From Halo to Homeworld.

"Were you on Halo last Night?"
No, I was gripped on Homeworld.

This is a story of my journey through Video Game history. How I got from Gears of War to Grim Fandango.

My first console was an Xbox, the 5th game I played on said Xbox was Halo. Now I was too poor to get a N64 or even a Playstation, or anything that preceded it. I made do with my dad's computer, playing snake, battle zone and asteroids. Soon I was owning my own games, such as Age of empires and Rogue Squadron. But after that it was just playing demo's.

Years and years later, I got an Xbox for a present, recommended by a friend. Let me tell you, an Xbox is not a bad first console to have. Gradually, I grew apart from the old PC and went into shooters for the Xbox.


From Fable to Freespace.

This trend continued into the next generation, when I got an Xbox 360. A year and a half into that, I began to experiment, playing with genres which I would have never of dreamed of trying out; I did this because, my funds for games had quickly depleted and I grew bored of what I had, me! Growing bored of games! Who could have ever imagined... They just all seemed the same somehow, I yearned for something different, but I wasn't quite sure what, so I started trying out Platformers, Survival Horror, Racing, pretty much everything but sports games (It's a long story/ rant for another time). I began looking at previous generation games again. This was the turning point.


From Gears of War to Grim Fandango.

While dreadful at some of these genres, I kept at it and began to improve, then I started going back. Completing old games I never gave a second look. I completed Jet Set Radio Future after a 6 year Hiatus. I started buying old, old games for my laptop, this was when I realized what I had missed. I got seriously into adventure games, I'm still not very good at them, but I'm so in love with them I don't care, I got into Tomb Raider, a series I avoided like the plague due to some bad experiences of nausea and getting lost a long time ago. I kept going back, it was like a guilty pleasure. Everything was a new experience a new adventure.
There are so many gems that I have discovered, namely:
Grim Fandango, Homeworld ,The Longest Journey, System Shock 2, No One lives forever, American Mcgee's Alice, Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines, Beyond Good & Evil, Psychonauts, Starcraft...

I'd better stop there, The list could go on and on and on. Now just think, I never would have played any of these if it weren't for me getting past my prejudice of old games and 'Bad Graphics'.

Some things I have noticed is that games are no longer made by gamers for gamers, by geeks for geeks; no, they are now made by companies for the consumer. Yes, graphics and gameplay have improved, but for the most part, things have become massively simple and less... I'm not quite sure how to say, it's like some magic spark is gone.


From BioShock to Broken sword.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, never write off a genre or game. Hate Halo? why not go back and try it again? Scared shitless of strategy games? Take another stab at one (With cheats enabled). Now I'm not a pro gamer, a lot of the games I have mentioned, I used cheats or a walkthrough for, but they all opened my mind up. Gaming isn't just whatever you play, gaming is much more vast. When you are unable to go forward (Due to funds or boredom or anything) then go back, keep looking back. Heck, have a stroll on Wikipedia for a few minutes, pick a title or blurb which peaks your interest. If only I could see my younger self's naive attitude towards gaming, I'd most likely point and laugh, then get the hell out of there before I fuck up the space/time continuum or something.


From Assassin's Creed to American Mcgee's Alice.

I could have gone the other way, but I'm glad my curiosity made me into the Video Gamer I am today. I guess I have a unique perspective, by going backwards instead of forwards, I can see the technological progression, but I'm not wowed or jaded by it. So, are these old games better than today's? Actually, yes, a lot of them hold up to today's standards easily. Now has never been a better time to look at older classics.

So do me a favor. For every new game you get, acquire an old one, just one. You never know, you may surprise yourself. Games have grown from a hobby, to a part of my life.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a fairly new PS3, time to see what PS1 games I've missed.


From Mass Effect to Fear Effect?