Three Different Faces

Computer games are a massive part of my life and I’m completely unashamed to admit it, it’s been a way for me and my dad to bond ever since my fine motor skills allowed, from sitting on the same scene in Broken Sword for hours, to all night Gran Turismo sessions, tuning that Mitsubishi GTO to hit near light speed, to the blinding rage that ensued from the constant beating he took on Fifa, but it’s cool, his controller was definitely broken.

My first console, came like many others, on a very special Christmas morning, I tore through the wrapping paper of the particularly suspect rectangular present in double quick time, and there it was, a Sega MegaDrive, bundled with the first Sonic, I feel like my memory is somewhat selective, I don’t remember too much of my early years but I remember that day, I remember that iconic Sega screen, the 16 bit “SEGA” voice, gone behind a sprinting Sonic sprite.

I won’t bore with the details of every Christmas that brought me that level of happiness, although now that I’ve delved into the depths of my memory banks I am more than capable and willing, I will however quickly mention the highlights. The PlayStation along with Pandemonium and Tekken 2, Pandemonium quickly disappeared, but Tekken, that game will always have a choke hold on my heart, fine tuning combos to near impenetrable perfection, hour long stand offs, parry after block after parry against my best mate as we predicted every upcoming fist thrown with precision, it was biblical, I still get that same exhilaration playing Tekken Tag 2 online, although I’m not half as sharp as I once was. The only real way of hearing about new games around this time was The Official PlayStation Magazine or other such unofficial magazines, harbouring demo discs strapped to their glossy front cover, it was like opening a little present every month. I played Metal Gear Solid for the first time on demo, I definitely got my money’s worth out of that one, how hard could it possibly be to get to an elevator!?

The next console in my life was the PlayStation’s successor, the PS2, i remember playing Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time and being blown away by the clarity and attention to detail, that first epic cutscene, ‘The Hudson River, two years ago…’ Hair raising shit, the way the camera lens had condensation around the edges when you entered the tanker from the outside, truly next gen. I’m selling the PS2 short by not talking more about it, but I fear I may never end.

Around this time I invested in my first PC, this must have been the first real sign of my quest for the finest in graphical fidelity, I can thank my dad for this obsession, countless Saturday morning trips around the computer market with monitors boasting the latest and greatest, it was a magical place. My first computer was a beast, 800mhz AMD processor, GeForce 2 Ti with 32mb of dedicated RAM, the goal was to run Max Payne with as little stutter at possible, I used to spend all day in high school pricing up mega gaming rigs in the back of my work books, probably accounted for my failings in class, in fact, I admit the time I should have been revising for my GCSE’s I spent playing Rainbow Six: RavenShield online, I have no regrets.

When the PlayStation 3 dropped there was a demo unit set up in a HMV which fell en route to work, needless to say i’d sit in there for a good 20 minutes every morning playing Skate on what at the time felt like a humongous Sony Bravia, my first HD gaming experience, I was very impressed. It amazes me how far the PlayStation 3 has come, sure it doesn’t give the smoothest or fastest experience any more, but it still has the capability to impress me and gave me one of the best gaming experiences to this date, in the form of The Last of Us, a work of art, story telling at it’s finest. Graphics I honestly couldn’t have predicted six years earlier.

I’m under no illusion that gaming wasn’t big before my first MegaDrive, I do believe that I’ve lived through the best years though, with games no more than a click or thumb jab away, where triple A titles like The Last of Us immerse us more than a Hollywood Blockbuster could ever dream of doing, and indie games like Minecraft, Starbound and Rust, to name but a few, are a mere pittance if you tallied up all the hours invested. It’s a beautiful age to be living in, there was a time when only big studios could develop games, the cost and difficulty made it nigh impossible for anyone else to, now small teams of the highly talented and dedicated produce such masterpieces as Pez and Super Meatboy.

I’m ready for out, I can feel this country’s tired hands grip around my throat, squeezing every last ounce of life out of me, the grey streets bleed into the grey skies. Streets awash with golomites, sucking tar through paper straws, spreading their shit genetics like a belated dose of Black Plague. I need out.

A lot of people defend this country, proud of their ant and dec, Joey Essex, Simon Cowell heritage, like letting the muscles in their eyes relax enough to let this shite seep through into their brains and replace intelligence with a vacant sign is something to be proud of.

There are also people who defend this country with the NHS, which is great, it’s even better for the vast majority, the vast majority, the morbidly obese, the army of benefit stick soldiers, the ‘10 year down the line diabetes outbreak’ because of 35p rocket fuel energy drink guzzling children. But for me and a select few, the healthy ones, we just pay through the nose for everything else to make up for it.

I skate, not roller skate, or scoot, but on a board... saying it that way is a little less lame than saying 'I skateboard'.

I'm 23, which, christ, for most average citizens in this part of the world is about eight years too old to be rolling around on a plank of wood, but that's besides the point of this particular idea I had, the reason I mention my age is because I feel like I see things now that maybe I didn't see seven years ago, I understand now the angst and untoward hostility aimed at skateboarding. They see kids whizzing past old ladies and children on the pavement scaring them half to death, they see television shows that always, ALWAYS present a skater teenage problem child, in his room or at the skate park with his small group of other recluses listening to some stereotypical punk rock drivel.

There is ammo then, and it doesn't really bother me, because the general public are close minded and are glad to keep buying into the misconceptions.

So yesterday me and a buddy were skating Manchester, it was a beautiful day, although especially brisk, we skated through the hustle and bustle of business types, embraced the scowls previously touched on and headed down to spinningfields, the place is awash with beautiful marble slabs, completely irrelevant to the surrounding area, the only purpose these things have is for skating, surely! Ofcourse it's illegal to skate through Manchester, and especially unheard of to skate these particular ledges with 24/7 security.

My idea is this, there are a lot of skateboarders in Manchester, these slabs are only used right now to be ran across by children, what if each skateboarder gave a small donation, I don't know figures, but to maintain the ledges, maybe monthly, and were allowed to skate there on Sundays. This would stop security guards time being wasted through the week, contributing to the maintenance and also creating a healthy, buzzy atmosphere on a Sunday, allowing passerby's to sit and appreciate rather than tut and glare.