Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Talkin' Bout My Gaming Generation



What does an older lady like myself think of gaming today? I’m so freaking jealous, that’s what I think!

In my middle school yearbook, my best friend Kerry Lannaghan wrote that she hoped I got better at PacMan. Yep, the biggest game of my middle school life, though I preferred Centipede far more. Of course I had to walk half a mile and have a pocket full of quarters before I could play!

This is a timely blog theme for me though. I spent most of the night playing Resident Evil 5 with Dustin, my sixteen year old. First-person shooter games aren’t my forte, I prefer Fable and Spyro, but Resident Evil 5 rocks! My first Resident Evil game, I was surprised when the movie clip became interactive. Yeah, the zombie bikers killed me the first time around.

The graphics these days far outshine anything I ever played at Dustin’s age. Ever play the original Donkey Kong? I can’t get the theme song out of my head for weeks after I hear it, which is way annoying. Maybe better though, than watching VH1 reality television and playing Left 4 Dead, then falling asleep and dreaming zombies attacked Brett Michael’s Rock of Love Tour Bus!

The difference between my generation and my son’s is amazing. Imagine all the fights over Playstation 3 being waged for a Cabbage Patch doll. Can we say lame? I’m so stoked to see what’s going to be the gaming system of choice for my grandchildren’s generation. Maybe something like the virtual fighting match in the movie, The Island.

What’s your gaming story? Favorite series and system? What games have you beaten and which ones were the hardest?

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

10 comments:

Mary Cunningham said...

I remember the old "Kings Quest" games (1- kazillion) where you had to move characters up and down stairs by toggling back and forth with the direction arrows.

You'd have to type in answers to questions to move ahead.

Another of my old favs was "Colonel's Bequest." Very cumbersome, but fun!

Mary
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com

Regan Black said...

Hey! you can't be old, cuz what does that make me? Oh, right...NVM

I was so excited in middle school when the guy I liked asked me out...it was a couple weeks before I caught on it was because hanging with me meant a shorter walk to the arcade. LOL

I can't really blame him, quarters get heavy. (and I was cute!)

Donkey Kong was his game of choice and it's pretty telling that Mario's still around (with better graphics) after all this time.

Regan
http://www.regansrealm.blogspot.com

Martin Bartloff said...

Back in 99' I was hooked on Cool boarders II the Snowboard game. literally fascinated I sat playing for hours along with my son age nine then. I beat the entire game twice yay...
But my best memory goes back to the early 90's. Freshly arrived in the United States I depended on Laundry mats. There I stood with a pocket full of quarters and played Galaxy for two hours. I must warn though, gaming machines as such can be addictive. I had a great time tough :-)

--Martin

http://martinbartloff.blogspot.com/
http://MartinBartloff.com
http://myspace.com/benzman01

Regan Black said...

Best 'board game' ever is Raving Rabbids on the wii!

Hmmm, should I know that or should I be writing?

Regan
http://www.regansrealm.blogspot.com

Iris Black said...

Xbox Halo is my preferred first-person shooter. For random creativity games, Wind and Little Big Planet on my friends Playstation 3 are AMAZING!

And Spyro has been a fave of mine for years. =)

Iris
http://irisblack-author.blogspot.com

Zach said...

Jenny, these games are FROM my generation and even i'm amazed by a few. I totally hate shooters. I prefer the hand-to-hand combat, the swords and everything. I'm a medieval man, lol. (sorta)

Anyways, it's Zach, aka All's Fair In Love and Nocturnal War (from myspace) and i leave you with this message.

FUZZY! Fuzzy fuzzy fuuuuuzzzzzzy!

Norm Cowie said...

I'm jealous about the time they have to devote to it ... course I'd use the time differently.

Norm

Norm Cowie said...

Remember this game? Playing with your navel?

Lexie said...

I grew up on Nintendo--when it first came out in America I was like three or four and my Aunts (who were 9 and 11 years older then me) got it. Whenever they babysat me I would get to play Mario or Duck hunt (I sucked at Duck hunt). Then we got one when I was about 10 and I literally spent HOURS trying to beat Super Mario 3--to this day, i'm 25, I haven't beat that frakking game. My mom loved Tetris 3 and I would hear her staying up all night to play it.

Oh and my favorite PC game was originally the Encarta trivia game. That or Amazon Trail (like Oregon Trail except in the Amazon). I played those and 'Heroes of Might and Magic III' all the time.

Now I prefer my Sony PS2 and RPG games like Kingdom Hearts or the Persona games. I also have a nintendo Wii (I love Animal Crossing), Nintendo DS (Phoenix Wright!), original NES (yeah I still try to beat Mario 3...) and had a working Sega until my brother broke it. I miss my Sonic games ;-;

...I swear I'm not a gamer! don't revoke my bookworm status!

Legendary Lights said...

Okay, I'll admit to hanging out with Mario and Luigi. Jumping for coins, my fave pasttime. Now, I am likely to be found hopping on and off the WiiFit in a step-like version of DDR, or perfecting my bowling game. Felt a little awkward at first, but I'm getting better all the time.

It sure beats Pong!

Pam
http://readingwithscissors.blogspot.com