I Put the Fear in Introductions

Well, this is my introduction post. To be honest, I'm quite scared. I feel all this pressure to "not suck!" that I had to double-check a few times that I'm here at Destructoid and not the Something Awful forums or whathaveyou. Anyways, I did some reading and hopefully it shows.



I mused for a bit on what to say as an introduction to myself (and I kept all the generic stuff such as my name and game systems I owned over on the sidebar area) and finally landed on the idea of what type of gamer I am. I'm not talking in terms of casual and hardcore, but rather lurker-esque. Let me explain.

Growing up (I'm somewhere in my mid-twenties, if you're curious), I've always been two to three years behind in the gaming world. The Christmas I got my first home console, a mouse-gray SNES, was right around the time they were dying off and N64s and Playstation 1s were vying for attention. By the time I traded in a huge stack of SNES games ranging from the good (Yoshi's Island) to the bad (SimAnt) to the just plain weird (Uniracer) to Toys-R-Us for a huge discount on a PS1, its mightier cousin was just about ready to be released. I'm currently still playing my Playstation 2 (bought somewhere in the summer of 2002), which I got midway through its popularity cycle, and from here I'm just watching what happens with the rest of the major consoles. That's where the lurker comes out.

We all know what a lurker is, right? Think forums, people that watch but do not interact. That's exactly the type of gamer I am. I read the big blogs, I watch the gameplay videos, the in-depth reviews. I know the ins and outs of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and yet I've never once played a game on a Playstation 3 or an Xbox 360. Not once, for I know no one that has these systems. This leads to lurking, to an obsessive nature to have to know everything about these new (!) and shiny (!!) and awesome (!!!) games everyone is playing the minute they are released. With enough confidence, I bet I could handle myself in a conversation about the relationship mini-game of GTA IV or how you're not supposed to drink that potion in Fable II or the way the guns handle differently in certain FPS releases. I hope to actually experience this games one day, but in the meantime I take great pleasure in following a current-gen game's journey from afar, watching like a younger/older brother on your couch, my hands shaking out of desperation. Granted, by the time I get to this point, the Xbox 720 will be out and I'll be right where I've always been, lurking in the dark.

Still, I'm in no rush. So y'all keep on keeping on, and we'll go from there.

I dunno. Hopefully you found some of that interesting. If not, I guess I'll continue to hide. But what kind of gamer are you (AND DON'T SUCK!)?