Nostalgic Video Game Memories

Video games have played such a huge part in my childhood that it’s no wonder I am still obsessed as an adult.

BY MEGAN MCAMIS: When I think of video game nostalgia, I think of the Gameboy Advance I shared with my sisters, and the way we took turns seeing how far we could get in Pokémon Ruby. I always picked Torchic as my starter; my older sister would pick Treecko, and my younger sister would take Mudkip. We all had different playing styles and favorite Pokémon, but one thing we always agreed on: diving into that game brought us together in a way that not much else had.

Another game we all loved that we also had to share was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We also shared this one with our mother, who told me recently she would stay up all night after she put us to bed to advance in the game to impress us the next day. That was one of the first times I saw an adult with a passion for gaming, and I wanted to share that with my mom.

My dad’s favorite game when I was a kid was Need for Speed. He’d spend an hour after work every day doing races and building his racecars up to par. I loved playing with him, even is he never let me win in a race. This also led into him showing me all that I know about cars, but that’s another story.

Video games have played such a huge part in my childhood that it’s no wonder I am still obsessed as an adult. I bought the laptop that I did specifically so I could play games on it; I have game inspired stickers on my car; I bonded with my partner over our shared joy of video games; my dogs even have game-inspired names. They touch almost every facet of my life, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Video games let me bond closer with my family as a child and my partner as an adult, and for that, I will always be grateful.