I realize that as the “old school gaming specialist” of Digital Crack, I am dating myself. To many, “old school” probably means the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Actually, I go beyond that. For those that want to know, let me tell you how old I really am. This is a history lesson, and there may be a quiz at the end of this, so pay attention!
My first game console was the Telstar Ranger, a dedicated pong console that sported six different variations of the basic pong game, including hockey, tennis, and jai alai. They all looked the same, but had slight variations that differentiated them. This was about 1977.
I was gifted my Atari Video Game System (2600) on Christmas 1979 along with four games: Air-Sea Battle, Street Racer, Maze Craze, and Adventure. I absolutely loved it, especially Adventure! I kept playing it until about 1984, when my teenage urges overtook my gaming instincts. I had amassed a large library of games by then. My favorite games during that period? Missile Command, Asteroids, and Berzerk. Missile Command was my absolute favorite. I “flipped” the score – where the score couldn’t keep up with your progress and reset back to zero – many times on that game!
To those that want to know, that original 2600 is still alive. I gave it to my mother, and she still plays on it. Like mother, like son!
When the crash of 1984 happened, I was completely oblivious. Games for my 2600 were suddenly cheaper, and I wasn’t savvy enough to realize that they were cheaper because they were shit. I wanted games, and retailers obliged. For my birthday in 1983, I remember spending my birthday money – about $80 – on nine games. All of them were shit, but I had nine new games, so I did not give a fuck!
(Side note: the crash of 1984 is a topic I won’t get into here. I will in another article, eventually. Suffice to say, I benefitted from the crash as a child. And, no, E.T. for the 2600 didn’t bring about the apocalypse. It was more complicated than that!)
I fell out of gaming for a bit afterward because I was a teenager and wanted to chase pussy more than I wanted to play games. I’m not proud of it, but it happened. During that lull in gaming, the NES arrived and reinvigorated console gaming. I didn’t care, because I was chasing the aforementioned pussy.
My Come-To-Jesus moment came in 1988, when I was DJing at a club and my DJ partner introduced me to The Legend of Zelda. I was instantly mesmerized and was incapable of turning back. From that moment, I was hooked on gaming again. Truthfully, I have been hooked since.
I have fallen in love with multiple games on multiple systems. Fuck the console wars between Sega and Nintendo, I was enjoying all of their games! From Super Mario Bros. and Zelda to Phantasy Star and Sonic, I was digesting everything!
I have amassed a crazy amount of games since then. I have gone from the 3rd generation of consoles to the 8th without missing a beat. My favorite consoles? In exact order: Dreamcast, Turbografx 16, and SNES. I have absolute metric tons of awesome memories of gaming on those and other systems. From the Jaguar to the 3DO to the Turbo Duo, I have stories!
My age finally caught up to me, and I couldn’t spend as much on games as I used to. But I never lost the urge to play more. As online services like Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Steam took over, I played along. Every new game I came across was scrutinized, weighed, and judged. I may not have been fair in every case, but I was honest.
And here I am now. With 30+ years of gaming history on my resume, I don’t feel like I am the best gaming critic, but I guarantee I am the most honest gaming critic. If I tell you a game is shit, I am pulling all my gaming expertise into that statement. Join in or join out, I’m still gonna say my say. Take my words with a mound of salt, but know that I’m not being diplomatic about it. The games I love, I love with all my heart. The games I hate, I hate beyond all reason.
When all is said and done, I want the title “old school gaming specialist” to mean more than the title says. I want it to mean that you can trust what I say, because I speak with a gamer’s heart, right or wrong!
