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How Many Roads? on Game and Player

How Many Roads?

Heather Richtmyre  //  September 14, 2010


Recalling my early gaming years to present.

I

t's hard to pin down my proper introduction to video games. If I was technical, I could perhaps name the first time I encountered Solitaire, but that hardly seems an accurate depiction of the sort of games I've had interest in.

The first game I remember was a shooter by the name of Corridor 7. Perhaps my lack of interest in shooting blurry demonic things at that time is why I wasn't interested in video games until my family obtained Warcraft II, and soon after, Age of Empires II. Thus, my first real forays into gaming consisted of strategies and remembering to place my archers in a different group for ease of positioning. And then, waiting twenty minutes for the next turn to load in a string of Civilization games.

When we got our first console I played Mario Kart and whatever else we had, then later a used copy of Ocarina of Time that I paid a couple dollars for. By that time I was moving away from strategy games, and found myself with a copy of Myst for a gift. My closet still holds notebooks full of comments on puzzles and a comparison of how trustworthy Atrus' sons seemed. This also led to the stories regarding my utter lack of an ear for music, given how much trouble the piano puzzle gave me.

There are a few genres of games that I doubt I'll ever show interest in, though my precognitive powers are rather lacking.Eventually, there was an Xbox, and Halo parties and that copy of Knights of the Old Republic I borrowed from a friend, and cheap copies of Splinter Cell and Morrowind. The console was now much more my domain than that of my brother, who received much teasing about playing Halo on easy.

Later, new computers, new consoles. The ability to run Oblivion in a format where mods could be used was especially pleasing, and World of Warcraft could actually run in conjunction with voice chat. The Orange Box and Halo 3 brought me back to the Xbox 360, and I've still some screenshots of killing Michael Ubaldi, though that may provide unfortunate implications about my character.

For now, my gaming schedule consists largely of various roleplaying games, with Dragon Age: Origins, being the most current one. There's also a bit of EVE and Dungeons and Dragons Online, some Plants vs. Zombies (ruining my hardcore reputation there, I am sure), and a smattering of whatever else in my collection draws interest. I expect to pick up some more first-person shooter fun at some point. Return to my strategy game roots is uncertain, though there is the occasional temptation in such directions. There are a few genres of games that I doubt I'll ever show interest in, though my precognitive powers are rather lacking.

It makes me wonder how others found their way to current gaming habits.





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