By EJ Afzelius
The year is 2012. The sky is blue, and the Giants just won the Superbowl. Again. In the depths of a pitch black dungeon (my office), a lone gamer sulks and cries in a corner (me), and reaches an 
epiphany. Ok, not really, more like a train of thought. And this train just left the station of “what kind of gamer am I?” In the end, I settled for casual. I’m happy with that. I’m quite happy with a gaming life that started with my first Famicom. Yeah, I got Nintendos Japanese NES first before I got a NES. I realize it was a redundant affair as I could have gotten the same games on both systems. Super Mario was a prerequisite, so I definitely had that. I didn’t know though, that this game would define how I would play in the future, skipping levels and reaching world 8-3, only to die every. Single. Time. Shaddap, I know I sucked.
To tell you the truth, I don’t think I finished a single game back then. But seriously, the list included Ninja Turtles, Ninja Gaiden, Super Mario 3, Mega Man, and Mike Tyson’s Punch Out to name a few. If I wasn’t so respectful of my parents things, I would have smashed my controller into the TV the first day. Or tried to anyway, my 7 year old 50 pound frame could’ve possibly nicked the glass. People talk about how games are so much easier these days. Well I damn, *ucking agree. And thank *ucking God.
I pretty much suffered through my first 1.7 generations of gaming. When I got a Super Nes on my birthday, me screaming and jumping on my parents beds in thanks, I also got Super Mario World and Home Alone. I was ecstatic to get the former (despite dying miserably in all past Mario games), and just pulled a Mr. Bean face upon seeing the latter. Still, I played both and the difficulty streak continued. Well, Home Alone was boring so I stopped (That’s what I tell myself. I was not beaten by that punk ass game!).
Then one day the sky parted and Final Fantasy 6 found its way in my dash (a friend borrowed it for me). What was this? What form of sorcery was I experiencing? What… is an RPG? Apparently it was God telling me life is awesome. A fun awesome story in a game? Magic? ULTIMA?! I was sucked in. Me and my bud took turns with the controller, spending hours with magical characters and turn based combat. And the best part? You could save! Repeating at the beginning is for losers!! Sorry, pent up frustration…
From the PS1 to the PS3, Final Fantasy was the occasional buddy who dropped by every few years. He was the buddy you remember fondly with a single tear streaming from your eye. It was also the 
gateway to more console RPGs. Legendaia, Tales, Xenogears, Wild Arms; it would take forever to name them all. I was a happy camper. I still am. These are the games I enjoy the most. Oblivion and Skyrim are wonderful offshoots of my love for the JRPG. Yes, the western RPG is more free roaming blah blah blah, but still, I thank FF for the introduction. Of course, Demon’s Souls came along and I experienced suffering once again. I admit, never has defeating a boss been so satisfying, but that’s not how I like my RPGs!! Never again will I touch that game or its sequels.
So yes, I am a casual gamer. No, Plants vs Zombies and Farmville don’t count. People who play those games are just casual period. I like my difficulty level just like Goldilocks likes her stolen porridge, just right. Nothing too hard, nothing too weak, just right in the middle. Then I can eat my cheese balls, wear my duct helm, and scream Fus Roh Dah with delight. Oh, Kingdoms of Amalur was just released so my RPG sense is tingling. Ah, it’s going to be another sweet year for my beloved genre. Happiness and beers all around!
