My Video Game Side Quest: Accessories

    To gain extra enjoyment from playing video games, I got some accessories. Some were vital. At least one was unintended. I still got them all, though.

    As I have hinted at before, I got a Game Genie for my NES. Yeah, technically that was cheating, but I really needed some help.  I was just barely able to make progress into "Super Mario," but I felt like I needed a boost to really get through some of those games. I can't remember if this was a Christmas or birthday gift, or if I got it much later. Anyway, I barely used it. The most I used it was to see all of the victory animations in Tetris. One block wins made things much easier. I mostly used it in "Super Mario" so I could skip levels to save time. The Genie came with a booklet with codes for all sort of games, while newer codes would sometimes be printed in magazines. (More on those in a later post.)

    Yes, I also got the Game Genie for the SNES as well. Unlike the one for the NES, this one was definitely bought later on at Walmart, probably. Well, it was the opposite of the NES wherever it came from. I remember looking at the instructions in the car.  I used this even less than the one for the NES. The games I had never interacted properly, but I think I still used it for a few things.

    There may have even been a Genie for the GB, but I never got it, since I only played Pokémon with it. However, there were other things that I got, but I'll return to that later.

    There was never a Genie for the PS1.  It would have been to hard to do that with the disc format. Aside for the memory card, which was pretty much mandatory, the only accessory I got for it was a special controller. As I mentioned in the Megaman post, I was having a hard time with an auto-scroll sledding section in an early level. I just couldn't get through it reliably. I thought that getting a controller with slow-motion features could help. I got one in Lexington, wither at a video game store (not Game Stop) at the Fayette Mall or at one of the large stores on the other side of Nicholasville Road. (both Kmart and Toys-R-Us were open back then.) All I can be sure of is that I looked at it in the car while my mom went into Red Lobster to pick up a slice of "Death by Chocolate" cake. It was third-party, but I felt that there wouldn't be any problems. When I tried it out, I found that it worked by quickly pausing the game, switching between the pause/inventory screen and the action. It actually made the game even harder, as I couldn't catch the notifications as to when I was supposed to slide or jump. I don't remember trying it for other games. 

    Fortunately for me, all accessories for the PS1 were backwards compatible with the PS2, so I didn't have to buy anything new, aside from another memory card, just to be safe. 

    When the GBA came out, I finally had the chance to trade Pokémon between games. This was the one part of the game I never got to try out before, as I had no one to trade with. However, I needed some special equipment to make that happen. I found a special connection cable that could attach various versions of devices together. Very third-party. I got it at Electronics Boutique at the Huntington Mall. I'm just lucky that the games could trade with each other through various generations and backwards compatible devices.

    When my first GBA got lost in the flood, I got a new one for that Christmas. It was in a bundle with an e-card reader. With it, I could swipe special cards that could either add new features to old games or play special games that originally came out in the 80s on special watches from Nintendo. I played the free games only once, as I didn't really like them. The extra feature for the Pokémon games was a new trainer that you could challenge multiple times. Meh. 

    [For completists sake, I will mention that I got a third-party mouse for my MacBook. While I am good with the trackpad, some actions are still easier with a mouse. My mother prefers them anyway. The mouse can also hook up with my iPhone, but I have yet to make the connection work.]

My Video Game Library: MegaMan

        The next Christmas after I got my NES, I started an entirely different game series. MegaMan 4.  I had heard about the first three games, from various sources, and I finally decided I wanted to try this one out. I have no idea where it was bought, though. I remember playing it instead of watching either a Christmas or New Year's Day parade. I started the game and got smoked on the first screen on the first level the guides suggested I should start on, RingMan. For some reason, I wanted to stomp on enemies, like Super Mario, only to take massive damage. Getting used to so many projectiles was another thing. It took a long while, and help, but I finally managed to defeat all eight bosses:  SkullMan, RingMan, DiveMan, DrillMan, DustMan, PharaohMan, BrightMan, and ToadMan. (I am pretty sure that MegaMan is one word, but I can't remember about the bosses. So, I am writing them as the same way, for now. Besides, spellcheck clears them.) The Dr. Wily boss levels were trickier, but I made my way through them and beat the game.

    The following years, I would get the next two games locally.  I think they came from the Pikeville Kmart and/or Magic Mart (last location). I remember looking at the games in my car, but not exactly buying them beyond the general locations. I enjoyed to improved features and gameplay. Then, the news came out that the game would finally be porting to the SNES. Sure, a spinoff was already there, but bring the original "Blue Bomber" to the system was terrific. I kept looking out for the game, after I was sure it was in stores, but I could never find it. I either skipped over it when I was on a trip and chose to wait to get it at home, or I just never saw it.  The only place locally that had it was the Coal Run Blockbusters, and it was only available for rent, not for sale. This was the first game that I truly hated missing out on. 

    MegaMan 8 would then be available on the PS, and another system that I never got into.  The two versions would be about the same, with only a few small differences. This time I made sure to buy it when I first say it. I'm thinking the Pikeville Walmart, but I may have gotten it at the Huntington Mall.  Perhaps Game Stop, but I honestly can't remember where I got it.  Anyway, I quickly started playing it as soon as I could. I then hit a wall.  One of the first levels involved an auto-scroll sledding area that I just couldn't get the hang of.  I had to stop playing the game, until I bought a special controller with slo-mo function.  Didn't help, but I managed to beat both auto-scroll sections of the level. I beat all eight bosses, but got stuck on the first Wily level by another sledding section, a much harder one.  I have yet to try and go back to beat the game.

    The last MegaMan game I got was actually the Legacy Collection for the PS2. It collected all of the first eight games in the series, plus a special ninth spinoff game that was never released separately in the US, as well as some other special features that were unlocked by beating the original games.  I finally got to play the seventh game that I had missed out on, as well as the first three games that were out before  I started gaming. While I played each of those four games, I only got close to beating one of them, before I grew frustrated and stopped playing.  I never even tried to replay the other four games as well.  I don't think I unlocked anything worth mentioning. 

    Since then, there have been other games in the series. A remixed version of the original game came out for the Playstation Portable (PSP) that featured a cutesy, chibi style, as well as two new levels with new bosses. MegaMan 9 and 10 came out for systems I never got.  Both were in an 8-bit style similar to the first six games.  Finally, the was even an eleventh game that came out that I never knew about. It featured an enhanced version of gameplay that brought out the best of whatever system it was made for.  I've only seen gaming videos of it in action, so I can't really comment on it beyond saying it looked incredible. [I've been seeing so many gaming videos, that I might be confusing the games I've actually played with those I've only watched.  It is crazy at times, but a lot of them are quite similar.]

    News broke recently that a new MegaMan game will be out next year. It won't be "12," and it will instead have a different subtitle. I think it is still a mainline game, though. Many s

My Video Game Library: Tetris

    As luck would have it, Tetris was ported over to the NES in an official version from the GB just before I got my NES for Christmas. (There had been an 'unofficial' version, but that one had some technical issues working with the game system.) So, of course, it became my first game, excluding the one that came with the console. As the game that led me into video gaming, it holds a special place in my life.

    I played with it a lot, since it was one of only two I had. I couldn't play competitively, as I had no one I could play with.  My mother would never get the hang of playing video games. And I couldn't really play against myself.  The solo version was okay. I even got to beat every level, including the hardest one, and got to see the winning graphics and to hear the special tunes for doing so. Okay, I had help to do that, but more on that in a 'side quest' post later on. As I got more games, I had less interest in playing Tetris, and it became one of the first games I pretty much put aside. 

    Years later, a version of 'Tetris" would come out on the PS1. It was one of the last games for the system I ever got. It was another Christmas gift. After so many years, I thought I would be still interested in playing the game on a better system. I played the game once that Christmas, but I don't think I ever played it again. Most of the game focused on competitive play, which I didn't have. Maybe if I had the internet connectivity, I would have played in more.  Instead, I just had solo mode, which felt strange. I don't think the game relied on the same grid system the original one did. The game was just too different and boring now. I let the game go. It was one of the many destroyed in the 2003 flood.

    I have since had the opportunity to play other line destroying games, but that sort of thing no longer seems interesting to me. 

My Video Game Side Quest: Systems

    This is the first of the occasional bonus posts in my latest series, My Video Game Library.  These side quest posts will cover tangental topics related to my gaming history. Today's post is about every game system I ever had. Strangely enough, each one was a Christmas present. 

    First, there was the NES which I received when I started college. Probably my first year. My mother probably got it from a catalog, either Sears or JCPenny's, but she may have gotten it from a local Walmart instead. Most likely Prestonsburg, but I can't be sure. It took a little while to get used to the square controllers, but I managed it. I really didn't play with the light gun the was included with the system. I beat the Duck Hunt game that came with the system with it, but by standing almost right in front of the television screen to do so. I would manage to get a few games for it, even keeping it around for a while after getting newer systems before putting it away. Somehow, both the NES and my games managed to survive the 2003. However, I through out the light gun and some other pieces when I cleaned up the old house. Very dumb move. I am not sure where any of them are at the moment, but I think they are safe.

    My next system was the SNES a few years later. Again, there was a chance my mom got this through the JCPenny's catalog, as Sears was phasing theirs out. Still a chance it came from a local Walmart, again Prestonsburg. As I mentioned, I managed to find the SNES and play Super Mario World on it before the present got wrapped. The was just the kind of mischievous kind of guy I was with many of my gifts, either finding them early or discovering what they were after they were under the tree. I was alone at home during winter break from college, so I just did what I wanted, and nobody was the wiser.  I got about the same number of games for the SNES as I did for the NES. I stored the system when I upgraded systems. I think the system survived the flood, but it may have been stolen from where it was stored before I could move it to my new place. I know the games survived, but I don't remember where they are at just now. 

    Next came the GameBoy. Technically, GameBoy Color as that version had just came out. I'm pretty sure this came from a local Walmart, no telling which one though. I had finally got it, years after first seeing it in high school, and I only wanted one due to Pokémon. In fact, those were the only games I ever got for the GB. I was so frustrated with it my first time that I didn't try to play the game again for a long time before I went back. I was my first RPG, and even though it was made for kids, my mid-20s brain wasn't dealing with it well. Still, I didn't get any other GB games but that series. I lost my GameBoy in the flood, but the games were saved. Haven't touched them in decades, but I believe I know where they are at.

    When I decided to go all in for gaming, I switched over to the PS1. Catalogs had basically phased out by then, so I'm positive my mom got this at the Prestonsburg Walmart, only because she had to go back there for the adaptor for our older model television. They were sold out. Fortunately, I managed a workaround through my VCR to allow the signal to get through, and we saved some money. The old TV would die soon anyway, and the newer model easily worked with system. I was so surprised after I was finally able to check out the preview disc included with the system. Everything looked so much better than with my other systems. I would wind up getting more games for the PS1 than with any of my other systems, I think. I never put the thing away, even when I got a new system. Unfortunately, while my PS1 survived the flood, someone stole it from where it was stored before I could retrieve. Worse, all of my games were destroyed. I still had some of the discs, but I never tried to see if I could get them restore so they could work. 

    The next upgrade was the GameBoy Advance. This system was incredible. Full color, perfect fit for two hands. Another Walmart buy; no idea which one. I was a very early adaptor. In fact, I actually got games other than Pokémon for it. The best part was that I could play at work. Or was it that I could finally connect my older Pokémon games and trade between them? Anyway, things were going great, until the flood. I lost my original GBA, but I would get a new one that Christmas. It didn't look as good, but it still played well.  The games were safe though. Haven't touched it in over twenty years though.

    I got my PS2 for Christmas in 2002. This was definitely from a Walmart, but I'm not sure which one, as my mom was in Pikeville a lot more frequently by this time, and it had a better electronics department compared with the one at P-burg. I mostly played PS1 game on it at the start, as there were few new games I wanted at the time. Also, I was only able to play twice a week, but I did manage to play some CDs and even some DVD footage on it. Miraculously, it survived the flood and wasn't stolen. Why it wasn't, I have no idea. I suspect something was up with the person who was storing it for me, but nothing can be proven. I only had demo discs to play until I got some new games for it. However, as I had less time to play, I have ultimately put it away. Haven't touched it in decades.

    Finally, I got a special edition GBA that looked like the original GB, but you could fold it in half for storage.  Another Walmart purchase from Pikeville. I was able to trade again, now that I had two systems. I managed to keep both GBAs around a little past when I stopped with the PS2, but not much before they were put away too. I haven't gotten a new system since.

    [Sidenote:  Although not purchased for gaming, my MacBook Pro and iPhone could be included. I got my first MacBook at the Apple Store at its original Lexington location at the Fayette Mall. I got my second one, after the first one died, from Best Buy online. It also ment I couldn't retrieve/move anything stored on the old one. I got my iPhone from Appalachian Express.  It's almost time for an upgrade on it. All were purchased for school, which I still haven't completed yet.]

My Video Game Library: Super Mario

    I debated about which game should come first in this series.  I decided to go with "Super Mario" since it was included with the NES, although I technically played another game first. 

    I already knew something about Super Mario Bros. before I actually played it. The game had pervaded enough into media that I wasn't completely in the dark. I still had a sharp learning curve. The controller was so square, and the buttons in a shape I wasn't used to. Getting used to jumping was a tough sell. Sure, I remember seeing a pre-Mario in Donkey Kong, and maybe even in Jr. , but this was something else. Mushrooms and other power ups were things I had to wrap my head around, and remember, I was nineteen or twenty when I started. I had gotten guidebooks and magazines to help me to figure out what to do and what secrets to look out for. Still, I wound up getting even more help to finally beat the game. 

    I can't remember if I got Super Mario 3 my following birthday or the next year after, but I got it in January. I do know that I skipped the second game, as I already had found out the it was not really "Super Mario," but a reskin of a totally different game with totally different gameplay. Still, 3 proved to be way beyond the original game. I was playing deep into the game on Sunday, just trying to get as far ahead as possible, playing a little later into the evening then I should have getting frustrated. I had a panic attack that kept me up much of the night, and it continued through the next day a college. I was shaky for most of the next week. I almost didn't play the following weekend, but I did work my way through. I was playing one of the last levels, when I just couldn't go any more forward. Turns out, I was missing a door in that level because my olden style television had the color contrast wrong. I just couldn't see it. Once I reset the coloration, I made it through and beat the game, by letting Bowser just jump through the floor. I always felt that ending was a little meh.

    Super Mario World came with the SNES. Again, this was a Christmas gift, one I found early and played with during winter break before it got wrapped. I missed a minor opportunity by doing so, but it wasn't too big of a deal. Anyway, this game I managed to get through on just guides alone, even though some of the new techniques were tricky for me.  I even managed to complete the secret areas to change to game to "Autumn World." That was when I stopped going back to the game. I hated the new backgrounds, and the cheesy updates to the bad guys were stupid. I could've tried to beat the game a second time, but it wasn't worth it anymore.

    As a part of a promotion with my SNES, I sent it a form to get the free updated cartridge for the first "Super Mario" games. This is when I finally played Super Mario 2.  Although it was very different from the other games, I think it enjoyed quite a bit, because it wasn't a 'real' Mario game. Some of the bad guys even got ported over, for some reason.The cartridge even included the real sequel to Mario that was never released in the US. It was called The Lost Levels to differentiate it from the already released 2. I tried some of the first few levels.  They were impossible. My playing style just wasn't up to the greater challenges of the game. I never finished the game.

    I didn't like the Game Cube, so I never got another "Super Mario" game. I didn't get any of the side games released for the SNES or GameBoy. They didn't appeal that much to me. Sure, I managed to play a bit of Super Mario 64 in store, but that was it. I mostly stayed away from Nintendo after that. I've seen many of the further sequels over the years, and while I admit some of them looked good, they just never hit the same way as the first games did. In particular, I say gaming video of the Switch Mario game, and I'm not sure I could play it correctly.  It just looked way too complicated for me.

    But part of me still thinks I might have wanted to try and play. 

My Video Game Library: Introduction

    I was born at the right time to be the start of the video game generation. Machines were entering the arcades, ready to dominate the market. Home consoles were just starting to be developed.  I was going to be a large part of that movement. Kind of. I only went to two arcades ever, and I barely played any video games at either one. At one, at the Southside Mall, I barely went in and left after barely trying to play one game that was malfunctioning. At the other, Showbiz Pizza in Lexington, I wound up playing more Skee-Ball than video games.  When I was a kid, I never had a game console, although relatives and a neighbor did. A cousin had a Coleco. Unfortunately, they had a basketball game that I didn't really get into, but they also had a pocket game that really intrigued me. There were others, but I can't remember them at the moment. My neighbor had an Atari. We weren't too close by then, so I barely got a chance with it. It had the "unofficial" version of Pac-Man, Pitfall, and the game with the tanks. Combat, maybe?  All I had was a handheld electronic game called "Merlin" that looked like an early red model of early cell phones.  There was also the sequel "Master Merlin" that was flatter and blue. I came back to those years after I had outgrown the target age range. Simple games, but entertaining. I also had a digital watch in seventh grade that had a basic shooter where a rocket had to fire at incoming aliens. The game reset after 200 or 300 points, so it wasn't that long-term playable. Once the battery died a few times, I gave the watch up.

    It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I would really start in video games, beyond a few demos in stores that I would mess around with.  A freshman had brought in their new GameBoy that I got a chance with. Tetris. It captured me in a way I couldn't describe. That summer, I tried to get my mother to allow me to help buy a GB at a department store at the Huntington Mall, but she turned me down flat. I wouldn't get an actual console until that Christmas, after I had started college. Maybe my second year; my timelines are a little mixed up. Anyway, I finally got a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). I would play that a lot over the holidays. For my birthday, a month later, I got my third game, Super Mario Brothers 3. I played that most of the day a week later, somehow leading to one of my first major panic attacks that night when I realized how alone I was. (I had no one else other than play with, as my mom could never get the hang of most games I liked.)

    While I a got a Super Nintendo (SNES) around a year later, it wouldn't be until another panic attack in the mid-90s that a would try and reinvent myself as a gamer. That's when I switched over to the PlayStation (PS1), mostly. I still had a GameBoy from Pokemon phase, but I was willing to accept the future of gaming. While I usually wouldn't play into the night, I was playing most days for hours. It helped that I was unemployed at the time. My gaming slowed down to the weekends when I opened my store in 2000. Still, I was enjoying myself quite nicely, especially after I upgraded to a PS2.

    Then came the 2003 flood. 

    I lost a lot of games, but I managed to save most of my consoles. Still, I wasn't able to play anything for a while as I got through the disaster. Things took another bad turn when I had to start going in to work on Saturdays as well in 2005. This would limit my gaming to just one day a week for an hour or two, and portable gaming at work on my GameBoy Advance (GBA). I ultimately had to stop gaming. I just lost interest, and I didn't have the money to keep upgrading systems. I also had a hard time finding games I still liked. 

    I didn't really play much in the 2010s, until I got my first computer. While my gaming options were limited on a MacBook, unless I wanted to pay a lot of money and devote a lot of memory. Still, I started to slowly get back into limited gaming. Very limited. Finally getting an iPhone helped on the end as well. While I don't even come close to gaming as much as I did back in the 90s, I feel that I still have an active time doing so.

    For the next few weeks, I will be posting twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays, about some of the games/series that I have played over the years. I will occasionally write a third post about some related gaming topics (Mondays). Come back Saturday, as I start going through my library.

Why So Series?

    Next week, I will be starting my new series.  I started doing these in 2024 each spring. The first one I did was "My Comic Book Journey." It grew out of an exercise I did whenever I didn't need to concentrate too much doing other things, such as driving or trying to fall asleep. In it, I went over every place where I had gotten a comic book, or at least had the chance to get one. I could have gone over some of my favorite titles or characters, but that would have been problematic, as every title I have collected over the decades has been cancelled and restarted at least once. With each new volume, the numbering changes.  This would have made describing them difficult. One series I like has gone through at least seven iterations, not counting spin-off series. However, I still am collecting the current iterations of the first two superhero comics I ever got, as well as the most recent volumes of various Disney titles. I am planning on including a update post for this series in early May.

    My series for 2025 was "My Culinary Odyssey." That time, I documented every place I ever ate out at, as well as a few spots where I stopped, but I didn't eat there myself. I actually mentioned my favorite and usual orders from many of these places, as well as including special hacks for better enjoyment. I ever included a few recipe clones as well. I am thinking of having the update for this series in June, but don't expect too much new material. 

    For this year's series, I decided to write something less geographically based. Instead of the experience, I will going for the actual products. My series for 2026 is called "My Video Game Library." I will be going over many of my video and computer games memories. Note, I won't be including every single game this time. I just can't.  First, I don't remember every subtitle for every sequel. For most of my gaming life, I would try to get the sequel for a game I really liked, as long as I had the right console. While remembering number is fairly simple, not every game went that route. All of these subtitles were hard to recollect.  Sure, I could search online, but that still might not get every single title right. Second, I lost many of my games in the same 2003 flood that took out the majority of my comic book and RPG collections.  With so many games with similar play, it is going to be hard to find the each one, especially for titles I didn't play that much, and that was almost thirty years ago. Or more. Finally, I am actually embarrassed about some of the games I got. I am talking along the lines of "That was stupid and bad," instead of the "That was niche, but cool in a way." There will be intentional omissions. 

    I am planning on doubling up my regular posts to Wednesdays and Saturdays to get everything done faster. As another means to speed things up, I will be grouping sequels with the original game, or the first one in the series I played. I will occasionally be adding a third post per week on Mondays as "Sidequests" to the main series. These will be on related topics to the actual games and will make the series feel more like the previous two. These occasional posts will feature some of the geographical information that were a hallmark of my first two series. 

    Next week will be the introduction. I'm still planning where and when the following posts will fall. After I cover the games, I will have an overview and maybe an addenda and/or an errata post. The series should be ending in mid-to-late May, including the break to update "My Comic Book Journey." Time to move onto the next stage.