The Ghosts of Gaming Past

The Ghosts of Gaming Past

This time of year is my most favorite of times; the leaves are gone, the weather is chilly, the decorations are sparkling around my neighborhood, and gaming is at its peak. As you can tell from our slew of reviews over the past month, we’ve had a ton of fun playing all of the top titles. The holidays give gamers that added time needed to complete the 40+ hour RPG or rank up a few levels in their favorite FPS. They give us time to play FIFA with our friends or Mario with our fiance. They bring even the most casual of gaming families together with Rock Band or Wii Sports Resort. Regardless of how you look at it, the holidays have always meant the best gaming money can buy. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I felt it was part of my gamer “responsibility” to look back at years gone by and give readers a sense of how gaming has treated me during those cold winter nights. Below you’ll find a brief recollection of my top gaming memories over the holidays.

X-Mas 1995 – The Sony Playstation

It just celebrated its 15th year anniversary , but I recall a time when I was 14 years old and didn’t have enough money to buy the PS1. Even though it was available in September 1995, I pleaded and pleaded with my parents to get me one for X-Mas. I honestly didn’t think they were going to put as they put on their best poker faces (even better than Lady GaGa’s). So good, in fact, that they actually hid the PS1 in my own room and I didn’t even know it! Needless to say I was stoked when I opened it up. The system that would bring me Resident Evil, Destruction Derby, and Final Fantasy VII was finally in my hands and I didn’t stop playing until Christmas dinner. I remember thinking Air Combat had the most realistic planes I’d ever seen in a game.

X-Mas 1999 – Ultima IX: Ascension

I know, I know. In what right mind would I be in to put this title up her?. Just hear me out for a second. I had just bought my new PC with 512 bytes of RAM and a Pentium II processor. I was playing in the big leagues now, able to play the most demanding games with my Voodoo 3 graphics card. My brother bought me Ultima IX which came enclosed in a beautiful box and cloth map (which I kept proudly on my desk for many years). I thought with a presentation like this the game is going to be great! Well, as we all know, that wasn’t the case. Countless bugs, terrible frame rates, installation issues, and everything else turned this 3d game into a messy pile of slop. But there was one glimmering hope among it all. A 30 day trial of Ultima Online. The game that would entice me to switch from dial-up to DSL, a game that would open my eyes to the world of MMOs, and finally, a game that would be the connection between Dustin and I. As bad as Ultima IX was, I owe a lot to that horrid abomination of a title. Though it might be the only non-console item on my list, it had just as strong of an effect on me during the holidays and many years to come.

X-Mas 2001 – The Sony Playstation 2

Maybe I have a fetish for getting Sony consoles for X-Mas, but I was late to the party in getting the PS2. Fortunately for me, the system was in full drive and top titles like Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 were available. Those were the only games I needed as they provided over 60+ hours of gaming over the holidays. I can recall not wanting to play these games simultaneously as both of them were so good I didn’t want to divert attention from one or the other. I can still remember how cold my hands got during those long gaming sessions as we had just moved into a new house and the basement had just been refinished. Heating wasn’t exactly adequate as of yet but I wouldn’t let it a little thing like that stop me. An endless supply of hot cocoa and two great games over the holidays on a brand new system was all I needed.

X-Mas 2005 – The Xbox 360

Sure it might only be four years removed, but it was still a great, albeit hectic time. Back in 2005, I was working for another website, doing reviews and such when I was contacted by Microsoft. They told me I had the opportunity to get an Xbox 360. Honestly, this came from left field as I didn’t think the website I was working for had nearly the amount of hits it would take to warrant a free system. But, we worked hard and I believed it showed. The only problem was that I already pre-ordered another Xbox at Gamestop. So now I had 2 Xboxes (Xboxi?). For those who can remember the Xbox 360 was selling on Ebay for around $1000 if not more. I had the chance to make some money but instead I sold it to my girlfriend at the time so she could give it to her brother. And when I say sold, I mean for $200, not $1500. I’m a gamer first, not a profiteer, and I felt like he should enjoy the vanguard of HD gaming. It was hard enough to swallow the amount of greed that was going on during the holiday season and I do realize that this is a capitalistic society, but something about taking advantage of people just didn’t sit right with me. So he got his Xbox on X-Mas (Gamestop actually ran out of their first supply and got another shipment in 2 days before X-Mas), and I was able to partake in some Xbox gaming a day before the initial launch. Even though this Xbox (the first of 4)  would die within two months, it was a lot of fun playing Call of Duty 2, Condemned, Need for Speed Most Wanted, and Kameo. Each game featured very specific points in my gaming history that I will never forget. Call of Duty had its realistic portrayal of WWII; Condemned scared the crap out of me; Need for Speed Most Wanted is the last NFS game I enjoyed; and I thought Kameo was simply a gorgeous and colorful title (where’s our sequel RARE!). Even though I was 24, I felt like I was a kid all over again.

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Releasing a console during the holidays is both a frustrating and rewarding experience. On one hand, you have to come up with the cash, and $300 bucks isn’t exactly junk change. You also have to preorder early or get your ass out of bed at 5am only to sit in a cold, dark parking lot with a bunch of strangers who don’t understand the concept of soap and bathing regularly. On the other hand, being one of the first to grab a console is a great experience, especially when you’re playing the newest titles. Getting a console can make your holidays so much better, and now more than ever I appreciate the time I have with gaming. With a full time job it’s not exactly responsible to spend 5 hours a day on my 360, Ps3, or Wii, even though I’d love to (and at times get to do). The time off during the holidays gives me exactly the right amount of dosage to both enjoy and appreciate every level I gain, every quest I complete, or every goal I score.

So where does this leave us? In talking about the past, we can’t forget about the present. Check back in a few days where we’ll be posting our “Twelve Days of Christmas Gaming” feature. Dustin, Andrew, and I will be posting some of the top games and gadgets from 2009 that we recommend (or wouldn’t mind having).

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