When I was growing up I played a lot of video games, I guess you can say I still play my fair share as an adult.  I started out on an Atari 2600, then 8-bit NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, so on and so forth.  The games back then were much harder than they are now, the graphics were simpler and the storylines were epic.  ’The Legend of Zelda‘, ‘Ninja Gaiden‘, ‘Gauntlet‘ and many other adventures games inspired me to go outside and make my own adventures, explore the unknown and let my imagination run wild.

I was lucky enough to live near trees and rivers so it was pretty easy to imagine I was fighting off enemies from the first level of ‘Contra‘ while my friends and I tried to make it through the onslaught and ultimately onto the alien mother ship to destroy the “hive” once and for all.  Along the way across the various creeks and ponds, my ‘Pitfall’ skills came in really handy while swinging across the deadly crocodiles.  When I did arrive at my final destination I was faced with many choices, thankfully my video game prowess was fine tuned to perfection and prepared me for the challenges.  Conquering the original ‘Metal Gear‘ helped a lot as well, I must say.

I can recall a time in my neighbor’s treehouse when ‘Godzilla‘ was attacking over the hills, we could see him coming from many miles away.  This gave us enough time to devise a plan, a structured battle was about to begin.  ’Duck Hunt‘ had trained me for handgun combat skills, ‘Operation: Wolf’ had given me the machine gun experience necessary for close combat against a slew of invaders should that occur.  If need be, I could rely on my driving skills learned from ‘Mario Kart‘ to get away in a hurry.

As I got older, video games evolved along with me.  ’Altered Beast‘ made me aware of the supernatural abilities of my enemies, along with my own transforming possibilities to defend myself.  These skills as a werewolf helped me storm Dracula‘s castle, by the way.  ’Castlevania‘ taught me how to use a whip (OK, Indiana Jones helped too) and fight off monsters whenever my werewolf abilities were dormant, which gave my human form time to use my ‘Mortal Kombat‘ fatality moves on Medusa, zombies & skeleton armies.  I always prevailed as I had made sure to enter the code for infinite lives before starting off on any perilous journey.

Applying video games expertise and experience to real life situations is something I am proud of.  My childhood was full of endless action and adventure due to the many quests I endured on my video game consoles.  I honestly think that kids these days (and some adults, too, for that matter) need to go back and play some retro titles, the simple gameplay was made up for by advanced imagination and stories that paved the way for the games we have now.  I am grateful for my own real life adventures inspired by the games that I played, striking a balance between the two worlds of “Real Life Vs. Video Games” is something that can truly broaden the mind and inspire children to play more creatively, and enjoy their time outdoors even more.

Visit our Video Games Sound Quotes Collection pages to awaken the inner gamer of your past, share the memorable sound clips with your friends, family and children.  See if they are as inspired as you used to be, or still are, to go outside to explore the world in a whole new way.

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