stoutje's blog

A few years ago I was auditioning for a show at a theme park.  I didn’t get the spot because they already had someone with a similar style voice, the producer explained.  She was very encouraging about keeping at the singing thing though, and asked if I had a guitar.  I sheepishly told her, “I had a guitar, but I traded it for an XBox.” She laughed because I surprised her, and I laughed too.  I left feeling good even without getting the spot in a live show.

People are often surprised to discover that I’m into video games.  Telling my students that for Valentine’s Day my husband and I took a trip to Game Stop also got some reactions.

So here’s my gaming history:

When I was very young I remember playing Pong and some other games on my Uncle’s Atari.  Later I played Super Mario on the original Nintendo.  I remember the Power Glove and the Power Pad (you could cheat by slamming your heels down without picking up the rest of your feet).  Legend of Zelda (III, I think was the platform one that I liked) .  But as I became a teenager, I began to play less, and my younger brother began to play more.

I watched as my Dad and brother played, and later as my husband played games on a PS2.  I enjoyed watching, and even helped my husband solve the puzzle aspects of God of War while he did the button mashing fight sequences.  I started playing a PS2 fitness game regularly and became quite proficient at Guitar Hero, I also absolutely LOVED Dance Dance Revolution (still miss it). But the moment I was born as a gamer has to be when I discovered Kingdom Hearts 2 (I had never even played the first one).  I can even tell you the precise moment in the game that did it, it was when I first figured out how to spend my XP to level up and customize my fighting abilities.  That was it.  I was hooked.  I’d come home from work and play eight hours some nights.

What I like

I like RPG’s.  If I can earn XP and search for treasure, I am a happy camper.  I also love it if I can interact with NPC’s or do quests and have the decisions I make in the game affect the game world later on in the story.  I like being able to customize my character and upgrade weapons.  I can literally spend hours doing this.  I was especially pleased with a DLC add on to DA2 that lets you customize your character’s look THROUGHOUT the game instead of just initially.

Favorite Games 

Fable II

Fable III

Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age Awakenings

Dragon Age 2

Mass Effect

Heavy Rain

Demon Souls

Dark Souls (Just started)

Final Fantasy XIII

Little Big Planet