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Carson Rich

Professor Strickland

ENGL-1010

April 15, 2019

My Passion for Video Games

Ever since I was a little kid, I loved technology, it was very fascinating to me and being

able to watch something on the Television or talk to someone over a telephone blew my mind.

Video games were on a whole other level. Not only do I get to watch something on Television,

but I get to control what happens. Still to this day I have a passion for technology and especially

video games. It has only become a more intriguing topic for me as I have grown up and I really

appreciate learning more about how they are developed and made so that I can have the best

experience possible as I play through a game. Gaming has been a hobby of mine that has brought

so many happy memories and experiences throughout my life and has even helped shape who I

am as a person today.

I can still remember my first memory of seeing video games. At the time I was a kid and

I looked up to my cousin Max who was close to 8 years older than me. My older brother Justin

and I were at Max’s house when he had just bought a Nintendo 64. Still to this day one of the

most classing consoles ever made. We were so excited to get the system up and running. He got

a game that came with the console at the time which was Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. If

you do not know, Ocarina of Time is highly regarded as one of the greatest video games ever

made. On almost any top video game list on the internet you see, I can basically guarantee OOT

is somewhere in the top 10 or 5 on those lists. My brother and I watched my cousin play this
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game for hours over the next few weeks. Seeing this adventure play out before our eyes was

something we couldn’t stop thinking about. Eventually, Justin and I saved up enough money to

buy our very own Nintendo 64, and you already know what the first game we bought was. I can

still think back to the many playthroughs I have had with Ocarina of time throughout my life. It

really is some of the most fun I have ever had with a game and has such great storytelling,

character building, gameplay, and adventure. It was the first video game I really played, and it

has had a lasting impact on me throughout my life. I recently had the chance to play the game all

the way through a few months ago. I thought that it might be a little bit outdated, and graphically

yes maybe it was a little, but everything else with the game held together over time very nicely.

This last play through I had with OOT was one of my best experiences I ever had with a game.

The themes and connections that I have made with the game now that I have grown up only

enhanced the way I felt about it. The main theme of Ocarina of Time is of your character Link

being a child and growing up to be a man. There are so many personal things that this game has

touched me with as I have grown up and experienced life. I would go into more detail about the

themes and connections I was able to see and make, but it would be another 10 pages of writing.

If you are interested in seeing what the themes of this game are all about there is an amazing

YouTube video by Good Blood called OCARINA OF TIME- A Masterclass in Subtext. That

video is the best way I can sum up how I feel about this game and the impact it has had on my

life. It’s safe to say that since that first time of seeing OOT I became a huge Legend of Zelda fan

and have played almost every game in the series. Each of them having a different impact on me.

Something else that gaming has done is brought me closer to friends and family. A lot of

my friends and each of my 3 brothers are also big fans of gaming. It’s something we are able to

talk, theorize, and speculate about. Not only that, but there are so many games that you can play
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together. I can’t even think of the countless hours I’ve spend playing Super Smash Bros,

Madden, NBA 2K, and Call of Duty with friends and family. It’s really good way to relieve

stress and just hang out with the people you love. We have real conversations pertaining to a

certain video games story and gameplay. That’s the thing, games aren’t just about gameplay, I do

really appreciate great gameplay in games, but even more I appreciate the time, effort, and

thought that goes into building a story, world, and characters. It’s very similar to a movie when it

comes to those aspects and many directors, producers, and script writers have amazing talent. On

top of that, Video games have some of my favorite music. The composers involved in getting the

music put together in the video game industry are some of the best in the business.

Another game series that has deeply connected to me is a series called Kingdom Hearts.

The original game came out in 2001. It’s a series that my brothers and I have played and enjoyed

for many years, it’s a crossover between Disney and Square Enix (Final Fantasy), which sounds

really weird but somehow, they make it work so well. They have made 10 games since then with

the recent release of Kingdom Hearts 3. Kingdom Hearts is the game that I probably spend the

most time talking about with my brothers. All 10 games are connected when it comes to the story

and it’s so interesting to follow. Kingdom Hearts has taught me many things over the years but

most importantly it has taught me to love the people around me. Yes, it’s an JRPG action game,

but out of all the things that happen within the series, that is the number one thing I have taken

away from it. Once again, it’s something I could talk about for days and days on end. It has

simple themes such has light against darkness, good against evil, but also has so much detail and

thought put into it. It has very intriguing symbolism that relates to many different religions as

well.
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I’m very involved in sports, especially Football and Basketball. The thing I love most

about them is the skill required to play them at a high level, the competition that you get, and the

rush that you feel when playing in a game. I’m not sure I would consider video games a sport,

but I can tell you that those 3 things I love about sports can also be seen in the gaming scene. My

brother and enjoy competitively playing Super Smash Bros. It’s a fighting game Nintendo

created but is a crossover of characters from multiple Nintendo games. The competitive smash

bros scene is honestly one of the coolest communities I have been apart of. Everyone is super

nice to each other and supportive. Even though you are playing against each other, people offer

helpful advice to help you get better. Playing in a competitive 1 vs 1 match has everything a

Sport has. You have 2 players that have practiced the game and learned quite a bit of skill to play

their character, there is that competitive edge that makes you want to win the match, and the rush

of adrenaline is oh so sweet.

Video Games have had an enormous impact throughout most of my life. They have been

with me from when I was a kid and are still apart of me now as an adult. A lot of people look at

gaming negatively, but I think that with the right mindset you can make gaming such a positive

outlet in your life. I have seen it bring joy to many people’s life’s including mine. I do realize

that too much of anything is unhealthy and I can admit that at times I have played games too

often and let them consume me, but for the most part I have made them a positive hobby for me

that brings me nothing but pure joy.