Quick History
My 1st console was the Nintendo 64 back in the early 2000’s. Then it was the Nintendo Gamecube. After that, it was the beginning of my Playstation era. The PS2, PS3, and PS4. In 2022, my boy Tino gave me his old gaming laptop and I have been gaming on that ever since. If I were to rank them, my list would look like this:
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-Laptop
-PS2
-PS4
-Gamecube
-N64
-PS3
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Random Memory
Nothing against the PS3 but it came at a weird time in technology. Out of all those, however, buying the PS3 was the most memorable. I was in high school. I was at Gilbert Lindsay Park here in South Central. It was a Friday night and I had just finished playing soccer with the homies. My brother shows up and he tells me that my Dad was waiting for us because we were going to Sears. RIP to the old Sears on Soto and Olympic. I had no idea what was about to happen. I was caught off guard. I kept asking my brother what we were going to Sears for and all he kept saying was “Just wait 'til we get there foo.” We pull up, head to the electronics section, and my Dad asks the worker to get us a PS3. I was in shock. I wasn't ready for that to happen anytime soon. I loved my PS2 but we had to look towards the future. My brother was going to LA Trade Tech at the time and got Financial Aid. Like a classic LA foo, my brother used his money on everything but textbooks. He paid for the PS3 with his Financial Aid money. The PS3 came with Uncharted 3 and my brother bought FIFA 2011.
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Pros and Cons
I’ve had talks with the homies about gaming and how it’s not the same anymore. There’s layers to this. These game developers are all about money and buying these “packs” is a part of the experience now. I don’t spend money on a game once I get it. For what? It’s not like it improves skill right? Are the skins and all that cool? Yeah, but it’s not real. Also, I’m not about to spend $60 on a game that is released incomplete. I remember when we used to pay and get the full game on release. Sometimes I buy a game, play it once, then never touch it again.
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We can talk about how much time is wasted on video games. I’ve certainly cut back on playing video games during my free time. Reflecting on my journey with video games, I realized how much time I dedicated to video games. Hours upon hours playing. I’m becoming more disciplined with my schedule and video games are not on my “Mandatory” list.
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There’s the topic of rewards. What am I getting out of it? Besides a quick dopamine hit, what else is there? Entertainment? I feel like I’ve found other activities over the years that have replaced video games. I’m not getting paid for this either so who cares right?
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What about the “I get to play with the homies” discussion. That’s true. 100%. Who doesn’t like to hop on Call of Duty Warzone with the homies and talk while they play? This is probably one of the few benefits I see from playing video games at this point in my life. Truthfully though, I can just call them if I feel like catching up with them.
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The past couple of months were dedicated to grinding COD Black Ops 6 just to have my guns ready for when Warzone brings back Verdansk. I played Marvel Rivals for a bit but it got boring real quick. The game that has my full attention is still Overwatch 2. I’ll hop on OW2 and play like 3-5 matches at night but then that’s it. I cut my sessions short now.
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Gaming at 30
There's been moments the past 2 years where I didn’t touch any video games. I even threw away my Xbox Elite controller. That was a nice investment but I didn’t see the need for it anymore. I wasn’t even going to continue my livestreams. By this point, I’ve deleted all my gaming content from my Youtube channel and social media pages. I’ve retired the Rowdy Clan Gaming brand. I don’t know what the future holds. I can’t put in hours like I used to anymore. Is this what getting old feels like? I don’t want to associate gaming with age but it’s a discussion I’ve had with the homies as well.
Video games will always have a place in my heart but it’s not what I look forward to anymore.
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Favorites
I’ll leave you with this list here (not in order):
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-GTA San Andreas
-GTA 5
-Battlefield 3
-Battlefield 4
-WWE Here Comes the Pain
-WWF No Mercy
-Mario Kart Double Dash
-Call of Duty Warzone (Before Verdansk ‘84)
-Fight Night Champion
-Overwatch 2
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