Gaming thoughts from a younger HDN

[HDN]

Last month, I decided to start keeping a journal/diary again, the first time in almost two years. So much crap has happened in my life since then, and we're living history at the moment with the pandemic and stuff, plus a lot of the personal stuff that's been happening, so I decided to update it. It's nice to have a record of it all. I'll probably need it to remember who I was when I inevitably get early-onset dementia from my incredibly unhealthy diet soda addiction. 

But anyways, I've always been a huge retro gaming fan. I thought that I'd let you all take a peek inside my gaming life as a preteen. I won't be sharing any of the super personal stuff here, just a few of the gaming-centered topics. I might add more of them later, who even knows. Please feel free to comment on these if you wish!

 

February 1st, 2016. A then eleven-year-old HDN writes:

"This year, 'Metroid'... [is] turning 30, like 'Super Mario Bros.' did last year. What are they going to do for the series? Here's what: 'Metroid Prime Federation Force', that's what. I've seen the trailers, and here's what it is:

"'Metroid Prime Federation Force' is a 3D MULTIPLAYER game. First of all, METROID and  MULTIPLAYER don't go together. For thirty years, Metroid has been about being alone on an unexplored planet. And the games have NEVER been straightforward, even the platforming ones. They are all so adventurous.

"Another thing about Federation Force is that it is NOT adventurous, or at least from what it looks like on the trailer. It appears to be a shoot-'em-up type of game. I hope with all my heart that this is a spin-off, like "Metroid Prime Pinball" for the Nintendo DS. It probably is."

I remember this! Federation Force, what a fricking joke. I remember being so pissed off that just the year before Mario's 30th was this massive deal, and we Metroid fans got this joke of a game after years of silence after Other M bombed. I didn't know at the time, but a new 2D Metroid (the first to be released after I was born in 2005) was right around the corner.

 

July 7th, 2016. An eleven-year-old HDN writes:

"Today I went to the Seymour [Wisconsin] museum with Papa. There is an arcade exhibit there for all of July. You can play some of the games there for free! The guy who owns the games is named Mr. Czech. He is very nice, and he has a lot of rare games. He has a prototype "Bubbles" from the creator's office, and "Death Race", which only has 30-40 units in existence."

That arcade museum exhibit was really cool for a younger me. For those wondering, "Papa" is what I've always called my grandfather. This refers to a certain "Mr. Czech" character. I did a bit 'o research, and I came up with a certain Bradley Czech, a semi-local collector of arcade machines who has shown off his collection at various museums in the general area. I'm quite skeptical of that Death Race statistic, though. Not sure how accurate that is.

This article here even mentions that Bubbles machine (which I stuck between the red rope things to play. DON'T TELL!) and Professor Pac-Man (which I didn't recall but I'm not doubting it was there). https://wisconsinlife.org/story/video-arcade-game-collector-aims-for-museums/

 

July 8th, 2016. An eleven-year-old HDN writes:

"At the museum yesterday, I saw Mr. Czech fixing a game called "Major Havoc". I knew that I had it on the XBOX, but I had never played it. So when I got home, I played it. And it's a good thing I did.

"It's so cool! First, you see a cutscene with a guy fllying in space. Then, you see a screen showing what [you're] going to fight and where you are on the map. Then, you fight swarms of [aliens][guarding] a planet. After that, you land your ship a docking platform. Finally, you traverse a maze and detonate a bomb! Then, ESCAPE! Rinse & repeat [until] you beat the game. What's more, there's a "Breakout" minigame!"

Oh, Major Havoc. I love this game, and it's cool to find a concrete date on when I first played what is now one of my all-time favorite arcade titles, even if this account has many spelling and grammatical errors that needed correction.

Later in the day, I was pretty much the only person left in the arcade exhibit besides Czech. So I kind of got a bit of a private tour. He showed me around and talked about all these things. Many of the things I had already known about even at the time (like vector graphics and the histories and what have you), and he accurately pinned the blame on YouTube. But I did learn about some new things, like Death Race for instance.

 

It's strange seeing how I've evolved as a person so much since 2015, not just in video games but in general. There have been experiences in my life that have changed me. New people in my life who have helped shape me. A bit of self-realization, a better understanding of who I am as a person. New interests found and old interests lost. A journey from a life as a friendless, loser ten-year-old to a decently outgoing and social Sophomore with plenty of friends from all over the place with all sorts of different interests and backgrounds. I've learned so much more about the world.

But not everything changed. I'm still incredibly nerdy, but I've learned to embrace it. I'm still a pretty emotional dude. I still like doing a lot of the same things I liked then, like going places and looking at birds and the like. I still hate my mom, probably moreso now. I'm still a fatass. I'm not a completely different person than I was back in 2015-17, but I've changed. I've become much more comfortable in my own skin.

Wow, this got a bit deeper than I intended. Let's go back to talking about video games. I love sharing my personal history with others, so PLEASE let me know if you'd like to hear more from past Harry. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

[Justin]

🧠 NOTE: I've recategorized this from the "Off Topic" Forum to the "Quick, Tell Us A Story" Forum