I was once an avid console gamer. For a good 15 years of my life I spent countless hours in various virtual worlds. I played alone often, but usually, I was with friends. One of my best friends lived two houses down. We could often be found in one of our living rooms playing some split-screen game. College cut my playtime back dramatically, and after my Xbox 360 developed the notorious Red Ring of Death for the third time, I quit for good. That is until recently. Nearly 10 years after my last gaming system, my parents appeared at my new house bearing boxes they were eager to clear from the basement. One box contained my old Nintendo 64. After scoring a free CRT TV on Craigslist, I plugged it in and was immediately transported back to childhood. Only now my wife replaced my buddy from down the street. It also made me reflect on how videogames influenced my life. Here are eight that helped shaped my world:
8. Battletanx Global Assault
I fondly remember Battletanx because of the time I spent with my friend. The wide range of multiplayer options made it a great split-screen game where we could work together. The teamwork aspect was important as we were both competitive players who did not enjoy losing to the other. The other reason it sits on this list is how awesome ten-year-old me thought the story was. Armies of tanks? Check. Driving across the US and Europe in said tanks? Check. A post-apocalyptic world ruled by women? Sweet. Weird mind control powers? Why not!
This is the first game my wife and I plugged in when I fired up the N64. I was shocked at how effortlessly the controls came back to me. It was like the intervening 20 years had just vanished and my hands knew exactly what to do. I even remembered the cheat code for the extra level without having to look it up!
7. Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
GRAW came into my possession right around the time I got Xbox Live. I did not realize it then but GRAW was a window into the future for me. Previous to GRAW, I had played a few games on Xbox Live but it was always with friends. GRAW was the first online game I played where I did not know anyone. Much to my surprise that changed quickly. Not long after I began playing, I found a lobby with a consistent set of players who welcomed me into the fold. For the first time, I found myself playing matches and discussing life with a set of strangers who quickly became familiar. We have now entered an age when gamers routinely make friends online that they meet with in person. GRAW pointed me towards that future.
6. Banjo-Tooie
The only RPG I have ever played. And what an awesome little journey it was. I still get a kick out of the creativity behind it. A bear running around with a bird in his backpack collecting musical notes on a grand quest to defeat a witch while fighting off all sorts of weird creatures- It is not the first time I have wondered to what extent the use of drugs plays a role in the development of games.
5. Rush 2049
What exactly was Rush 2049? On the surface it was a racing game. But go a bit deeper and it was a techno-automotive adventure with hints of Tony Hawk and the Vigilante 8 series. I remember very little of the racing but recall the hours spent scouring tracks for coins and nailing those perfect tricks on stunt mode. And the joy has not faded. Just recently my wife excitedly sent me a picture of her finding the last gold coin on a track.
4. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
You have two squads of controllable soldiers to manipulate around the map. Each is comprised of named individuals that you select the stats for. Lose a soldier on a mission and they’re gone forever. At the higher difficulties it was painfully easy to lose soldiers. Ghost Recon was not without its flaws, but it forced you to think critically in a geopolitical scenario that remains realistic. I still believe it is one of the best shooters ever made.
3. Forza Motorsport 1–3
Forza Motorsport did not create my interest in cars, but it took it to the next level. Its realism was a new world for me after playing arcade-style racing games. I would meticulously master each track, watching as my name crawled up the worldwide leaderboards. I also began a deep dive into the tuning of cars. I started by learning the difference between understeer and oversteer. Eventually, I was tweaking sway bars and brake bias to get the optimum result. It also introduced me to a world of racing beyond NASCAR. Series’ where cars go left and right and sometimes do it for 24 hours. Years later I found myself at the Goodwood Festival of Speed ogling cars I had only seen in Forza Motorsport. I appreciated them because of the game.
2. Need For Speed Underground 1&2
The early 2000s was a crazy time in the car world. Import culture had been growing for years, but in 2001 Paul Walker and Vin Diesel brought it out of a few specialty magazines and into the public consciousness with The Fast and The Furious. I had grown up around cars. But they were always the cars of my dad’s generation. I went to car shows because I wanted to spend time with him, not because I particularly cared what some modified ’59 Pontiac looked like. But in the early 2000s two events hit simultaneously. One was the release of The Fast and the Furious. The movie captivated me. I almost hate to admit it, but it was a life that deeply appealed to me.
The other was the Seattle Roadster Show partnering up with Hot Import Nights for a show at the Century Link Field (then Quest Field) events center. To this day that hybrid show is my all-time favorite. On one side of the exhibition center was the Seattle Roadster Show in all of its staid perfectionism. Step through the garage doors and you were in another world. The lights were off, loud music filled the air, and scantily clad women roamed the halls. Then there were the cars. The cars were insane; covered in lights, bumping music systems, and speed parts I did not understand. All barely capable of clearing a speedbump.
More importantly, these cars felt as if they belonged to me. They were a part of my generation. As a young teen, this scene captured me as none had. I could think of no higher life goal than having a beautiful woman perched on the hood of a wild car I had built and raced at night. Naturally, I was not able to fulfill this lifestyle at 14. Need for Speed Underground stepped into that void. The game expertly captured the vibe of the import scene. Before I was eligible for my driver’s license, NFSU allowed me to live out my dreams. Its sequel, NFSU2, only deepened that desire. It would all culminate in a father/son high school project that looked straight out of the videogames, a car that is still one of my great sources of pride.
1. Halo 1&2
The Need for Speed Underground series may have shaped my adolescent years, but the Halo series changed my worldview. Halo gave me hours upon hours of playtime with my friends. Some of it was split-screen with my buddy. Others were pizza fueled all-nighters with 12 players on 4 linked systems in another friend’s giant rec room. Halo LAN parties are some of the social highlights from my teenage years. But Halo also introduced me to Science Fiction. It taught me to look to the stars and wonder what adventures they hid. And finally, it taught me to protect the Earth. I want nothing more than the ability to explore our galaxy. Halo inspired that desire. It opened my young mind to the possibilities that may exist in the twinkling lights of the night sky. I have continued to be fascinated by the mysteries the universe holds. But I have also accepted that I will never live to see the exploration of the galaxy I so yearn. But I can do my part to protect the Earth and ensure it is habitable so that future generations may reach out and explore.
The Honorable Mentions
I know this article was based on console games. But the great irony of my videogame career is that it was bookended by PC games.
The First: Aces of the Pacific
This game quite literally changed my life. When I was in the first and second grade, I was in remedial reading and costing my parents a small fortune in tutor bills. It was all for naught, reading was not sticking. But I went over to a friend’s house and saw him playing Aces of the Pacific. I was immediately intrigued and he gave me a copy. Inspired by the game, I came to possess a copy of Jane’s Pocket Encyclopedia of WWII Aircraft. I read it cover to cover. I did not care about seeing Spot run, but I cared very deeply about the various armaments of Spitfires. I even taught myself roman numerals to work out what Spitfire was what. I began consuming any material I could find on the topic. In the space of two years, I went from barely literate to a 4th grader reading at the 12th-grade level. To this day my mom maintains that I was simply bored with what the school was forcing upon me. She is not wrong. And this interest would carry into my professional life. It would lead me to roles in two different museums and influence my decision to join the Army.
The last: Dota 2
And here we are, the final game. Steam has me at 1000 hours for Dota 2. I was one of the early beta test players for it. Of those 1000 hours, I have played approximately 20 by myself. I used to play the original Dota with my buddies in a Warcraft variation of the Halo LAN parties. So when the beta for Dota 2 was released I was all in. During the halcyon years of college, we would meet up, drink numerous beers, and play Dota 2 until the sun rose. Once a year we would sit and watch the International and debate how E-sports may take over. When my Xbox finally died, I was left with only Dota 2 and World of Tanks. Dota 2 was a pillar of my social structure. Outside of a few track parties I did not partake in the typical college life, but I would roll over to friends' houses with my laptop, a 6 pack, and we would play. I loved it. It would peter out as adult responsibilities overcame all of us. But at times I still miss the ability to crack a beer, turn on my headset, call my friends, and escape from reality.
If you have a game that influenced you I would love to hear about it in the comments.
