And if you didn’t sing that to the tune of the Rodgers & Hammerstein tune from the 1959 Broadway Musical (and 1965 feature film) Sound of Music…

I essentially grew up with video games. I was among the first generations who have known them in some form almost my whole life.

And as it turns out, I erroneously credited the wrong family member with my introduction to them.

For years, I thought that my tech-savvy aunt and uncle gave my sister and me and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It wasn’t until recently that, when the topic came up in conversation between me and my mom, she corrected me by stating that my dad waited in line at the store to get one for us.

OOPS!

That will make you feel like crap to hear that you’ve been falsely attributing something as epic as that (in the minds of a youngster) for roughly 25 years.

Among the games we had on that original console were the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt combo, a version of Jeopardy, a 7Up game with Spot, the 7Up Mascot. Spot was the red dot (or in the game, blue, green, or yellow) on the can, and the game had a very Othello/Reversi feel to it. You wanted your color to dominate the board. Of course, Spot was there before these shirts were popular:

 

I’m trying to think of other games I had on the NES, but the one that really stands out was Dragon Warrior, a single-player game where you roamed a massive kingdom on the ultimate quest to hunt a (or THE) dragon. I don’t know…I never beat the game, sadly…one of my many video game failures.

 

When I was 13 or 14, I finally saved up enough money to buy a Super Nintendo. I don’t remember how much it cost, but I do remember my dad saying to me “do you really want to spend your money on that?” And, obviously…I did.

It came with the full Super Mario Bros. All Stars collection as well as Super Mario World. Eventually I added a sports game or two, Super Mario Kart, and other games I don’t really remember. Because why would I remember games I had and played for an extended period of time? One of those stand-out games on that console was College Slam, exactly like NBA Jam, except college.

I eventually added an N64. Mom sold the NES and the ten or so games at a garage sale for $10 (that’s a steal, even in 199x). In 2002, I sold the Super Nintendo and the N64, and with that and some extra money I had, I bought an XBox. I eventually added and would later sell a PS2. But I got a couple years out of it.

I would have an XBox 360, but that was replaced by a PS3, and the 360 now has a home outside of Dallas, TX. The PS3 is in my bedroom (for dvd/bluray/Netflix) and a PS4 resides in my living room. In fact, I’m streaming Netflix on it right now…the new Disney’s Pete’s Dragon.

That’s my history with gaming consoles. But since this post is supposed to be about the games, I should probably name at least a few titles I enjoyed over the years. The problem is I’ve never been very good at video games. Most of my friends would agree, especially if they were stuck with me as a teammate for online gameplay. I was marginally decent at Halo. I was junk at Gears of War. God of War, however, was an enjoyable game/franchise. I remember seeing a little bit of the gameplay on G4 (or Tech TV, I don’t remember when they made the change), and seeing Ares terrorizing Athens, with his fiery beard. I’ve always had a soft spot for ancient mythologies, so that caught my attention.

I have also really enjoyed most of the Assassin’s Creed franchise, and the Batman Arkham series.

Historically, I’m a Mario Kart kid at heart. Also, throw back to when EA Sports had NCAA Football, and sprinkle in some Madden.

Those are a few of my favorite games.