Snakesters Top 10 Video Game Memories

With our favorite video games comes good memories of playing them. I am trying my best to celebrate that here and hopefully didn't give alot of it away with my favorite games list.

10. Watching the AI play a cage match: This is an example of taking a wrestling game a little too seriously. I believe the game was Wrestlemania 2000 for the N64. Big Red, The Style & I were trying to make an awesome pay per view event and were even recording the game on the VCR because we thought magic was gonna happen. Except when it came to a cage match, our player matches never lived up to the hype of a cage battle. So we let the computer play itself. I don't remember who the wrestlers were but I do remember cheering like hell and being rather entertained.

9. Drafting baseball teams: The games were the World Series Baseball games from like '95 to '98 maybe on the Sega Genesis. We would draft baseball teams just to see who we could end up with. As we got better, we would try to draft the crappiest teams we could and still turn lifetime .230 hitters into .410 guys. I remember we never made it too far into the seasons. We would have more fun trying to draft weird teams and see who the other teams ended up with.

8. Circle of Death: I think I was kidding myself, but when my first Xbox 360 made it a year I thought I would end up in the clear. Then all of a sudden I went to turn it on and it happened. I got the 3 red lights known as the circle of death. Panic set it as I had Rock Band already preordered to come in the next two weeks. So I went ahead and brought a new Xbox & sold the old one when it came back from repairs... to my brother.

7. Searching our town for a Game Genie w/ my dad: I am pretty sure my dad was more excited than I was when they came out with the Game Genie for the NES. He was determined to try it out so we scoured our town a whole Saturday until at about the 6th rental store we stopped at they finally had one in stock. I am pretty sure after all that build up, actually using the genie was a letdown somehow.

6. Finally beating Bark At The Moon: Guitar Hero was a test of wills for me. I got to the final stage. Texas Flood wasn't too bad because it was slow. Godzilla was just fun. Cowboys From Hell was doable once I got the rhythm down. But Bark At The Moon haunted me for a week. I would try for 3 hours on end and still mess up at a few key spots that required alot of fast chord changes. I remember the relief when I finally past it and the sort of let down of having nothing follow except a screen to tell me to do it on Hard now.

5. First Online Gears of War match: Xbox Live and the other networks have given a new life to video games adding playability to what used to be shallow games. Gears of War is an awesome game and a good time online. I learned that I was a Noob and would be getting Powned for a long time to come. It was still a thrill every time I got into a match and the anxiety I had of being killed and losing.

4. Wii bowling with my nephew: The Wii is an amazingly fun system and can bring everyone into the game, even my 4 yr old nephew. He tries to play Xbox with me but it usually doesn't work too well. But when he started bowling, he would kick my butt every time. He figured the game out on his own and has learned many of the spin tricks. Of course, I think my in-laws hate me now for getting him hooked on the Wii.

3. Playing Mario Kart 64 in crowded dorm rooms: As referenced my in game list, Mario Kart brought everyone together because it was pretty easy to play. Dorm rooms though aren't the biggest thing in the world and when you split a 32" TV into 4 sections you kinda need to sit close. So we would all cram together on the beds and play for hours on end shooting each other with turtle shells. The best part was no one really ever dominated the games, so that keep everyone going.

2. All Night Wrestling Tournament: NWO Revenge brought of the best in our creative juices. My brother had a friend over and I had Big Red over. We put all the wrestlers names from the game into a draw and laid it out. We played until 4 in the morning I think by the time we got all the matches done. Well my brother quit way before that because all he could do was cheat and we wouldn't let him. Somehow Alex Wright always won every tournament we ever put him in. It was very strange.

1. NES behind the couch at Christmas: Don't ask me what year it was or how old I was; I don't remember. But I remember vividly opening my last present that was under the tree then finding a note somewhere. Santa told me to look behind the couch. There it was! my very own NES. I am pretty sure dad had it hooked up in about 10 minutes (which is impressive for his poor knowledge of TV wiring) and we were off an running. That was the beginning! I would never be the same after that fateful Christmas.

Honorable Mention:
Finally beating Super Mario Bros
Whooping Big Joe at wrestling
Looking in the Zelda: Ocarina of Time guide at Wal-mart whenever I needed a hint