Shameful Gamer Confessions

[Rex Dart]

I'm noticing a remarkable lack of shame in this thread... stop listing stuff you're proud of!

[HatefulGravey]

I can't be more ashamed actually. There are some things I could post that I could fake being ashamed of if you want. They would surely be interesting but they wouldn't be shameful.

[VectorGamer]

Back in 89 (seriously) I made a bong out of a dead light sixer. The cartridge slot was the hole where you poured the water in and was then covered with aluminum foil with pin holes. A hose was run through the on/off switch and the reset switch was removed and used as the carb.

[HuckleCat]

• My wife falls asleep on in the living room 3 or more nights a week waiting for me to get off World of Warcraft. I'm actually feeling shame off that one. I hate to love that stupid game.
  

 

 

World of Warcraft....

 

Yeah, I have had, er, "social problems" in the past over this one.

 

- Around when I had first gotten into WoW, I played it all the time. I mean, it was digital crack. Around the same time I had started dating this chick locally that I had met on the MySpace. She started having problems with me playing the game so much, and even huddled up with her friends to talk about what a douche I was for playing it so much. Since I am sort of a cocky douche anyway, I told her that the game was simply more interesting than she was, and broke up with her before she had the chance to break up with me. Then I went home to play more WoW.

 

As for now, I haven't played it in years. Now I'm a parent, and with a toddler in the house, I have no choice but to limit my gaming to specific times, and only games that I can pause.

[Animan]

-I wish it was still the 80's just because I hate the way the world is now.

 

That's not really shameful. I think most of the people on this board that are old enough to have lived through the 80's feel the same way. I know I do.

 

I was born in 1995, yet I still wish I lived in the 80's.

[Tr3vor]

HuckleCat No offence but you're an idiot.

 

are my troll senses tingling?

 

anyway, I sorta agree with animan.

[trey s]

Hmm, Well I guess mine is I have never played thru an entire Mario Brothers game? Just never had the desire to do it.

I got somewhat out of gaming in the mid 90s due to the platforming craze.....Just lost interest for a while there.

What got me back was seeing Resident Evil in a store, walked out with a PS, Resident Evil game, and a memory card and several other accessories.

trey

[DemonoidTentacle]

-Once I got home from the midnight Wii launch, I sat down to play some Twilight Princess and it wouldn't load the disc. After freaking out for 10 minutes I realised I had the console upside down. I felt like a dick.

[31336haxx0r]

I also wait for the opportunity to travel back right to 1980. I really live in the past. I consider myself "old school". But I'm afraid that is just an euphemism for having no interest in the modern stuff around, like "teh interwebz" on celluar phones or in cars, twitter, social network, ever shorter product cycles, thousands of electronic gotchas in cars and IMHO other useless bullsh.. along those lines.

 

I love turn based strategy games, like the Jagged Alliance and X-COM series. JA2 from 1999 is the newest game I have and I seldom play it at all, mostly because I don't have the time at the moment.

 

I consider the SIO sound of a disk loading to sound beautiful. I hate the C64 for not having it. Especially as its drives are sloooooooow, I always wondered whether that thing still loads or locked up and have no way to determine what's up due to the missing l/O sound.

 

Typing on my 8bits w/ GTIA key click turned off makes me nervous. Don't know why.

 

I love the XF551 drives. I'd take a stock XF551 over any modded 1050 any time.

I also love the design and shape of the XE series. I think it's a beautiful, classy and timeless design.

Edited October 2, 2011 by 31336haxx0r

[Cebus Capucinis]

I'm going to do just one, and it's not really "shameful":

 

-I honestly think I'm probably the only person out there who never actually stole a video game, judging from the stories here. I didn't even "forget to return" stuff from friends -- I would forget, yeah, but as soon as I found it I'd find the person and give it back. I even had to look up a friend I had in 2nd grade that moved halfway across the state (our parents were still friends, so they had an address) and mail him back his NES game I borrowed and forgot because I felt so bad having it. Ironically we still talk to this day!

[Tempest]

-Once I got home from the midnight Wii launch, I sat down to play some Twilight Princess and it wouldn't load the disc. After freaking out for 10 minutes I realised I had the console upside down. I felt like a dick.

I did the exact same thing when I first got my Wii.

[fiddlepaddle]

I'm going to do just one, and it's not really "shameful":

 

-I honestly think I'm probably the only person out there who never actually stole a video game...

No, there're seven of us, I think.

[MagitekAngel]

Can't honestly say that I have never stolen a game, owing to my sizable emulation collection. But that brings on another funny story.

 

-When I'm using an emulator, I gamesurf; I typically play a game for two minutes, then switch. Turns out the one game that does hold my attention is WarioWare.

[SEgamer]

- As others have said, I also buy games that I never play

- I have bought a few things on impulse and still don't even know if they work

- I've never played Final Fantasy VII

- I enjoy playing Zelda: Windwaker more than Zelda: OoT (I know, blasphemy!)

[Tempest]

- I've never played Final Fantasy VII

At this point I wouldn't. You'll be sorely disappointed. I think it was one of those games you had to play 'back in the day' to enjoy, now days it's quite dated and other games have been released that are similar but better.

[Hatta]

At this point I wouldn't.  You'll be sorely disappointed.  I think it was one of those games you had to play 'back in the day' to enjoy, now days it's quite dated and other games have been released that are similar but better.

This is a very odd comment to come from a retro gaming/computing enthusiast.  Isn't the fact that it's dated part of the whole appeal?

[Tempest]

At this point I wouldn't. You'll be sorely disappointed. I think it was one of those games you had to play 'back in the day' to enjoy, now days it's quite dated and other games have been released that are similar but better.

This is a very odd comment to come from a retro gaming/computing enthusiast. Isn't the fact that it's dated part of the whole appeal?

FF VII is dated alright, but in all the wrong ways. Clunky fugly graphics, nonsensical plot, plenty of Engrish, and an uneven challenge. It's one of those games that fanboys love to hype to death, but it really hasn't aged well. Just because something is classic doesn't mean it's worth playing. There are lots of classical games I'd say the same thing about.

 

Part of the enjoyment I think people get out of FF VII is that it was their first JRPG, so when they replay it they're willing to overlook its flaws. If it wasn't your first JRPG or something you played and loved in the past it's going to be disappointing because it has so much hype built around it. I played it back in the day (the PC version actually), and even I have a hard time going back to it. Funny considering my current avatar.

[Desfeek]

-The bulk of my collection is older than me (born: 1990)

-I play most games on the easiest setting - only if I really like the game will I ramp up difficulty

-I played World of Warcraft for four and a half years, with a near-constant, 20-hour-a-week raid schedule

-I think Popful Mail for the Sega CD is the greatest game of all time; nobody seems to agree with me

-I don't play Survival Horror games: They scare me.

-I love the original 150 Pokemon, like, a lot

[DickNixonArisen]

pride:

 

1. never stolen a game outside of emulation which may not be legal or ethical (won't debate that here) but is certainly not "theft", as you are not causing someone to lose a possession, not removing it from their ownership

 

2. played VII relatively late, before hearing much hype (didn't have internet, watch tv, or read magazines at time), wasn't even close to my first RPG, and I still rank it as the greatest rpg ever made. Easily. It has what most RPG's are missing, and it has it in spades - story and character that are not 100% by the numbers and lacking in emotional resonance. The graphics, sure. They're uneven - chibi sprites, non-chibi enemies - a weird choice. Some scene pieces are strong, some are lackluster. In general, though, they were quite good for the system, unless we're arguing that all SNES graphics are dated, which is of course correct in a technical sense, but, uh... probably not a reasonable sentiment to express on a retrogaming site. I would say it's timeless rather than dated. I would still rather play through it than play most modern RPG's. I do both. My wife and I played through FVII together, and she loved it. She has not been able to enjoy any other RPG I have recommended save chrono trigger (harvest moon DS, maybe). She has not been indoctrinated into their greatness through hype, because she's not part of game culture and doesn't read my magazines, so she's unbiased beyond hearing me say that I liked them a lot, yet she easily saw the value in those titles.

 

shame:

 

1. I suck at quite a few games. never beat smb 1 or 2, castlevania, or mega man 1. smb3 is supereasy, contra I can do a perfect game runthrough, all other MM games are doable, zelda 2 i can beat readily, but not smb 1. Those pits in world 8 do it to me every time. I especially suck at FPS's, like really bad.

 

2. I have bought things and never used, played or tested them

 

3. I sink too many hours into grinding in rpg's until the time counters are maxed out. Playing through and enjoying the story of a game is fine, even good, but spending dozens of hours raising numbers arbitrarily in the postgame so that the final boss can be beaten in three rounds instead of six is almost pathological. Monster hunter tri really fucked with me on this one because without an EXP system, you are are forced to rely on small, random gains based on EQ upgrades alongside your personal actual skill level; i put 400 hours in and I'm not that far in it really. Haven't gotten to the last few monsters in the singleplayer yet, gave up. Actually, FFVII, as mentioned, has sucked up 500 hours for sure, as four slots of 99:59 plus earlier deleted saves attest. I also have a save of FFVII with all chars almost at level 99. In that game, 60 or even 50 is plenty to kill Kefka, but I spent the time to double the party's power.

 

4. I am definitely too scared of survival horror titles. I can handle the lightgun RE wii games, but regular RE/silent hill whatever, not even close. One level in and I am not happy.

[JamesD]

-I honestly think I'm probably the only person out there who never actually stole a video game, judging from the stories here.

You aren't alone.

[NE146]

I guess it's the fact that I got drunk and shoplifted a Turbografx-16 right out of a store. And then proceeded to constantly shoplift Turbografx games from every store after that (Electronics Boutique mainly). When I look at it, the majority of my TG16 games were unpaid for. Yeah I was young, drunk & dumb.

[MagitekAngel]

I guess it's the fact that I got drunk and shoplifted a Turbografx-16 right out of a store. And then proceeded to constantly shoplift Turbografx games from every store after that (Electronics Boutique mainly). When I look at it, the majority of my TG16 games were unpaid for. Yeah I was young, drunk & dumb.

 

Your crime spree can't have gone on for very long before you had the entire NA TG-16 library.

[NE146]

I guess it's the fact that I got drunk and shoplifted a Turbografx-16 right out of a store. And then proceeded to constantly shoplift Turbografx games from every store after that (Electronics Boutique mainly). When I look at it, the majority of my TG16 games were unpaid for. Yeah I was young, drunk & dumb.

 

Your crime spree can't have gone on for very long before you had the entire NA TG-16 library.

 

I won't lie.. I had quite a bit of it. But there were a number of games that came out later after I came to my senses and stopped being a punk thief.

[Segataritensoftii]

Many of my most recently beaten games are for very young kids. And I felt proud to have beaten them.

I seldom finish any game I st-

 

And that's it

Edited October 11, 2011 by Segataritensoftii

[nebrazca78]

• I beat the Barney game for the Genesis
  

 

IMO you win the thread.

 

-I play Solstice on the NES just to listen to the music.

 

Hell yeah. Might be the best single player NES game ever.

 

•in a game that has a female character selectable, I ALWAYS will pick her to play the game through

 

Absolutely. They're pretty and you might have to be looking at them for a while.

 

- As a teen, I shoplifted the cluebooks for Bards Tale 3 and Dragon Wars, and also the game Techno Cop for the Apple 2.

- When I was 14 my best friends sister sat in my lap and we groped each other while looking at sex cartoons on my apple //c.

- I met my wife on Craigslist. For out first date I took her back to my place and we played Wii and got stoned, then I ate her out. She was 18, I was 34.

 

Aside from the shoplifting, how is this shameful? The thread title isn't "awesomest things you've ever done."

 

- When I was 11 or 12 I performed my first and last instance of shoplifting at the local K-Mart. I stole Shaq-Fu for the Genesis.

 

I used to be a serial thief in my teens as well. The first game I stole was R.B.I. Baseball '93 for Genesis from Wal-Mart. I took it in to the bathroom, pocketed the cartridge and manual and then threw away the case. The second was Mortal Kombat for the PC from K-Mart. I removed the floppy discs from the box, put them in something much cheaper and bought that. Then Heimdall for Sega CD from a local video store. Removing the disc from the case and jamming it down my pants was the caper there. After moving up to stealing audio electronics using similar forms of deviance, one day I just decided it was wrong and never did it again. Truly shameful. I did go back to that local video store ten years later and apologized. Ironic that I was there buying valuable factory sealed Sega CD and Saturn games for $5 each, I kind of felt like I was stealing from him again. Especially since after the cashier rang everything up I was $3 short. I asked her if I could have them all anyway and she let me while giving me a look like I was the biggest loser in the world. Once the transaction was done I told her about the decade old theft and apologized. She went to tell the owner and he quickly came out of his office and stared me down. I asked if he remembered that happening. He said yes and I apologized again. He just stared at me in quiet rage and a few moments later I left. For some reason I thought he would recall the impetuousness of his own youth and appreciate this belated apology, but he did not.

 

Otherwise:

 

Shortly after its release my brother and I were both playing Panzer Saga for the first time. He had to go to the bathroom and I started playing on his save. It just so happened in that very short time I got to the part where you name your dragon. I named his dragon "Weenor." He was furious. I'm lucky he was my little brother and I'm also lucky he didn't hold a grudge forever as he can easily beat me up now.

 

In eighth grade I offered to buy a NES from a girl because mine was a newer model that wouldn't play Impossible Mission. I remember being in her basement and shaking like a leaf while unhooking it because she was the hottest cheerleader in school. Then I had the bright idea to switch the shells, but once I got hers halfway apart I decided it was too complicated. Unfortunately I couldn't get it back together correctly and I gave it back to her saying it was broken and without paying.

 

I had an acquaintance region mod a Saturn which worked great for a while. Everything was amazing as my friends and I were playing Guardian Heroes well before it came out in the U.S. Then when the wires came loose and I no longer went to high school with this acquaintance, I couldn't fix it myself. So I bought another Saturn with cash, switched the consoles and returned it. Of course I put fake contact information just in case anyone noticed.

 

I used standard kitchen cling wrap and a hair dryer to reseal a PC game and return it to Best Buy. I swore with the way the cashier was looking at me that it wasn't going to work, but he didn't say anything.

 

Now that's some shameful stuff, I'm glad I grew up...

 

.

Edited October 11, 2011 by nebrazca78