The first console that I ever played, like many others, would have to be the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)…but I wasn’t a gamer then. I remember playing Super Mario Brothers 1 & 3, Duckhunt and Punch Out only because my siblings played them. Next system that my family owned was the Super Nintendo…still wasn’t a gamer at that point either. In-fact Super Mario World is the only game I can remember playing for that system. The next system that my brother and I owned was, to my disappointment, the PlayStation. My parents bought it for us and I remember being so upset because I was wanting the Nintendo 64. The system stayed in my brothers room along with all of his games that I didn’t like. I was too young to have a job and could only play the sports games that my brother would buy. I hated them because I sucked at them and I still suck at them today.

But one day my brother brought home a CD case with about a dozen games that he borrowed from a friend named Sam. I remember looking at these games and having no clue what any of them were. I mean, what the heck was Final Fantasy VII? And Saga Frontier? Parasite Eve and Resident Evil 2? This isn’t Mario! I demand an N64! But again, I was young with no money, so I played. First game I played was Saga Frontier…it was weird…but strangely enjoyable. The idea of a video game telling a story and being able to talk with characters in the game was mind boggling. I wanted to see what else these games had that was different. I believe Parasite Eve was next…I didn’t get very far. It creeped me out. Then Resident Evil 2, which although at times scared me, really pulled me into the story and the world of Raccoon City. A little ways through the Police Department I saved and moved on through the list of games. Final Fantasy VII was next….wow. It was the first time in my life that a game felt like something more than a time waster. I remember getting stuck on the first disc at the part where you’re suppose to march or something:) And I never got to go any further because my brother soon gave the games back to Sam, who needed to trade them in for other games (a decision that I’m sure he kind-of regrets today).

So there I was, a preteen that was once again left with sports games to play…but also with a different look at video games and a thirst for more. I knew I wanted more Final Fantasy and as luck would have it there was a new one coming out…an 8th Final Fantasy. I wanted to make sure my parents new what it was so that they could get it for me on my birthday. So I hopped on our brand new Packard-Bell, dialed-up to the internet and found a picture of the game to print off and hang on our fridge with exact instruction on price and where it could be located.

The excitement I had during those days were immeasurable. And I said all of that just to say this…This commercial that I recently watched from Sony, advertising the PS3 unearthed some of that preteen enthusiasm that I had seem to lost over the past near decade:

I’m not entirely sure where I was going with this post but…great commercial Sony!