My First Console.

I probably should update this more than I do, and its kind of really bugging me that I haven't been able to clear my head enough to think about what games I should review. Then I thought about something, who said this blog has to be about just reviewing games? Why couldn't it be about gaming in general and the cool gamer gadgets and things you can acquire, and trust me, I have acquired a lot of them in recent years. I started this as a sister blog to my popular "My Journey Every Step of the Way" blog which deals with the day to day life I live, this one is about a hobby that I love and have deep connection with. I am a gamer. 

It's been a while my darlings but Sin is back. Well, never really went away but this blog hasn't had an update for a while so decided that we needed something a little bit special for a return blog. As we're close to my birthday and after a wonderful visit from a much adored friend and the reunion with another old, much adored, friend from childhood. I guess like with your first love, you don't forget your first games console. Or your old favourite games.

So for me, it all started with the Sega Master System. When I was 7, I used to play on my brother's console, a Master System II with Sonic the Hedgehog built in (back when a games machine could have games built in so you can just plug in and play) with Nan. Even now as a grown up, I get really excited when I hear that 8-bit theme and can spend hours dashing, jumping and spinning through the various zones with that spikey blue guy. The gameplay was relatively simple compared to nowadays where there's analogue sticks, buttons a plenty and a plethora of controls. 

It's so weird to hold a Master System control pad after all these years. No shoulder buttons, a simple d-pad and 2 buttons. This is as simple as it gets. And I have to say that I was taken back through the years, before I was a tattooed and pierced adult, to that 7/8 year old girl sat on the carpet at Nan's with a TMNT glass of cherryade and playing Sonic. 

It's wonderful.

When I finally got my first Master System II (with Alex Kidd) for my 8th birthday, I was elated and after a while it became a part of the setting in my old bedroom. I swapped my II though for an original Master System at some point later on (I have no regrets) and I started enjoying the light gun game "Safari Hunt" but my favourite game was still Sonic and I'd often wake early in the morning just to play a little bit. Saturday's were the best because I'd play on my game (muted so it didn't disturb people) and then we would get ready and go to Nan's and spend the day with her and my aunt. 

Even as I got older, I held on to that console. Even when I moved to Redditch at 16, it moved with me. When I went back to Stafford for a bit, I asked my friend to look after it for me and he did. He really took care of my old console and reunited us some years later. I'm not going to lie, that first ever switch on, the familiar sound of the 8-bit Sega jingle (you know the one) and the Sonic opening screen, it was such an emotional moment. I could barely believe that here it was, my actual childhood console that I'd spent so many happy hours playing on was here, in our bungalow and I was able to share that incredible feeling and moment with Jace as well. 

I'm so happy. This old machine is such a piece of both gaming history as well as my own personal history. It's what started my love of consoles and gaming. Even now, after 26 years, I'm still a gamer and love the modern consoles (right now, my modern favourite has to be the Switch, for so many reasons) but being allowed that glimpse in to the past, especially when it takes me back to those wonderful times with Nan.

So here's to more blogs about the fun stuff.

-Sin-

Why I Loathe Fortnite.

So over the last few years I have watched the steady growth of Fortnite. It's everywhere. Like a virus, it sinks it's teeth in to your home and infects people as well as emptying the pockets of players or henpecked parents who are sick of their kids asking for  "V bucks". It's been in the news with stories of children, yes children, who have managed to pilfer hundreds to even thousands of pounds worth of money. Spouses who got beaten up by players just for asking them to take a break. Families being divided and even children being neglected by parents who should have known better. There has even been harrowing and tragic cases of children harming themselves because they were denied access or even children who were murdered by a parent who lost a game because they dared to make a sound or need something during a game.

The truth is, it's not the kind of game that makes me so disgusted by the game. It's just the way that it encompasses everything wrong with competitive gaming as a whole. The competitive nature of the game almost reprograms people in to competitive zombies who only live to serve the master...I mean the game. They care little about anything other than getting another kill or winning and dancing on another players avatar. It's like an addiction to drugs in a way. People get irritable when they can't get a fix and even while their on the game, they become completely different people. It turns a nice person in to a negligently cruel one who only cares about the game, not their family or friends. The way the game actually uses psychological tactics to create this kind of mindset that is similar to that of a compulsive gambler who just can't help themselves as they become so obsessed with chasing a victory or a bigger score.

I think that overly competitive games, not just Fortnite but other titles like Call of Duty or Halo, have a lot to answer to. Not just because it changes people, but it ruins lives. It ruins families. The people who are obsessed with it are almost poisoned and then they become so blinkered to what's going on around them. Like they can't see the miserable situation it's caused or the way that they behaved towards someone else. The sad thing to me is that they can't break free for some reason. Then there's extreme cases where people have actually died because of extensive game sessions, like the guy in the cafe, OK it wasn't Fortnite but it was another game where someone was so addicted that they neglected themselves to the point of death. As mentioned before, this game has led to children ending their own lives because they couldn't play on it for some reason or another. 

I've watched someone try and they have struggled so much and it really saddens me to see. It was like one moment they're willing to break away and have their mind and life back and the next they're feeding the addiction. It's a truly troubling sight and it was hard to get them to see the damage it was causing, not just for them but for others who care for them. I'm proud of them for finally being able to push through it all and get through this and we have mended a lot of the issues it was causing. I'm just hoping now that it doesn't make a comeback ever again. My advice is that if a loved one is getting to an additced level of obsession with this or any other game, please don't write them off. Help them before it gets to the point where it gets dangerous.

-Sin