I apologize up front to those who come to this site for an escape, but the coincidental timing of my piece this month leaves me in an incredibly difficult position. You see, I wracked my brain the last few days trying to think of a subject, but as I sit here at my computer on Monday evening, none of the topics I came up with feel appropriate. I won't comment here on my thoughts about the past week's worth of news, and I genuinely feel bad about even bringing it up in these digital pages, but with recent headlines so raw in my mind, I've discovered I'm literally incapable of writing an article that suggests I'm oblivious to them. Eventually, one of the podcasts I watch gave me an idea, and I decided that if I couldn't force myself to write as if current events haven't deeply affected my headspace, maybe I could use the opportunity to remember the things about this hobby that has brought people together.



One of the earliest memories I have of my family gaming together was when our dad got my brother and I a Sega Master System. I don't remember what holiday it was, or exactly what age we were at the time, but I remember the three of us absorbed in the bizarre, colorful land of Fantasy Zone, trying our hardest to protect the military medic in Rescue Mission, and laughing our faces off at the comically poor scream when our character died in Alien Syndrome. At a time when our parents were going through a nasty seperation, to me this was a welcome moment of familial happiness.

I've written before how our dad actively encouraged our interest in games. Whether it was programming his little TRS-80 pocket computer to play games like Tic-Tac-Toe and Star Trek, teaching us to play early text adventure games on our first PC, or working to help us solve puzzles in The 7th Guest, my childhood is filled with happy times of gaming bringing my family together. Come to think of it, I still have that old TRS-80 of my dad's in my closet, along with all of his old program cassettes. It would be fun to learn how to program for it one of these days.


There was also the time when I discovered Super Castlevania IV. My brother and I were in Florida with our mom, visiting our cousins, who had moved there some time earlier. They'd just gotten a Super Nintendo and the aforementioned game. I still remember my uncle Jeff reading the opening story crawl, narrating it with as dark and dramatic a voice as he could muster, complete with evil laugh at the end. I was so impressed with the game that I did little else that entire weekend. By the third day, I'd gotten all the way to the end. My entire family watched as I faced off with the Grim Reaper, which was possibly the most thrilling video gaming moment I'd ever had to that point. Then, as I came to the final showdown with Dracula, they all started chanting my name in support as the battle came to a close. When I took him down, everyone cheered in victory as we all watched the ending together.


As I got older, most of my family's interest in games fell by the wayside, so I became primarily a single player gamer. When Burnout Paradise came out though, I became interested in online multiplayer like I never had before. The game had a much more cooperative focus than I was used to, and I quickly made friends with a couple people in England. They were the most friendly strangers I'd ever met in an online game, and we would frequently meet up to complete team challenges. Eventually, we moved on to other games, but we remain on each other's friend lists to this day, and I'll always look fondly upon that time as one that proved to me great online interactions with strangers is possible in games.

Several years later, I would meet a small group of people through mutual friends that had their own video game website called Pixel Perfect. In the process of getting to know them, they came to invite me to write for the site. The readership was small, but it gave me a place to talk about games and interact on a more regular basis with other gamers. In a way it was a bit of a dream come true. As someone who grew up reading Nintendo Power, GamePro, and GameSpot, it was a huge thrill to be contributing and collaborating in the larger discussion of video games.


Some time after Pixel Perfect shut down, I saw an open call for writers on a site called RF Generation. It was a site I'd followed for years, but never really interacted with much beyond the Collectorcast (and this was back in the days when those podcasts were 3-4 hour marathons!). I'm not the most social person in the world, especially remotely, but I had no idea I would come to meet many of the people here in real life and participate with them at events like Retro World Expo and the Cleveland Classic Console and Arcade Gaming Show. In the years since going to events like those, I've never experienced anything other than friendship and acceptance with open arms, and it's times like these that make me grateful for those interactions.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't take time to remember the two biggest video game charity events. Games Done Quick and Extra Life for Kids, raising money for cancer research and children's hospitals, respectively. They've been a constant source of inspiration for me, and it's extremely moving to see so many people come together to use our favorite lifetime hobby to help others in need.

Part of me knows this probably isn't the kind of crowd that needs to be reminded of how video games can bring people together. I'll be the first to admit this piece is primarily for my own benefit. I'm generally a pretty happy, positive person, and there are few things I love more in this world than to laugh, but I'm finding it really hard to be happy or laugh right now. Fortunately, it's made me smile to think back on the times in my life where video games have improved my relationships with others, and that's something I sorely need at the moment. I'm not sure if anyone else out there has had trouble keeping their spirits up lately, but if you're in need of some smiles in your life, I hope you've gotten a few with this article, as I have. Take care, friends, and look after each other.

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