An undying love…for videogames

In honor of Valentine's Day, I've decided to dedicate this week's edition to my undying and unrelenting love for videogames. I'm sure that many of my readers will empathize.

My first videogames were on the Atari 2600. I marveled at the joy of racing in the stupidest, smallest, and best racing game I've ever played, "Grand Prix 2." I enjoyed the senseless, colorful bliss of one of the greatest game concepts ever in "Food Fight."

Several years later, and a few years after the arrival of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), I finally got my hands on one, along with Super Mario Brothers, the first of many games to completely "blow my mind" with an ingenious mix of innovation and pure quality gameplay.

The next giant leap in gaming came with the advent of the 16-bit videogame console era. Of course, this "era" only lasted about 5 years, but those five years were so full of great games that re-defined and nearly perfected the gaming experience, that as a gamer, it had might as well have been a hundred years. Great gaming classics such as "Super Mario World," "Final Fantasy III" (the game I consider to be the best ever for it's perfect mix of storytelling, environment, and gameplay), "Chrono Trigger," and "The Secret of Evermore."

My love of games started to come into full bloom in November of 1995, when Westwood Studios released one of my few favorite games of all time: "Command & Conquer." This jewel introduced a whole new element of the gaming experience-cinematic storytelling that, along with a great soundtrack, drew the player into the game's world in a completely unexpected and almost unbelievable way. Ever since I first experienced this game, I started dreaming of great games and stories to be. Years later, the genius of C&C's overall design still fascinated me. And that's not to say that there haven't been many, many computer games since that time that have also re-defined and improved that gaming experience as much as they entertained.

In 1996, Blizzard Entertainment released one of the most original and genre reviving games ever, "Diablo." This game almost single-handedly breathed new life into the Role Playing Game (RPG) and Action/RPG genres of computer games with it's addictive and brilliantly simple gameplay.

Another game fondly remembered by many gamers, including myself, that came out that year, "Duke Nukem 3D," showed how much great level design could turn a rather silly idea into a truly great game.

Ultimately, though, it has been "Half-Life," a first person adventure/shooter game from Valve Software, a game with the most amazing single player gaming experience (save FFIII) along with a slew of brilliant and absolutely free add-on online games, that has truly flared my love for games. This game simply "does it all" better than anyone could have imagined a game that came out more than 2 years ago, or even this very week, could have. It is a true miracle in gaming, and it has completely solidified my passion, enthusiasm, and love for videogames.

Videogames are my hobby, and I love it. Videogames' ability to keep on getting better and better, opening new doors, redefining the entertainment experience, and expanding my imagination, makes it the greatest hobby I could ever imagine.

Videogames: "Till death do us part."