More me…it will end soon.
As my interests waned in one area, my interest in online video games started to grow. I got my first taste of it in 95 when I and the other Tech Support guys at a local ISP abused our low ping on Quake and Command and Conquer. It didn’t last long (I’m not cut out for Tech Support,) but it planted the seed of obsession that would drive me for the rest of my life…so far. So, I began to lose interest in the console market, and after a couple of years, totally focused on PC games.
Oh those games were glorious! I loved Quake, Quake2, Mechwarriors, Half-Life, Call of Duty,
Things changed around 2001. I had just picked up a Playstation (Yeah, I know it was late, but I had my PC games) and found that it was a lot easier jumping into a single-player game or story with the baby in my arms, than trying to deal with him hitting the keyboard while some kid in Michigan was screaming at me to pick up my game or log out. I didn’t make the jump to the Playstation 2 because we were expecting our second, and diapers came before games. I still played on a regular basis, but I didn’t get the opportunity to try new games all that often, or spend hours at the time gaming.
In 2004, something new came on the market that I felt like I had to get my hands on. I had heard the buzz about the Xbox and the little game called Halo, but when I saw the preview of Halo 2 on some TV show, I knew right then and there that I had to have it. As with most things I ‘have to have’ I don’t actually get it until the wife decides to loosen the reigns a bit to let me spend the money on it. Luckily, she knew it was a losing battle and broke down and bought me the Xbox and Halo 2 game for Christmas. She also had the forethought to put down the extra cash for the 12 month live card and headset. That decision right there is what brought me to where I am today.
Well, I say that, but it almost came crashing down after only a couple of weeks playing Live. If any of you have played the game, you know that many of the ‘kids’ playing Halo 2 are foul-mouthed cheaters that would rather snipe teammates instead of going for the freakin flag. Stupid little…anyway, it was almost enough to drive me back to the PC games where I had to use TeamSpeak to hear anyone. Luckily for me, I found a community site called Geezer Gamers (http://www.geezergamers.com) The loving members of the site took me in and offered me a cup of nice hot old-folk gaming goodness where I could suck at playing and still have a good time. You didn’t have to worry about competing against a 14 year old hopped up on Mountain Dew and screaming at his mother because he wants to own this dude just one more time. No, you might hear a guy coughing or his kids and wife yelling at him, but you rarely get berated for not pulling your weight during a game, or having to worry about being spawn-killed.
As time went on, the guys (and gals) on the site began bonding in other ways, forming a full-fledges community site that ‘oh by the way’ also plays video games together in the evenings after work.
So that’s me in a nutshell. I’ll be posting about the games I am playing, the news I hear around the gaming world, and a bit of insight into what it is like being an old guy and a father of 3 who plays and loves video games.
Filed under: Being a Geezer, Games and Gamers, Just me
