ZombiePharmer

I was born a gamer in 1983. I'm not sure what my very first interaction with video games was, but my earliest memories involve fumbling around with an ATARI 2600 joystick in games like PAC-MAN, Defender, Space Jockey, Frogger, Berserk, and many more. My brother led me through most of my early game experiences and I'd often end up getting whacked with a game controller as my skills started to get better and I would end up besting him. :-) I also remember playing whatever arcade games the local candy store and 7-11 had leased at the moment. I was way to young when I first attempted the TETRIS arcade game that I think was my first arcade game. I stacked the pieces as fast as I could and didn't know why I lost. I also played a bunch of pinball games, the first I recall was a table based on alley cats that I think was called... ALLEY CATS... :-) I can now usually bust most pinball machines by getting the ball into spots that it's not supposed to normally go. I don't do this all the time, only when I want to impress somebody and I know the establishment can easily get the machine fixed quickly. My first experience with a PC that I recall was when I was a little older and my brother got a Tandy 1000 for word processing and other school tasks, but we would end up playing games on it too. I remember a game called Harrier the best and also played Where in the World is Carmen San Diego. We moved on to the NES and later I got my first console that I could call my own, a SEGA Genesis. I continued to game with the PlayStation, then N64, Nintendo GameCube, and most recently onto the Xbox 360. My interest in classic gaming has always held fast and I acquired and got rid of through the years a SEGA Master System, another NES, a Super Nintendo, Magnavox Oddysee 2, and IntelliVision. Now I am interested in serious collecting and gaming and have the following; ATARI 7800, ColecoVision, NES, SuperNES, SEGA Master System, SEGA Genesis, SEGA 32X, SEGA CD, 3DO FX-10, SEGA Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, SEGA Saturn, PlayStation 2, and XBOX 360. My computer gaming path led me from that ol' Tandy 1000 to an IBM 386 clone, 486 clone, jumping to a Gateway 2000 Pentium II system, then custom builds through an Athlon 1Ghz, Athlon XP 2600+, and currently an Athlon XP 3200+. I tinkered with several computer systems between those primary systems, such as a few 33Mhz IBM clones that were great for tearing apart and learning the insides of a PC and a Commodore 64 that I picked up used well after they were at their height and did some programming in BASIC and played some of the classic games; regretfully, I got rid of that Commodore 64 and I keep kicking myself over it. I enjoy refurbishing, rebuilding, and generally tinkering with computers and game consoles of all kinds.

I'm currently seeking another Commodore 64, ATARI Jaguar and Jaguar CD, NEC TurboGrafx and TurboGrafx CD or a TurboDuo, and IntelliVision. I also am keeping my eye out for an import SEGA SG-1000, though that is probably going to be more difficult to obtain because of the language barrier.

Outside of video games, I have a massive list of interests. I'm learning to play the electric guitar and I have a cheapo Fender Squire 6 string to get the hang of it, I like to go bowling and do various group sports with friends - whatever anyone is down for, I've got a few airsoft pistols, 4 Nerf guns that I play a game called Zomb with on occasion (a large group of people get together, some are zombies, some are humans, humans try to survive, zombies try to stop and turn humans), tinkering with electronics, cooking all kinds of foods, playing board games, watching horror and comedy movies, and just a bunch of other things. I'm pretty open to trying out just about anything and my interests and broad, so there is too much to continue listing here.

I'm on the AtariAge forums to meet like minded classic gamers and participate in discussions and maybe connect and make some friends. Drop me a line if you've got anything to discuss or if you want to pick my brain about anything. :-)

Whew, if you made it this far, congratulations "Achievement/Trophy/Badge Unlocked".