Spyro the Dragon: PlayStation’s Purple Hero I Still Love Christmas morning, 1998. I was twenty years old and home from college on winter break, expecting the usual haul of sweaters and gift cards. Instead, my parents surprised me with a PlayStation and a copy of Spyro the Dragon. “We thought you might want something fun between all that studying,” my mom said, clearly not realizing she was essentially gifting me a GPA reduction device. I…
The first time I played The Secret of Monkey Island, I was sixteen and spending the night at my friend…
Christmas 1997 was a turning point in my gaming life, though I didn’t realize it at the time. My then-girlfriend…
The first time I ever saw Pac-Man, I couldn’t even reach the controls without standing on my tiptoes. It was…
The first time I saw Star Fox in action was at a Toys “R” Us demo kiosk in early 1993.…
The first time music made me cry, it wasn’t a sad movie score or a heart-wrenching pop ballad—it was the…
It was the summer of 1995, and I was working at Electronics Boutique in the Woodland Mall—one of those summer…
There’s something deeply satisfying about the clean, definitive moment when a puzzle clicks into place. That mental “aha!” sensation when…
The first time I encountered Earthworm Jim, I was 15 and desperately trying to convince my mom that renting a…
I still remember the first time I saw Sonic the Hedgehog in action. It was summer 1991, and I was…
My first real couch co-op experience happened in 1988 when my brother Dave finally let me be Player 2 in…
The first time I booted up Myst was at my friend Tony’s house in the winter of 1994. His family…
The summer of 1989 was defined by two things for me: a horrifically awkward growth spurt that made me look…
October 1996. I was 18, fresh out of high school, and working part-time at a local video store that had…
December 10, 1993. I remember the date because it was the last day of fall semester finals, and instead of…
