K8 the GR8

It started with games like Batty, Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy on the ZX Spectrum. Then, when Tandems arrived it was all about flight simulators, Indiana Jones/The Hobbit adventure games and Rogue. Sure, they took an age to load, but by the time came to start playing it was all so worth it! How simple our needs were back then.

A college buddy of mine then introduced me to console gaming. Many late night MarioKart contests were held in the bloke’s living quarters including me, the novelty girly gamer.

Most of my courtship with The Accidental Terrorist involved a PlayStation. In fact, it was how he used to lure me into his room. Wanna play the playstation? Works far better for me than something cheesy like; Shall we take this upstairs? (I know - yes I am a serious geek.) We played Crash Bandicoot, Worms and Micro Maniacs ’till our fingers bled, and had many sessions involving blokes coming over with beer for Gran Turismo races. I was referred to as ‘One of the Lads’, which was nice. It’s a rare doorway into the world of men and their true colours, it really is. As for trouncing them at Tekken?! Now that’s a moment to be proud of.

Then came the gaming revolution. Vice City. The Godfather. Scarface. You get the choice to walk around or hope on a bike. You can even steal a car and start riots if you like. You can conduct forceful negotiations with shop owners to win turf, or just go around lobbing hand-grenades onto beaches full of Americans. (Introducing this concept to my dad might at least keep him off the streets?) Then there’s Splinter Cellwith it’s gizmets and gadgos. I’m currently taking pot-shots at Germans in ‘Medal of Honour’, but if the game gets much harder, I’ll be winding that one up. I hate repetition.

In Canis Canem Edit, you get to re-live your school days. Health is gained from kissing girls, who will only put out if you buy them flowers or beat up the leader of a rival gang. You get to flush cherry bombs in the toilet and shoot rats with a slingshot. You also have to sit through class and complete puzzles to graduate -it is most definately my favourite game so far.

Console gaming is a wonderful, consequence free world. It also improves hand-eye co-ordination and bladder control. Everyone should have one.

The real shame is that gaming itself is such a male dominated activity. It’s not the fault of the game makers.. they tried to appeal to the girlies with games like The Sims, Wii, and of course BUZZ, but whenever I’m invited to a girly session in someones house and suggest I bring the Playstation, I get comments like; Sure! If you want to BORE us to death! I ask you though… how exciting is it really, to hear about the cost of hair-doos or discuss new shopping centers?

I would have lost faith in the whole matter if it weren’t for my discovering Cat’s Blog, I tell you.

Why aren’t there more of us out there?