My Life in Pixels: Press Start
Richard P.
Digital Marketer with expertise in Lead Generation, Retention, Marketing Strategy Creation, Execution and Measurement
It's no secret from those that know me, or have worked with me, that I've been a "Gamer" since as early as I can remember, and some of my fondest memories growing up were with a controller in one hand with my brothers, family and friends sat beside me. Maybe you were the same? Maybe you weren’t? That’s not why I am writing this blog at all...
Whilst many people my own age, may not consider playing games these days due to "Boring Adult Stuff", many may still look back on the days of playing Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter, Sonic the Hedgehog or Streets of Rage with their friends and siblings.
The Revenge of the Nerds!
In the 80's and 90's, the perception was that computer games were made by "Nerds" for "Nerds”. This was true for the most part, if people knew you liked playing computer games, you were called a "Nerd" (I certainly was) and considering that most people that created those games started out coding in their bedrooms as youngsters themselves, maybe the "Nerd" perception wasn’t too far off?
That perception has long since died with the proliferation of gaming into the mainstream since the late 90's. Did you know the gaming industry now grosses more money than Hollywood and any other entertainment industry? Maybe the "Nerds" really did take over the world!
Some still have a negative view of computer games, and understandably so in some circumstances. Many times, I have heard parents recount the number of times they have told their own kids that their "dinner is ready", only to be met with a wall of silence as the kids continue playing and swearing at their friends whilst playing Fortnite or Call of Duty online in their bedrooms, continually ignoring their parents request to "come and eat your tea"!
Back in the "Good Old Days"
Back when I was young (that makes me feel/sound old) we loved playing computer games in the winter months, but when the sun came out in the spring, you couldn't stop us getting out the door! We would spend hours planning bike rides on our BMX's and Raleigh Activators. We would build treehouses in our minds that would resemble something from the films on TV, when they were usually a few planks of wood with plenty of rusty nails in it, precariously perched on two thin branches and generally getting up to "Stranger Things" style 80's kids’ stuff. Well, sort of, minus the monsters, government agents, and children with telekinetic abilities, however the council estate I grew up on was rough, and some of our neighbours could have been cast in that show thinking back!
Computer games, that's what I was talking about! Rather than paint a picture or tell a story of a "Nerd loner sat with a boner" who I cannot confirm nor deny repeatedly attempted to get the "Nude Cheat" to work in the original Tomb Raider on the original PlayStation, I wanted to tell the story of how gaming brought me, my family, friends closer over the years and my experiences around those games, not just because of them.
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Computer games are in essence; "Artificial" - they are not real obviously, but due to the kind of person I am, the kind of friends I keep, and how totally weird and humorous my family are - I want to add some much needed "Reality" and humour to these artificial worlds, and a human element to something that isn't essentially real.
One such story involved my mother ( standing up rather proudly in our back room and shouting at the top of her lungs, with a delightful grin and a glint in her eye:
"I have a stunning c***t bonus"
I don't think that's quite what my mother meant, and most 14-year-old boys would cower in embarrassment of hearing such a comment, me? I burst out laughing. Maybe I will tell that full story in my next "My Life in Pixels" article!
So yeah, there's a teaser / promo to keep reading, I guess! If you really want to know why my mother had the sudden urge to proclaim her genital pride, and what the hell that had to do with computer games, then make sure to stay tuned and subscribe!
This might seem like a strange introduction, but it is what it is. Hopefully you may find some of my posts in this series funny, relatable, nostalgic. Maybe you will just think that I am weird, my family is weird and that I really should have gone outside more as a kid. I would be more than happy with any of those outcomes.
Stay tuned for more bizarre stories, and all I ask, is if you found this funny and an interesting read, please share and repost, any and all help would be appreciated as I know LinkedIn isn't typically the place for this sort of childish stuff, but us grown ups can have a laugh once in a while!
You can find my next article by clicking on the link below:
Export Sales Manager _ Triumph Motorcycles Ltd
2 年Thanks for sharing this! It brought back fond memories indeed. I lived in a small countryside village. My friends and I would meet in winter at one's house, we would put together all our treasured games and controllers and do tournaments of Street Fighters, Mario Kart, Total Wipe Out and Grand Turismo. Street Fighters tournaments were the most intense, leaving blisters on my fingers as we were playing and doing combo so fast to win, my mum would get mad at my hands state when I got back home ??. To this day everytime I listen to Prodigy's song Fire starter I remember Total Wipe Out which was using it on their soundtrack. Years later we would add Tekken and License to kill to the list. When we were not playing, we exchanged our findings in Zelda. Came summer time, we would be outside all day playing and climbing/hide in trees. As you said, Stranger Things reminded me of that time as well. Most of us are not gamers anymore. We did not pursue much and never moved to computer games, last one I owned was a Nintendo 64. Now I want to drop them all a message and ask that we gather again to get some tournaments back on our agenda, just for old times'sake ??
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2 年Great article Richard, I saw it by chance and thought I would give it a go and enjoyed the read along with the trip down memory lane.
Co-owner, Studio and Game Director at Playtonic Games
2 年Thanks for sharing this article, it stirred my own memory in a lovely way :) I can relate to a lot of what was said. Though I was crazy about games, I balanced it well with other activities (most of the time ;) ... ) and I saw the outside world as a fantasy land often merging my understanding and enjoyment of it with what I'd seen on tv shows, films and videogames. I also had my first taste of gaming in a shared experience with my family, as we'd all gather in various combos to play a 2nd hand wooden-topped Atari with a decent stock of games. We all had our favourites and gaming for me as the youngest member of the family created a much fairer playing field to compete with people 'bigger than me'. I look forward to more articles in future!
Regional Compliance Manager
2 年Nothing wrong with gaming, beats drinking to destruction in the pub. I've met some of my best friends through playing online games amd formed life long friendships.