I’ve always enjoyed traveling.  The destination however, isn’t what this post is about.  This is about the people that I’ve been going to meet.  The most recent Blizzcon got me thinking about this again.  All the pictures posted on our guild forums are a bittersweet look into a fun weekend.  On the one hand it’s awesome to see a good number of guild people that have taken the trek out to Anaheim to enjoy the activities and festivities that Blizzard has provided.  On the other, it kills me to see these people and think that I could have taken a trip out to meet so many of them.  In retrospect the opportunity was there and I should have taken it.

     In the past I have been able to do so, though not in the convention center kind of way.  Back in 2007 I took a trip with my college roommate, Palantir (or Pal), up to Montreal to visit my first set of guild people.  Before leaving Pal booked a hostel in the city to try to save some money.  The trip was a 6 hour drive up from Western Massachusetts on a Friday in my ‘95 bright teal 2 door Ford Escort.  Crossing multiple states, country borders, and long stretches of Canadian farm land that, to be honest, smelled like ass.  Upon arriving we parked in some part of the city on a side street where my car was destined to stay for the long weekend.  A black SUV pulled up and we wondered if the trip would end with us tied up in the back of this nondescript car.  As it turned out this was not the end of the story and out popped Fog and Kurn.  Introductions were in order before getting into the car and driving over to where we were staying to drop our stuff off.  This was the first time I had gone out to meet someone from in a game, so I was kind of foggy on the whole character name vs real name thing.  There wasn’t really a discussion, and so it flip flopped throughout the weekend.  After several minutes of hunting for a physical location that matched the address of the hostel we had, the four of us came up to what seemed like a normal apartment. The door opened up to a set of stairs to what looked like a small 2 or 3 bedroom apartment with a loft area.  However strewn about the apartment there were mattresses on the floor, which it was determined was where people would be sleeping.  Pal and I tossed our stuff on a mattress up in the loft area and headed back out, laughing, and questioning what we had gotten ourselves into for 20 Canadian dollars a night.

(Home sweet mattress?)

     After that the four of us trekked out to an internet gaming place to play some WoW.  Eventually, Fog and Pal went out to enjoy some other parts of the Montreal night life, while Kurn and I stayed and did a few Burning Crusade randoms and a ZG run.  We laughed, we cried.  Well, she laughed and cried as I literally began yelling in her face after she asked me to conjur her some water.  I went into great detail about how I had to personally go out to the glaciers and chip off the ice that I use to conjure my glacial water.  As it turns out,I love yelling at Kurn whether it’s in or out of the game.  After a while Fog and Pal rejoined us and the group headed back out around 3 or 4 am.  While leaving the internet cafe we were hastily assaulted by a gentleman who pretended to rob us.  I grew rapidly concerned about this less then stellar situation.  Thankfully it was quickly revealed that he was attempting to rob us using only a banana concealed in his sweatshirt pocket.  Hilarity ensued.  Actually thinking back there is a video that Kurn took on that cold Canadian night right here!  Granted my hair is not quite as awesome anymore, but hey, life goes on.  Our journey ended back at the sketchtastic “hostel” and got to sleep.

(This would have been more threatening.)

     I awoke early the next morning at least 2 hours before Pal and subsequently many other people there.  Now as an aside, I am an early morning person.  Ever since I was very young I had known that.  I always wake up earlier then everyone else on a very consistent basis.  Which, while I would normally consider it a positive, was absolutely not.  All I could do was wait.  When a few people eventually did wake up, there was more then a little language barrier, as my high school level French did not leave me the ability to converse.  Also, it was an atrocious night of sleep.  Who would have guessed that a mattress on hardwood flooring may not be as supportive for your back as you would want.  With very little and poor quality of sleep, Pal and I decided that a second night of staying there was not an option.  Pal and I thanked the host, and after some “discussion” were successfully able to give them an American twenty for the stay.  At time the US dollar was beating out the Canadian one, and the “discussion” was more of our host not understanding that fact.  We gathered our up stuff and headed out.  Kurn and Fog swung by and grabbed us again to find a proper hotel in the area which turned out to be a local Quality Inn.  The rest of the day was consumed by a couple drinks at a bar across the street and some more WoW playing.

     That Saturday night I had what I will say to this day, is the best night of sleep I have ever had in my life.  The bed had never been as soft, nor the sleep as good.  Goodbye sketchy hostel, hello squishy mattress with the full host of standard hotel amenities.  While just as standard a hotel as any, I will never again have such an appreciation for the industry.

(Quality has never been so extraordinary.)

      We gathered our stuff once again and were grabbed by the pair and I challenged them to get me a good bagel.  Being from the New York, New Jersey area, I know a thing or two about bagels.  Fog assured me he had a spot and we grabbed one.  Bad news for him, it was not up to the par that I am used to.  (You’ll have to try again next time buddy.)  We said goodbye as they dropped us back off at my car and we headed back out.  Overall, a very enjoyable experience.

     The second one of my grand adventures took me to the Virginia area of the US.  I was heading down to see a larger group of WoW friends.  This trip was a little bit longer and consisted of more planning and plane rides.  One of the two was a small prop plane.   I remember staring out the window being able to watch the propeller of the plane and being able to hear it over my fully blasting iPod.  Easily being one of the most horrifying plane rides of my life.  As I arrived at Roanoke Regional Airport I was swiftly greeted by Kamilla and Hungertoga.  I got my baggage into their car and we were off.  My journey continued after joining up with the whole crew containing Hulkdwarf, Tankdwarf, and Magiribeye.

     Sadly some of my newer guild mates will of never met these people but will have probably heard of Tank and Hulk’s Retribution Paladin prowess.  And if you had not, all you need to know is that they were Marshals and Justicars before it was cool.  Magiribeye has been sighted this expansion on his druid Lazercat now and again.  Food and drink were consumed at which point I was able to reaffirm my non-enjoyment of sweet tea and headed out.  I dropped my stuff at Toga’s place as he was kind enough to provide his place for my lodgings.  That night the crew all went out and played some mini-golf and enjoyed the rest of the evening.  Make note however that I was victorious, teamed with my once mage partner Magiribeye (aka Ribs).

(I forgot this picture even existed.  Hell yes.  Mini golf champs.)

     The next day we woke up and I was interested in getting some breakfast food.  I had wanted to go to a Waffle House since my only other experience there had been a year or two earlier in Atlanta, and it was delicious.  Granted they were quick to tell me that Waffle House is a chain in which you were more likely to find drunk people passed out at 4 AM in the morning then an actual eating establishment, but I insisted anyway.  After consuming what I though passed as a decent meal we stopped by a quick-e-mart and grabbed some provisions for a day at a gun range. By provisions I meant a decent size bag of sunflower seeds and water.  And by gun range I mean an area used for shooting, that could best be described as a large pile of earth at the end of a medium sized field with some stations at which you could sit and steady a rifle.  Ribs graciously provided both a Mosin-Nagant and a KAR 98 plus ammo for some firing fun.  This was in fact the first real gun that I had fired.  While the bolt was sticky at times and I required some help to get it pulled back occasionally, it was awesome.  Ribs had also brought along an ink cartridge from a printer that we shot at.  The afternoon ended with a cartridge that had been successfully “killed” and was bleeding some viscous inky maroon blood on the ground.

     After the afternoon’s activites, we caught a showing of the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, to which we all agreed was rather mediocre at best.  On our way home we stopped for some fast food at a Sonic.  At that time there were none of those up in my area at all.  I consumed some delicious popcorn chicken and tater tots.  The reason I bring this up is that since that enjoyable trip, the franchise has moved up North.  However, the wonderful food has not accompanied that transition and our Sonics are far below par.  That evening we had a raid which Kam, Toga, and I all attended.  The next day the three of us grabbed some Japanese food for lunch before taking me back to the airport for my flight back home, thus ending another great guild meeting adventure.

(I do like sunflower seeds. . . .and guns.)

     These trips are easily some of the high points of my video gaming career.  Meeting these people online, forming a relationship online, then being able to pick up on that friendship in real life is just a testament to how online gaming doesn’t just harbor the need to be online more.  I have met more people from the former Apotheosis as well.  Both Darkguido and Grimnaw took the trip up from Long Island to my college in Massachusetts to crash with Pal and I for a weekend.  We hung out played Call of Duty and ate some delicious wings from a local wing place.  Very enjoyable.  Another visit from guild mates came in the form of meeting up with Darista and Kut.  Pal and I met up with them for dinner in the area, then went out to play a few rounds of bowling after.  Kut and I sang to Paul Simon’s Graceland in the car on the way there.  It was magical.  I’ve also been back up to Canada since that fateful weekend with my fiancee JD to hang out with Kurn again on a more sightseeing type trip.

     These photos of the new crew at Blizzcon brought back all these wonderful memories.  Though I couldn’t be there to enjoy the company of my new guild mates I’m both jealous and happy I got to see the pictures.  I think I’d like to get back into it and create a new slew of stories and adventures with the fantastic folks of Apotheosis.

     “Team Fortress 2 is the best first person shooter on the market right now.  The best part is that it’s free!” is a statement I have found myself saying frequently.  The first response is always.  “How do they make money then?”  The answer is simple, microtransactions. Many games have taken this as a way to release a game for little or no cost then sell features or bonuses, or general content inside the game for small fees.  This allows the consumer to pay no up front cost, become invested in the game, then feel the need to pay for the things in the game that will allow them to do what they’d like.  I have a few examples of this in games that I currently play, some that are built off the system, and some that have implemented it down the line in order to remain competitive and producing revenue.

(TF2:  Best mission statement ever?)

     The first that I have to mention is my favorite first person shooter.  Team Fortress 2 is a class based FPS that has 9 unique classes and you play on objective based maps, such as Capture the Flag, Payload, or Control Point.  When I purchased this game it was part of the Orange Box.  It cost me $50 and contained a slew of games in what I considered to be easily the best collecting of PC games that you could invest in.  If you haven’t played Half Life 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 then you should still consider shelling out the mere $20 that this wonderful bundle costs.  Anyway, time to get back on track.  The Mann-Conomy update was released on September 30th, 2010.  This update contained a huge number of changes, one of which was the Mann Co. Store.  This store allowed you to purchase in game items for real money.  These items were previously available only through random drop or achievements and none of which are considered upgrades to any of the game’s base items.  The different weapons allow each of the classes to sort of tailor the way they play by choosing weapons that have traits that help them.  For example a rocket launcher that does less splash damage but more direct hit damage.  In addition it allowed the  purchase of some hats, which had a very low random drop rate.  Prices in the store were dependent on the rarity of the weapon, or hat and cost anywhere from 99 cents to $15 for some hats.  Granted hats in this game are only aesthetic, but if you’ve even been on the Internet in the past year or so, you’ve heard about TF2 hats.  This store allowed Valve to continue to make money on a FPS even after releasing with no monthly fee.  The Über Update was released on June 23rd, 2011 and brought with it the announcement that Team Fortress 2 would be a free to play game.  This allowed anyone to become involved in the game and get a free taste of how much fun it can be, but allowed the developers to continue to bring in money that they will hopefully use to both continue updates, and develop a Team Fortress 3 eventually.  Not only that, but Valve takes user submissions for their newest items and hats, and allows the community members to get a cut of the profit when the items are sold on the store.

(TF2: This is my medic. There are many like it, but this one is mine.)

     This system of microtransactions in the Mann Co. store came with some initial hesitations due to people believing that Valve was crazy to have instituted something like this into their game.  They however strove to make sure that questions were answered and that they changed the game as little as possible.  The most important question answered in the Mann-Conomay Q&A was this.

Q: Will I have to spend money to remain competitive?

A: No. Any items affecting gameplay, and even most purely cosmetic items, will still be obtainable simply by playing the game.

     This was mission critical in keeping everything running smoothly.  With everything being available to people that did not want to have to buy items, this was a very helpful to sooth the nerves of those concerned they would HAVE to start spending money on the game.  The integration of a store was almost purely aesthetic and therefore did not affect gameplay.  This allowed people to get the items they wanted without waiting for random drops, while at the same time, allowing Valve to make money off of a game they’d been providing free content for over the last four years.   At this time I feel like you would be hard pressed to find someone who suggests that this has been a negative change.  The continued support of TF2 has allowed it to grow into a hugely popular game with a very devoted fan base, myself included.

     Some games however are built from the ground up off of microtransactions. A game that I currently play and have contributed to is League Of Legends.  A DotA (Defense of the Ancients) clone, this game consists of a team of usually 5 players each controlling a champion (see: Warcraft III) and using them to help assist minions and destroy each other and subsequently their base or Nexus. There are around 85 unique champions, and the game also uses a mastery tree system in addition to a secondary rune system.  Each week there are 10 free to play champions which rotate every week in no set pattern.  The mastery trees are almost identical to most leveling system in which you pick talents to tailor to your champion.  The rune system I can equate closer to the glyph system in World of Warcraft, though runes are more easily swapped in or out and do not get destroyed upon use.

(LoL: Why can’t my WoW rune page have this many spots?)

     League has two different systems of currency build into it.  The first is Influence points, which are gained by playing and more effectively by winning matches.  You earn about 100 to 120 IP per standard win or 60 to 80 per loss.  The second type is Riot Points.  Riot is the developer and publisher of League of Legends.  These points can be purchased for money  at a rate of 130 points per dollar at lower levels and them giving addition points at higher intervals.  For example if you purchase $35 USD worth of points you get a bumped up 450 additional points giving you a total of 5000 Riot Points.  Now lets say that you play a champion on their free week, but then the next week they are no longer on the free roster.  You have the option to unlock that character or any other of the 85 or so by spending points to do so.  Now most champions in the in game store cost 6300 IP (Influence points) though some are lower depending on how recently they were introduced into the game.  These champions also normally have a cost of 975 RP (Riot Points) or about $7.50 USD.  This style of system will allow someone with the funds to unlock any number of champions that they want as soon as possible.  This does not however give them an advantage, as the champions are pretty much balanced depending on what role they have.  This allows the game to give you the option for the game to remain free if you are willing to put in the time, or unlock champs if you don’t.  Keeping the game open and competitive to both people who would like to pay and not is the goal of any good microtransaction store.

(LoL: Fizz – My most recent purchase.  With whom I’m still currently terrible)

     There are however two point exclusive things to be purchased in game.  The first are skins for your champion.  These change the model of your champion and can only be purchased with RP.  These are however only cosmetic and do not affect gameplay at all.  There is usually a perceived higher play associated with people that are willing to spend money on a skin for a champion they play often, though.  This will normally give the idea that you play a champion so often that it becomes worth your money to buy a look that you enjoy.  The other point exclusive thing is runes for your rune pages.  These can only be purchased with IP, making sure that you cannot use the in game store to purchase real “upgrades” for what ever champion you choose to play.  This keeps the game competitive for people that do not wish to pay money due to the fact that you still have to put the time in to earn runes, which are required for any higher level play.  There are things in the store that you can purchase called “Boosts.”  The can be purchased with RP and have two different effects.  One of which increases the IP earned through games, and one that increases XP, which helps you to level faster.  While these seem like they downright help to cheat this well crafted system of microtransactions, I don’t believe this is the case.  Although it would seem like you can pretty much purchase your way to the top with boosts, you still have to play the game for them to be effective.

(Angry Birds: I still haven’t met someone who owns this.)

     The game makes it easy for you to spend just a couple bucks here or there once you get to love a champion that you’ve started playing.  Like iTunes and Steam they have no problem just holding onto your card info if you’d like to make the next $5 transaction that much quicker.  Riot and Valve are using their free games as a medium to convey their digital wares.  Through providing continued updates and content to their game for free they ensure that people will stay loyal and supporting their game.  Though Team Fortress 2 added this system later in the game it a very proven system.  Though still a newer item on the market, this can also be seen in the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s new tablet.  The machine is being reported sold at a loss at $199.99 each.  They are using it however as a platform directly to their store.  For a small fee you could purchase a book through their store.  Or want to pay a couple bucks to rent a movie?  The Kindle makes it easy using their sold-at-a-loss platform.  Using a cheap or free platform to sell in game items or boosts can be seen in multiple iPhone/iPod games as well.  Need a boost in Angry Birds?  Just 99 cents for the Mighty Eagle to help you beat that troublesome level.  Need a couple more potions in that game of Pocket Frogs?  No worries, just 99 cents in the pro shop.  It’s becoming more and more common place to see these small dollar amounts in just about any game you play.  I’m not suggesting this is a bad thing, as I have purchased an item or two from both the Mann Co. store and from the in game League of Legends store.  I just hope that games continue to strive as those two have to keep the money out of the gameplay.  It’s a fine line and walking it can make or break a game.  I look forward to continuing to support both the TF2 and LoL developers as I certainly do enjoy the game that they have produced.  I think that’s true, or maybe it’s a way for me to rationalize spending money on what’s effectively a free game.  Either way, you’ll fear my Fiddlesticks in his surprise party skin.  I promise it.

(LoL: IT’S A SURPRISE! . . . . .but not that you’re dead.)

     I still think that this is my favorite console to date.  The time that I sank into it then (and still occasionally now) is rivaled probably only by my WoW playing career.  I remember the Hanukkah like it was yesterday.  This must have been back in either 1992 or 1993.  My grandparents (Mom’s side) happen to be in town for a couple nights, which was a rarity given that they live up on Cape Cod as well. I remember standing in my living room and a largish box being brought out for that night.  I ripped the wrapping paper open, and my God, it had really happened.  This thing that I been begging for forever was finally here in my grasp.  All that was running through my head was the commercials where I watched Mario run down a long corridor filled with giant spike columns that drop as he dashes and narrowly avoids them.

     This was a dream come true.  The only game I had was Super Mario World, but that was fine.  It was all I needed.  I devoured the game.  I spent every minute I could playing.  Learning all the tricks and secret hide outs.  I had even bought a big guide to it eventually.  The book was as thick as an Ayn Rand novel but that was even better.  This unofficial guide became my bible as I read over and memorized every scripture.  And there were pictures!  This game allowed me to hone my basic hand eye coordination and give me the foundation for platforming skills I would need for generations of sidescrollers to come.

     My foray into the Super Nintendo only blossomed from there as my collection of games grew.  Donkey Kong Country, Illusion of Gaia, Goof Troop, Super Mario Land 2, Star Fox, Contra III, Mega Man X, Mario Kart and more.  Some under that more category are less then stellar games.  Games that I’m not even really sure how I got my hands on.  Stuff like Monopoly, Super James Pond, and Wheel of Fortune.  The list of good games I owned goes on and on though.

     Sadly there are some games that I didn’t own or play which could be considered the cannon works of the SNES.  Game such as F-Zero, Chrono Trigger, and any of the Final Fantasy, series escaped me back then.  Granted I still haven’t returned to play them even though some people continue to urge me to.

(Super James Pond: to this day I still have no clue what this is about.)

     A couple of my SNES games stand above the rest as the pillars of my collection.  The first of which is the classic Super Mario World, to which I would still claim is my favorite Mario platformer to date.  Offering a wide variety of levels and in my opinion still has great replay value.  I now have it for game boy advance and pop that bad boy into my DS when I just don’t know what game to play.  It has done nothing but age well, and have cleared it as recently as the vacation I went on with my fiancee and her family not 6 months ago.  Though only boasting alternating Mario and Luigi for co-op on the SNES this still stands the test of time.

     “I’m going to go play rpg.”  There are few people to which this sentence makes sense.  And for this one I’m going to have to give you some of my family information. I have 2 brothers, one who was born in 1995, and another born in 1990.  They shall be known henceforth by their handles as they have flourished into amazing gamers as well.  Sephden the middle brother and Chaosmarine the youngest.  Sephden was playing the console pretty much as soon as he could.  While I’m fuzzy on how or if I taught him how, he quickly grew to enjoy feel of a controller in his hands.  When Super Mario RPG was released, it was a must have.  I didn’t know it, but I would spend more time playing this game then any other. (At the time)  Sephden and I begged our parents for it, because we had no money.  Sadly, they would not give in to our demands.  But one day during the summer they made a deal with us.  We would work out in the garden with them for a certain number of weeks or days or hours (I forget) and they would buy us the game.  We obliged, because really we didn’t have too many other options.  It felt brutal.  Granted it probably wasn’t much time at all, but back then it felt like months.  It was hot and dirty and not really anything either of us enjoyed.  But then after what felt like years we were granted the game.  Sadly it was only single player but we both played the hell out of it.  Developed by Square it was very similar to games such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy employing a turn based combat system.  I was in love.  This game was not easy, but it was amazing. Being able to switch around your team and gear.  This was my first introduction to a real role playing game apart from the previously mentioned Odell Lake.  The story was enthralling, and I was sold on the characters and their histories.  Chasing beetles up Booster’s Hill, dying to Dodo the bird, and the noise Static E makes when being cast by Bowyer are all things that have treasured since then.

(Super Mario RPG: how often do you get to kill knock of Power Rangers?)

    After playing a game like Star Fox 64 it’s almost hard to go back and comment on the first one. Star Fox was probably the second or third game that was able to add to my collection.  I have to admit going back to this one isn’t as easy as the others I’ve listed, but it laid the ground work what has become a major Nintendo franchise.  I enjoyed the hell out of it when I used to play it.  Your arwings scrambling out of the base is accompanied by a noise that will carry with me forever, though not necessarily in the positive sense.  This game was VERY difficult, and that I found enjoyable.  Collecting dual laser power-ups was probably one of the best feelings I could get back then.  Also as a side note, Slippy didn’t have a voice yet.  That fact alone helps it a little but sadly not enough to help alleviate the fact that the graphics help to hold it back by today’s standards.  Star Fox 64 felt almost like a direct upgrade in almost every form.

(Star Fox: here’s to you Star Fox! You were good while you lasted.)

     I was going to go into a few more games as far as their co-op but I think that I’ll do another post on them.  Just thinking back on some of these gives me the intense urge to go out and play them right now.  Does Kirby’s Dream Course need some love?  Or maybe see if I can finish Illusion of Gaia.  RPG could always use another play through. . . .

     Some are surprised to find that my roots in gaming aren’t really as deep as I lead them to believe.  For someone who’s first console system was the Super Nintendo, I sometimes feel like I put on more of a gaming show then some of my colleagues who are able to tell me all about the original NES era, or reminiscing about Intellivision or ColecoVision.  Being born in 1986 didn’t allow me to interact as much as I wanted to with these systems to which some would consider the building blocks of games I play today.

     I was a little bit more on top of PC gaming in the yesteryears, because luckily my father was a computer nerd back in the day.  I guess the first game I can ever remember playing is Snap Dragon by Mecc software.  A game for toddlers, I don’t remember exactly the “gameplay” though it had something to do with pictures, coloring and may have help to foster my deep seeded enjoyment of yelling the word “DRAGON!” over Mumble at WoW friends.  Booting up through text prompts was the only way I knew back then.  The only other game available in my house as I was in my younger years was a PC port of Space Invaders which I played like a mad man.  Granted both my text based operating system and Space Invaders skills have waned through the years due a lack of use, but in 4th and 5th grade the school computer became the new cool thing.

(Pretty pretentious to already claim it’s “Your child’s first software.” Can it see into my house?)

     Two games are permanently imprinted into my mind from those elementary school computers.  The first was Odell Lake, what I would now term as a fish based RPG.  While I only have loose memories of the game I recall spending as much time as possible attempting to have my fish not be eaten by osprey or other larger fish.  The second wasn’t so much of a game as it was a paint program, for kids.  Kid Pix wasn’t something I was ever really good at, unless you consider stamping stuff all over a blank canvas then using the fun erase tools, as creative. (which I don’t) That one I remember trying to petition to get into my household but was unable for reasons that I am still unsure of.

     During these pupal gaming stages my console experience was lacking.  The only opportunity I had to play was on Cape Cod once a year when my family went (and still goes on) one of it’s yearly vacations.  I had an uncle who owned the NES who we saw on this intermittent basis, and so I wasn’t as hands on with it as I wanted.  Blades of Steel was one of the few games I got to play on the Cape and I remember them with fond memories.  Granted most of those memories are accompanied by getting into virtual fist fights in which if you lost, you took a two minute penalty.  Brutal.  The other game ingrained into me from my vacations on the Cape was Mega Man 3, whose major selling point to me was Rush the dog. He was able to accompany me through the game and be used as a spring, or surf board depending on the situation.  Unfortunately since my time was limited when enjoying these games the memories are sparse and I can’t recall any boss fights or specifics.

(The fights were the best part in my opinion.)

     My memory isn’t my strongest suit (as some people enjoy reminding me) so I’m having issues recalling whether I actually got my original Gameboy before my SNES.  I’m going to say yes, and go into the two games I owned for that as well.  Super Mario Land which put the smack down on my ego for a while was the first Mario game I had ever played.  With some savage levels and great platforming the game overs were always bittersweet.  Like if I tried just that one more time the secrets of this game would unlock to me and I would forever be able to reach the bonus upper exit of the end every level.  But sadly they did not, and off hand I don’t actually remember ever beating that game.  In retrospect I wish I had been a little more devoted, or at least played better.  And the classic Tetris.  Not much can be said about this shape stacking game that everyone doesn’t already know.  I’ll say that my fondest memory of this game came much later in my life during a middle school trip.  Not just any school trip but for French class, and to Quebec City. During the whole trip, the competitive Tetris was fierce.  Back then the Gameboys had to be connected via a 2 foot or so cable that allowed vs mode.  Every time you get a line, it would unceremoniously dump a line of garbage blocks on your opponent’s screen. My adversary was a slow and steady line kind of guy who would consistently be adding garbage lines to my side.  I however play a different style of Tetris.  Playing it fast and loose I am a full tetris person.  A tetris being a full clear of all 5 bars sending over massive blocks of garbage to his side all at the same time.  It went back and forth the whole week but I’d like to think I won the majority.  Though not his real name, Marty knows who he is, and I’d like to acknowledge both his excellent playing skills and challenge you, should you ever read this, to a rematch.  Bring it.

(Super Mario Land: easily my least favorite level.)

     Though gaming was not always my vice, it quickly became so.  From spending countless car rides trying to beat Super Mario Land, to awaiting that Cape Cod vacation, I knew that I enjoyed this.  The consistent challenge that these activities produce were awesome.  Though I didn’t know it then the games would be a portal into what I would now consider my greatest hobby.  It’s like they were saying follow us down the rabbit hole, your future is in another castle.

     Majikmarine the Addict.  You know, the title doesn’t flow as well as “Merrymaker Majikmarine”  Plus I’d argue, I’m not an addict.  To World of Warcraft anyway.  My name is Majik and this is the start of a wonderful blog journey.  It’s funny because I feel so late to the game on this one.  I tried my hand at a live journal back in the day but honestly that felt half-hearted, and really only written for the enjoyment of not myself.  This is different. (I’m hoping)

     I was asked a question the other day by one of my current roommates. “Do you think you’ve spent 3 or 4 years in your entire lifetime in games?”

     This caused me to actually ruminate on my life more then some other more serious questions have as of late.  The time on my main character in World of Warcraft, (Majikmarine) now totals 175 days as of writing this post.  In addition as of right now I’ve got 1038 hours played time in Team Fortress 2. That means that I have spent about 218 days playing not just those two games, but only playing Majikmarine.  That’s almost a sobering number.  I guess it would be if I thought I wasn’t enjoying myself, or if I didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it.

     All those hours don’t include my Super Nintendo, N64, Gamecube, Gameboy, Xbox and 360 days as well, as sadly I can’t document those as easily.  I’m hoping to do that a little better through this.  While at first I kind of looked around at some of the people I play with and thought WoW Blog!  But then I realized that I wasn’t cut out for that life.  I guess the goal here is to share with you my thoughts on my previous game experiences and how they’ve been with me for the majority of my life.  I’ll talk about WoW and TF2 and League of Legends and any which thing interests me, in addition to hopefully sharing some fun anecdotes from my past gaming experiences.

     I’m looking forward to this.  Join me as I retell my story interspersed with what will likely be many a rant and tale of games of the past and future.

Stay a while and listen.