I was that 1st grade girl who hung out with the kindergarden boy next door because he had Super Mario 3 and I just loved the power Mario wielded once he ate that raccoon-morph-inducing feather.
In 2nd grade, I withstood Jurassic Park and X-Men themes just for a shot to watch the boys play a video game.
I was the child in 3rd grade who ardently offered to watch her neighbors cats because it meant I had another shot to beat Barrel Cannon Canyon in Donkey Kong Country.
In 4th grade I was addicted to Mario's "Yip, Yip, Yippee!" noise from Super Mario N64 because I was convinced beyond any shadow of a doubt that the triple jump made him go faster.
I was the 5th grader who had an Ahab-like drive to snag a picture of Jiggly-Puff singing in Pokemon Snap.
I was that kid came home every day from 6th grade and played between 2 and 4 hours of Zelda: Ocarina of Time because I just couldn't stand the thought of allowing Hyrule to succumb to the forces of darkness.
I was the player in 7th grade who always lost the mini-game in Mario Party if I wasn't Yoshi because I consistently looked at the wrong screen.
In 8th grade, I preferred the cheat book to Kingdom Hearts over the texts assigned for school. (To this DAY, I still can't beat Riku in his possessed form....)
And I was the freshman girl who was always frustrated there weren't better female characters in Golden Eye.
What is it that makes video games just so doggone fun? Here are a few of my thoughts...
- Collecting all the coins. (Or rupees, or bananas, or stars, or every-flavored jelly beans, or pictures of pikachu evolving into raichu)
- Destroying bad guys. Whether you stab an orc through the heart, whack Voldemort in the face with a killing curse, smash a lego Nazi into 15 pieces, or beat the Patriots by 70, there's something in your heart that just feels good. :)
- Seeing what happens at the end of the game. Has anyone ever gotten far enough to see the fake credits at the end of Donkey Kong? There's nothing worse then thinking you've won, and then having the giant crocodile you're fighting stand up and start throwing his crown at you faster than a professional baseball pitcher...
- Finding secrets. Bunny ears that will help me run faster? Why thank you strange mail delivery guy. Snowy tunnel that always happens to have the grenade launcher? Yes please. Underground room where I can jump of Yoshi to get at least 20 lives before time runs out? Sweet.
- The time filler. When it's a rainy day and you've been in your pajamas for 10 hours playing Halo, or you just logged your 84th hour on Zelda: Twilight Princess, you know you got your money's worth of entertainment.
- That noise when you find something cool or do something sweet. (That noise is NOT, "Hey! Listen!")
- Living vicariously through the game. I cannot tell you how amazing my Rock Band wardrobe is or how fantastic my red leather boots are when I play the drums. Or how rewarding it was to hop around on a giant frog, collecting tiny golden amphibian idols after I collected 3 gold frogs in Donkey Kong Country. OR how great it feels to FINALLY beat Bowser on Mario Kart 64 and knowing it is because I was able to knock him out of first place with one of those blue shells. (On the other end, I cannot convey to you how utterly rejected I felt when Luke (or anyone else on the island for that matter) wouldn't accept my blue feather as a marriage proposal since it was a holiday in Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility's fantasy world. Or when Maleficent took away my keyblade in Kingdom Hearts: Decoded. OR when I got turned into a wolf AGAIN in the Twilight princess.)
- Figuring out puzzles. When you finally find the last ship in a bottle in Lego Pirates of the Carribean because you had enough sense to use the girl to jump high, Bootstrap Bill to travel via crustaceans, and use Phillip's painful singing voice to shatter glass it's almost better than answering right on Jepordy.
- Playing with friends. There's nothing better than swallowing your cousin in Super Smash Brothers and laying him in an egg.
- Saving the day.
- Meeting new characters.
- Venturing to new places. (Anyone else think Jack and Dexter's island was super weird...?)
Whatever it is, it's great.
<Press START>
... and let the games begin!
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