Hearing about this month's Monthly Musings, I knew I had to get in on the action and tell people about the gaming decision that changed my life. That decision came the day I bought Final Fantasy 7.


Screw Joe Namath, I wanted to be like him when I grew up.

A little back story; I came from a poor family. For many years of my life, I never knew the sweet, sweet embrace of video games. That was, until 1993, when my parents gave into my incessant ramblings and bought me a slightly-used NES. I was hooked. I knew, the moment I shot my first duck and stomped my first Goomba, that I was gonna enjoy this new toy for a while. A few years later, I got a SNES, and the family bought a computer. These 2 new devices opened my eyes to gaming even more. But, I never owned more than a few games, since I could never scrape up enough allowance for new titles. That is, until one day in the summer of 2000, when my parents told me, because of good grades, I could go to Best Buy and pick up a new game for the computer.

I was excited, because I had always wanted to get The Sims, after playing it at a friend's house. But, while perusing the shelves, I noticed a copy of a game I had only heard a few things about. I was also confused, because I thought the game was only for PSX, so i was excited. But, what about The Sims? I really wanted that game! It was so cool that you could control a little character's life, and kill him any way you wanted too! But, in the end, curiosity kept me from getting The Sims, and, instead, I went home with a Windows copy of Final Fantasy 7.

Best. Decision. Ever.


Full of suck.

The game that many call the best RPG of all time became my world. It was, for the months and months it took to play it, my everything. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me look at the world in a whole new light. I cursed the name of Sephiroth so loudly when he (*SPOILER ALERT*) killed Aeries, that my mom, on the other side of the house, thought I had cut off a finger or something. I went through an entire box of tissues as Red XIII howled in pain after seeing his petrified father. Hell, I even used fucking Yuffie just to get more playtime out of the game!!! I could see no wrong in this game. The enemies were fun to destroy, the summons were beautiful to watch, and the story was completely captivating. I can remember spending hours a day scanning my materia and weapons for the perfect combinations. The game made cross dressing cool, motorcycles the best form of transportation EVAR, and arm-wrestling sumo wrestlers addictive. I was hooked, no doubt about it. From that day on, I made it my goal to make video games the most important thing in my life. Hell, even now, I could talk for hours on end about this game.


Burned into my mind forever.

Looking back, I've always wondered what would've happened had I taken the other route and bought The Sims. Eventually, I did end up getting it, and returning it to the store a week later, having been completely bored with it. But, I have not, nor will I ever, get rid of that first copy of FF7.