I do not want to talk specifically about being a female gamer, if you want to know about that, follow the female IGN editors, and listen to Girlfight, best podcast online.
My introduction to video games took place over twenty years ago now. I was about four years old when I received a Commodore 64. It was a pretty amazing system, games were cheap and plentiful, and very simple to play. Most were either puzzle/platform games, or side scrolling shooters. I spent quite a bit of time playing them, being so young, I never played for that long at once, so typically didn’t actually get very far on these games, but I loved them anyway.
At the same time, my mother also had an old atari that she had shared with her brother, so between gaming on the Commodore ( I remember having a batman game, a trapdoor game, and a side scrolling helicopter shooter, ghost busters, and a skiing game, though I know I had dozens) I was also playing pong, and a range of shooting games involving moving a tank/airplane/cowboy round screen to shoot your opponent before they shot you.
When I was about seven, my mother told me I could have either a Sega Mega Drive, or a SNES, each of which had just come outjust out. I had played a friend’s NES a few times, and opted for a SNES. We walked down to the store, my younger brother had just been born so he was wheeled along in the pram. I can still remember the excitement and anticipation as we bought it, the long rectangular box went under the pram seat, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it as we walked home again. I watched impatiently at home as my mother connected everything up, and sat down to play my first SNES game.
It was Super Mario World, and it completely blew me away. I was instantly hooked, I loved that game. I was initially rubbish of course, the SNES pad was new and unfamiliar, and the style of game required timing. I recall being killed three or four times by the first enemy as I tried to work out how to jump on his head. In no time I had it cracked though and began racing through the levels. I played that game to death, unlocking every single level, playing over and over, playing two player with my mother, who was also really impressed. The graphics were sharp, fun, and colourful, the sounds lively and entertaining. It was like gaming nirvana, and writing this now, I cannot help but want to dust off that SNES and play again. I still own that console and all the games, all in great working condition.
I see people from time to time complaining about the cost of games. Now I don’t know about where you are, but here in Britain, a new game is about £40 on average. I can tell you, when I was playing SNES games, they were between £50 and £60 on average. That is a lot of money even now I am working, never mind when you are seven and saving pocket money. Nonetheless I accrued a fair selection of games, asking for more each birthday and christmas. I had Mario Kart, Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Link to the Past, Mario Allstars, Yoshi’s Island, Super Castlevania, Super Ghouls and Ghosts, international superstar soccer, and many others.
Gaming became my major interest then. I still did all kinds of other things, reading was another major hobby and I think is vital for kids everywhere. I wasn’t into anything especially ‘girly’, I played football (soccer) and I played video games. Nearly all my memories of that time are centred around gaming. The chance to be transported to another world, to test your wits and reflexes, to be involved in a story, it was absolutely magical.
Shortly after starting my second year of high school, the N64 was released. I wanted one desperately, but my mother bought one for my younger brother, now about the age I was when I got my SNES. I spent a lot of time in his room then, playing and watching him play. Given my deep love for Link to the Past, I was eager to play Ocarina of Time, and had to wait until Christmas of that year, which was torturous. I also got Goldeneye that year. I loved the bond films, they were funny, silly, and action packed. The villains were suitably villainous, the henchmen weird and wonderful, it was brilliant stuff. As such, I loved every second of Goldeneye, playing it endlessly, improving on my times, unlocking cheats, though I never did quite manage all the levels on the hardest difficulty, I think I had two or three I couldn’t do. Not bad aged 12 though. It was Goldeneye that launched my long standing love of shooters of all kinds. Likewise Ocarina of Time saw a significant number of hours poured into it. I am not sure how many times I have completed that game, at least six anyway.
On the SNES, I had enjoyed anything and everything, but the N64 began to refine my tastes. Whilst a massive fan of all the SNES Mario games, the move into 3D watered down my appeal. I played quite a bit of Mario 64, but for some reason just wasn’t drawn to it. The same went for the other big platformers of that console like Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Kazooie, they just didn’t appeal. I am still not sure what it is about them, I know in part I didn’t like having to unlock new character/abilities and go back over levels. The N64 for me was all about Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Joanna Dark was a really awesome character, independent and skilled without being rude or obnoxious like certain more recent female characters. She also looked awesome without having an over the top figure. It also helped that the game was incredible. Goldeneye set the bar for standards, and then Perfect Dark raised it to heights that would be unobtainable for many many years to come.
When the gamecube was released, my brother and I were in line to buy one, paying half each. By this point, were were both dedicated Nintendo gamers, and would never have even considered getting a different console, or not getting the cube. With the Console we bought as a bundle deal Luigi’s Mansion, Bloody Roar, the jet ski game (wave something? I can’t remember) and a fourth game which escapes me. Luigi’s mansion I loved, it was very funny, and had really amazing graphics. It was a perfect introduction for twin analogue stick games too. The soundtrack was fantastic, and little details like the way Luigi hummed along nervously were brilliant. To this day I still think the gamecube pad is probably the best I have used. I loved the little disks too, so cute.
I further refined my gaming tastes on the Cube, I enjoyed Bloody Roar and put an awful lot of time into Soul Calibur 2 (Nightmare) but it would be the end of my beat em up gaming (until Super Street Fighter 4). Furthermore, Mario Kart Double Dash saw a lot of play time, but marked for me the beginning of the end of that franchise. I didn’t really like Mario Sunshine either, further cementing my disillusionment with 3D platforming. The Gamecube had though what for me is the best lineup of any games console. My favourite games are nearly all on other consoles, but the Gamecube had such an incredibly solid lineup, it would make the Wii catalogue all the more bitter. I had TimeSplitters 2, and Future Perfect, Second Sight, and Conflict Desert Storm 1 and 2. I played those over and over, pushing scores, times, kills, I was addicted. TimeSplitters and Second Sight in particular had superb gameplay coupled with humour and great plots. Conflict Desert Storm 1 and 2 are the source of still my best gaming memory to date. Not the best games, but I had a night, my family were all away, I got some friends round, got some food and drink in, and we blitzed the pair back to back. I played Foley, the sniper (obviously) and we completed both games, playing all night. It was the most fun I think I have ever had in gaming, and the co-op gameplay was perfect.
The cube also saw the release of two of the best game series’ of all time. Metroid Prime, and the Sands of Time. Metroid just blew me away, I could hardly get my head around the graphics, the level of detail that went into it, heat haze on the gun muzzle, vapour on the visor, dripping water, that game was incredibly rare in that it neve rlost the wow factor start to finish. This went hand in hand with awesome gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, epic bosses, and probably the best female lead character to date. I loved the sequel every bit as much.
Whilst the Sands of Time obviously wasn’t exclusive, it was nonetheless brilliant. The characters sparkled, the acrobatics were sublimely implemented. Whilst the combat was very basic, and oft criticised, I still enjoyed it. I am possibly alone in actually liking the second game, Warrior Within, more than the first. I loved the dark tone, the angry prince, and the far more in depth and lethal combat. The artwork was awesome too
When the Wii was announced, I was instantly excited. I loved the gamecube (I bought three). Motion controls sounded exciting and innovative (see my blog on the matter). As a die hard Nintendo fangirl, I preordered it, and collected it on launch day. This was Christmas time, I was at university. I had a few days to play it, then it was time to go home for a month. I had intended to leave it at uni, but had to bring it home and play more. I had Red Steel and Twilight Princess. As a huge Zelda fan, I thoroughly enjoyed Twilight Princess, and felt Red Steel to be an excellent example of what would follow.
For some months I played the Wii and enjoyed it, the final installment of my beloved Metroid came out, and was still absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed the rail shooters too like Ghost Squad, having been a big Time Crisis fan in the arcades. The Wii had been released in my final year at uni, and by now I was working and making money at last. I became increasingly frustrated with the Wii, after a good launch, and some great titles, I was left disappointed. Mario Kart for the Wii I found to be rather dull and slow, my brother was a fan of Smash Brothers on the cube, but again, the Wii version just fell flat. We both began to feel that the Nintendo was just flogging dead franchises. As life long Nintendo gamers we had never really given it a lot of thought, but we had a long discussion about gaming one afternoon, and realised we were basically buying these franchise releases out of habit, and actually had found them to be increasingly boring.
At last I took the plunge and bought a non Nintendo console. As a long time gamer, I simply had nothing to play, which was anathema to me. As such, I picked up a PS3. It was like a monsoon after a drought, a huge avenue of games opened up to me again to sink my teeth into. Up to that point, I had been getting my gaming kicks from PC games, I had a rig that could run Crysis comfortably, and was playing that and RTS games a lot, along with STALKER and FEAR.
The PS3 had some great titles, and obviously a library pretty much identical to the 360. I had picked up the PS3 over the 360 on the basis of reliability, having known numerous friends with xbox’s and 360′s that regularly failed. I played Resistance, Bad Company, and Assassin’s Creed, and after years of Nintendo gaming, was really impressed with the graphics and physical effects on this new generation.
STALKER is a work of art, massively under-appreciated, but beautiful. Unfortunately it has a bug infestation of epic proportions, but the scope, the atmosphere, and the gameplay is I believe second to none. I did therefore have some relief pre PS3 from gaming drought. The other thing I played a lot on the PC was Gears of War. I fell in love with it instantly, and the PC version was much much better than the 360 version, especially given the extra chapter which was the best chapter of the whole game (hurry up and release it for the xbox community Epic). As such, when it was announced that Gears 2 would be Xbox only, I was left with no choice but to buy one.
So that brings us almost up to date. I traded in my Wii at the start of this year, it was just gathering dust, but was worth a lot traded in. My parents have one, so when good stuff comes out like Other M and Skyward Sword I can still play them. I traded in my gaming PC to fund the 360 and numerous bills, and now wish I had something to play RTS’ on, I miss it.
All in all, I am 25 now, and have been gaming for over 20 years (longer than the staff in my local game store have been alive). I have seen pretty much the start of gaming, and followed it keenly. I have never lost my love of games, and have seen all manner of improvements, mostly visual. It is incredible looking back at the early games I played, to see how games look now. I still have plenty of other hobbies, I play hockey (field hockey, not ice) I still read a lot, watch films, I have played table top wargames too for many years now. I have done kickboxing and fencing, and might take up football again. It is very important to be balanced in your activites. ”Moderation in all things” said Aristotle, and he is absolutely right. In the main I play shooters the most, though I love a good RTS. I game on a 50″ full HD screen with surround sound, a gamers dream. As a result of my experience, I feel I have a pretty good background for talking about gaming (I hope), I am enjoying writing these blogs and I hope others enjoy reading them. I would love a career in video games, possibly as a journalist/reviewer. I am looking at the moment to get into freelance editing work, so hopefully if I can do that, I can try and move in the direction of gaming.
Regardless of life and career, I cannot foresee a time when I wont be gaming. The medium continues to grow and grow, and there are some exciting times ahead I promise you. It is a shame to see these stupid studies that link games to lack of attention and so forth, but these days the market is way too big for a few hollow criticisms to affect it, so I don’t let it worry me. I love playing games, and I don’t need anyone else’s approval to do it. I am fortunate to have never come across any gender bias in my gaming, I have no idea what sort of problem there is in the wider world, on the other hand, prior to this my IGN, I have never announced myself as female, if I post on a forum, I never mention my gender. I have seen some female posters on orums get a disproportionate number of replies, basically a positive discrimination, but it is still annoying, hence my silence. Whatever you do in life there are idiots, they are unavoidable, it is not a phenomena unique to gaming. I do not get involved a whole lot in the online gaming community, I play some shooters online, but I don’t voice chat with anyone, I like a degree of privacy, and I am not looking for any favours or special treatment.
Enjoy it, love it, and I will see you online.
My introduction to video games took place over twenty years ago now. I was about four years old when I received a Commodore 64. It was a pretty amazing system, games were cheap and plentiful, and very simple to play. Most were either puzzle/platform games, or side scrolling shooters. I spent quite a bit of time playing them, being so young, I never played for that long at once, so typically didn’t actually get very far on these games, but I loved them anyway.
where it all began
an amazing piece of hardware at the time
It was Super Mario World, and it completely blew me away. I was instantly hooked, I loved that game. I was initially rubbish of course, the SNES pad was new and unfamiliar, and the style of game required timing. I recall being killed three or four times by the first enemy as I tried to work out how to jump on his head. In no time I had it cracked though and began racing through the levels. I played that game to death, unlocking every single level, playing over and over, playing two player with my mother, who was also really impressed. The graphics were sharp, fun, and colourful, the sounds lively and entertaining. It was like gaming nirvana, and writing this now, I cannot help but want to dust off that SNES and play again. I still own that console and all the games, all in great working condition.
the start of my real gaming love
Gaming became my major interest then. I still did all kinds of other things, reading was another major hobby and I think is vital for kids everywhere. I wasn’t into anything especially ‘girly’, I played football (soccer) and I played video games. Nearly all my memories of that time are centred around gaming. The chance to be transported to another world, to test your wits and reflexes, to be involved in a story, it was absolutely magical.
Shortly after starting my second year of high school, the N64 was released. I wanted one desperately, but my mother bought one for my younger brother, now about the age I was when I got my SNES. I spent a lot of time in his room then, playing and watching him play. Given my deep love for Link to the Past, I was eager to play Ocarina of Time, and had to wait until Christmas of that year, which was torturous. I also got Goldeneye that year. I loved the bond films, they were funny, silly, and action packed. The villains were suitably villainous, the henchmen weird and wonderful, it was brilliant stuff. As such, I loved every second of Goldeneye, playing it endlessly, improving on my times, unlocking cheats, though I never did quite manage all the levels on the hardest difficulty, I think I had two or three I couldn’t do. Not bad aged 12 though. It was Goldeneye that launched my long standing love of shooters of all kinds. Likewise Ocarina of Time saw a significant number of hours poured into it. I am not sure how many times I have completed that game, at least six anyway.
On the SNES, I had enjoyed anything and everything, but the N64 began to refine my tastes. Whilst a massive fan of all the SNES Mario games, the move into 3D watered down my appeal. I played quite a bit of Mario 64, but for some reason just wasn’t drawn to it. The same went for the other big platformers of that console like Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Kazooie, they just didn’t appeal. I am still not sure what it is about them, I know in part I didn’t like having to unlock new character/abilities and go back over levels. The N64 for me was all about Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Goldeneye, and Perfect Dark. Joanna Dark was a really awesome character, independent and skilled without being rude or obnoxious like certain more recent female characters. She also looked awesome without having an over the top figure. It also helped that the game was incredible. Goldeneye set the bar for standards, and then Perfect Dark raised it to heights that would be unobtainable for many many years to come.
just awesome
possibly the best console to date
best co-op game to date
divine
grrr
full of promise
N64 version was better...
Stalker, buggy, but breathtaking
graphically stunning
my hand was forced
All in all, I am 25 now, and have been gaming for over 20 years (longer than the staff in my local game store have been alive). I have seen pretty much the start of gaming, and followed it keenly. I have never lost my love of games, and have seen all manner of improvements, mostly visual. It is incredible looking back at the early games I played, to see how games look now. I still have plenty of other hobbies, I play hockey (field hockey, not ice) I still read a lot, watch films, I have played table top wargames too for many years now. I have done kickboxing and fencing, and might take up football again. It is very important to be balanced in your activites. ”Moderation in all things” said Aristotle, and he is absolutely right. In the main I play shooters the most, though I love a good RTS. I game on a 50″ full HD screen with surround sound, a gamers dream. As a result of my experience, I feel I have a pretty good background for talking about gaming (I hope), I am enjoying writing these blogs and I hope others enjoy reading them. I would love a career in video games, possibly as a journalist/reviewer. I am looking at the moment to get into freelance editing work, so hopefully if I can do that, I can try and move in the direction of gaming.
Regardless of life and career, I cannot foresee a time when I wont be gaming. The medium continues to grow and grow, and there are some exciting times ahead I promise you. It is a shame to see these stupid studies that link games to lack of attention and so forth, but these days the market is way too big for a few hollow criticisms to affect it, so I don’t let it worry me. I love playing games, and I don’t need anyone else’s approval to do it. I am fortunate to have never come across any gender bias in my gaming, I have no idea what sort of problem there is in the wider world, on the other hand, prior to this my IGN, I have never announced myself as female, if I post on a forum, I never mention my gender. I have seen some female posters on orums get a disproportionate number of replies, basically a positive discrimination, but it is still annoying, hence my silence. Whatever you do in life there are idiots, they are unavoidable, it is not a phenomena unique to gaming. I do not get involved a whole lot in the online gaming community, I play some shooters online, but I don’t voice chat with anyone, I like a degree of privacy, and I am not looking for any favours or special treatment.
Enjoy it, love it, and I will see you online.
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