Now, onto the topic.
There are a lot of hobby to pick up. Being a boy there are even more hobbies to choose from from stamp collecting, reading books, err.... well you get the idea. I am born in the 90's. The year where pop music, mohawks and Y2K jokes are famous for. Back then video games weren't as big of a market as it is today. Back then it was a niche thing. Only a certain number of people knows what it is and even a smaller amount of people can afford to have one. Games arcade was at large back then but it had a bad reputation as a place where kids would skip school, gamble and all sorts of negative things. This made video games as a hobby a difficult thing back then because it was the same as being addicted to gambling and such. Console games are available but here in Malaysia it very hard to come by and its usually expensive. Mine was the time for Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) but my hobby only started on the next generation of Playstation and Nintendo 64. I've no idea what Nintendo 64 is until later where I have more access to information about video games from sources such as magazines and later internet. Playstation was dominant. I always see these things around the shops in the capital and grew an interest towards it. Having to play it in my friends house, I asked for my very own and got my first console ever after scoring 5A's in the UPSR. I was also into a hobbies magazine known as Gempak for about 100 issues before stopping from buying it since when I bought it, the section I'm looking forward to the most is the video games section. So, I thought, rather than wasting my time buying the magazine, why not look for something more directly about video games. That didn't happen until later in my life when I decided to buy GameAxis which was also a temporary poison. Back to my Playstation, I spent countless time playing all sorts of games on it, Crash Bandicoot, Metal Gear Solid, Nascar Rumble, WWF Smackdown 2, Final Fantasy VIII and all sorts of games before it was stolen a few years later in which I teared its lost. It was the closest thing I have in my life back then. A few years later, I got a Playstation 2 (which is 2nd hand by the way since a new unit is expensive and still is today). I spent my time playing even more games. In my free time, I like to surf the internet. Guess what sites do I go? No, not porn sites. I went to even more video games site and looked for even more video games related news and videos. It's like I'm doing my own thesis considering the amount of information I take up all the time. And I still do it up to this day.
Now the question is, why? I have been telling the backstory of my hobby for the earlier parts of this post. But why? Good question. Why? I'm not sure. But what I can say is, video games has helped made me to a man I am today. I used to have very average English language capabilities before I discovered video games. And after I discovered it, my English has started to improve gradually day by day. How is this possible you ask? Well, video games back in my earlier years, has very little to no voice overs. It was all text and writings if you want to know the story or anything, you have no choice but to read. Of course I will stumble upon word I have no idea what it means. Because I don't want language to be the barrier of my hobby, I took the initiative to look up what it means. This indirectly helped me learned new words and sentence structures. Video games from the adventure, action and racing genres always test your reflex. In other words, playing video games can improve my reflex towards things. I became more aware of the situation around and learning to act fast with what comes up next. Strategy games like Final Fantasy and sneaking games like Metal Gear Solid on the other hand, sharpen up my ability to quickly strategize and make quick decisions of the situation. This also helps me with my leadership skills. Thanks to these video games that had helped me with these values, it had made me a good enough person to be the leader of many groups and organizations at school that actually does work. I don't want to be arrogant but I think it is safe to say I didn't do the worst job. Video games has also nurtured my interests towards technologies. I should say that it is the contributing factor on why I chose to further my studies in computers. I am just fascinated by these technologies.
Video games was, still is, and will always be my favourite past time. It's the kind of hobby that is not only topical but helps hone all sorts of quality in a man. Qualities that I think is important and helps us as a person. Video games are no more a nerd's hobby to me. More people are exposed to it than ever before. And to be honest, I have lots to say. But this could take forever and I am sooo lazy to type. This is my hobby. This is my passion. This is me.
