I was bitten by the “gaming bug” when I was in high school.
My first love [insert flying doves and shit here] was a huge gaming nerd who was in love with me but whose first love was Lunar: Silver Star Story on the Sega-CD.
Up to that point in my rather dismal gaming life, I had only played the occasional game of Mario Brothers or Duck Hunt and played WAY too much Lion King on the Sega Genesis [DON’T JUDGE ME!].
Since I wanted to keep boyfriend interested in me and I liked spending hours at a stretch in front of the television, I let him talk me into playing Lunar. The boy even loaned me his prized Sega-CD.
Within ten minutes of sitting down with Lunar, I was officially hooked and playing the game quit being so much about pleasing the boyfriend and became about the wonderful story. Lunar was my first experience with an RPG and that is a love obsession that has lasted LONG after the first love was left in the dust.
Before I had kids, I would spend HOURS playing video games.
My usual choice was RPGs though I occasionally dipped into games like StarCraft, have been known to play a round or two of online Call of Duty:4 and have a tendency to become obsessive about all things Sims franchise related.
While I was at a blogging conference this weekend, I started thinking about what I was going to write for “work” and I realized that I haven’t really played a video game in I don’t know how long. The closest that I’ve come to being immersed in a game was Fallout 3 and before that it was Oblivion but I haven’t played Fallout in a month or two.
I don’t know if life has just gotten in the way or if I’m lacking a game that inspires me but I WANT to love gaming again. Actually, I never stopped loving gaming…I just stopped having something to love. I want to get back that feeling that I had with Lunar where I cried near the end – the game moved me THAT much. There was a time when I could listen to one of the themes from Lunar and it would take me back so strongly to playing that game that I would get emotional all over again.
Where is THAT game?
Right now, I don’t care about co-op. I don’t care about any online components or DLC. I want a story that connects with me. A story that grabs me by the shirt and makes me want to spend hours on it. That makes me miss it like a far off friend once I’m done with it.
I hope that game is out there because I miss gaming.
Cross posted on Every Joe. Image via Flickr.
