Video Games
Beatable Games, Unbeatable Music
At age 10 I was, as far as pop culture went, a hopelessly backward little girl. My total exposure to The Spice Girls was an awkward birthday party during which my host demanded to know, “do you think you’re more like Baby Spice or Ginger Spice?” When a friend told me how awesome N*Sync was, I matter-of-factly trotted over to the kitchen sink, genuinely curious as to what awesome thing had been stashed in there. About the only artist I was familiar with was Eminem, thanks to my older brother, but after receiving a tongue-lashing for muttering the words to “The Real Slim Shady” at recess, I deduced that Mr. Mathers fell squarely in the ‘not appropriate’ category.
My mother, in a subtle attempt to make me cool, gave me a CD player and a Britney Spears CD for Christmas that year. After she patiently answered my questions about who the heck Britney Spears was and why the CD was so pink, I gave “Baby One More Time” a listen or two. And I tried to like it, honest. But a week later, Nintendo Power magazine decided to send me a little “thanks for subscribing!” gift, and I became the proud owner of the “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” soundtrack. Ms. Spears no longer stood a chance.
Watching Virtual Grass Grow
Late one night, seized by a fit of temporary insanity, I decided to play “Farmville.”
I’d heard of the game, of course—I, like everyone else, received a half-jillion little notifications about it on Facebook before I finally blocked the application. And I’d made fun of it quite a bit: a game that revolves around maintaining a farm seems, well, about as fun as maintaining a farm.
A Gamer's Fondest Fantasy
Most nerds—and plenty of closet nerds—have some book, some movie, or some series that they obsessed over as a kid. Lots of kids become Tolkienites, poring over not only the original trilogy but also “The Silmarillion,” “The Adventures of Tom Bombadil,” assorted notes discovered while digging through the Tolkien estate’s garbage cans, and so on. There are Star Wars nerds, there are Trekkies—even anthropomorphic rats somehow continue to fascinate hordes of Redwall fans.
As for me, I was a “Final Fantasy” fiend. I grew up watching my brother play through the classic Japanese video game series; I was immediately drawn in by the breathtaking graphics (well, breathtaking back in the mid-’90s anyway). I found myself humming along with the music, often yelling at my brother to slow down so I could read all the characters’ dialogue. I was too much of a wuss to actually play the games for a long time, mind you—they had lots of numbers and menus and words that terrified seven-year-old me—but I read and reread the strategy guide until the pages were falling out and I was coaching my brother on how to play his own game.
Saving the World, One Class at a Time
In my freshman year of high school, I mastered the art of not paying attention in class. In particular, I mastered the art of hiding my Game Boy behind my chemistry textbook. “Aha!” I’d think to myself as the teacher surveyed the room and failed to give me so much as a second look. “I am so sneaky and clever!”
In hindsight, I’m fairly certain I was not being very sneaky or clever. My teachers had to know what I was up to, but fortunately they never scolded me. Instead, they left me free to tear through the “Fire Emblem” series, a dangerously addictive set of games in which you direct an army of knights and mages against the forces of evil.
Years Later, 'Metal Gear' is Still Solid
Back in its heyday, "Metal Gear Solid" was the series for gritty, pulse-pounding, stealth action. If you wanted a change of pace from the frenzied, shoot-everything-that-moves first-person shooter genre, then you could always turn to a "Metal Gear Solid" game for a slower, craftier, but ultimately thrilling experience: crawling through air ducts to snipe unsuspecting guards, stuffing bodies in lockers, shooting cameras to slip through corridors undetected, and so on. It all made James Bond seem practically boorish.
I replayed "Metal Gear Solid 2" during J-Term in hopes of reliving my first secret agent experience. After all, when I played the game as a kid, I remember doing all of the following: