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A little about me and my history with video games

Hi. I’m not 100% sure how many people will follow the 1UP Vault network and substack. But I decided a while ago that I wanted to do this and find a way to talk about my love for the video game industry, specifically its history and many stories. And that is exactly what this is about. A place for me to research and hopefully expand your knowledge of video games beyond just something you play. To understand its long history and evolution. To learn more about your favorite creators and companies, as well as those iconic franchises. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, PC, mobile, or any other gaming brand or platform; I hope to share my enthusiasm for the overall game industry and yes, even talk about my personal opinions and more.

I will be working on a series of articles detailing eras and the history of video games, going all the way back to the creation of the computer. But before we can get started on that, I wanted to tell you a little bit about me and my evolution with video games. So, let’s get some basics out of way. I’m Puerto Rican, born there and moved here to the continental United States when I was five (going on six). I am in my early thirties, married, and a father. I have four siblings, with one being a twin brother. I am a Christian, but I accept everyone for who they are, not judgmental, and I love the diversity of cultures and views from around the world. I love movies, history, and I am a big Godzilla super fan. Batman is my favorite fictional character. And my greatest hope/dream is to one day write a fictional book.

When it comes to gaming, I am a Nintendo guy first. I am very open about my belief that Nintendo makes the greatest video games of all time. But I also love the Xbox brand and have owned every console. When it comes to PlayStation, I have owned every system since PS3. I love the brand history and some exclusive franchises from PlayStation as well. Super Metroid is my favorite game.

So now that we got that out of the way… let me quickly tell you about my history with video games. It all started with the Nintendo Entertainment System, handed down to us by my older brother. It was Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt anytime we played. My mom found herself being pretty damn good at Super Mario Bros. too. Of course, we were toddlers, so it wasn’t anything serious. Shortly after we moved to Florida, we were handed a Super Nintendo. That’s when Super Mario All-Stars and Super Mario World became what we played. I didn’t know what a console generation was, just that the games looked prettier and felt better.

My memory is fuzzy on when, but I remember we met a coworker of my mom’s and went to her house. Her son and stepson (and would go on to be pivotal childhood friends of mine) were playing Super Mario 64. It was like a whole new world, seeing Mario in full 3D. That was the first time I saw 3D gaming and Nintendo 64. Then came March 1998. It was me and my brother’s birthday and my parents pulled off what is now a very important memory and moment in my life. They left to the store and came back yelling, saying we made a mess in the living room. Funny enough, we thought we were in trouble and tried cleaning up (I think we did make a small mess at least lol). Then, we were directed to a spot in the room, and there sat a Nintendo 64, with accessories and Super Mario 64. And from there, I was hooked. I may not have become a hardcore gamer yet, but that’s when I truly began to become a gamer and find my love for the industry.

I like to personally call the period of 1998-2002, what I call my peak childhood. But more importantly, it’s where a lot of my video game nostalgia comes from. Through the two childhood friends I mentioned earlier, I got to see the original PlayStation and remember the older friend’s hype for the Sega Dreamcast and the infamous 9/9/99 launch. Pokémon fever took my house by storm with the cards and games. And through Blockbuster Video, we rented games almost weekly to play all the big classics N64 had to offer; Goldeneye, Pokémon Snap, Super Smash Bros, Turok (the first game we ever rented), Banjo-Kazooie, Ocarina of Time (my first Zelda experience), and so many more. And of course, I was there reading all the material I could get my hands on when PS2 and Gamecube (or Dolphin as it was known at first) slowly approached their reveals and eventual releases. And there was a new kid on the block – Xbox, who I at first dismissed… not knowing it would become my second favorite video game brand after Nintendo.

In 2002, another major moment with video games would happen. My neighbor got a Gamecube that Christmas, and with it - Metroid Prime. He let me borrow it and I absolutely fell in love with it. To this day, I know that game like the back of my hand and can get 100% on Hard mode and beat it in about 5 hours in one sitting if I wanted to. This is how I was introduced to Metroid, now my all-time favorite series and Samus, my favorite video game character. But this was also when my teenage years started, and with it, the typical awkwardness and obsession to fit in, which is harder to do when you are an introvert and very shy around new people.

Since I was a teenager, I wanted to feel mature and even went through a period of ignoring Disney’s animated movies (oh yeah, I’m a huge fan of Walt Disney and the company’s history). There was a stigma at the time that Nintendo was for kids. So even though I loved them, it was time to get more mature and, in Christmas 2004, I got an Xbox. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t appreciate or quickly fall in love with it. I was still deep down a Nintendo guy. But over time, Xbox would become my favorite non-Nintendo video game brand. Halo is one of my top 5 favorite franchises and Xbox would help me appreciate third party games.

I slowly entered a period of kind of ignoring Nintendo. From 2006 to 2011, I went through a lot of things and changes in my personal life. I met the girl that I would eventually marry, and we took time to land on our feet as the Great Recession literally started shortly after I graduated High School. I got an Xbox 360, where I found my love for series like Fallout, Gears, Forza, Resident Evil, and played my first Final Fantasy game (Final Fantasy XIII). In 2009, I got my first PlayStation console, the PS3 slim. I got Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction as my first game. I got into Uncharted, God of War, BioShock, and Last of Us. All in the meanwhile, I only saw the Wii as an afterthought, even though through my sister’s Wii, I was able to play Twilight Princess from beginning to end.  But that love for Nintendo could only be kept away for so long.

See, 2011 wasn’t particularly a great year for me. The lack of a job took a toll on me. But one thing that got me through it was my obsession with looking into the history of video game consoles. This was my true first look at gaming as an industry; I started to understand and learn how consoles worked and to better understand specs and the different eras and generations. I started to play a bunch of Nintendo classics on emulators. Just like that, I re-found my love for the big N. So in 2012, with things looking up in my life after FINALLY finding a job, I got a Wii and started to appreciate them again. Eventually, I got a Wii U in 2013. I also got a PS4 for Christmas 2014, and on my 2015 birthday, my wife got me an Xbox One. One big highlight of this era saw me find my love for the Soulsborne games (Bloodborne is my favorite non-Nintendo game). And in 2017, I got a Nintendo Switch, and it’s now my favorite post-N64 Nintendo system.

In 2019, I became a father, so video game time has gone down by a lot, so let’s plays and knowing how to time things out has been a big help (as well as things like Xbox Game Pass financially). And then, of course, 2020 was the year from hell; COVID, economic fallout, a heavily divided country during a very important Presidential election, and all in the background was the lead-up to the launch of the Xbox Series consoles and the PS5. With such a bad year behind us, my wife completely surprised me by somehow getting me an Xbox Series X for Christmas. And recently, after some stalking, I got my hands on a PS5.

And the future? Well, I stand by my strong belief that new technologies like VR and the cloud are the future of video games. Though I want to point out that while I am very pro cloud gaming and think it can really expand video games by a lot, it still has a long way to go for the technology to get better. I also think VR gaming will work best not as a replacement but as a great way to have more movie-like smaller experiences. But, of course, we shall see. Now I stand here ready to talk video games and take a deep dive into its history and the impacts on and for the industry. I just wanted to give you a quick look at my history with gaming and how much I love it.

To me, video games are the ultimate storytelling medium because you are that character, and you get to experience escapism and adventure into worlds of fantasy and imagination that daily and normal life doesn’t offer. You can be a hero, a villain, or just have fun and connect with your friends and family. It’s where you don’t have to be judged for being different and just experience something special. I don’t know how successful this whole 1UP Vault thing is going to be, but I know it's going to be a small thing that makes me happy and hopefully, my articles will make you happy. And we can enjoy this vast industry. That’s why I’m pressing the start button now.