I was inspired to write this after reading another post created by a “Grandpa” D2 player and it made me look back at when I first became a gamer. Forewarning....a LOT of you will have no idea of the games I’m about to list off. I can’t quite recall the year I began gaming...nor my age at the time. Let’s just say I was around during the glory days of Arcade parlours, the original Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac Man and of course pinball machines. I was there in the thick of it during the Commodore 64 (SSI goldbox, Nebulus, Paradroid, Raid over Bungling Bay...the inspiration behind Sim City...and more). Played the Atari including Pitfall and the infamous E.T train wreak. But I started earlier than that. Nintendo had “Game and Watch” hand held LCD units and I saved up to buy Donkey Kong (dual screen), Octopus, Oil panic, DK junior, Pancake and many more....some of which are still in my collection. Those were the days when the term “clocked” still had meaning...that is...resetting the score as it would cap out at 999 and return to zero. But before the digital games were pinball machines and I dread to think how many coins I wasted on those machines...even if I did cheat by putting my shoes under the front legs to reduce the slope of the playing board and standing on a milk crate just to see properly. I’ve played obscure games such as Shark Hunter (featured in the original Jaws movies) and some weird holographic game called ‘Stunt Pilot’. I also mastered games like Wonderboy and its sequel Wonderboy in Monsterland where I could finish the game on one single 20 cent piece. I also remember the cranky Pizza shop owner limiting my playtime to 1 hour on Stargate as I simply wouldn’t die even on the cranked up settings. Yeah...he’d just turn the machine off after 1hr. If I were to list off every game I’ve ever played (digital or not) I’d be here for hours. I’ve zero regrets too. I miss the smoke filled arcade halls with pool tables, cheesy music and lines of people waiting to play Hyper Olympics or some other hot “new” game. I’ve had fun...a WHOLE lot of fun...and I wouldn’t change a moment of it. Greatest accomplishment? Probably finishing Ghost and Goblins....the second time after that sh^77y false first ending (YouTube it....it’s brutal). On a sad note it’s kinda sad to see how the industry has devolved into a greedy cash grab where games get released half finished, chopped up, bug ridden and ofcourse MXT inclusions. Yes...call me old...but I miss the days where you bought a complete game at launch that was generally polished and a “one and done” deal. FFVII was probably the most defining moment in my gaming life. That and The Witcher 3. Love to hear your stories about when you started....what rare gems you’ve played and the memories surrounding them. And yes....I could still probably kick your arse on Stargate, Monsterland, Asteriods, Impossible Mission and Bubble Bobble. Here’s to all us old gamers 🥃. Thr33-Nin3s