When you remember a game that you've played, do you remember exactly what was going on around you when you played it? Unlike movies, or books even, I can recall the precise details of what was going on in my life when I first played something. Dino Crisis, for instance, may not be a very good survival horror game, but I played it in 7th grade, during a serious thunderstorm, in the dark, with my best friend taking turns with me after every death. I remember the carpet we were sitting on, I remember the cool ranch 3D Doritos..
It's crossing over from simple childhood nostalgia into serious life impact for me. Yes, Pokemon Red's Pokemon Center makes me think of a long line of 10 year olds sitting around a cafeteria table with link cables criss crossed above rectangle pizza, but that seems silly to me when I realize that Red Faction makes me reminisce about my son's birth. When your recollection of video games starts synching up with life events that are that close to you, it makes you want to happy cry a little.
I played Persona 3 the night that I moved into my first apartment when I was 18. I had a TV, and a futon. A fridge and a box of comic books. I was free from my horrid mother and working 10 hour shifts at Whole Foods, with only about 75$ extra bucks after rent/bills each month. I was happy, really happy, spending my free time failing in my young adult love life and writing down possible Persona Fusion combos on a dry erase board. I lived in the heart of Chicago's gay neighborhood, on the same block as a (then) culturally shocking club called Hydrate, crawling through the randomly generated dungeons, muting the TV whenever I heard the police outside arresting some loud drunks.
I was playing Red Faction: Guerrilla the day I found out that Stephanie was pregnant, I remember being unable to proceed through the game a couple days later because so much was on my mind. I was scared, and even now I can't really recall the game's plot because I was so preoccupied. It's funny how even looking at this screenshot makes me a little misty, so much was going on the last time I saw it.
My newborn daughter Phoebe was a couple weeks early. I had re-downloaded my favorite XBLA game ever, Bastion, trying to plow through it once again before my free time became compromised. It didn't pan out, Pheebs got here early, but now and forever, my favorite small game will be united with my memory of first meeting her. Games sure as fuck have come a long way from Pong haven't they?
No comments:
Post a Comment