One day, my dad bought home a handheld console (a game boy clone*) from the nearby town, which mostly played tetris, and some tennis etc. It was awesome. I was so possessive about it that I carried it almost everywhere.
*The only things available in the market in the town side were the clones. No one there knew what or who a Nintendo was! Plus it wasn’t like we could’ve afforded the real one IAC.
Then when we moved to Ahmedabad, in Gujarat, I pretty much had this dead handheld and nothing else… However my social activities and outdoor games improved. I didn’t feel like I was missing much.
Then, post my tenth standard, we had to move again to Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra and making new friends was a pain… Loneliness overcame and then comes my dad to the rescue with a NES clone! Mario, Duck Hunt, Tank and more of the same games in different repeated variations termed as 1000 games in one cartridge!
But, I loved it, it was like a family entertainment. My mom too enjoyed it. Tank Level Editor was great fun! But how long could the clones last! They succumbed to wear and tear, thanks to me though.
And then it was the dawn of the PC era (for me). I really wanted one. Most of my friends in junior college had one. My dad was trying hard to see if the budget fitted. We had loans and other things to deal with. I didn’t pressurize him either. I sorta figured out that the finances weren’t that great. And trust me, most parents in India don’t think part time jobs for their college kids is a good idea. So, that was ruled out!
After few months of saving and after another little loan, my dad did come home one day with a PC for me! Oh boy, tears of happiness ran down my cheeks that day! The love of my life had walked in that day (year 1999-2000)
Until then, my computer access was restricted to my school, dad's office and few friends' places.
My best friend, Abhishek (Abhi) was the one who introduced me totally to the world of videogames. He is the one responsible for where I’m today. He gets the credit to turn a simple village girl into a gamer J
He walked home one day with his Age of Empires II game CD. He taught me how to play and soon enough I got really good at it and addicted too!
By then I was into engineering college and another one of my best friends, Rohan (Ro) joined me and Abhi in our gaming endeavors. We ended up heading to a cybercafé and played the AOE II deathmatch! I kicked their ass ofc. :D Persians FTW!
Even during college festivals, we three were mostly found organizing video game competitions. I was the only regular girl to play games there. I do remember there was one more girl. She was good but she seldom came. I for one never bothered about the number of guys there. I joined Quake LAN matches, kicked some ass, got my ass kicked by some experts too. Helluva fun!
Obviously, it needed internet connection and I didn’t have one. I didn’t mention that before did I? Ya, it’s not that easy. Money matters!
My friend Ro was the first one to check out the game and then he sorta like it. Then Abhi joined him. I couldn’t without the internet. Whenever I went to Abhi ‘s place, I played the game and I enjoyed it. MMO’s are fun for more reasons than one. I desperately wanted an internet connection. So, pestered my dad! Poor thing did get me one. He figured that I don’t ask a lot of things anyways.
And then the crazy MMORPG addiction began, the uncontrollable urge to excel! I was out there to prove god knows what! Hardly anyone thought I was girl, as usual I was being treated as a cross-dresser till Ro & Abhi got protective about me. :P
After a lot of leveling up, one day I met another girl in the game, yes a girl IRL. And soon enough we found that there were some more girls in the game. There was an all girls meet and we all went for it! It was awesome :D
Even when my final semester kicked in, I played the game and made sure I was there for my guild during the WOE (War of Emperium)! My mom was so worried that I was gonna flunk the exams. But hey! I passed my final year with a firstclass in hand and played more.
heh...nice write up :) good ol days eh? could never figure out then, that what our parents kept scolding us for, gonna be our future..our profession.. damn i might say...our love :D
ReplyDeletewaiting for part 3....