Why do you Love Gaming?

Gaming is awesome. We all know this.

It's my favorite hobby. I consider myself a pretty big gamer. I have a blog about gaming after all.

I'm quite passionate about gaming.

I'm sure you too have at least some passive interest in gaming or you wouldn't be here reading this.

Before now I've always known I loved gaming, but have never actually given much thought into why.

Have you?

Let's take a trip back in time...

When did you start playing video games? At a young age? Or relatively recently?

Did you grow up with games in the house? Or were you like me when I was younger and only got to get your hands on a controller now and then?

As far as I can remember, the first console game I ever played was Mario Kart 64. I'm sure most of you were into video games long before me, but this is my gaming origins story. My brother and I would always play Mario Kart 64 (and sometimes Rush) whenever we visited my aunt and uncle.

It was awesome. I was young, but I knew that this was something great.

So time passes by and now my brothers and I have an original Xbox (that my parent's insist stays at Grandma's).

What was the first console that you ever had?

With our Xbox came a lot of games that I loved then and still do: Star Wars Battlefront 1 and 2, Star Wars Republic Commando, and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic to name a few (Yes I'm a Star Wars fan).

That video games could take something I already was a huge fan of and pull me in even more was wonderful.  Gone were the days of playing with Star Wars action figures or running around with lightsabers. Ok fine, I still have action figures and lightsabers. But video games let me actually be a part of the Star Wars universe. 

It was great.

What game, or games, from your gaming beginning really made you love gaming even more than you already had. What game made you realize that video games were more than just kid's toys?

In high school I went to some Halo 2 system link parties. This exposed me to how awesome video games were as far as the social aspect went.

Video games are a lot of fun when played with friends.

It just took off from there as I got my hands on greater and greater games. As I matured I realized the artistic power of games. I was overcome by the emotional power of games. I loved books as a kid and video games showed me a whole new medium for great storytelling. (I still love books.) And I began to realize how gaming can make the world better.

Also, video games are a damn fun way to spend your time.

So why do you love video games?

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy your life.