would someone be afraid of something that can't touch them, and if that is the case, why would they not act like an incorrigible asshat, especially if it's more "fun" that way? This principle, I've found, is no more prevalent and pervasive than in online services on videogame consoles. I seem to find some good folks every once in awhile, and they're not that few and far between in the grander scheme of things. However, just like bad experiences in a restaurant, the repulsives seem to stick in the mind far more than the decent examples of humanity online, whether it's on Live or PSN. It's not like everyone's a rampaging tan/laundry/douche fanatic with a thick northeastern accent talking about "how many sisters have you fucked, you dumb redneck," but experiences like that really ruin the flavor of the entire soup, you know? It's not like I don't talk smack online, but I do try to keep it somewhat civil - there's a not-too-fine-line that you can tread that straddles "saint" and "Satan." You can be a bit of a jerk and still have fun with it. But that line, just like all other lines, can be and most definitely will be crossed anywhere along the way. When that line is crossed, it's a sad look at how many of the population put that attitude out there into the world so willingly and without remorse or even consideration for who may be on the other side of things. Sure, I'm a southern-born-and-bred American man, but rest assured I'm no "dumb redneck." I'm a fairly articulate 27-year-old Floridian with an IQ hovering around the 170 mark, and that's not a horn I go around blowing at full volume. That's something I largely keep to myself, because I think that one's true character has a tendency to speak for itself without much provocation. This is no less true for the unsavory characters on the planet I may come into contact with, because from their actions, whether physical or auditory, they give away what they're made of inside. It's the little tells - like conversations that can't go 6.37 seconds without dropping the word "fuck" in order to express themselves, that make these avatars of the "lowest common denominator" club as easy to spot as a yellow elephant in a daycare playground. That's not to say that I'm not a fan of dropping the f-bomb, as that word gets a lot of respect from me for being the most utilitarian phrase in the entirety of the English language. But there comes a time where you have to put that aside, and actually pick up a book or two, maybe you'll even learn something about expressing yourself as something that's not a caricature of the culture that spawned you. MTV spend a hell of a lot of money doing a good enough job of that already, and here these dudes (and I use the term lightly) seem willing to do that job for the low, low cost of free. I never thought I'd do this, but I have to quote a comedian loved by "dumb rednecks" the world over. "You just can't fix stupid." - Ron White And that, as they say, is that. You could choose to beat them, or join them. Joining them in creatine-fueled hostility would be really easy to do...but kicking the ever-eternal soulshit out of all of those pricks for daring to waste the air that I breathe with their incessant prattling was so much more satisfying. I hope you guys are reading this...but the likelihood of that is pretty slim. You'd have to learn how to read first, fuckwits. Oh, and Dr. Honda says hello. Bitches. >XoD - EL