A Tribute To Gaming

I am proud to say that I am a product of a wasted generation, but not as wasted as the current Internet, information-in-a-second generation. See, I toiled my younger years busting my ass in front of the television watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and WWE (when it was still acknowledged as a Federation.) Aside from those memories, however, nothing comes fonder than staring at your boob tube with a controller at hand, trying to figure out how to defeat Dr. Robotnik in the final level of Sonic The Hedgehog 2, or burning the midnight oil “level-upping” the characters from the never-ending saga of the Final Fantasy series.

Yes, a gamer that I once was. Unfortunately, I am living in the now, filled with responsibilities of being a man for others. As much as I would like to say “fuck that,” it will simply remind me of cruel game reality plays on its pawns, as well as the bill for next month’s rent that I seriously have to work on.

Suffice to say, getting older got me disengaged with the whole gaming schlock. But it doesn’t mean I’ve totally let go of gaming altogether.

I remember back in high school looking for the next Final Fantasy VII (the pinnacle of RPG, in my humble, albeit skewed, opinion) to grind my teeth into on the PlayStation. There simply is nothing like the way video games careen you to unfathomable worlds which they bring to life in pixellated graphics, and the way they kill your social life in the process. It’s a good thing I never really cared about having a healthy social life, which made me feel guiltless while I lock myself in an unlit room and play Silent Hill in the middle of the night.

Gaming was, for a lack of better words, all I’ve got.

I am also reminded by the way how people the general consensus view gaming as a waste of time, that it would be better for us to revel in literature and fancy in the works of the masters, names of whom I clearly forgot. Although I do hold international writers such as Ayn Rand, Albert Camus, and Haruki Murakami in high regard, comparing them to Squaresoft, Midway, and Capcom paints me in a corner: which between the two groups is better? I simply cannot decide.

Gaming, although it may sound absurd, is my Shakespeare.

Gaming has laid an indelible mark to those who have partaken in it, and even those who claim to have overcome their gaming addiction know deep inside that they still have it in them. Even for the likes of me, the allure of playing some of its hallmark franchises with new titles such as Super Mario Galaxy or Street Fighter IV remains as strong as the first time I’ve laid my hands on the Nintendo console during the early ’90s. But then again, it comes to balancing work and leisure, unless my work IS leisure. In that case, I could only dream.

And, unlike those who say otherwise, gaming DOES make for great memories.

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