NextGen Gaming

Family Computer, man, those were the days. I would pester my mom to buy me one and when I finally got one. Sweet!!! Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, Battle Tank, Galaxians and others. I would be glued to our TV set until my dad would shout at me that he needs to watch the news (we only have one TV set then).

Fast forward, I am now 37 years of age, I have two boys, and I still love gaming, I am not a hardcore gamer, but on weekends (when everything is done; shopping, grocery, pedia visit and etc.), I can sit there for hours playing until I get the ire of my wife eventually. I was never big into PC gaming (I stopped after my Apple II+ died on me). After the Family Computer, I sorta stop playing. Finishing High School, going to college, chasing girls and drinking..... I started noticing the games again when I was working already. PS One was the hot stuff then, but not earning much, I could not afford to buy it. And so I only got to look at it from a distance.

I bought our PS 2 around 2004. Boy, was I excited, my eldest; Hans was around 5 then was too. Got to play all those games like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Socom, DMC, RE and more recently God of War was awesome. Next thing I know, my son was asking me for a Gameboy. Lucky for him I love gaming, if it was my father, no deal. But I got him that too, and later on got myself a PSP and got Hans a DSLite. We are now really into it. Three handhelds and one console.

The year 2005 started in the west the so called next gen gaming when Microsoft launched their Xbox 360 then Sony and Nintendo followed suit the next year with their own consoles, PS 3 and Wii. Today the cast is complete. Tough to decide, but last June, I bought the Wii simply because its cheaper, and I want my family (specially my wife) to play with us. And after a few nudge, she tried Wii Sports and it did not got her hook but atleast she is now trying to understand why we love playing. I plan to get the PS 3 next, specially now that they have announced that they will lower the price by $100, so its now $499, not bad at all since you also get a next gen BluRay player to boot. I'm stoked, hope I can get it by December.

Right now, I'm content. Lots of choices to play and a chance to own maybe the most sophisticated piece of game machine by Christmas. What more can a man ask for. Wait, I wonder when my youngest son Cross will start playing video games......