WTF Dad?!

     I've been gaming since I was a tiny sprog. I was probably 4 when my dad got this "cool new game" with "realistic" sound effects and "great graphics." It was Wolfenstein 3D. Looking back, it was violent, bloody (although pixelated), and it scared me, but I played it on our new computer. I remember we had Windows then, but occasionally I would have to boot up DOS to play other, more kid-friendly, games.

   After beating Wolfenstein 3D, I remember a myriad of other games my dad let me play. I played Doom, with it's terrifying monsters and gruesome visuals. It scared me so much that when my dad turned off the lights in the house, I would make him walk me to my room. Then there was Duke Nuke 'Em. Oh, man. I was recently reminiscing about the "good ol' days" of gaming, and it came to my attention that the video shop I had entered was actually a porn store. The main character goes into a strip club. The guy curses and says the most random things you do *not* want your 7-year-old repeating, but my dad let me play it. Good thing all of it went over my little head.

     When Unreal came out, my mind was blown. I loved it. I thought it was tons of fun and made it a personal mission to save and protect all Nali, (a tribal peoples with four arms that are very peaceful on the planet you crash land on), that I came across. I was an old hand at shooting aliens and solving puzzles. After Unreal, I played some version of Quake, and then I don't remember playing much until Half-Life. That game is still, hands down, my favorite.

     Half-Life was interactive, with amazing graphics and crazy monsters (my favorite being the headcrab, which were in abundance and fun to kill). We waited for awhile for Half-Life 2, which I have not played and...is Half-life 3 even out yet??

     I've asked myself often if I would let my kid play these same games when he turns four or five or six. I feel as though it didn't damage me too terribly. I'm not a violent person; I've never wished death upon anyone; I'm not easy to scare (never been to a haunted house that actually did anything for me); I'm not emotionally damaged or whatever. But still. I hesitate. I have a son, and he is currently two years old. I won't watch "scary" or "violent" video game Let's Plays or movies or TV shows in his presence. Even though it would all go over his head, probably.

     Eh, whatever. The point is, I've been playing computer and video games for basically my entire life. And then I wondered if maybe I'd like to start a blog about those games. The ones I play now, as an adult. Maybe it will be a nice endeavor. Maybe someone else might enjoy it, too.

     Here's hopin'!