I had this moment recently while playing Horizon Forbidden West where I stopped to watch a sunset. Not a real sunset—a digital one, pixels and code creating this breathtaking blend of oranges and purples reflecting off metal dinosaur carcasses. I called my nephew Jake into the room (yeah, the same one who rekindled my gaming passion years ago with SSX Tricky, now a college sophomore). “Look at this,” I said, gesturing at the screen like…
I first encountered Guitar Hero at a Best Buy in 2006. I was there to pick up a replacement power…
I still remember the first time I saw a “3D” game. It was at our local arcade in 1993, and…
I still remember the exact moment I became truly addicted to a video game. It was winter break during my…
I still have them all in a plastic storage bin in my basement—every single video game manual I’ve managed to…
I first encountered Legacy of Kain in the most appropriately gothic way possible—during a thunderstorm that had knocked out the…
My first brush with Daventry came courtesy of my dad, who wasn’t exactly what you’d call a “gamer.” He was…
I still have my original PlayStation copy of Final Fantasy VII. The four-disc jewel case sits on my shelf alongside…
I first stumbled across indie games by accident. It was 2008, I was browsing Xbox Live Arcade out of boredom…
The first time I ever witnessed truly competitive gaming, I was ten years old, standing on my tiptoes to see…
I can still feel the controller slipping in my sweaty palms. It’s 1996, I’m in my friend Dave’s basement, and…
The first time a game made me feel genuinely guilty was in Fallout 3. I’d stumbled across this settlement called…
I remember the exact moment I fell in love with adventure games. It was Christmas 1990, and after weeks of…
The Nintendo 64 changed my life on September 29, 1996. I know the exact date because I’d circled it on…
I remember the exact moment I first held a Wii Remote. It was November 2006, and after camping outside my…
