Loves of yesteryear

Yet another GF blog... clickie clickie if you likie

edit: thanks so much for the Butter Bear advice. And yes, he is prone to pooping in people's eye, but he's still a good little bear.

I was accosted in my own home, and it was wonderful. This last week, tha boys came over for the yearly football draft, which is my cue to ensure that there are frosty beverages in the fridge and I make myself scarce. Times like this are brief and precious for any new Mom, a few hours of guilt free “me” time, to do whatever you want to.

I had originally planned on moving the 360 upstairs and play either Marvel Ultimate Alliance (so many achievements!) Or Too Human, but something else just jumped up, grabbed me and demanded “PLAY ME!”

It was an old friend who dared to be so bold, the PS2. These things are still selling like hotcakes, and I can see why. There is a huge library of games available, and new games are still being published. There is no on-line capability, which has some appeal if you have small kids and they want their own system. Lastly the PS2 is durable as all get out. It’s in the bedroom, and I kick it on the way to the bathroom every day; and, loyally, it runs like a charm.

The PS2 was a gift from yours truly to my boyfriend (now my husband). I was unemployed and pretty much living rent free, I bought the PS2 for him as a surprise to thank him for being my sugar daddy. Somewhere along the line I went from “the controller is so confusing” to “umm... are you going to be done playing Madden anytime soon” to “can’t talk, Kingdom Hearts” all in that one console generation.

So when PS2 asked for some gaming time, I am there. It was fantastic. I forgot how much I loved the games on that system. It was last gen graphics, a little rough around the edges but so much fun to play. Nostalgically, I seem to believe that the games of the last generation were longer than this one, which may have some validity. The save game from a few years ago was over 70 hours long and I have not even come close to spending that time on the 360. But then again, I have more obligations now, and I am just a better, more streamlined gamer than I used to be. I have changed, adapted as a gamer. Where I used to spend hours upon hours wasting time, now I am efficient. I used to play alone, unsure of my skills, now I look forward to the co-op and multiplayer aspects of most games today.

The PS2 is the platform that turned me into a quasi hardcore gamer, and while I have moved on, looking back is sometimes good for the soul.

So, what was the platform that made you a gamer? Where did you go from “hey these game things are a fun diversion” to spending your free time reading articles about gaming by other gamers? And when was the last time you spent a little free time with the machine or game that made it all possible?