While I can't trace back when my love for handheld/portable gaming started, I can pinpoint the exact moment it took over the rest of my gaming existence.  August 19, 2010.  The day after I had triple hernia surgery.  For those that haven't (and hopefully never will), the pain can best be described as having a wipe-bladed, jagged knife being twisted in your belly.  Women who had experienced childbirth described the recovery from hernia surgery as worse.  Much worse.

This immense and ceaseless pain drove me to an existence in a single chair in the living room of my house.  Before this I hadn't spent much time sitting in this chair, though we've had it for years, as I had always preferring the couch which is seated by the window, though I only read there, and only in the spring.  Luckily the chair is quite comfy, and with the addition of a blanket, paradise.  Very slowly the pain lessened, and I was able to get up more easily, though I was still confined to the chair (full recovery would be three months).  I needed something to pass the time, so naturally I turned to video games.  Only problem: No television in the living room.  Since my trash-pile of a laptop was more of less out of the question (though I managed to create my own website, which is very embarassing to view), I managed to find entertainment in my PSP and Gameboy SP.  Somehow, amidst the haze of pain and drugs, I found more fun than my meager writing skills can describe.  I was able to truly get into Pokemon Gold, Final Fantasy Legend III, Star Ocean: Second Story, Metroid Fusion, and many others.  I fell in love all over again with Link to the Past and Daxter, I delved into the depths of Vice City Stories (leaving no stone unturned), and I was finally able to beat Link's Awakening.  I also was still unable to figure out Legend of the River King.

Considering the amount of physical pain I experienced in the chair, it is no wonder that it took me so long to get back into it.  But recently when I really opened my eyes to iOS games, I found myself sitting in the chair again.  Sitting in it was like coming home.  More than ever I was aware of how soft it was.  There is a vent right next to it, and when the AC runs a nice comfy breeze wafts up and cools everything off.  Just thinking about it makes me sleepy and itchy (to play games).

I think all of us has a man-cave (I do) or some other refuge for gaming where systems and games are piled high.  But I think we could all use a Gaming Chair (though no one should have to go through hernia surgery to discover it).

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