Observing my almost 10 year old nephew’s gaming interests these last few years has been interesting. Minecraft, Undertale and Pokémon are going to be the games he’ll think fondly of when he gets older. I’d say times have changed but have they really?
Stay with me while I have a Get Off My Lawn moment but the games that filled my childhood were The Last Ninja, ::cough:: Final Fantasy VII and Tekken.
I didn’t keep up with the world of Tekken past Tekken Tag Tournament but I was happy to see a new installment announced at E3. The Mishima Clan’s antics make me giddy because it’s all so hilarious. Kazuya’s the best!
Final Fantasy VII, on the other hand, was the first game I felt I really played. It was completely new from things I had previously tried. I almost gave up on it, but over 40 hours later, it stuck with me. Since then, JRPGs became a staple in my gaming diet.
Maybe my nephew will remember the time he and his friend drew chalk sketches of Undyne’s spear in the driveway this Summer. And I’ll continue to think of my first encounter with Undine in Tales of Destiny. The times have changed a lot but not much at all, either.
The question today, Kotaku readers: What game(s) defined your childhood? Did you spend summers with Mario? Was the Summer of Sega a thing for you? Sony? Microsoft? PC? Atari? Let’s reminisce as this Summer steadily moves to a finale.