You want to know about me? Maybe you should get that looked at. I’m not worth it. Look away, nothing to see here.
WHAT? Fine. You win. But I’ll be calling the cops about a restraining order, you freaking stalker.
So what games do I like? Really, it’s too many to list. I will say my
#1 is Yoshi’s Island. Yeah, that’s right, Yoshi’s Motherfucking Island.
Back me up, Chad Concelmo. I like action RPGs, MMOs, classic games,
shooters of any kind, music games, crazy Japanese games… You know
what, I like all games. Card, tabletop, board, you name it. But if you
want a cutsection: Mario World > Mario 64, Chrono Trigger >
Phantasy Star, WoW > Everquest, Ikaruga > Black, co-op > vs.
I got into gaming as a kid, when my parents, uncle, and
grandparents all had an Intellivision. I played it a lot, but my
parents absolutely refused to get an NES. They thought games were a
waste of time and we didn’t need a newer more expensive system.
Strangely, the end result of this is that I sought out the NES
incessantly, playing it whenever I could. I made friends based on
whether or not they had one. As such, I blame my parents for
accidentally encouraging my gaming obsession; if they hadn’t restricted
it so hard, I don’t think I would have become so crazed over it. I’ve
got a 360 and a DS now, with a Wii on my want list.
Eventually, they acquiesced and we got an SNES a year or so after they
came out. Sure, this was a big deal for me, but I do think the SNES is
the best system made to date. It’s a solid system with relatively
simple controls, and the technology was restrictive enough to force
creativity while still being advanced enough to present epic tales and
epic fun. There is simply not a better variety of really REALLY good
games on any other system.
In the end, that’s what gaming is to me. Fun. Now that might seem
like it’s demeaning to games, that it’s nothing but wasteful
entertainment, but I say nay nay. We all need fun. It’s essential to
our flourishing as human beings. Without it, we die slow, boring deaths
inside. It’s the reason children play. Not only does the body need it,
but so does the mind. Games are a part of our culture, and anyone
trying to ban games or restrict them might as well be trying to
restrict Picasso or Mozart in my eyes.
I got into the show after meeting Break in Japanese class. He was
wearing a "Roots" shirt with an NES controller on it. I figured we must
have at least that much in common, so I talked to him and we became
fast friends. He let me become involved in the show with pre-recorded
segments that were, honestly, pretty bad… but it was fun to do and
eventually I became part of the live show. We parted ways after a
while, but when I came back to Lawrence, we became friends again and he
let me be part of the show again. And every show, I make a 3 hour drive
to be a part of it; it’s that much a part of me.
Games are part of my life, and trying to go without games would be
like cutting off all my arms and legs. Now that’s not an invitation to
go on a Texas Chainsaw rampage, alright? So no crazy ideas, I need all
of those for myself.
