10 Gaming Memories That No One Can Forget
The moments we laughed, and the moments we cried.
The Moment You Got Your First Console
The moment that every gamer gets their very own console is a special one. No longer do you have to ask that older sibling if you can borrow their handheld, or watch them play on their NES or N64 that you were only occasionally allowed to touch. Your own console was your baby, and you’d end up cherishing it for many future years to come. For this reason, you’ll also never forget that very moment you got your first console.
Perhaps it was a Christmas or birthday gift, or maybe after months of saving up, you went to the local game store and bought it yourself. However you got it, you’ll always remember opening the box, and just holding your beloved system in your hands before speedily grabbing all of the cables and plugging it in. You turn it on, put in that first game (which you’ll probably remember vividly too) and took comfort in the fact that you could now play for hours on end, and no older sibling could stop you.
Beating Your First Boss
Once you’ve been defeating bosses in video games for countless years, it starts to just become part of the norm. You look for their weakness, do your best to avoid their powerful attacks and land powerful blows until they fall. It’s always satisfying when you defeat one, but it’ll never come close to defeating a boss for the very first time.
Whether it was Dr. Eggman, Bowser, or any number of other villains in the world of games, there’s no feeling quite like the satisfaction of knowing you just overcame a milestone. A milestone not only in the game but also in your gaming hobby. This is the first of many to come, and over the years, you’ll refine your skills to be able to pinpoint weak points and execute strategies seamlessly to take even the most difficult bosses down.
The Moment of Awe When You Switch to a ‘Next-Gen’ Console
This one is pretty timeless. Every time a new console generation releases, the new tech brings with it a ton of new or upgraded features. Be it larger environments to explore, prettier visuals, or new gameplay mechanics, the transition from your existing console to your new machine is always an exciting one.
Every gamer will remember the first time that they plugged in their first next-gen console, put in a game and found themselves smiling from ear to ear in awe of what their powerful little box was capable of doing. It’s kind of a sad moment at the same time. At that point that you plug in your latest purchase, you know that your old console that you spent countless hours with is forever going to be second best. In fact, it’ll most likely end up in its box at the back of a cupboard. But oh well, at least your gaming experience just got better.
When a Game Crashes and You Haven’t Saved in Hours
At some point in our gaming careers we’ve all witnessed this horrible moment. Over the span of a couple hours or more you’ve become completely engrossed in the world inside your TV and have completely forgotten about important things. You know- eating, drinking, sleeping, oh and saving your game! So when your console decides it can’t take it anymore and has a meltdown, crashing your game, and losing all of your hard work for the past few hours, the feeling sits with you forever.
“I will never forget to save again!” You reassure yourself, telling you it was just a one time mistake. The feeling of devastation sits inside you as you reload your game, and see how much ground you have to retread. The feeling may never go away, but you’ll always be that little bit more conscious of how long its been since you last saved.
Going to Your Friends and Playing THAT Game
Every gamer has that friend who always used to have that really cool game or console that you were never allowed, or just couldn’t afford. In some cases, you even had the game but playing it on your own just wasn’t the same. So every gamer also has that game that they always played, or still play, at their friends that once you start, you know you won’t come off for quite some time.
Whether it was those nights where you and your friends would all get together, kick back with some beers and kick ass on Halo 3 or the sleepless nights as a kid at your friends playing Smash Bros. fueled by Cheetos and Mountain Dew. Every gamer still remembers.
Discovering a New Way to Play
Playing games has always traditionally been done using a controller or mouse and keyboard and looking at a screen. While these are the tried and tested approaches and ones that every gamer now uses, there’s occasionally something which tries to mix things up a bit.
When you discovered a new way to play video games, it may not have been a positive experience. That moment where you used the virtual boy, swung the Wiimote for the first time, or used Kinect for the first time could only go one of two ways.
You either came away from this new way of experiencing video games, beaming from ear to ear about how amazing it was, or you walked away not seeing the big deal. Either way, every gamer will remember these moments of innovation in the industry that tried to do something different for exactly that reason. They were different.
Excitement of Release Day Waiting
You’ve been counting down the days for the last few months and it’s finally here. Release day is upon you. The whole weekend is written off so you can play it, you’ve got the snacks in and now all you need to do is get your hands on it.
Whether it was the suspense of hoping the mailman posted it through your door, or whether you went to the store, the hype would get you all day. Multiply that by the hype of others if you go to midnight launch events and the launch days for your favorite games become some of the most memorable moments for every gamer. Especially if you ended up buying a ton of merch. In which case your bank account will definitely not let you forget it.
When You Absolutely Own Online Gaming For the First Time
With the internet now stretching far and wide across the world, it’s more than likely that most gamers will have had some experience playing online. Be it for five minutes or five years, every gamer will also have experienced the satisfaction of absolutely owning an online match, even if it was for a brief moment.
Nailing that headshot, dominating the game with an insane K/D ratio, or coming out of a clutch that had ‘game over’ written all over it, these are the moments that online gaming is all about.
The First Time a Console Dies On You
Not every moment that gamers will remember is a good one. Unfortunately, the first time a console dies on you is one of these very moments. Whether it was your own fault or just a result of wear and tear on your beloved machine, it just didn’t want to play ball.
Last generation probably saw many gamers having to deal with this issue. With the Red Ring of Death plaguing many of the original Xbox 360’s and the Yellow Light of Death then coming for the original PS3 systems, many a ceremony was held for dead consoles never to play a game again.
Completing Your First Game
Just like completing your first boss, every gamer will remember completing their first game. Not every boss has to come at the end of a game, and many more tricky boss battles may have stood between you and the credits screen. So when you finally see that the game has come to an end and the credits begin to roll, the feeling of satisfaction triumphs any feeling that comes from overcoming a mere boss battle.
You have officially conquered the challenge laid down by the development team. While the sense of accomplishment will have you smiling, knowing that you’ve come to the end of an adventure with the protagonist or a group of characters can also be pretty saddening. You can always play the game over again, but it’ll never be the same as the very first time you completed it. You put the game back in its box, take a look at the shelf, and load up the next of many games to come.
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