A little out of order as this was a previous talkback challenge set by the Newbie Blogger Initiative but I'm nothing if not unconventional and I believe in the mantra 'Better late than never'
So here's a potted history of my life with games. I did an article last year about how I discovered RPGs so this relates purely to the electronic form.
It pretty much started around 1978 at the tender age of 7. My neighbour had a Grandstand console with Bat and Ball, or Pong as it was known elsewhere in the world. From there I was fascinated with video games and was fortunate enough to watch them develop over the years.
A couple of years later, the first arcade machines began to popup and I distinctly remember the first time I saw Space Invaders in a local cafe. As it was on the route to my school, I spent many hours there, just watching the bigger kids play. That was soon followed by other games that since became classics -Asteroids, PAC Man and my favourite arcade game to this day, Kung Fu Master.
As the 80's arrived, along came affordable home computers, and for me that was the Sinclair Spectrum, complete with rubber keyboard. I bought my own, along with a little portable TV from money earns doing a paper round. I remember I saved for months to get it. I also had an Atari console one year as a Christmas present though the Spectrum became my favourite. Games on tape were plentiful and as years passed I upgraded the RAM with massive cartridges.
Next up was the Commodore Amiga, a great machine with some fantastic games, Bard's Tale in particular I remember fondly. The whole Nintendo scene was happening at the same time but completely passed me by. From the Amiga I upgraded to a PC, some time in the early 90's and really got into PC gaming. I was there for The Realm, a precursor to MMOs.
By the mid nineties I got hold of a PS1, and being in London, had access to a plethora of imported Japanese and American games. The Playstation 2 followed and not long after, the XBox, all the while still playing PC games.
Several years later, I upgraded to PS3, my most recent console but PC gaming is still the centre of my life. I discovered MMO's with LOTRO around 2010 and have not looked back since. Guild Wars 2 is my mainstay at the moment, but I have dipped my toe into SWTOR, Star Trek Online, Neverwinter, Secret World and many others. Gaming has been a big part of my life for many years and no doubt will continue to be for many more to come. I have two daughters both very much into games with very little influence from me so it must be genetic!
The first PC game that attracted my attention was H1Z1. I'd heard about it prior to release and what attracted me to it was the PVE aspect that was promised, setting it apart from the seemingly vicious gank-fest that was similar Z-game, Day-Z.
At around the time of playing H1Z1, I started watching Twitch streams, in particular the awesome CohhCarnage. This introduced me to other early access survival games, Rust and Reign of Kings. I obtained both and enjoyed them thoroughly. I've made a point of not playing them too much to see how I enjoy them once they release in their full state. I think watching these being played gives you an idea of exactly how 'unfinished' they are and if you want to sink your own money and time into them.
The final game I bought in this state, also influenced by Twitch, was Darkest Dungeon. I fell in love with this when I saw it being played and bought it within minutes of being released on Steam. It didn't feel unfinished. Brutal, yes, but worth every penny. To date I have sunk 119 hours into the game and at £14.99 that's incredible value.