Ever since ripping off the cellophane and scented protective wrapping from my very first games console - the SEGA Master System - I have been hooked in this fantastical virtual world. I have travelled along on this ride, and my gaming journey has included the Master Systems bigger brother, the SEGA MegaDrive. I then jumped to the PlayStation One, upgraded to the PlayStation 2 and then sold my soul to the devil himself. I defected to the dark side and joined to Microsoft Xbox 360 revolution. Then once I moved out here to Australia I was lucky enough to snag an Xbox One and I haven't turned back since. Feeling nostalgic in-between the PS2 & Xbox 360 eras I also bought a Gamecube and a Nintendo 64. Zelda Ocarina of Time was just too beautiful an opportunity to pass up, even in its pixelated glory.
From the very first games to capture my imagination like Alex the Kid, Sonic the Hedgehog, Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario, to powerhouse franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Assassins Creed, Battlefield, FIFA, Far Cry, Crackdown, Gears of War and Fallout. Somewhere in the middle of those is the ever deepening abyss of indie games I have come to love. Most recently games such as Valiant Hearts, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Never Alone, The Walking Dead, Life is Strange and This War of Mine. Future ones I'll be sure to check out include, and are not limited to Gone Home, Oxenfree and the Flame in the Flood.
Gaming does however often come with a powerful stigma attached. One of an army of spotty teenagers sweating in their bedrooms wasting their lives away in a multiplayer lobby, and also the twenty somethings who have lost all hope - who stay at home and play games all day instead of living their lives in the real world.
It's grossly unfair. Gaming is a world where your poetic license runs free. Where your inner creative prowess can truly come to the fore. Where your moral compass is torn between what is right, what is wrong and what needs to be done in order to survive.
I feel an affinity to games akin to that of football. A friend of mine actually asked me what could I not live without - gaming or football - and I chose gaming. My life just wouldn't feel complete without the chance to hold a controller in my hand and the ability to trot off into a 1080p 60FPS world, with a plethora of choices at my disposal.
I'm 28 and I should probably be looking at things more subjectively, planning for rainy days, a family, my super annexation et cetera. But I should also be in touch with my own poetic license. My way to chill out, to relax and cool down. I'm thankful for my wife, Erin, and her limitless understanding of how important gaming is to me. She hasn't tried to change me, and she is fully supportive of my digital endeavours.
Gaming, along with football is what defines who I am, and to a much larger extent, it is what defines gamers in general. I love the feeling of being in a games store and being able to talk to a complete stranger and I have this instant connection with them. I can talk freely from judgment and I am right there in their world with them and I feel not many hobbies allow for this.
"Quadrant by quadrant" I once directed to a friend. And in all seriousness, gaming is exactly that. One small piece of beautiful creativity at a time.
