Tania Preda
contributor
I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember, starting with the old Sega, Atari, and NES. Each day, I would try my luck at another level of Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, or play co-op in Battle City, Contra, or the old Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers. And that duck-hunting game I can’t remember the name of where you had a gun as a controller, and the freaking dog would laugh at you when you missed the ducks. And then you’d try to shoot the dog in revenge for his sass, and it didn’t work.
Start with the beginning
Countless hours were spent both gaming and fighting the buggy consoles that required some sort of ritual just to get them started (or a gentle punch). At least that was the beginning.
I got my first PC when I was relatively young and started with games such as Supaplex, the first RollerCoaster Tycoon, the classic Hercules, and many, many others. Luckily, my hobby was enabled by my parents, who bought me PlayStation 1 and it all escalated from there.
My mother traveled a lot, so she used to bring me games that you couldn’t find in my country at the time. Games such as Crash Bandicoot challenged me, Need for Speed tested my accuracy and reflexes, and Tekken 3 offered me countless gaming nights with my friends and family where we would square off against each other. All of us had a favorite fighter that we would pick from the roster and learn. Except Eddy. He was banned. Screw that guy.
Mine was Hwoarang cause he had long legs and I could keep people at bay or in the air for half the fight. It got so frustrating for my friends that they banned me from playing him too.
PC GAMER... MOSTLY
Around the time I was ten years old, I got a “proper gaming PC” where I immersed myself the world of Heroes of Might and Magic, finished Half-Life at least a dozen times, played my first multiplayer game in Quake, and started my long journey with Counter-Strike. And in spite of my perpetual draw to competitive games, single player RPGs began to capture me more and more.
Knights of the Old Republic will always have a special place in my heart for its excellent storytelling, Diablo II for its worldbuilding, and GTA just for the mayhem and the freedom it offered. I think these set the tone for my love of both fantasy and sci-fi growing up, which later brought me to some of my favorite series such as The Witcher and Bioshock.
Fast forward to today, my passion for gaming has only enhanced. I pride myself with an awesome gaming rig and probably spend way too much money on peripherals. I’m still keeping my tastes varied, either heading into competitive Overwatch, doing every single side quest of Red Dead Redemption 2 or Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, sometimes indulging in a bit city building with Anno 1800 or Frostpunk, enjoying the bloodshed in Mortal Kombat XI, and getting excited about most upcoming open-world, story-driven RPGs.
I’m looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines II, Dragon Age 4, the new Fable, Beyond Good and Evil 2, and many others where I dare to hope for excellent storytelling and expansive worldbuilding.
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