I’ve been playing video games for a very long time. The first console I can remember being in my home was the Nintendo 64, released two years before I was born. While we didn’t have an abundance of money, my mother worked hard to make sure we had nice things that she didn’t have as a child.

We were a house divided; my older brother had an Xbox and I had the Playstation 2 silver slim (it was beautiful and my second most prized possession). He played Halo and I had Guitar Hero 2 (though we both played together, but he was a monster at Halo and I was the only one who could out-rock him in Guitar Hero). Together, we played the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 to overheating and the dreaded red ring of death.

When Borderlands was released in 2009 (I was 11 and he was 19) we played and played and played until he could recite the game front to back. Borderlands 2 was released three years later, I was even better as FPSs, and that became the game I could recite start to finish. We had months worth of game play, knew every secret, and had the best guns in every category. It was my favorite game to play and I ate every second of it up like I needed it to live.

Eventually, my brother moved out and it just didn’t feel right to play Borderlands 2 alone. In 2015 my step-dad brought home Fallout 4, and though I had never played a Fallout game before that, I picked it up because it was something to do.

I fell in love immediately. On its own, it was so much fun. I didn’t care too much about the story; it was tight enough to make sense but I’ve never wanted kids so I didn’t feel too compelled to put down my side quests to hunt for Shaun. I spent hours building settlements and romancing companions (Hancock my beloved), and scoured mods for more settlement items when Nexus came to console.

I played New Vegas next at the recommendation of nearly everyone I talked to, and I didn’t regret it one bit. I fell in love with Fallout 4 as its own game, but New Vegas made me fall in love with the whole franchise. Now I eat everything I can about the franchise. When the show came out, I got to be the one elbowing my girlfriend about all the references and answering all the questions.

I watch hour-long deep dives, lets-plays, and map dissections just for fun. I even play them sometimes, for fun. I would love to make a career in games (character design, story writing, ect) but I worry that would take away from the joy that I’ve gotten out of games my whole life.

Anyways, I’m glad I’m still having fun, and I hope you are too.

Gaming For Fun