(Discussion) Can Video Games Change Your Life? - Retro Bird

We all love video games, but would we go so far as to say that they can change our lives? Well, I would and I explain all the various reasons why I think you would too.

(Discussion) Can Video Games Change Your Life? - Retro Bird

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#retrobird

[KokoaNishimura]

Without even watching the video: Yes. When I was 13 I recieved Metroid Zero Mission for GBA from my mom as a Christmas present. The next day she died. I felt so alone, so lifeless, and wanting to die. I found Metroid Zero Mission though, and started it up. And I got lost in it, and I realized then that even if you are alone, you have the power to get through it. Metroid Zero Mission literally saved me from suicide. And Metroid has been my favorite series ever since.

[Throbingkcoc]

Final Fantasy X not only changed my life but it saved it as well. I discovered that game when I was at the lowest point I have ever been in my life. The themes of friendship, sacrifice and death helped me find my center and brought me back from a very dark place.

[LeafarR]

As a Brazilian, videogames taught me English, which is really useful in my life despite living in Brazil.

[koreyf]

Retro video gaming in general has saved me the last two years from depression. Before 2020 I only had four systems and one handheld, but now I'm an avid collector with 13 consoles and six handhelds. Its not just a hobby, I'm a happier person. I share my interests with friends and family and they're interested in what I have to say (at some level). Game hunting is fun and social. I could go on... I'm also going to my first convention in a couple weeks, and I don't remember the last time I was this excited for anything.

[latt.qcd]

Almost all of my hobbies I only started because of The Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Time, in particular. I first got into playing music because of it, drawing because of it, writing because of it, etc. I likely wouldn't have gotten to where I am in life without it. There's also been several games that were really instrumental in getting me through some really dark times.

[MetalJody]

Video games have made me feel extremely fortunate to be alive. They are literally man-made magic. Duck Hunt was one of my first games and I loved it. But the first game ever that got me interested was probably Tetris because that's what my mom was into. Then it was Mario Bros and Eggsplode. There was never a period where I stopped gaming. I've always been into it.

[megamob]

Video games have always served as a real bonding experience for me and my brother and our cousins. Even to this day, when we get together, reminiscing about games we played back in the day (games that I of course STILL play all the time) with them are some of the most joyous conversations I get to have and bring back a lot of great memories.

[shayne]

The Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past is a special game for me. I'd beaten it, but never played it (not until nearly a decade after release anyway), and this was all thanks to meeting up with my friend down the block every morning before school and on weekends to chip away at it until the end. He played, I watched and offered advice, and we went on this odyssey together. It was the first time I felt like I was playing a game even though I didn't have a controller in hand, and it's become a treasured memory for me.

Chrono Trigger was the first game I bought with my own earned money (a summer's worth of lawns mowed when I was 14) and kicked off my passion for RPGs. It was a magical experience that - for the first time in a game - had me feeling like the characters were friends I was on a monumental adventure with; even my parents got sucked in and joined in from about the 3/4 mark through to the end.

In 1998, Xenogears changed the way I thought about philosophy, religion, and greatly exceeded my perceived limits of video game narrative and depth; it is my favorite game of all time and one I go back to regularly.

Mega Man X3 was a redemption story from a Christmas that haunted me for years. 15 years later, my wife surprised me on our first Christmas as husband and wife with a complete copy of the game, the first game she ever bought me; it's one of my treasured games. and I've played it every Christmas since 2010.

Pokémon Red and Blue forever changed how I would focus my gaming attentions. In my youth, we were too poor for me to be able to get a Game Boy, and when I finally tried my cousin's, I was disappointed and forgot about it. Flash forward to '97, and I worked to buy myself an N64. I only ever ended up owning 2 games for it, was disappointed by the library, and my interest in RPGs from having played Chrono Trigger, FFIII, and Lufia wasn't being met (plus, many of the games were $100+ in Canada), so I jumped to PS1. My focus shifted away completely from Nintendo...and then Pokémon came around. I had been watching the show, so I pre-ordered the games and bought myself a Game Boy Color. Red and Blue would go on to spark my love affair with handheld consoles, and from then on, my focus has been squarely on handheld releases (whenever money was an issue and I had to choose between a handheld and home console game that I wanted, handheld won every time). I've since gone back and am still actively picking up original Game Boy titles to this day; I feel like I'm always discovering something new and awesome that I'd missed.



Most importantly though, video games led to me meeting my wife. In 2008, I was running a game store, she was recommended for hire by my district manager, and we ended up working great together. When she took on her own store, we started dating and the rest is history. We'll be married 11 years in December, and if it weren't for games, we'd never have met nor would we have our wonderful children.

Video games have been a constant source of wonder and happiness for me throughout my life, and I feel so fortunate to have been born into a time in which I can say I had all these wonderful experiences going back to the infancy of this medium. Video games really are special!

[LevelSword]

Video games have made me appreciate stories, music, and characters in a way I doubt I ever would have without them.

[austinharn]

The Wind Waker for GameCube changed my life. I was in my early teens and going through a medical dark time. One of my joys was watching the commercial for Wind Waker. It would be my escape.

[Theasement]

Video games have changed my life multiple times. From my first (King Fu on NES) to the magic of the original Lefend of Zelda and many other examples leading to today where my youtube channel allows me to justify playing more than most men my age with wife/kids/day-job get to. I ~love~ video games!

[Ankjell]

A turning point for me in my videogames life was playing Metal Gear Solid on the ps1. Man what a blast, what a story

[maxstifflemire]

Gaming changed my life. When I was a kid in the late 90s, my older brothers had a snes and rented mega man x2. I fell in love with it, but we couldn't buy it because we were relatively poor at the time. My oldest brother was into computers and gave me 2 floppy disks out of the blue. One had an emulator and the other had a mega man x3 Rom. I didn't know anything about computers or emulators, but I kept messing around until I figured everyrhing out about them both. Fast forward 20+ years and now I'm a systems administrator at one of the largest plastics manufacturing facilities in the United States with a fairly respectable retro game collection. Little did I know at the time, those disks would change my life due to my love of gaming.

[DilRyeMaster]

I asked for an NES for Christmas one year and came down the stairs that morning to see something I didn’t even know existed at that time... a SUPER Nintendo!

I’d never had a console before that and we didn’t have a computer either. Finally I had some video games to call my own! Definitely a moment I’ll never forget.

[mimiwilliams]

Always love you mentioning your grandparents ❤️

[oldtimegaming]

There are games that you think about after you finish them for months, even years for me :

Metal gear solid 1 and 2
The last of us
Resident evils
Shenmue
Silent hill 1 and 2
FFX
The list goes on … you try to relive these experiences and it’s not the same as the first time … keep gaming ✊

[breakfasthole]

Learning about the people and stories behind the games has given me life changing perspectives. Dylan Cuthbert (SNES Starfox creator), talked about about how sections of games will be cut out entirely by Nintendo if an idea isn't working or doesn't fit with what they want to present. It's a good approach that I've applied to music and other projects to maintain focus. 'If it doesn't work, just cut it out'. His point was about not getting attached to ideas when they hit a wall. They can be recycled for another thing later if they fit.

[leviwarren]

I have the wind curl design from Wind Waker tattooed on my finger as a wedding ring, I gave up my v card on my wedding night to my sweet wife while Theophany's Terrible Fate played, and my oldest daughter's name is Hylia (I told my wife it was the name of a lake where I spent a lot of time as a kid) so I can safely say Zelda had impacted me.

[Riz]

My brother who's since passed away was an avid gamer and so I got into it because of him

[Lost_Between_Heaven_And_Hell]

One thing that games taught me is, somewhere, eventually there is a boss that needs defeated. Boss theme music is some of my favorite tunes. Masked Devil from NES Ninja Gaiden, that theme left an impact on me, when it started to play you knew sh!t just got real. Awesome video.