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Do you remember the first game you ever bought? Not a game that your parents bought for you but the very first game you bought for your self. Do you remember why you chose that game? What influenced your purchase? These are questions I asked my self when I began to think about how we as gamers have evolved over the years. The first game I ever purchased was also the same time that I purchased my first console, the SEGA Dreamcast. I had owned previous consoles but this was the first one that I bought on my own. It was exciting because I did it on my own. The first game I bought with the system was Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver. I didn’t buy the game because I followed it through development. I didn’t buy it because my friends said it was great or because it received rave reviews from a game magazine. No, the reason I picked it up was because the box art looked cool and the synopsis on the back sounded neat.

When I arrived at home to sit down and play I couldn’t stop. I was thrown into the wasteland of Nosgoth as the fallen vampire Raziel, with vengeance on my mind. It was open world hack and slash at its finest. The game was loaded with plenty of weapons and abilities to keep me entertained the whole way through. The mechanics were smooth and the story kept me drawn in.  I would have never known had I not taken a chance on Raziel as the Soul Reaver. The innocence of my game knowledge and the abilities of a great cover artist led to what is probably the most influential purchase of my gaming career. Without playing that game I might not have seen the magic that is this hobby, job or lifestyle that we love. Things have changed a lot since that night over 10 years ago.

Following my purchase of the Dreamcast I began to further explore the gaming world. As each new gaming platform was released I learned more about what it takes to build a work of art in motion. I also became more reserved about what I spent my money on. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the disposable income but rather the fact that I found my self wasting my money on games that weren’t worth my time. I quickly learned how much effort it took to make a quality title. I read magazines, talked to gamers that knew more than me and suffered through some bad games. If I didn’t see this effort going into a game then I didn’t even give it a second glance. I found my self buying fewer games and loosing interest in the hobby because I was becoming too picky and I had been burnt by some bad titles. Nothing seemed to fit my taste or meet my high expectations. I passed up on so many games because I didn’t like what I saw as they went through development. Did I miss out on some good stuff? Probably, but I was young and thought I knew it all. After the Playstation 2’s prime had passed I took a break from gaming for a couple of years. That’s when the Xbox came into the picture and I decided to try my hand at gaming again.