Video Games

I love video games. Been playing them a lot recently, especially since God of War and FFVII:CC have both just been recently released.

I remember my first ever video game console to be a pirated version of NES my Dad got for me in 1998. It came at a price of about 70 bucks and had games like Duck Hunt and Mario. I only had about 2-3 cartridges and of course, the only real game was Mario. But i sucked at it though. and hence didn't like the console very much.

My first real step into the world of real gaming was probably simultaneous with thousands of boys islandwide, with one of the greatest games of all time,
Pokemon! My Dad first got me a game boy colour in late 1999, then when the game became famous in 2000 i got myself a yellow version and started my badge-collecting adventure in the lands of Kanto. The yellow version was really great since it allowed players to obtain all three staters (Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander) without trading. The only downside was that Raichu was unobtainable in the game. i remember desperately trying to evolve my Pikachu with a thunderstone only to realize that it could not be done.

Pokemon yellow was really one of my favourite games. In fact i loved it so much that when i cracked my teeth in primary 3 and my mum asked me what i wanted after the tooth surgery i told her "pokemon yellow guidebook". And with that tool in hand i almost completed the pokedex, with the exception of Mew and one other pokemon i cannot remember. Of course i still continued to play the game and i was hustled once at Macdonalds when a group of secondary school students tricked me into trading my level 70 Mewtwo for a level 100 dragonite, telling me how it was very rare and unobtainable in Singapore cartridges. -.- However, that wasn't the only stupid thing i did. After obtaining the Master Ball in Vermillion, i set out like normal players to the seafoam islands. Upon reaching the twin islands, i saw a Seel and thinking that it was an extremely rare Pokemon(since it used ice beam and that just sounded so powerful since prior to that ice moves were unheard of), used the one and only most powerful pokeball in the game to capture it.. Idiot.

And with that Pokemon remains one of my favourite games till now. In fact even after most of my friends grew out of it, i continued collecting and battling with my neighbour-friends, Royce and Loic. (most of my classmates follwed at most only up till the crystal version)

Continuing with my video gaming adventure, the next huge step was in getting a Sony Playstation. My dad bought me the playstation in 2000 when he won money playing mahjong. But admittedly, the console failed for me because i did not know which games to buy. For eg, at that time i never even knew that final fantasy existed. And all my games were real lousy. My only real games were Metal Slug ,a Monster Rancher card game ,Digimon World(which sucked like fuck), and Gran Turismo which admitedly if you're not a fan, isn't real exciting.

And so for a while i switched my attention to Tamiya mini 4WD cars and Beyblades(Let it rip!!!). Until the arrival of Super yoyo in 2002. Before that, the only thing that i knew about yoyo's was that you bought them in cheap 1 dollar goodies machines. Those that you put a coin into the slot and twisted a knob that would release a single "goodie ball", kind of like a pokeball, and woud open to release a small yoyo inside. (Damm what are those things called?!) And that you could perform basic tricks like the sleeper, walk the dog and rock the baby with it. My dad happened to be quite good at it, showing and teaching me all the basic tricks. In fact my first brush with yoyo was in 1997 when proyo was released, but at the time i was simply too young and too small to know anything. Of course the main thing with Super yoyo was the anime on kids central. At first, i didn't actually think that the tricks shown on tv could actually be done. I thought that it was all a cartoon exageration, like how they could control beyblades with their mindXD, until i saw a trick being done at Ang Mo Kio games shop Rowell. I remember asking the boy how it was done. He was very cocky and showed off to me some other complex string tricks and told me "you cannot get it one la". Haha. That made me very angry and i spent that entire month training and practicing on my own, going to the internet for tips. In the end, i mastered all the complex tricks the cartoons did and was more pro than the boy. I went back to Rowell to show off, but i never did meet up with him again.

Oh my, i seemed to have strayed off the topic haven't I? Actually no, because in early 2003 while strolling along Orchard road with Royce we stumbled across a yoyo competition hosted by Toys 'R' Us for young kids till 13. Both Royce and me signed up. Royce wasn't good enough, but I got second:D.

Actually i should have gotten first, because the last match was between me and some primary 5 chiobu. And the one who did more loop the loops won. I was first. I did a fucking hundred loops, to the audiences wild applause. (They were like counting with me "95-96.. 100!!!!!!" clap clap clap*) then the judge came in and checked my string configuration and told me, "the 3-knot is not allowed." Walau, the three-knot is a professional string configuration used worldwide by pros to help looping. and you didn't even tell me beforehand that you didn't allow it. Whats worse they did not allowed me to have time to change my string(the yoyo string gets fucked up when you do that many loops) and straightaway asked me to redo the looping. Faced with a useless string and a string configuration i was not used to, i only managed to do 14 loops. While the girl, they never did check her string configration, but i realized only when my dad told me after the competition, did 28. But in fact the girls string was so short that she was more of like doing inside around the worlds. yoyo players would know what i mean. And she got first. Obviously, the judges were favouring the little girl.

Anyway with that i got second and a $250 voucher. I used the voucher wisely to get myself a Game Boy Advance SP and my mum bought me my first game, Pokemon Sapphire. Phew finally back to videogames.

With the game boy advance, i discovered a term that would be my most favourite genre of games till now. RPG's aka role playing games. Also i had my first brush with another of the greatest games of all time, FINAL FANTASY. This was in the form of FF:Tactics Advance for the GBA. i quickly became a pro at it.

When i transitioned into secondary school life, i became a true gamer, extensive use of the internet meant that i now knew which games were hot and which were not, and about the latest gaming developments. i got myself the psp(before its official release) and ps2 in 2005. The nintendo ds in late 2006 and of couse the Wii late last year. Playing games like Final Fantasy X(the only game to which i cried playing it.), Final Fantasy X-2 , Start Ocean 3, Tekken, Gran Turismo, Kingdom Hearts and of course, the ever popular Pokemon! I regret a bit about getting the Wii due to a decreased lack of support from Square enix.. But i would probably be getting a Playstation 3 late this year.

Of course i'm not shy to admit that while i am an avid gamer, i am clearly not good in it. Especially in FPS games like Halo which requires ultra fast reflexes and strategy and games like Age of empires which requires managing resources, i routinely get thrashed by others even non-gaming individuals. The place where i'm good at are rpg's but even then i loseout to people like Kenneth who can complete FFX in a few weeks. I'm sure he would lose to me in a batlle though! Too bad most rpg's are solo. As for online mmorpg's, i just don't have the time nor money to play them.

Haha with that its time to say goodbye. What a long story! Ahh tomorrow go back to hospital again... NOOOOO!!! :'(