Hello all!

First off thank you to everyone who posted and has made me feel welcome….yes, even you momma.

So this entire week I have been in gaming nerd heaven. There was a convention held in LA called the E3 Convention. All week, the big gaming companies like Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony showed people what they can expect for the upcoming year with new games, updates to the consoles and demos of games. As I sat back and watched all the new game demos and trailers, and interviews, I was in amazement about how far we have come. I remember as a child my parents had a old computer called a Commodore 64. There was a game that I used to be obsessed about called Wizard. it was a simple 8-bit game filled with dungeons and puzzles and over 100 levels to have a ball with. The fact that I can remember certain levels is amazing, but the fact that now I am playing games where I am in whole other worlds, I am someone else, with graphics that make me think I am looking at real time, not a game is amazing. I know that games have had a bad rap these past few years. I was waiting in line with my boyfriend at midnight to get the new Grand Theft Auto IV game. Talk about a game that has gotten a lot of publicity, both good and bad. But that topic is for a whooooooole other blog when I feel like being on a soapbox.

As I sit and think about how technology has come so far, I also think about how the criticism has gotten harder as well. But I also think about how maybe 80 years ago, movies were going through the same kind of criticism, and actually sometimes they still have a hard time. I think that everything has to go through the paces. While right now people have problems with the gaming industry, there will be something else in the future that takes the heat off of the industry. It’s the circle of life baby.

The fact of the matter is, the gaming industry is here to stay. During Microsoft’s conference there was a fact that I found very interesting. More people buy games than anything else. More than DVD’s or music, right now games are “the king of the world”. Instead of a family sitting around the dinner table playing Monopoly, they are all sitting on the couch playing a game of bowling using the Wii. We are evolving every year. Sometimes I wonder if the Parker Brothers would approve or not, but the fact of the matter is, while you may disagree with some games, you cannot deny that they are beginning to bring families together. Instead of Mom and Pop thinking that a kid who loves video games is a kid heading for trouble, now you are seeing more parents trying to understand where the kids are coming from. And trust me, kids are dying for you to be involved and understand.

Another piece of information I found interesting was the fact that the ratio of men who buy gaming systems or games is almost even now with women. 52% of men vs. 48% of women. I am proud to say that I am one of those people. I know that my boyfriend who is also an avid game player enjoys the fact that he can sit down and play a game and I will happily watch him or play along as well. As a matter of fact, I am considering buying a Nintendo DS to add to our growing collection of gaming consoles (between the two of us we have 3 so far).

At the end of the day, video games have made such an impact on my life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I will always have the memories of playing Wizard with my sister and friends, of playing Decent with my Father and Frogger with my mother, of how Super Mario helped me survive my first semester of college, and how some of the happiest memories of me and my boyfriend has been playing some kind of game just laughing and having a great time being together. The E3 convention makes me think of this every year, of how far we have come technology wise and how far gaming has come with me and the memories I have made in my life.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. Until the next blog, take care!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Entertainment, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.