It was the year 2001. A little kid that today goes by "Slarvax" saw his sister using some kind of purple block. He thought to himself “what is that?” approached her, and saw the beginning of this story... It was a GameBoy Color, playing Pokémon Yellow! As the spoiled brat he was (but scared of his sister) he wanted to learn all of it. His sister then started to teach him the basics of a JRPG franchise (which has influenced all of his live), and that kid loved it. He didn't get it, but he had fun! Then, things started to expand. His family got him a PS1 (with a DBZ game, Tekken, Crash 3, 101 Dalmatians (it was awesome!), and some shovel ware), Pokémon Crystal, and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. During that time, little Slarvax was only 3-7, so school was no biggie. Almost every afternoon, he played as many games as he could. Beating Pokémon was always a joy, Crash racing team was so fun (he even wanted his parents to join!), and Tekken brought the warrior in him (although, he never won). This feeling he did not understand, he always felt, and wanted more each passing day.

Sometime in 2002-04, his sister got a GBA, and boy, was that great. Now he and his sister didn't have to argue over who gets to play with the GBC! A little later, they got a GBA SP and (because he didn't know GBA was already next gen) they got the new Pokémon Ruby! But not all is good news, as during this time his sister lost interest in gaming and little Slarvax no longer had a Player 1. Sure, they kept playing with each other, but not as they once did. Back to Ruby, this was a time where he just wanted to have fun. He played Pokémon for weeks nonstop. In the toilet, in his bed, even during class! It was such a fun little world, looked so good, mind-blowing for his little kid brain (for comparison, what you felt from Mario 3 to Mario World. Or heck, from Mario World to Mario 64), and that was just the beginning!

He didn't (and to this day, still tries to avoid to) join gaming with friendships, as that was fairly weird. On one hand, jealously of not owning X game or Y console always affected him (he really wanted a N64 or a GCN), and he was also a sore loser, but he was introduced to the Nintendo home consoles thanks to a few friends. 2 close friends had Nintendo consoles, one had the N64 and Smash 64, and the other had a GC with a "The Incredibles" game; he felt something wonderful playing with those games, different and mysterious, and always got super excited to try them.

Flash forward to 2005: his family went to USA (and maybe his 2nd time), and to his surprise, they got a PS2! Sadly, maybe only 1 game to play, but he was still very happy to try it! He played some weird Power Rangers game in which you are the giant mechanical animals. The first time he didn't enjoy a game (but nowadays, he wants to replay it. Looking back at it, he thinks it was very fun), but it was still a very good looking and next gen game. Then they got The Sims, which brought a little joy to a "kid" Slarvy since his sister found her way back to gaming and felt a similar joy and happiness to what Slarvy feels, but not with that game. Slarvy dislikes Sims a lot.

Before going back to his home country, they got 1 more game: UEFA Champions League 2005-06. It was fine, but his sister really liked it so they played together like the old times. Back in Venezuela, for reasons which were above him *cough* mom and dad *cough*, they made the PS2 pirate games compatible (which they also did with the PS1). With that, Slarvy and his sister started to buy games like candy! Not many notable experiences in this time: He got a few games for his GBA (Pokémon Emerald, Leaf Green, and some very niche games) and some PS2 games (a Crash game, DBZ Budokai, and others).

Some huge events for Slarvy's gaming took place in 2006. He got what he considers one of the best games ever, Metroid: Zero Mission. He can't explain what made it so special for him, except that everything made it special for him! He had never played a Metroid game, or let alone a game similar to Metroid before. It was epic, mysterious, creepy, wondrous; the music was outstanding, the story (with less than 100 words to explain it) was impressive, it looked great... It was his masterpiece. He played over, and over, and over again. When he was bored, when he was hungry; all the time, at any time. He also got for the PS2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This is hard to explain. The joy from this was just mindless fun, but as he grew up and payed attention to what the game really was about... He didn't know what to feel! He was 8-9 years old when this happened, and he started to grow up at this time. So, to play a game where you murder (for fun) and have sex easily and constantly, he sure should have reacted in an explosive way... But he didn't. This is the time where he started to meet and understand himself (Out of character, realizing this just now!), and it was all thanks to gaming. Also, his dads didn't approve the narrative in the game, but they still let him play it... Maybe they were also knowing him at that time.

And that's not all; he got the next Nintendo, the DS! With that, he also found out the secret about *Childhood ruining moment alert* Santa. During Christmas, they were in Canada visiting some of his dad's family. Slarvy saw snow for the first time in his life, and man was that fun! He even used Skis and went down a hill for hours with his sister. On Christmas Eve, they were going to his dad's uncle house, and before going out his mom asked him to look for her sweater. "It should be above my baggage with my clothes", she said. And Slarvy looked there, but it wasn't above, it was inside. He opened it, and found something... It was the box of the Nintendo DS! But wait... he asked for it for Christmas... So that means... Yes, Slarvy found out the mommy and daddy were in fact, Santa. Disappointment struck, and very sad he was. But he didn't let that get him; they were going at a party with a lot of family, and he had to be happy. Fun fact: He beat Gary, the champion, in Pokémon Leaf Green that night. It was an epic fight, and he even told his mom about it, like it was a very epic achievement. The next morning, surprise, he got a DS with Yoshi's Island DS for Christmas. He was happy, but knowing it was mom and dad who got him that was very sad. He told his sister about it, and she said something like "don't worry, it's all fine"... And they played Yoshi's Island together.

After that, Slarvy got bad news. They were moving out of his childhood neighborhood. Leaving (but not losing) friendships behind. Before going, he received in a birthday the first Pokémon game on the DS. Pokémon Ranger. This showed him what "Spin-offs" are. At first, he was severely disappointed. "Why was it not like the mainline games? No levels? No fights? This sucks" he thought, but as he played through it, he found it very enjoyable and thought was a good change from the other games. He started to accept difference.

In 2007, he got in his new home, and he was a bit old compared to the kids in the hood. This meant (confirmed nowadays) that he was not going to make many friendships there. And that was fine, because he had more important things to do than meeting new, very young kids. But there was a new kid in the hood he was going to meet, even if he didn't want to. Who was it? The Wii, of course! His first Nintendo home console and where he would feel more at home than ever before! I think he didn't get any games with it, so he played some (Wii) Sports a lot! I also think he got many DS games this year, with the spotlight given to Pokémon Diamond. Yet again, his mind was blown by how much he enjoyed it. He also got Mario Kart DS. It was a great game, but nothing out of this world.

One game that to this day has changed his view on gaming made its way to Slarvy's PS2. DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 2. His first 3D fighting game, and his favorite at that. It was the first game which he decided to challenge himself. Tried the game on its hardest difficulty. Played the story mode many times. And it was the first time he started to get competitive in games. He created techniques and combos out of this world! It was also the first time he listened to games music just because of how good it was. He just looked over the song before the fight, and listened to it before playing. Maybe the first game he 100%'ed.

The next year, very peculiar things happened. To start off, he might have started replaying some games. The 3rd generation of Pokémon was probably one of those, followed by the usual Zero Mission play through/collecting missing items. One of his friends got what is considered a masterpiece: Super Mario Galaxy. They had fun, they got infuriated by it, they even got inside jokes from it. Again, mindless fun, but this time (unlike GTA: SA), there was no controversy. You were the good guy, no questions about it. So it felt right. Later on, he got an amazing fighter: Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Another game to play with his sister, and damn it, this time he was the winner!

Near the end of 2008, something terrible happened. He was going to visit his family in Colombia for Christmas. He went there by car. But (if you know how South America is) that's unsafe. A few minutes before reaching the border between both countries... he and his family got robbed. Very terrifying to him. They were closed to being kidnapped! Thankfully, they were safe in the end. And after all the terror, he started to understand and react to what happened: He lost many, many things. His games, clothes, and a telescope. It was sad, and didn't have some of his gems in gaming like Pokémon Diamond, Ranger, Mario Kart DS, all of his Pokémon GBA games... All lost.

In 2009, what else could he do but enjoy and be grateful of what he had? So he did that, he did it the best he could. But in the half of the year, his family went to USA again, and he got a DS again. He rebought many of the games he lost, and it was nice. But here's when things started to take a serious route. He got Pokémon Platinum, and with that he's view of gaming changed completely: He no longer thought of gaming as a hobby but as part of his life. Why? 2 simple things: He realized how complex the Pokémon games worked (EVs, IVs, physical and special attacks, the 6 stats natures...), and it made him think that it was art: Complex in the background, but simple to people’s eyes. The other factor was how engaged he got with his Pokémon; it was incredibly hard to reset a Pokémon game because all of his friends and all his hard work would simply gone. Human nature started to affect Slarvax, he asked things such as "Why am I playing this? What's so fun of this?" and gaming started to grow on him.

In 2010, Slarvax experienced region locking, and it made him mad. He also got Pokémon Soul Silver (maybe his favorite), and it just expanded the feeling he got out of Platinum thanks to the following Pokémon and some kind of feelings the Pokémon had. Not much this year :P Oh wait! He got Super Mario Galaxy 2 that Christmas. He enjoys it every time he plays as if it was the first time.

The following year, 2011, he got his first experience in "blind fanboyism", as he bought the 3DS without even knowing what to play with it. Thankfully, he got Pokémon White a few weeks before, and most of the money used was a gift from uncles, but his 3DS was not really used up until Christmas later that year... This brings us to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. He had heard many times that it was a masterpiece, best game ever, heck it has a 99 on Metacritic! So when he saw it as a gift for Christmas, he was very excited to play it! ... Little did he know that games don't age very well. He had fun, but it was just "good" for him. 

In 2012, Slarvax found the closest his ever got to his favorite game ever with The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. And I think I've ran out of things to say. He enjoyed everything but a few things about it, especially the soundtrack. That year he also got a Wii U, and just for it being a new system got him very excited. Setting up the console was breathtaking for the "teen" Slarvax.

In 2013, probably his best year for gaming for him, he got way too many games that are worth mentioning: Pikmin 3, his favorite Wii U game. ZombiU, his first horror/survival game. M&L: Dream Team. CoD: BLOPS2. And Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, the reason he joined this very site! This year he also started to collect games for his VC in his Wii U and 3DS. He got many classics that has satisfied his hunger of amazing games.

And lastly, in 2014, he wrote this thing. He got Mario Kart 8 (disappointed him), LoZ: Wind Waker HD (great), Rayman Legends (nice), Shovel Knight which has a special place in his heart, and SSBU. And things are just getting better and better each day.

Nowadays, Slarvax is on a mission to find his real favorite game ever. Skyward Sword was the closest, but he wants a game that he will always treasure and that he will never ever doubt of being his favorite.

My family didn't really invest much into video games. All the games that we got were usually from friends and my cousin who had the newest games all the time. I was in say, 4th grade when my cousin gave me his gameboy color. The first game I played was Zelda: Link's Awakening and I loved it. That's when I decided that I was an RPG fan. I have very fond memories with my gameboy. And from there, the rest is history. We got the GBA and Gamecube and started gaming. Sure, I had to backtrack alot to find the gems that I was too young to play and I enjoyed that too. I give much credit to Smash Bros. Melee for sparking my interest in Nintendo as a company. I also give much credit to Final Fantasy 5 Advance for sparking my interest in the JRPG genre as a whole.

Lessee...

Fascinated with video games since youth (always played Ms Pac Man & Centipede at the laundromat). I had to make do with shitty Tiger Electronics handhelds for the longest time, until finally my parents got me a Gameboy. This was a godsend for busrides to school, linking systems together & all that. The NES was next, and I was obsessed with Super Mario Bros, learning that game forwards and back. All my friends had the system and a ton of games, so we lent & traded often. Coop was king, especially with Konami games like TMNT2, Jackal, and Super C.

I at some point managed to get my parents to give me an allowance, and saved that up to buy a Sega Genesis. I was suckered in with the advertising, and Sonic was pretty much the only reason I bought it. The controller never felt particularly good to me, and most of the games I rented for it were underwhelming. Still, I was a fierce console warrior in the lunchroom, and blast processing was way better than those slow games on that new Nintendo system...

...that I ended up buying and loving. Final Fantasy 6...well, 3 in the US...singlehandedly won me over. You could fight dinosaurs with magic and a chainsaw! This ended up being my favorite system of all time, filled with classics that mostly age well.

The next part is a blur. One of my friends temporarily had a Sega CD - it sucked - and then a 32x - it didn't even work and was returned the same day. That may have been the reason he got a PSX rather than a Saturn. Either way, I didn't pay any attention to these fugly 3D games until he got Resident Evil. Holy crap, that game creeped the hell out of us. That may have been the reason I started saving up for a PSX, going so far as to buy a beat up copy of Tekken 2 from a video rental in preperation for after Christmas, at which point I determined I'd have enough cash for a system, maybe a game if anyone gifted me money. The parents surprised the hell out of me with a PSX on Christmas; that was a glorious day, the day I went to I think Walmart and bought a ton of great games (Final Fantasy 7, Tomb Raider 2, Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Crash Bandicoot, Resident Evil, etc) with the money I had saved. And good God, I think every game company brought their A game to this sytem. Square, Konami, Capcom...unbelievable.

I didn't care about the N64 and its relatively small library of $70 games (PSX titles were like $20-50!), and I prefered the crisp look of PSX to the murky mess that N64 seemed to have. But...Mario 64 looked fun. Goldeneye was certainly fun. And then Ocarina of Time landed, and God this game looks dumb, wierd, and I need it right now. N64 didn't hold my interest like the previous two Nintendo systems, but it had its moments.

Dreamcast...after the last three systems / add-ons crashed and burned, I refused to get hype for it. But Soul Calibur was fun and pretty, despite the awful controller. And Sonic Adventure looked so good! I ended up buying a crazy bundle for like $40, knowing full well it was doomed.

My trusty old PSX was running a bit ragged, and I heard tales of how anime on DVD was vastly superior to VHS, so I waited in line overnight to get PS2. Now that was a system that just kept on giving. Even if I somehow couldn't find a PS2 game worth playing (mostly the first year, once I finally tired of Tekken Tag & later Twisted Metal Black), there were tons of PS1 games I could play.

Xbox was a tough sell, because damn those original controllers were awful. But they got replaced with better ones, and as someone without a good PC this was a good way to play stuff like Morrowind. And oh yeah, dat Halo. Daisychaining systems across three apartments was a defining college moment for me.

I skipped Xbox 360 and PS3 initially because the focus of my geekitude was focused like a laser on D&D 3e for a few years. I degraded to casual status during this period, and none of the games really sparked any interest. Strangely, getting a girlfriend brought me back to gaming, as she was constantly talking about Skyrim at the time. I ended up proposing to her with that music playing in the background (we fit it into the wedding, too). But yeah, bought a PS3, and was impressed with the controller, the connectivity of it all, and though it seemed JRPGs died during that gen, there were plenty of cool new games to play. And just as I'm playing catchup with 7th gen, PS4 is announced.

Oh yeah, got a Wii at some point in there. Hated most of the games, loved others. Mostly I got it to review video games for a website, but New Super Mario was great.

Tl;Dr: life ks too short to read meandering reminiscing of a silly hobby, kudos.