Everyone who works in the industry must be a gamer. Whether you are a PC, PlayStation, Xbox, or mobile gamer, you must love gaming in order to work in this environment; otherwise, it simply isn’t the same.
When we get to think about this, there is always a story behind each person, each journalist, because it isn’t just something that you choose out of the nowhere, there’s always this special moment in gaming that turned you into an gamer for lifetime. We thought about this, and decided to get together all of our stories in order for you to get to know us, and hopefully to share your special moment in gaming with us.
Let’s take a tour through the best moment in gaming that turned each one of us at the Gamers Sphere into gamers, and which, unknowingly linked us together to become the team we are now.
John
While this might not be the most interesting story of them all, it is just my story. I’ve always been the odd sort of kid around, that who doesn’t quite fit within pretty much any sort of social group. While I was a kid, I was the youngest in the family, meaning that my cousins were always picking on me just for being younger, they would break stuff and blame me for it, they would do all the bad things you could imagine, and I was the one getting punished.
Basically, I was the one kid that sits alone while everybody else play those games where you run and hit each other, those dumb things that must be pretty fun because they are all laughing all the time. I was away, writing short stories, or just getting my ideas out of my head, until I was given by my great-grandmother a video game, one of those old hand-held systems that just had a set background and “graphics” were created on top of it, by small black lines. It was a dinosaurs game, I remember it, I sat there with that game, fighting against every sort of dinosaur, while I could only stand up and crouch, while the character I was using always kept walking forward, unless there was a T-Rex in front of me, that I needed to kill by either throwing spears at it, or shooting arrows.
Every level in that game was awesome, you got to see new dinosaurs, and more would attack you; you only had three lives, and endless levels to beat, so you had to make the most out of those lives, because, if you died three times, you had to start all over again. Ever since that moment I got that game, I was hooked, I didn’t stop writing at all, but I had something else, that I grew up with, going from those games that do not even have a brand and were sold in the street, up to my GameBoy Advance SP where I played countless hours of Pokemon, and my first computer, where I played Mortal Kombat when games could be stored in a Floppy Disk, gaming helped me become who I am today, someone who doesn’t quit, someone who will make the most out of each opportunity he is given, and that is why Gamers Sphere is here, and why it will keep going.
Mary
It is extremely hard to choose what moment defined me as a lifer when it comes to gaming. I have been gaming for as long as I can remember. Video games and board games, it didn’t matter. As long as I was playing a game, it did not matter. My earliest times of gaming I can recall being allowed to play with my uncle’s Atari when I was just five years old. My grandparents gave out Nintendo’s one Christmas. I was gaming at home ever since, starting with the notable Super Mario Bros. It wasn’t until we got our first PC that I really began to spend hours upon hours gaming.
A friend of mine loaned us a Warcraft game. It became the sink that I spent a lot of hours lost within. Where I went to high school, there were not a lot of kids that held my same interest. This ended in me being a loner and quite depressed about it. I turned to games full-fledged to keep my mind off the sadness that wanted to impede my normal day-to-day. It kept me functioning.
Venisia
Many of us have all kinds of ideas and methods that we use to get us through. Believe it or not, gaming has become a key escape for many. Whether it be the stress of school, work, people… but for me, gaming helped save me during a very dark time in my life.
I come from a large Latin family; I’ve been married and I’m a mother of four amazing kids. Being a mother of three boys and the most beautiful little girl for only two and a half years. This is where my darkest time begins.
It was a very cold day on December 17, 2005 that I sat in rocking chair with Isabel in my arms, her father by my side while in the ICU of the Albany Medical Center Children’s Hospital in Albany, NY. It was on this day that we had to say goodbye to our gorgeous daughter after recommendations of the doctors. The details are way too painful to explain, so I will spare you and me that.
Days, weeks, months of my life after that horrible day were numb, hazy and stressful. I could barely fake my smiles at work, at home, around anyone or my poor boys who were also suffering like me. My moods were scary and verytemperamental. I slowly couldn’t function anymore, burying my grief.
It was at the lowest point where I didn’t know if I wanted to even wake-up, that I was convinced by a gamer friend to play COD: Modern Warfare 2 on my Xbox 360. So I picked up a copy and with my eldest son guiding me through the campaign, I played and played. I really loved the campaign, but it was the multiplayer experience that, believe it or not, snapped me out of my funk.
I wasn’t much of a chatter online, but it was pretty hard not to be during the game play. I met some crazy players and one who I can say ended up becoming a best friend. It was his constant taunting while on various maps during Team Deathmatch or Free-For-All that would make me laugh or want for homicide.
If you are interested in knowing the full story, I have written all about it here, explaining how Gaming Saved My Life.
Sade
I was 6 years old when I got my first gaming console: the PlayStation 1. It was on Christmas Day that my mom presented the gift to me. I didn’t know the wonders that were waiting for me with such a small console (compared to the ones now). One of the first challenging games that played was Mega Man X4. I used to spend hours trying to pass this one level. I kept dying over and over again. Until finally, I got closer to victory than my previous attempts. I had the boss’ health at a critical level. I only needed a few more hits and YES!! After hours on end stuck on this level, I beat the boss! At that moment, I was truly a gamer. I suffered for my achievement; I went through all the frustration for my labor of love: gaming.
If I had a personal nostalgia gaming crate I’d a Gameboy Advance and some of the games that I lost when my mother and I relocated. It would remind me of hours playing on such a small screen! I used to take that Gameboy everywhere with me.
Quincy
When I was much much younger, around 7 or 8, my father and I found two old Nintendo Entertainment System’s in the house, the big grey box ones. We had a handful of games for them, including Super Mario Bros 1 & 3. I spent so much time playing those after school with him, and one day I actually managed to get all the way to world 7 by myself. The feeling of accomplishment right there is what really got me into gaming, overcoming such a variety of challenges is incredibly enjoyable.
What I would put in a gaming nostalgia crate would probably be a big bag of snacks, something easy to eat with one hand like chips or cookies. I’d also include a controller of the recipients gaming device of choice, as you can’t really play games without one. Maybe one of the universal USB controllers that work for PC, Xbox, and PS3/4.
Matthew
My journey to becoming a gamer was not a swift one. It took several years, in fact, but there are three points that stick out. Way back when the GameBoy Color was the best thing ever, Pokemon Crystal showed me how amazing gaming is. When I was in about 3rd or 4th grade, Halo 2 showed me that an ever great world awaited me in gaming. Then, when I first received my Xbox 360 and booted up Halo 3 for the first time, I knew there was no going back. As I listened to the hum of the system and took out throngs of Covenant scum, I fell in love with gaming for good. Gaming became all the more important from that point onward.
But what would be in my personal nostalgia gaming crate? Oh, that is far too easy. I’d have a soundtrack for Pokemon Crystal, and I would definitely have a Master Chief figurine. I’d have a tall glass bottle of Mexican Coke; you know, the one that’s supposed to taste better than regular Coke because of the cane sugar? For a while, I would always drink one of those on launch day like a tradition. I would have posters or wall prints of some of the most iconic gaming characters in my life: Mario, Spyro, Altair, and others. Heck, if I could fit it, I’d even stuff my ratty, old, blue desk chair from years ago that I would always sit in as I gamed until it fell out of service.
Then there are the intangible bits of nostalgia that can’t be put into a box, like the incomparable feeling of sitting down to a good game after a long day at work. But if I could put gaming in a box, this is a small glimpse of what it might look like.
PP1MT
I’m not sure how it all started – there wasn’t a specific moment or anything that sparked my love for all things gaming. One day I just found myself madly infatuated with the past-time.
I think, the nostalgia is derived from a whole other spectrum of emotions. From the thrill of adventure seeking, the camaraderie from facing challenges together with your friends and to countless heartbreaks and unspeakable moments. It is difficult to articulate the feelings strings through your hearts when you step into a mystical forest or a perilous dungeon with your best friends, or even strangers; of whom become fast friends over a drink at the tavern.
I longed for those days to come again, and the only way to revisit them is to delve once again into stranger worlds. My friends are still around, and probably will be for a few more decades. I have screenshots and things as mementos and keepsakes of our time spent together, but there isn’t anything physical – nothing that I can hold in my hands. Virtuality is good and all, but I’d want something corporeal. Probably a replica of something important during a key event in the game that everyone can relate to, with their own tales and stories. It’s something that binds us all together, and it’d be out of this world (heh) if I can have a token of remembrance that speaks solemnly – that I’ve been there, and I’ve felt the moment.
That’s the best thing that I’d think I can receive. It’s a very difficult request, and I don’t expect Man Crates or any other similar sites like Loot Crate and NerdBlocks to be able to capture the hearts of every single gamer with items meant to do this. But it’d be nice if there was something in there that I’d come to cherish for a long, long time.
But some perishables are fine, too!
Brad
For as far back as I can remember, there’s always been a gaming console in the house. My earliest memories are of Super Mario Bros. and Tetris on the NES. Up until I was about nine years old, when I was given a PlayStation 2, video games had only been a casual pastime and I hardly played them alone. Even after owning the PS2 I hadn’t considered video games a huge part of my life. Sure, I have vivid memories of playing Star Wars: Battlefront with my friends while Blink 182 blared from the stereo, but even those memories span a short amount of time.
I only elected to identify myself as a gamer in the fall of 2012. I was a freshman in college and I still only had a PS2, and I didn’t bother to take it with me. The laptop I was given the Christmas before was to serve as my entertainment, even though it isn’t made for gaming. The few games I did have from Steam at the time were Left 4 Dead and Payday: The Heist. My roommate had his Xbox 360 with him, and I would often watch him play.
One day I was debating on whether or not to buy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I know it should have been a no-brainer, but you have to remember that I didn’t game as much as I would have liked. My roommate owned it for his 360 and offered to let me play it for a while so I could make up my mind. I ended up playing it for eight hours straight that day and he had to kick me off of his 360 back because I wasn’t taking his hints. I downloaded it onto my laptop as soon as I could and, thankfully, it ran just fine.
The same scenario applied to Batman: Arkham City a few weeks later.
These two games had a huge impact on my gaming life. I fell in love with video games and began to realize their artistic value after hearing Arkham City’s soundtrack and experiencing Skyrim’s luscious map design and deep lore. Mark Hamill’s performance as The Joker blew me away. I had no idea such talent could exist in a video game. I spent hours pouring over books in Skyrim and learning about this entire world with its own history that Bethesda had created. Fall of 2012 is when I began to call myself a gamer. Since then I’ve followed news in the gaming industry and even began to write it as well. I’m catching up on all the great games I missed when I was younger and wish I could have experienced with my friends at the time.
If I were to open up a box full of nostalgic mementos I would see a translucent, green Nintendo 64 controller laying on top of the iconic red cartridge of Spider-Man 64. Underneath that I would find a map of Tamriel folded on top of a copy of Star Wars: Battlefront. As I dig to the very bottom, a bottle of Coca Cola next to a small Tidus figurine from Final Fantasy X, a game to which I owe several of my best gaming memories. Never will I forget the many laughs and tears I shared with my little sister as we played through that game together.
Video games are a big part of my life now, and I have several life-long friends because of that. The endless amount of art and fun is something that I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of.
Nathan
Of all things that remind me of gaming, the thing that brings all those memories back is a beverage: Tahitian Treat Soda. From middle school up through college, this drink saw me through dungeons, LAN parties, heists, capers and scores. Its effect is so powerful that the taste and smell of it is enough to make me laugh or shed a nostalgic tear. It makes me feel like I am still at home in my parents’ house playing Thief: The Dark Project, watching Aeris die, playing with friends and brothers for a weekend straight or gaming. Fuck Mountain Dew. Tahitian Treat is the blood type of a real gamer.
To think about all of these stories got us to a point in which we thought having a time capsule would be awesome, some sort of gift we could get that, when opening it, could bring back all of our memories, some sort of box, that could come in sealed, full of nice little goodies for us to enjoy, and that’s when we thought of something like a wooden box, that would keep everything safe during its delivery, that’s when we noticed there’s a way to do this, and it is through Man Crates, a new company that ships awesome gifts in custom wooden crates, and already have some gaming-themed crates such as the Retro Gamer Crate or the Super Retro Gamer Crate.
Some of us even thought about things to get into one of these crates, such as Sade’s idea of putting in a Gameboy Advance, or Matt’s Master Chief statue, and if we combine them all, we would certainly have an amazing gift for any gamer, or any contemporary one at least!
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