Confessions of an older gamer

"I got a pocket full of quarters, and I'm headed to the arcade.
I don't have a lot of money, but I'm bringing everything I made.
I've got a callus on my finger, and my shoulder's hurting too.
I'm gonna eat them all up, just as soon as they turn blue."

Buckner & Garcia- "Pac Man Fever"

Ever since I got a Nintendo Entertainment System for Christmas in 1988, I have been a video game fan.

Sure, I may have never gotten "Pac Man Fever" (I was never very good at it), but I was always huge into Super Mario Brothers, The Legend of Zelda, and Mega Man. I have spent many hours over the years going off to far away lands and imaginary places, meeting interesting creatures, and blasting them to smithereens. I was (and still am) also heavy into racing games. I call myself the King of racing games in my peer group. Nobody can beat me at a racing game, take it to the bank.

As I have gotten older and the gaming systems have gotten more and more innovative, it is incredible to see how far the industry has come. We even have video games that have become sports in their own right, and it has become a very popular thing and a big industry. One of my close friends even has a job in it. It's absolutely amazing how far the gaming world has come since the days of Pong and Pac Man.

Me? I do still enjoy picking up one of the classics and having some good fun with it. The fact that Mega Man 11 is coming out makes me want to start dusting off my collection of games featuring the Blue Bomber. Good, old fashioned, sometimes frustrating, but always fun.

Yet, while I still enjoy the old games, and still love playing racing games, when it comes to adventure style games, I was forever spoiled when I was introduced to a certain game in 2001-02.

The game? Grand Theft Auto 3.

It was my introduction to open world or "sandbox" style games. To me it was a revelation and a revolution. It also ruined every single other adventure game ever made that I had ever played. You didn't have to just follow a pre-ordered strand of levels or stages. You controlled a character in what almost seemed to be a virtual living environment inside of what could be a real city. You could go anywhere you wanted and do almost anything. Go on a crime spree, run from the police, cause mass chaos...anything! You name it, you could do it for the most part. What a great release and escape from all the problems of your daily life! Someone wrecks into your car in real life, you call the police and wait for a tow truck and exchange insurance information. In GTA? Pull the driver out of the other car and beat him up, or smash his car, or blow it up with a rocket launcher...and it's good clean fun because it is in a video game and it's not real!

It's a game that made breaking the law a fun activity...in a video game. Please note, I do not condone violence against others or against law enforcement or violence in general as I do my best to be a law-abiding, God-fearing citizen. Realize that I am not talking about real life here...it's in a video game. For me, it is the perfect release after a hectic day.

Yet, that even is not the best part about the Grand Theft Auto series...the best part is how open world the environment is and how you do not have to fight in a pre-set series of levels or quests. Hell, you can spend countless hours just roaming around and causing trouble. You don't even have to complete one single mission to have fun. That was the best part of all.

For me, Grand Theft Auto 3 was the best video game ever made and I thought nothing could top it. Then, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came out, and it pushed the envelope even further. With it's retro-80's vibe and hot soundtrack, it would be me if you could take me and turn me into a video game! There was no way I felt that game could be topped, until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out and that proved me wrong again! Set in cities based off of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas circa 1992, it once again captured the feeling and spirit of the time it was set in, with its gangsta rap sound track, street tough vibe, and more and more things for you to do and more and more glorious ways to cause mayhem! Unlike the first two games of the GTA series, San Andreas still holds up all of these years later because of the depth contained within its disc. Say it with me now: "GROVE STREET FAMILIES 4 LIFE!"

After playing games in the Grand Theft Auto series, I can honestly say, no other gaming franchise interests me anymore, at least when it comes to new releases. Sure, I love the old Nintendo games, but to me they have always seemed more geared towards children. That's fine for my daughter and her friends, and me if I decide to join in on a game with them, but it just does not hold my interest. Yes, the new breed of shooters that have hit the stage like Overwatch and Call of Duty all look like fun, but online gaming has one hang up with me: the veterans who always pick on the new gamers and don't give them a fair chance to establish themselves and get comfortable with the game (a big reason I never got into fighting games). Plus, once again, it is not open world. And yes, I love new racing games and I think I could give lots of the youngsters in Forza Horizon, Project Cars, and F1 2018 a good run for their money, but once again, the rogue gamer is always lurking who takes delight in crashing the new drivers into the wall and ruining everyone elses race (this is a real problem in online racing. I was winning a Grand Prix running away in F1 2017 until some idiot running a lap down decided to drive the wrong way and run into the leaders. I lost my front wing, had to pit, and finished a lap down. Racing game message boards are flooded with stories of this). Unless rules and etiquette are enforced in online gaming, I think I'll be sitting out and just stick with single player.

To anyone who reads this, I am looking for more open world sandbox style games to enjoy ala Grand Theft Auto series. I enjoyed Red Dead Revolver for the XBox, but am really interested in Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2, so if anyone has played them, drop me a line. I liked the first two games in the Saints Row series, but then they went off into bizzaro world and just got silly.

Oh yes, I do have GTA 4 and GTA 5, and adore them greatly and consider those two games works of art. Yet, for some reason, I have to rank GTA: San Andreas as the greatest video game I have ever played. Why? Depth. Yes, GTA 4 and 5 wow me with their amazing graphics and well written storylines, but you just can't do all that you could do in San Andreas. Sometimes newer isn't better.

A big part of me wishes I could go back to enjoying a simple side-scroller or one of the new games that are in vogue, but I keep getting the urge to "follow the damn train, CJ!" and I end up transporting myself to the land of San Andreas circa 1992, to help CJ and the Grove Street Families take over the city and build a criminal empire. My wife and daughter and I have some company tonight, and I love them and adore them dearly, but I hopefully will get a small slice of time to bust some caps in San Andreas.

GROVE STREET IS KING!