There’s a fascinating article over at Next Generation on The Ten Greatest Years In Gaming (as well as an interesting discussion thread over at Slashdot. As an avid gamer, reading over the highlights definitely brought back memories of gameplay past, which led me to ask, what’s my history of gaming? I think it’d go something like this:

• 1982: My family gets its first Atari (clone?). Space Invaders and Pac Man are the games of the day. Amusement to no end was had when a sibling was playing a game, as you would switch their control from joystick to paddle during gameplay. Worst game ever: ET. Even in those low expectation times it was bad.
• 1986: My family gets a NES, because everyone was getting a NES. Well, first we start by renting systems from the video store, but eventually we cave in. The video store became my new hangout. My favorite game: Metal Gear. Why? I still don’t know.
• 1992: My cousin shows me Wolfenstein 3D on his PC. 3D immersive graphics and no real plot? I’m there!
• 1993: What’s this Doom you speak of? It runs on Silicon Graphics computers and I can download it for free? Sweet, I can play this in the computing lab when it’s dead. Also, a friend of mine gets Myst, which is the first blockbuster but last successful point and click adventure title.
• 1994: I discover MUDs, and make friends in Singapore. I start uttering the phrase “wa lau eh” whenever my character is in trouble.
• 1995: The SNES will be rented many times, but only two games are ever played: Chrono Trigger and F-Zero.
• 1996: Network lab filled with Macs + free download of Marathon II = great stress relief. You can jump! And use two handguns at once! OMFG! I also discover Warlords for Mac, which, aside from word processing, becomes its only purpose.
• 1997: The original Civilization makes time magically disappear. “The peasants are revolting!” They sure are. Just get me gunpowder, and I’ll show them.
• 1998: One of the benefits to having a networked group of computers at the workplace? Quake 2. The term “fragging” enters my lexicon.
• 1999: The original PlayStation is gifted to me. Much fun was had, but I primarily remember Xenogears (cementing my love for RPGs), Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill (showing how games can be narrative and a form of storytelling / new entertainment medium), and Final Fantasy VIII (showing me what a collosal waste of time RPGs can be). Resident Evil 2 defined the survival-horror genre. (Yes, the second one, not the first.) Oh, and Tetris Plus — I still play that game.
• 2000: I get PlayStation 2. I have to send it back because it doesn’t work. I get another. I have to send it back. I get another, and, lo, I saw that it was good. Games, unfortunately, were not. Sega Dreamwhat? I look with longing at Mario Tennis on N64.
• 2001: A little game named Grand Theft Auto III appeared on the scene. I don’t know how the above linked article didn’t mention this game.
• 2003: Yeah, I’d like to play Eternal Darkness, what with me being a survival-horror fan, but hold myself back from buying a GameCube. Even Resident Evil 4 couldn’t bring me over to that camp.
• 2004: Time for retro: Doom 3 is released, which emboldens me to build a new PC. It’s good for a few levels, then you just get bored of the same thing over and over. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the best game I’ve ever played.
• 2005: Ooh, Half Life 2 offers an ultra-realistic physics engine and further justification for building a PC. Unfortunately, it makes me nauseated to play. God of War is crowned the new best game I’ve ever played. I get a PSP and wonder where the games are.
• 2006: I buy my wife Civilization 4, and proceed to play it ad nauseum.

Oh, the memories. It’s amazing to think that I’ve been playing video games for twenty-four years. At this point, I think it’d be hard to picture a world without them. Video games are for kids? Ha! It’s no surprise that the average age of a gamer is 33 years of age (according to the ESA).