Nostalgia

So today me and Dianne were driving around finishing up the multitude of errands involved with getting married. With only 18 days remaining until the big day, we are getting slightly edgy to make sure that everything actually gets done. One of our stops was at the flower store. Joan, the flower lady, is fast becoming a very helpful part of our wedding preperation and is much too kind. Being the nice person that she is, she gave us a stem of a beautiful flower called the tube rose.

Now, you are probably wondering where I am going with all of this. Well, after the rose sat in our car for a while Dianne began to have strong memories of when she went to Hawaii. Interestingly enough the scent brought on by the flower was enough to bring up heavy nostalgia of a fond family trip. This got us pondering as to what exactly triggers memories. Strangely for me, video games do.

I know to some that may seem the most geekish thing they have ever heard. In reality though, I have been gaming since I was 9 or 10. Gaming has been a significant part of my life since I was very little. It is rather unusual to find that it has been a very solid constant for me throughout my good times and my bad times.

Games were with me when my father passed away. I still remember playing through Yoshi's Safari with my consoling friends. It helped to have my friends around and attempt to take my mind off of the tragedy that had just occurred.

I fondly remember summers spent with friends and my brother, biking over to the local game station to pick up the new Street Fighter 2 or Mortal Kombat. Heck, I even remember pulling out Final Fantasy VII and Xenogears during my party years as an after bar wind-down.

What am I getting at? I suppose what this boils down to is that much like our parents can pull out an old record and reminisce to the music they listened to when they were younger, so to can our era pull out a great game and let nostalgia wash over us with a wave of memories. Perhaps if the prior generations could all see video games the same way that most of us do they would have an easier time excepting it as a valid form of media.

I myself will continue with my hobby long after I am married and well into the time I have my very first child. It is my hobby, my stress relief and a great way to socialize with others that share a similar interest (including my wife to be). What I am getting at here is that video games are truly taking the steps needed to form into an accepted and revered form of media and I am truly glad to be along for the ride.

Comments (5) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 1.8.2005

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Well, off I go to spend the next 4 days in balmy Saskatchewan to spend my time almost exclusively alternating between eating and drinking. I hope that Santa is great to each and every one of you and that you all have the merriest of holidays possible! See you all soon, take care!

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 12.24.2004

R.I.P. GMR

There was no way I could continue my daily routine without at least saying a word or two about this. As you all know, GMR has officially closed its doors. While I am not sure of the exact reasoning behind this, I gather that it basically amounts to EB pulling the funding plug.

Now, the interesting part about that is that I always found the constant EB barrage to be the only bad thing about the magazine! Imagine the potential that the magazine has to kick all forms of buttocks now! Without the constant in-your-face marketing of EB, GMR can now concentrate completely on what they do best; impressive, intelligent game related editorials!

Now, I am not one to bash ZD's business process. They obviously know what they are about, after all they have survived for this long. It just seems to me that to kill off this franchise would be a travesty, not just to us readers, but to the share holders of ZD! There is obviously financial feasibility involved here, and to see it go to waste should not sit right with the executives.

So, I suppose all that is left for me to do now is lament. Cheers to the amazingly talented writers and designers who continue to keep me entertained as I read through my last bittersweet issue. I hope you all find fantastic careers doing what you do so well, and I look forward to reading more. R.I.P GMR, you will be missed...

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 12.22.2004

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47]