I was tagged by Leedoc93 to do one of these, so here it goes.
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The Basics
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I would consider myself a hardcore gamer, which by my definition means I pretty much want to play everything. Financially I know I can't, but if money weren't an option you bet I would try. The only exception is strategy games, text adventures, sim racing and hardcore JRPGs; I don't much care for those genres. But if you tell me that you think I'd like one in particular, I'll probably give the demo a shot if I can.
I grew up on the Super Nintendo, so I see the value of both retro and modern era styles. I'm not a huge online multiplayer guy in general (despite the ULG), but I do enjoy a match here and there. In my opinion though, the games I am most willing to spend money on are the ones that I know can keep me playing offline. I still play my Super Nintendo games all the time, so I want to see that sort of longevity with newer games as well.
In general, I would say that it's not a matter of story over gameplay or vice versa. If both sides are there are great then obviously everyone is happy. But in cases where one side is lacking, I find it entirely forgivable if the other side can make up for it. Trying to put one to have a bigger value than the other really depends on my mood at the time. Sometimes you want to get lost in a game, and other times you just have an hour or so to kill.
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Consoles
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As I mentioned above, I had a Super Nintendo as my first console, and I played it often enough. When visited friends I played their NES and Genesis games as well, so I was fairly well versed in the less involving games. When the 5th generation came about, I was all about the N64. I didn't end up getting or keeping many games for it, because honestly most of them were pretty bad in retrospect, but there's still a dozen or so games on that console that I still revisit and enjoy. When the 6th gen started getting some press, I was all about Nintendo still. But my uncle bought me a PS2 before I could get a GameCube, and I ended up really loving that system and its games. I tried for years to get a GameCube as well, but every time I went to the store I walked out with more PS2 games instead. At the end of the PS2's life was when I started working at a GameStop, and the free used game checkouts while working there are what really put my gaming passion into overdrive. I ended up playing like 250 or so PS2 games by the end of its life.
Working at that store I also saw the 7th gen dawn, and I got a PS3 right away. It was $600, but I had a co-worker put Linux on it and I used it to do my homework. I would have spent as much on a laptop anyways for the homework and eventually college work, but this way I got a new console too. And my job made it easy to keep playing without having to spend all my money on it. I tried out the Wii but hated motion controls, and eventually I did buy an X360 to play with my friends (because I was the ONLY person I knew who bought a PS3 besides co-workers at that point), but I sold it because I could sense an imminent red ring. This was before Microsoft's extension of their warranty, so I thought selling it now was better than having a paperweight later. Ah well, I still had plenty to play on my PS3, and now I consider that to be the best generation even over the 4th.
For the 8th generation I went with a PS4, and I'm enjoying it so far. I'm still internally debating about getting one of the other consoles. At first I figured one was all I would need, but seeing the exclusives all around this past E3's got me thinking maybe not.
Handheld wise I had every iteration of the game boy at some point and an original style PSP. And that's it. And I'm pretty much done with handhelds for now. I'm looking into a new career field that might have more travel involved, so if that happens I might get a Vita for all the cross buy stuff.
I never got into PC gaming much because mouse/keyboard is incredibly awkward to me and by the time controllers became a more adopted thing for them I already had consoles available to me whenever I want to play, whereas I share this computer right now. Plus, this computer is an outdated cheapo model that we got because we assumed outright we wouldn't be using it for more than youtube and office.
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Playing Favorites
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My favorite game of all time is Zombies Ate My Neighbors, which I played on SNES but also release for Genesis. If you've never played, find a way. Whatever the price, it's worth it.
My favorite franchise in gaming is the Metal Gear franchise. I love the stealth action, I love the mechanics, and I love the depth of its story. Plus, you know a Metal Gear game is going to be top notch in every production area there is. Basically, it's the only franchise that I continue to hold high expectations for with each new installment and it somehow still manages to exceed them.
I also have strong allegiances to Mortal Kombat, Naughty Dog, Skyrim, and certain Zeldas.
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Alright, that's it for me right now. Since I don't know exactly who all has done this already, I'll go ahead and tag wa5t3land, OGeniusOne, and ShinjiTakeyama.
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"That body was found dead in a suit you would never be caught dead in."
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Today In Music (September 3rd)
Powerslave by Iron Maiden released on September 3rd, 1984. Also released on this day:
- Painkiller by Judas Priest (1990)